Juno MacGuff is a smart, creative, and observant high school junior who, after a single sexual act with her best friend, Paul, finds herself pregnant. The movie presents, in an innovative, edgy but sweet, humorous but poignant way, the expected and unexpected roller coaster of teenage pregnancy, parenthood, friendship, and--truly--expectancy.

This film explores a number of themes: teenage pregnancy, family systems, teenage romance, small-town dynamics, marriage, birth, fertility, and self-identity. For this study the theme of transformation will be emphasized. We see characters transformed as a bad situation yields a good outcome. Through this fictional story we see a young woman's dilemma as she decides to continue her pregnancy and give her baby up for adoption. We see how her experience affects others around her. We learn about God and God's ability to be present and active through people making courageous decisions. At one point in the film the adoptive mother, Vanessa, says to Juno, "This is a selfless and beautiful thing you are doing." So often teenagers are depicted as careless, selfish, immature, and clueless. There are certainly signs of these behaviors from all of the teenagers depicted in the film, including Juno. But there is a deeper beauty to the decision and journey that Juno makes throughout this film--one where goodness, family support, and friendship can, as Juno's stepmother claims, turn a "garbage dump of a situation into a precious blessing from Jesus."

This study assumes that most participants have seen the film and provides three clips for discussion. The study is written for a fifty-minute session.