An In-Depth Explanation of the Movie

******SPOILERS AHEAD*****

I've skimmed through some of the posts on this site and it seems that a cogent understanding of the film is lacking. So, I thought I'd put in my two cents here. Not saying I know everything about what's going on, but I do have some significant points to make that will help out a lot of the people who’ve been left scratching their heads over this one. I hope this turns out to be a long but fruitful analysis of the story. Here goes:

It's important to note, first and foremost, that EVERYTHING we see in this movie takes place from Alicia's personal – distorted - point of view. Everything we see is a reflection of Alicia’s deepest fears, dreams, desires. Everything she encounters in her sphere of reality is seeking to be validated, accepted, and realized.

From the outset, we see that Alicia is struggling with some personal issues – some sort of intense spiritual/ identity crisis. I do NOT believe that she has a mental illness (as many have stated on this board), simply because I do not believe in the idea of mental illness. (And if you want me to argue about mental illness and how it doesn’t exist, then I can argue with you until the cows come home, lol.)

Alicia's main problem is that she has a very hard time understanding, accepting, and loving herself. She has several hang-ups about certain things that an ordinary person would not give second thoughts to. She is super sensitive, and she cares too much what other people think of her. She thinks that she is a nuisance to others and that she is not wanted. She is unable to live in the moment; she clings to what happened in the past and has a hard time forgiving others She has a hard time saying what she means and meaning what she says. Many times throughout the movie, we see her fears projected into the world, and her reality often confirms her suspicions (that she is insignificant, a nuisance, a bore, etc.).

It was suggested by one of the characters in the movie that she may have suffered some sort of abuse as a child. I think this is a significant point and will expand on it later in my analysis. Of course, an unresolved issue from the past, which has not been processed and healed, could definitely be the cause of much of Alicia's anguish.

It's also significant to note that several things that happen in the film are metaphorical in nature.

Take, for instance, the scene where Alicia covers the mirrors in and around her room with blankets. This scene signifies her inability and unwillingness to confront herself and her problems. She is unwilling to take a close look at herself and her inner nature. Most significantly, she is not able to embrace her dark side so that she can have a more complete and balanced sense of self. This is why we see her doing random weird things, like shoving her bare crotch in Brink’s face. Note that this is not her actual self acting out, but a split self that has been repressed and is struggling to achieve expression. This shadow self (to use a Jungian term) competes with her actual self in the fight for dominance.

What else is symbolic? The death of the bird, the abandonment of the puppy, and the drowning sheep. All three creatures are fragile/ vulnerable. To Alicia, they represent her own victimized self that is abused and killed by random individuals who kill and abuse just for the sake of it and because they can – I mean, from Alicia’s point of view. What is significant is the fact that Alicia BELIEVES herself to be a victim. Remember, her perception distorts the type of reality she encounters. The way she processes what happens to her and the way she assigns significance to events determines her state of mind and sanity (or lack thereof).

It is not that Alicia cares about the fate of the bird, the puppy, and the sheep because they are gentle animals deserving of respect. She cares about them because she IDENTIFIES with them to an EXTREME point! So much so that when she sees them hurt, it is like she herself has been hurt as well. Alicia cannot be compassionate yet detached… Most importantly, she cannot forgive Brink for what he’s done. She thinks he (and the others) are “sadists”, essentially painting them all with a broad brush of prejudice.

Going back to what I said about neglect and abandonment… The sheepdog that comes up to Alicia in the countryside and starts humping her thigh… Notice the way she responds to what the dog does. She is shocked and deeply disturbed. Anyone else would have just laughed and found it funny or even mildly gross, but Alicia finds the dog’s behaviour to be very threatening. Her squeamishness in this regard suggests that she could have expereinced some kind of sexual abuse as a kid. But of course, this is never fully spelled out for us. Later in the movie, we see the same dog driving the lone sheep over the cliff and into the lake. This dog’s role is to guide the sheep into their pens. Instead, it ends up drowning one of them by driving it “over the edge”. Maybe I’m reading too much into this but it seems to be a metaphor for Alicia suffering neglect and abuse at the hands of her parents/ guardian. Whoever was supposed to love and nurture her has played a great part in driving her “over the edge” psychologically – from Alicia’s perspective, of course.

Last but not least, Michael Cera’s character’s name is “Brink” and he seems to be a major catalyst in driving Alicia to the “brink” of despair. Not sure if this choice of name was intentional on the director’s part…

So, that’s it for the symbolism. (There’s probably stuff that I’ve missed so feel free to add your own comments.)

Oh, the scene where Alicia is hypnotised… I think she was faking it. Agustin evens asks her if she’s messing around with him and she agrees (while supposedly being under hypnosis). If you’re wondering why she’d hurt her hand on purpose, I think she did that just to get everyone’s attention and sympathy. This could have very well been her shadow self popping up again… Of course, you can counter-argue this point with me as I’m not married to it. But, to me at least, this inconsistency in her behaviour is pretty consistent with everything else we’ve seen.

By the way, if anything I’ve said seems to suggest that I think ill of Alicia, then I assure you that she had nothing but my empathy throughout the film (owing to Juno’s stellar performance, in large part). I really related to her, because I’ve been in many situations in the past where I’ve had to deal with extreme fear and paranoia. And the cause was simply insecurities I had about myself…

I digress, sorry….

Many who have watched this movie have said that it is pointless. I do believe that there is a message here though. This film seems to be saying that it is of supreme importance that we develop the courage to face our inner demons. Otherwise, we create much unnecessary pain and struggle for ourselves.

Just as a final note: I do not think that Alicia’s death was a bad thing. To be honest, we don’t know what death is about, and for some people death can be just what we need. We exit one reality and enter another one… that’s what death is to me. Nothing to be afraid of. So in a strange way, Alicia could have in fact experienced a rebirth, expect into a different version of reality. That’s definitely something to consider.

There are, of course, other weird explanations for what could be happening to Alicia. The moon (we see it fully visible in one scene) is known to affect the human psyche causing it to go all crazy and out of tune. Or, she could have become possessed by some entity lurking in the countryside. Not sure how that would work exactly, but it’s not something impossible, I think.

There is so much that is going on in the story… It’s hard to put everything down in an eloquent manner. Please feel free to post your own take on things as well as include stuff that I could have overlooked.

One thing I haven’t figured out is how Sara’s abortion fits into all of this. It has something to do with the theme of abandonment, but I’m not sure exactly what…

Any ideas?

I’ll sum up by saying that I really liked this film. And Juno was just amazing in it! She’s quickly becoming one of my favourite actresses.

Hope my two cents has been of value. Cheers.

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There's only one instant, and it's right now. And it's eternity.

- Waking Life