Teenager Sex On Movie > 영어토론방

• 수정
• 삭제

• 목록

• 페이스북 공유
• 트위터 공유
• 구글+ 공유
• 

Teenage Sex on Movie
"Lolita," a novel by Vladimir Nabokov that has generated widely mixed reviews from critics and mainstream readers, is often - rightly or not - synonymous with pedophiles. Debates about the film version are also never in short supply.

Similar shouting matches are playing out over "Jenny, Juno," a Korean movie which depicts puppy love between minors - and an unexpected pregnancy. The age: a 15-year-old girl and boy attending a typical junior high school. For its sensitive topic and apparently sugarcoated portrayal of the teen's post-sex tribulations, the film has sparked a wave of exchanges online and offline among parents, teachers, students and even politicians. Director Kim Ho-jun is not tackling a totally new subject, though. In his previous film "My Little Bride," he presented a lighthearted version in which a 24-year-old college student gets married to a 16-year-old high school girl.

Actress Moon Keun-young, who played the daring, cute character, was catapulted to teen idol status overnight because of the charming images director Kim forged on the big screen.
For reasons unknown, critics did not take the topic too seriously, enjoying it as typical romantic comedy.

This time, however, the characters are tougher and people involved are touchy. The storyline is a no-brainer. Jenny (Park Min-ji) is widely popular among her friends. She's not only beautiful but also excels in class. Moreover, her parents are fairly wealthy. Her couldn't-be-happier life confronts a serious turning point when a boy named Juno (Kim Hye-seong) transfers to Jenny's school. This cute, innocent-looking boy turns out to be a professional Starcraft game player (a mock footage of a game taking place at Samseong-dong MegaWeb Station looks intriguing.

For Internet-savvy Korean teens, Juno's status as a Starcraft player means just one thing: He's extremely cool in the eyes of Jenny. He also sets his eyes on this charming, kind-hearted girl.

Their teenage romance goes a bewildering step further when they remain alone together and have sex. No actual sex scene is inserted, but the following footage suggests they had some physical contact with the couple lying on the bed together.

But these scenes are actually flashbacks. The movie opens with Jenny using a pregnancy test kit and finding out she will have a baby. In other words, a big chunk of the movie is devoted to grappling with teenage pregnancy. On their own initiative, the teen couple decides to keep it a secret and have the baby. Kindly enough, the film shows an image of an unborn infant torn into pieces during an abortion. The message that "life is precious" is unequivocal. But frustratingly confusing is that the teen couple's covert childbearing efforts are heavily sugarcoated. For instance, the kiddie father-to-be Juno delivers various foods to Jenny as she develops a strong appetite in accordance with her pregnancy cycle. When she catches a cold, she throws the medicine at a dog, telling her boyfriend that pregnant women should not be allowed to take drugs.

Cinematic techniques also help infuse romantic elements into their relationship. When Jenny dreams about her encounters with Juno, the screen showers soft filter effects, accentuating the romantic softness of the characters.

Another burning issue is that Jenny's semi-naked body is exposed rather frequently, fueling speculation that the film has something to do with Lolita sex code.
Understandably, some parents and teachers are sharply criticizing the movie for its romantic depiction of teen pregnancy. But Kim wouldn't change his position. In the press material, he notes the focus should be placed on how we should deal with teen pregnancy.

"Jenny and Juno are certainly wayward children who should have never done a thing they did for their age. But it was an accident that they made the mistake and their love is in a way innocent. What should be really criticized is not the couple but adults who only say 'no.' This film shows not how they make a mistake but how we should take responsibility," Kim says.

But what irks some critics and conservative parents is the happy ending of the story, and the underlying assumption about such conclusion. Jenny's father is fairly rich and owns an expensive villa and has enough money to send her to the United States.

Thanks to her wealth and high status, Jenny and Juno are largely protected by their parents when they opt not to have an abortion. What if Jenny and Juno were born into poor families? Could they still form a happy family?

The happy ending bolstered by wealthy parents is an exception, and the message could mislead other curious and impressionable minors about getting pregnant and passing the buck to their parents, say skeptical viewers. But the movie can be interpreted in a different way. Kids inherently tend to make mistakes as the film describes, and in some cases, it is not fiction that some junior high school students get pregnant in Korea and get abortions secretly. The more romantic the story becomes, the more acutely viewers might feel the awkward gap between cinematic idealism and a dire reality.

Yet the movie does not have elements to be classified as a serious social satire. All the images drawing attention to the female character and her dream-come-true romance easily pass for a trash novel devoted to dreamy-eyed teens. Because of the controversial theme, "Jenny, Juno" is likely to fuel hostility between conservative parents and liberal-minded teen movie-goers for some time.

The winner of the debate will be decided when viewers express their opinions through ticket sales. Perhaps, Nabokov might be interested about the result.

Question

1. Have you seen or heard of 'Jenny, Juno'?
   What do you know about it and what did you think about it?

2. If you or your child were in Jenny or Juno's position, what would you do?

3. Do you think teenage sexual relationship is immoral? How about teenage abortion?

4. Did you heard of other people(of friends) have similar experience to 'Jenny, Juno'?
   (nonaged sexual relations, pregnancy..)

이 글은「대학연합영어토론동아리」www.pioneerclub.com에서 제공하는 영어토론 정보입니다.