Pregnant teens are our sweethearts only in film
By ALLISON WEISS ENTREKIN
Published on: 01/28/08
The Oscar nominees were announced Tuesday, and it seems "Juno" is America's newest sweetheart. The low-budget film about a pregnant high-schooler is the feel-good flick of the year, with audiences across the country cheering for the quirky girl and her befuddled but well-meaning parents. The movie is up for four Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture.
Here's what I don't get: Why do we cuddle up to Juno and hiss at Jamie Lynn Spears? Like Juno's character, Spears is in high school, and like Juno, she is pregnant. But unlike in the case of Juno, America seems bent on devouring Spears, gleefully gobbling up tabloids with her sad face on the cover.
Spears' announcement last month in OK! Magazine that she is with child generated record-breaking sales for the publication, and every major tabloid in the country has clamored to catch a piece of the windfall. "Destroyed by Mama," cried a recent Us Weekly. "Pregnant Jamie Lynn DUMPED!" squealed last week's in Touch.
In the wake of Spears' announcement, publishers of the parenting book her mother was writing said the project is now delayed "indefinitely." Apparently, if you have an eldest daughter who shaves her head and threatens to issue a restraining order against you, it doesn't disqualify you from writing a book on being a mom, but if you have a daughter who gets pregnant in high school, you're out.
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, a segment focused on the hot-again issue of teen pregnancy. Journalist Deborah Roberts spoke with several expectant teenage mothers, reminding them that statistics say they're unlikely to earn college degrees or wind up north of the poverty line. She then warned viewers that these teenagers "defied stereotypes" before getting pregnant—one girl was even (gasp!) the captain of her high-school cheerleading squad.
"The other day—my friend—her little sister called me Jamie Lynn Spears," Janelle Stephens, the pom-pom owner, said. "I felt heartbroken because I was like, 'She used to look up to me.' "
Cue a commercial break, and not even 30 minutes later the Oscar nominations were announced. The morning's big winner? "Juno," which GMA dubbed a "pregnancy comedy" and whose title character landed Ellen Page a spot in the best-actress category, alongside such esteemed thespians as Laura Linney and Cate Blanchett.
Isn't it ironic that Juno is America's cinematic hero at the same time Jamie Lynn Spears is our symbol of irresponsibility? Juno's actors are heading to the Oscars, while Spears, her family and her boyfriend can hardly leave their homes.
Apparently, our compassion for pregnant girls evaporates the minute we leave the theater, and everything we love about America's sweetheart is what we despise in her real-life counterpart.
