Representation of Mother Stereotypes.
We Need To Talk About Kevin VS Juno.
Audience's view of a stereotypical mother consists of the predictable characteristics/morals of being married, keeping the house in a immaculate condition, sustaining deep interest in their children lives, always obtaining a happy relationship with their children & generally following the traditional rules of a mother.
Therefore I will be analysing the representation of mothers in the films; Juno, directed by Jason Reitman (2007) & We Need To Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsey (2011) , as both film’s plots focus on the journey of motherhood. I will be comparing & contrasting both films through my macro study of representation of stereotypical mothers, and analysing how these films conform & defy to mother stereotypes through the micro studies of cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, & sound to justify my thesis statement of how the mother stereotype conforms and equally defies in We Need To Talk About Kevin & Juno.
Firstly, mise-en-scene plays an significant importance within the second scene of We Need To Talk About Kevin where we are introduced to the present day train wreck protagonist; Eva.
The low key lighting emphasizes the mysterious aura surrounding Eva, allowing the audience to sustain anticipated for the clearer unveil of Eva's character. Additionally, the low key lighting expresses slight spotlight focus on Eva, reinforcing the 'super mum' stereotype by representing the significance mothers have in human nature as the main re-producers of the world.
Despite the depressing tone of low key lighting, defying the mother stereotype, the use of minor lighting on Eva's face represents her significance stating her authority & her noticeable presence of her importance as a mother conforming to the mother stereotype.
However, the involvement of the diffused blend of shadows, highlights & low contrast creates a soft lighting to Eva's presence, causing sympathetic emotions from the audience to Eva's vulnerable state & fragile child imagery which challenges the mother stereotype, in addition to Eva's crouched in body language represents her weakness, which challenges the powerful mother stereotype.
In contrast to this form of lighting in We Need To Talk About Kevin, the lighting used in the opening scenes of Juno, where Juno goes to her local groceries to buy a third pregnancy test has an involvement of vibrant high key lighting with intense contrast. This involvement of high key lighting emits a illuminating glow to the scene, which relates to 'glowing' when one is pregnant, which could be a strong connection to Juno's hidden emotions of wanting to be pregnant hence the high contrast and illuminating tone, emitting a vibrant atmosphere conforming to the mother stereotype of being proud & positive within the presence of her child (personified through the pregnancy test). Despite Juno’s obvious disappointment, this form of lighting could be a convention of her hidden happiness.
Moreover, the scene I referred to earlier in We Need To Talk About Kevin consists of a major amount of dewy red tones, which could represent a warmth of parental love, reinforcing the caring mother stereotype, however, due to the film’s narrative, I would think these red tones expresses anger, however the smoky red expresses the weakness of Eva, suggesting that although she is filled with rage, she has become weak & her anger has turned dry, therefore challenging the usually cheerful mother stereotype to a disturbed individual that Eva represents.
Moreover, props such as the half eaten apple, the mental tablets, the red candle, etc represents a theme of solitude which defies the mother stereotype as the use of the candle & food could interpret loneliness as it states a romantic meal for one, involving the ironic romantic tone of red, therefore, this placement of props challenges the mother stereotype as Eva is alone with no comfort of family in addition to the symbolism of alcohol & the haphazard set design portrays a loss of control which is a vital mother characteristic.
In comparison to mise-en-scene defying the mother stereotype, the scene where Juno is buying her third pregnancy test, the most obvious mise-en-scene representation of reinforcing the mother stereotype is through the pregnancy test, stating ownership, however despite this proof of mother authority Juno represents, Juno then suddenly defies the mother stereotype by purchasing a bag of strawberry laces, representing a imagery of a child (similar to Eva in We Need To Talk About Kevin) through the typical child adoration for candy. Additionally, in comparison to We need to Talk About Kevin, the involvement of the colour red is involved within the strawberry flavoured candy, which could represent Juno’s anger for her recent news, defying to the mother stereotype of being excited for the birth of a child.
Moreover, the grocery store location for this scene in Juno is perceived as a general routine for mothers to follow, whereas Juno is purchasing a pregnancy test which has a strong connection to her providing for her child in the future in the same store, creating a powerful reinforcement to the mother stereotype; ‘purchasing her child now, purchasing for her child in the future’.
Furthermore, cinematography conforms the mother stereotype in the disruption scene of We Need To Talk About Kevin when Eva drives into Kevin's school after the news about the school shooting, the first camera angle that occurs is a subjective point of view shot from Eva's which forms a effective technique to show Eva conforming to the protective mother stereotype & sensing danger from a mother’s instinct as the camera performs a shaky POV shot which reinforces a intimate insight into Eva's erratic emotions due to the unknown safety of her son.
However, when Eva is exposed with a hint that suggests Kevin is the culprit of this shooting, she is shot in a medium long shot to represent her equality with the other mothers in the crowd, which conforms to the mother stereotype as it compares her emotions to the other mothers as an union, however, the use of shallow focus & a narrow depth of field allows for Eva to appear as a sharp subject in the frame, forming isolation from the other mothers from her suspicions of Kevin’s innocence, to which this cinematography technique expresses Eva defying the mother stereotype as representing her as a guilty individual due to her bad parenting which clearly defies the mother stereotype as well as the later zoom in expresses Eva's vulnerability & her close up presents her emotions of shame which overall defies the mother stereotype.
In comparison to how close-ups can represent vulnerable emotions, the close up of Juno after Mark tells her that himself and Vanessa are splitting up presents a instant emotion of sulking & sadness on Juno’s facial expressions, in addition to Juno is positioned lower than Mark therefore presenting a vulnerability in the helpless situation which defies the mother stereotype representing a weakness that children behold, not mothers.
Despite the close-up representing Juno's child-like emotions, the shallow focus used in the shot reverse shot of Mark & Juno represents Juno's importance to the scene & strength as a mother protecting her child & holding that control allowing the camera to focus on her as the powerful subject, as well as the high angle shot on Juno represents a mother advising her child to do the right thing, which with the low angle shot on Mark, representing him as a obeying child, therefore the use of the shallow focus & high angle shot conforming to the controlling mother stereotype.
Furthermore, referring to the subject of sound, the scene where Eva has suggested bonding time with Kevin, the non-diegetic soundtrack conforms to the mother stereotype due to its cheerful tune which relates to the happy emotion of a mother with her child, however, the individuals actions does not match with the fast paced, animated-like music as the characters body language & the combination of the cheerful soundtrack does not match with the awkward aura between the characters, however, it does imply anticipation due to its fast paced tempo which could represent Eva's anticipation for Kevin's reaction to this suggestion, which defies the mother stereotype as it shows that Eva is not in full control of the situation.
Additionally, the input of the diegetic, synchronised sound of the scraping of the jam jar in the scene emphasizes the tense atmosphere within the sharp sounds of the scraping knife defies the mother stereotype as it represents a harsh relationship with her child when it should consist of soft, gentle love.
In relation to harsh synchronous sounds, the scene in Juno where she is awaiting in the abortion clinic, a tense & nervous emotion in Juno is created through the intensity of many synchronous sounds. This defies Juno as it shows her being dependable on other people actions therefore defying the mother stereotype of having an independent mind & however, this use of intense synchronous sounds in the clinic could also represent the observant nature of a mother therefore also conforming to the mother stereotype.
The structure of editing techniques in We Need to Talk about Kevin's final scene where Eva is meeting Kevin in a police station two years after his school massacre anniversary, involves a variety of editing techniques to represent my macro study.
For example, we are introduced to Kevin through a side close up fading in when he starts talking whilst Eva is blurred out and vice versa. Moreover, I feel this editing technique represents a disconnection between Kevin & Eva, defying the mother stereotype of being connected to her son, therefore this fading in/out techniques represents their division from one another.
However, the editing technique of long takes of shot reverse shots conforms to the mother stereotype of beholding an emotional relationship with her child which is presented in this scene.
For instance, the involvement of the long shots when the characters are speaking represents emotional suspense, representing Kevin & Eva exposing their emotions & feeling connected to each other, in addition to the shot reverse shot represents their intense focus & care on one another therefore conforming to the mother stereotype of caring for her child.
Moreover, the involvement of editing conforms and defies the mother stereotype in the scene when Juno is finally giving birth, similar to We Need to Talk about Kevin.
For instance, the eye-line matches from Juno's subjective, to her family represents the support she needs from others as she is still a child therefore defying the independent characteristic of a mother, however, the use of rhythmic editing during the labour scene with a folky-tuned song with a happy, relaxing beat plays as a non-diegetic sound during the birth which fits well with the slow motion rate of the scene, conforming to the mother stereotype as despite the physical pain of labour, the reward of a child bond that no one can break (similar to We Need To Talk About Kevin) conforms to the mother stereotype which is expressed through the gentle tone of the rhythmic editing.
Moreover, due to the mixed response of the book, this resulted to the audience more than likely already decided on whether to see the film due to the highly controversial subject of school shootings, physiological states, etc which could scare a sensitive audience away. A large audience agreed that it sparked controversial points; 'belief that a child can be born evil’,’ vindication to hate your child’,’ showing motherhood as a horror tale', 'putting the blame of school massacres/serial killers on the parents due to their uncaring nature'.
Furthermore, releasing We Need To Talk About Kevin in cinemas, proven by the mixed response from the Cannes Film Festival, could've resulted to the film losing income resulting to debt & a large advertisement of low cinema attendance could affect the film in a wider basis therefore being released straight to DVD seemed like a safer choice to avoid larger negative response & debt if box office takings were low.
Similarly, Juno made a huge impact on the audience causing a controversy of glamorizing teen pregnancy.
For instance, Juno was the biggest selling independent film that Fox Searchlight has distributed, receiving large box office takings which states its high success through other exhibitions, however, their was a negative response towards Juno titled 'The Juno Effect'.
The Juno Effect was a media-made title from a US magazine blaming the glamorization of teen pregnancies in the media for the reason of a high number of teen pregnancies in a Masschettues high school therefore this was a easy ‘term’ to blame on teen pregnancies by the political government.
Overall, through my intense analysis of my macro case study of the representation of stereotype mothers in Juno & We Need To Talk About Kevin, I feel that my analysis of the micro points; mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound has overall justified my thesis statement of both these films equally conforming and defying to the stereotype of mothers through my analysis of lighting to soundtracks to POV shots to fades ins/outs.