Now that we've all watched Junebug and had a bit of time to reflect, I'd like to discuss and seek opinion on the significance of the movie's title. The "character" was referenced by name only briefly in a single scene, and the writer's decision to name his masterwork after a miscarried fetus seems a bit strange. The story wasn't even about the child so much as inter-familial relationships, right? That was my general impression, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that the baby was a significant driver and explanatory source of character behavior. Accordingly, I've constructed a character review from this perspective:
Johnny and Ashley:
Johnny clearly feels trapped in his current situation, evidenced by the fact that he's happiest at work, away from the family. Living constantly in the shadow of his "golden boy" brother who escaped from the rural south, Johnny sees having a baby as a trump card, a means to restore balance in the family, and perhaps as a path to happiness. This explains in my mind why he threw the wrench at George after the miscarriage: a physical manifestation of his frustration that George would remain "the better sibling." It also explains why he asks Ashley, in an incredibly insensitive manner, if she would be willing to try again immediately.
Ashley, like Johnny, sees Junebug as a means to achieving happiness. Even the name is (besides just being "cute" to Ashley) symbolic: a June Bug is a beetle known for its timely hatching and flourishing during the late spring, a time of natural rebirth and the dawn of a new season. For Ashley, the rebirth (as she confides to George) is that of her and Johnny's high school love.
George and Madeline:
George's relationship with the baby is that of metal drawn to a magnet: the baby draws him into his family. George is actually a somewhat minor character in the film by virtue of his continual absence performing mundane errands. Aside from singing the hymn at the church supper, the first real quality time he spends with the family as a whole is at the hospital for the delivery. Not surprisingly, the trip to the hospital is the first real fight he and Madeline have, and it's not her fault at all. Under normal circumstances, there would probably have been no question as to what George would have encouraged her to do. Because of the baby, however, George had been momentarily transformed into a "family man." This assertion is reinforced by his insistence on staying at the hospital with Ashley, leaving Madeline to fend for herself. Once the baby is stillborn, George effectively "snaps out of it," demands that they return home the next day and expresses his supreme pleasure at being gone once they're on the road. The George that didn't venture home for 3 years and was a stranger to his family has returned. Roger Ebert, in his review of Junebug, asked "How important is Ashley and Johnny's baby to George?" I would respond, "terribly."
Madeline's experience is reciprocal to George's. While not being a blood member of the family, the experience naturally doesn't affect her as strongly as the rest of the family, but she still experiences the riff that develops between her and George as a result. Unquestionably the most consistent character in the film, she assumes George will want to stay for the burial and is dumbfounded to discover that whatever spell transformed him had dissolved.
Eugene and Peg:
Peg obviously has a severe dislike and disapproval of Madeleine. Though never explicitly mentioned, Peg does not find Madeleine's qualms about motherhood acceptable. This is thinly disguised in her unfavorable description of Madeleine as "older," "strange." Perhaps most telling is her comment regarding Madeleine's silver spoon baby shower gift: "Oh my...that won't go in the dishwasher." Essentially, she's implying here that Madeleine is clueless and unsuited to child-caring.
Eugene plays a rather small but crucial part in the movie. Besides his line which essentially encapsulates it, "She (Peg) hides herself. She's not like that inside...Like most," all Eugene does is search for his long-lost phillips head. Ultimately, it's discovered underneath the crib he constructed for Junebug using his woodworking skills. Eugene declines to come to bed when Peg asks and declines to talk to Madeleine about Peg's disapproval of her and Johnny's relationship. Ultimately, it appears Eugene just does what he wants. Apparently, that's constructing a crib for his future grandchild.
The film did an amazing job, I think, in crafting believable characters and drawing on cultural stereotypes in a manner that did not judge them. It seems only fitting to me that the scriptwriter would name a film about character interaction after its uniting element: Junebug.
Even though it might have several different meanings as Ben posted to reflect various things throughout the movie, I believe that Junebug, both the bug and the baby reflected much of the need of revival of Johnny and Ashley’s relationship. The bug, in its nature form, is a symbol of revival and by naming the baby Junebug, it shows what Ashley really feels like below her happy and cheerful outer self. She has been longing for Johnny and her relationship to get on the right track and believes that the baby will make a big difference in that path.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben that the baby, Junebug, mainly served to highlight the dynamics of the two main couples within the movie, and what was going wrong--or right.
ReplyDeleteDespite tension during the pregnancy, the miscarriage proved to be a rallying point for Johnny and Ashley. Ashley was worried that Johnny didn't want a baby, though she kept assuring Madeline and herself that once he saw the baby's face that would all change. But towards the end, he calls Ashley at the hospital and asks if she would be willing to try again at some point.
For George and Madeline, the baby serves to highlight their (supposed) difference in values. Partially due to some discouragement by Peg, Madeline chooses to win over the local artist rather than go to Ashely's delivery. George goes to the hospital because, as he tells Madeline, "nothing is more important than family." This good perception of George is somewhat ruined at the end when he doesn't stay for the baby's funeral, and on the road home remarks, "I'm so f***ing glad to get out of there." It looked as though Junebug was supposed to show the line between the urbane, selfish Northerner and the simple, family-oriented country boy, but that line is blurred in the end.
I would agree that it was a very interesting idea to appoint the name Junebug to a movie that never even sees that character come to life. I like how Ben pointed out that this character served as plot device to expose the relationships of the other characters.
ReplyDeleteThe way that the Ashley's hopes and dreams for this child are centered around her relationship with Johnny, and the way that Johnny seems to be dreading the child define their relationship to begin with. Of course after the child's death their relationship is saved. It is implied that Ashley believes that the relationship had died along with the child, seeing as how all of her hopes for the relationship hinged on the life of the child, but instead, in Johnny's moment of redemption, the death actually gave the couple second life. The death made Johnny realize that he still cared about his wife and that the relationship was worth salvation.
To speak on the relationship of the other two, it essentially exposed how much of a non-relationship their relationship really was. when the child died Madeline did not support the family and George did, and then George shortly after wanted to get the hell out of dodge. There seemed to be a break down in communication of what was important. The child's death showed that this was a couple that truly didnt understand each other at all and were almost strangers wearing rings. throughout the entire movie Peg tries to bring this to everyone's attention but I feel like the audience doesnt thoroughly believe it until the whole Junebug ordeal in the end.
So anyway, I believe that is how the character of Junebug, though non-existent, is essentially the most vital plot device throughout the entire film.
This is a great discussion, set up ably by Ben's initial comments. The figure of Junebug as sort of a dream of renewal for the family is both touching and apt. Perhaps George's inability to continue to believe in this potential stems from a deep lack in his character; or from his deep disappointment.
ReplyDeleteI think that George's reaction should be somewhat expected. George returns home to his family and immediately becomes the emotional sling for the entire family. When the situation worsens, the whole family leaves him at the hospital to talk to Ashley. This seems somewhat odd to me. The rest of the family spends the most time with Ashley yet they rely on George to sooth her following this tragedy. It comes as no surprise that George would want to return home to his life where he only has to worry about himself rather than lead his entire family.
ReplyDeleteI would like to again bring up the relationship between Madeleine and the stillborn child. I think this is probably the most interesting relationship that Junebug has to another character, because it is the least expected. We would all expect the family (especially Ashley and Johnny) to be affected by the child, but Madeleine, an outsider would not necessarily be affected by a seemingly random child.
ReplyDeleteI think that Madeleine is affected so much by the stillbirth of Junebug because of her new relationship with Ashley. When George says that they will not stay for the funeral, Madeleine almost seems disappointed that she won't be able to comfort her new friend in her time of loss and tragedy. She knows that Ashley would want her there, even though they don't know each other very well. And even though Madeleine knows it will be a little bit awkward, she likes the feeling that she is wanted at the funeral.
Junebug and the pregnancy in general also make Madeleine realize that she is too caught up in her high-society lifestyle. I think that Ashley's pregnancy shows Madeleine the importance of family. This can be seen especially at the end of the film, when Madeleine simply places her hand on George's neck in the car.