6 Regrets Filmmakers Had Over Their Oscar Winning Movies
6. Diablo Cody And Juno's Pregnancy
Fox Searchlight Pictures
When Diablo Cody won the Oscar for best original screenplay for her work on Juno, it was considered something of a breakout success. The film, which starred Elliot Page and Michael Cera, was universally acclaimed and ended the year gracing most of 2007's critics 'best of' lists, but it wasn't without controversy.
Given the film deals with teenage pregnancy and the titular character's decision to give birth and not seek an abortion, various Pro-Life groups in the US and elsewhere began to latch onto it as an ostensibly anti-choice movie, which was obviously not Cody's intent.
Speaking to The Guardian while promoting her latest film, Tully, the writer spoke out on the controversy that followed Juno's release and how perhaps the film could've been more explicit regarding Juno's motivations not to seek an abortion.
"I don’t feel I was clear enough in terms of why Juno chose to not have an abortion. It was simply because she did not want to. It was not about any type of feeling that abortion was wrong – I’m pro-choice. So for it to be interpreted as an anti-choice movie, that’s upsetting to me."
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
