Kim Ho-joon (김호준)

Debate rages on teen pregnancy in 'Jenny, Juno'

2005/02/15 | Source | Permalink |

"Lolita", a fiction 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 heated shouting matches are playing out over "Jenny, Juno", a Korean movie which depicts puppy love between minors - and an unexpected pregnancy. The exact 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-joon 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 with a 16-year-old high school girl.

Actress Moon Geun-yeong, who played the daring, cute character, was...| More

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i lik kim hye-seong ningyoo_sungi 2007-04-24 00:38:19

A Clueless Fantasy of Parenthood

2005/02/10 | Source | Permalink |

by Seung-Jae Lee


The controversial can of worms "Jenny, Juno" has finally popped its lid: the second film by director Kim Ho-joon of the famed "My Little Bride", "Jenny, Juno" was revealed for the first time at a press screening on February 1.

The movie, which depicts a 15-year-old middle school student's pregnancy and delivery, initially received a rating of "18 years or over" by the Korean Media Rating Board, but the rating was lowered to "15 years or over" after an appeal for reconsideration, triggering a fierce debate on the ethics and freedom of movie-making. Over 970,000 people have already visited the film's official website ( http://www.jj2005.com ) as of February 10, which opened to viewers less than a month ago on January 17. The website bulletin board is teeming with postings that support or denounce the film's controversial subject matter.

To begin with the conclusion, "Jenny, Juno" belies the uproar surrounding it by being calm to the point of blandness. Conf...| More

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