On April 8, the makers of Juno are hosting a live read of the movie’s script as a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood. The Los Angeles reading will feature an all-female cast, including original Juno stars Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner. The hit 2007 movie followed the story of a teenager who gives up her baby for adoption following an unplanned pregnancy.
However, Juno director Jason Reitman denies that the movie promoted a culture of life. According to Entertainment Weekly, Reitman wanted the reading to “resolve one point of debate” about the film: that it was about choice, not life.
On the bright side, perhaps the reading will unwittingly send a camouflaged pro-life message to an audience that needs it most.
Reitman credited the 2016 presidential election for the live read, which EW described as “a first show of many in a new Resistance-inspired lineup” which will later include “topics such as immigration and the fake news epidemic.”
“I wanted to find a way to contribute to the causes that have never felt more important,” Reitman admitted to EW. “It occurred to me that I have this show that could be used as a tool to not only raise money for causes that need the help, but could serve as an opportunity for a group like Planned Parenthood to connect with an audience who can be presented with new ideas, or even an action item.”
By starring only females, he hoped to show his support for women (the ones already born, that is).
“Considering how much this election has done against women and what Planned Parenthood has done for women I thought it would be cool to hear this script with an all-female voice,” he added.
On Twitter, Ellen Page, who stars as the pregnant teenager, expressed her excitement for the reading.
Page isn’t new to supporting America’s largest abortion provider. In 2014, she donned a T-shirt designed by Lena Dunham in support of Planned Parenthood.
