Which suave teen is that, exactly? And how do "liberal types" (as opposed to "liberals," I suppose) invoke her? Do they do so often, or only when I'm not listening?

This article reflected a very odd set of ideas about what "liberals" think and want. For example, the implication that it goes against the preconceptions of "snooty liberals" that Juno's "red-state heartland family" is not an intact one (by which I assume the writer meant that she lives with a stepmother rather than a biological mother) is absurd. Liberals tend to know that the divorce rate is higher in red states than in blue states.

My guess is that the article misrepresented the viewpoints of quite a few conservatives as well, but I'm sure they can speak for themselves.

What Hurlbut appears to means is the concept of a worldly wise 16 year old girl able to make mature, sensible choices about sex and its consequences, who should be left alone to enjoy her own sexuality. Think of Cher Horowitz as a comic example. She's contrasting it with the equally overdrawn concept of a 16 year old girl as a vulnerable, hormonal naif who needs to be protected against those who would exploit her worst impulses.

What annoyed me even more was that Juno was set in Minnesota, which, last time I checked, was never a "red state" on the big electoral map. It went for the Democratic candidate in both 2000 and 2004.

Either this reviewer wasn't paying much attention to the cues during the film, or he's using a lazy, coastal elitist shorthand to talk about the "heartland" - regardless of the facts on the ground. Lame.