This past weekend thanks to
my Movie Pass Card I was able to see the film that for one month held a score
of 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes; Lady
Bird.
Lady Bird was written and directed by
Greta Gerwig; better known as an actress in such films as 20th Century Women and Frances Ha, this is neither her writing nor directorial debut. The
film stars current indie darling Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, The Grand Budapest
Hotel) as the titular character Lady Bird whose real name is Christine
McPherson. Laurie Metcalf (Television’s Roseanne)
plays Lady Bird’s mother Marion McPherson. Tracy Letts (The Big Short) is her father Larry McPherson. Beanie Feldstein (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) is Lady
Bird’s best friend Julie. Lucas Hedges (Manchester
by the Sea, and also was in the last Movie Pass film I saw Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
plays Danny O’Neill, a friend and love interest to Lady Bird. Timothee Chalamet
(Interstellar) plays Kyle, another
love interest to Lady Bird.
The
basic plot of Lady Bird is one that
has been done a million times. A girl grows up in suburbia and is unsatisfied
with life. Soon to be eighteen, she is readying herself for college and
adulthood but believes she has all of the answers figured out already. She
lives in Sacramento, California and dreams of going to school on the East
Coast. She lies to make herself look cool (first telling people she is from the
wrong side of the tracks then that she is rich and lives in a bog house) and
what looks cool changes from moment to moment, just like the boys she is
attracted to. She has a best friend but would ditch her in a second to hang
with cooler kids. She has a family that loves her but would ditch them in a
second to spend Thanksgiving with a richer family. Then at the end she realizes
what a selfish person she is and apologizes to everyone she loves and accepts
who she is as a person.
What
makes Lady Bird interesting is how it
recognizes its superficial story and plays with it and its characters allowing
it to grow as the film progresses by sprinkling little bits of details and
character throughout the film.
Lady Bird is obviously a coming of age
film that is also kind of a period piece. It takes place just after the turn of
the century. No not the 1900’s, the most recent turn of the century. Its 2002
and the media is still heavily covering the Iraq invasions resulting from the
9/11 attack on the world trade center. Sprinkled through the film we see
posters that say “Never forget” and brief conversations about terrorist
attacks. While the characters in the film are aware of these issues, they don’t
actually dictate the character’s story. Another aspect of that era is being in
the middle of the tech-boom where middle aged people having been employed for
decades lose their jobs in favor of younger “brighter” talent. Those same
people had to go interview for jobs with people half their age. There is a great scene exemplifying this that
I will talk about later.
The character of Lady Bird
has given herself this name because she is the stereotypical rebellious
teenager who wants to express herself and be cool. There is never an
explanation as to why she chose “Lady Bird” as her name because the reason is
not important. Should there have been a scene where it is explained why she
chose the name then it would lend significance and take away from the truth
realized by the end of the film. She lives with her mother and father in
suburbia and goes to a catholic school. Both of these aspects feed the
stereotype of all catholic girls being rebels and all suburbanite children
wishing they could trade their comfort for the “culture” of a big city. Lady
Bird even mentions how she dreams of attending an “East Coast Liberal Arts School”
in order to get culture. This comment itself displays her foolishness. She
refers to these type of schools as though it doesn’t matter which one because
as the stereotype goes any one of them will give her what she “needs.” Living
with her and the parents is Miguel and his girlfriend Shelly. Now, Miguel is
clearly Hispanic living with these obviously Non-Hispanic people so while it’s
never said, he is clearly adopted. Miguel and Shelly are Berkeley graduates
that work in a grocery store. Because they graduated from Berkeley in the early
2000’s they have that look with their dark make-up and facial piercings being
very antiestablishment; even though Miguel has an engineering degree. They are
also stereotyped characters at this point in the film because Lady Bird herself
only sees them as such. The way she views her parents is stereotypical as well.
Her mother is overbearing and her father is the good guy that understands her. In
order to help her chances of getting into a good school, Lady Bird joins the
theater program at her school. There she meets and starts dating the star of
the shows Danny. Danny comes from a well-to-do family and has light skin and
light hair and is very handsome in the traditional sense. He is very respectful
of Lady Bird and doesn’t push her to do anything she doesn’t want to; so they
just make out a lot. And in true stereotypical fashion, Lady Bird finds out
Danny is gay. She then sets her eyes on a musician with dark hair and seemingly
old soul; Kyle. Kyle only smokes rolled cigarettes, Kyle believes the
government is oppressive, Kyle doesn’t believe in money; all of the things a
young “rebellious” girl would find interesting.
As the
film progresses we see growth in Lady Bird at the same time the film itself
grows. On the way to prom with Kyle and the “cool” kids, Kyle wants to skip
Prom and Lady Bird at first goes along. Within a minute she declares that she
actually does want to go to prom. So she finds her true best friend and they go
together. Throughout the film we have seen Julie in brief scenes and know that
she is smarter and more talented than Lady Bird (amazing singing voice). We
also see that Julie has a crush on her math teacher, though it is never
expressed overtly. At the moment Lady Bird goes to see Julie we see Julie
crying. Rather than explain that she is lonely she just says people cry. Lady
Bird’s visit is exactly what Julie needs; Lady Bird just being a real friend.
The next example of this is at one point when Danny goes to find Lady Bird and
begs her not to tell anyone that he is gay. He breaks down crying and Lady Bird
holds him. She tells him that she is there for him. The performance of Lucas
Hedges is amazing and really adds depth to the character who was seemingly
going to be a stereotype. He is the first we see make this change. Next we see
her father the strong breadwinner has lost his job and now is no longer the
breadwinner of the family. Trying to get a new job he has gone back to school
and in interviews tries so hard to sell himself to people more than half his
age. At one such interview he sees Miguel, his son, interviewing for the same
job. At this moment we see Miguel has surpassed his stereotype as well by
removing his piercings and pulling back his long hair and wearing a suit;
taking on the appearance of a grown up and the establishment. In this moment
the father straightens Miguel’s tie and wishes him luck. Miguel gets the job
and now the child has become the man. The best is saved for last in Lady Bird’s
mother.
At one
point Lady Bird asks her mother if she actually likes her. The mother responds
with the typical “I love you” but does not say that she actually likes her
daughter. I believe the implication is supposed to be that the mother, while
overbearing, does in fact love her daughter and will be proven correct in her behavior
and forgive Lady Bird for all of her transgressions. This assumption was completely
thrown out the window with two scenes. A huge secret is revealed and the mother
refuses to speak to Lady Bird. Lady Bird breaks down and asks her mother just
to talk to her. The mother says nothing, does not even acknowledge her and you
can see this really hurts Lady Bird’s feelings. But remember, Lady Bird hurt
her mother’s feelings first and she is real person who cannot so easily forgive
and forget. The last time we see Lady Bird and her parents together in the
film, the mother is driving Lady Bird to the airport and while she they are
speaking the words have only logic. Lady Bird asks if her mother will be
parking the car to which the mother replies that they cannot afford parking and
it doesn’t matter anyways because they don’t let non-passengers to the boarding
gates; a logical if not cold response. Then as she drives away she begins to
break down and cry and heads back to the terminal realizing how foolish she was
being.
I think
through this rambling I have figured what I truly enjoyed about Lady Bird. It starts as a stereotype
with characters that fit that mold, then as the character grows, so does her
perception of the people in her life and thus the film itself.
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