Anyone who’s seen Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” can easily say, “that’s me.”
That’s because this coming-of-age story of a young woman is our stories. Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a strong-willed 17-year old high school senior who’s on the
verge of finding herself. She’s somehow a fish out of water in her hometown. Although it’s not a new and unfamiliar territory to her, Sacramento felt like the wrong place for her. She desperately wants to “live through something” and that meant moving away for college. But financial woes stand in the way. Unlike the norms, her mom, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), is the first person to discourage Lady Bird from going for her dreams and even undermine her ability to get into a university.
The opening scene perfectly foreshadowed the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship: sleeping closely together in one bed and then Lady Bird telling her mom that she doesn’t have to fix the bed, to which her mom replies the she wants to. The exchange shows Marion’s natural maternal instinct of caring for her spunky daughter.
Gerwig was great at capturing the raw emotions that come with parental relationships that are as volatile as the McPherson ladies’. On the drive home where both were
emotionally charged after listening to Steinbeck, the conversation quickly turned from being loving to highly disturbing when Lady Bird expressed her desire to study in New
York, to which her mom strongly opposed to.
The heated exchange reflected the same way most teenagers desperately try to get their stern, conventional parents to look things through their perspective. Just like how most teens despair in their futile attempts to reason out to parents, Lady Bird, unable to win the argument, chose to throw herself out of the moving car, much to her mother’s horror.
It was the funniest.
The good news is the movie keeps on delivering treats like this. The story flows naturally. It doesn’t feel stretched nor crammed (even if the movie is just 94 minutes).
We’ve seen Lady Bird unfold right before our very eyes–from her first crush to one devastating heartbreak after another to her awakening after making some wrong choices.
These choices are what push the characters forward and right into our hearts. Everyone was flawed yet they are still endearing. Yes, even Shelly. Gerwig has written each character beautifully viewers didn’t hate on. In fact, we were eager to see them get what they want. Despite Lady Bird’s fits–there were lots of them–we still want her to get what she wants. Even when she cheated on her Math grades and insulted an abortion survivor in public. I guess that’s because we all see ourselves in Christine, Marion,
and everyone else in the movie.
In the end, we’ve seen them redeem themselves one way or another.
It’s not very often that we encounter a movie that’s so simply made yet talks about the complexities of life. Although told through the perspective of a feisty, stubborn, but
kind-hearted girl, “Lady Bird” is everyone of us. That’s probably why it’s such a success and everyone just can’t help feel nothing but love for it.
It’s like watching a reel of old family videos–unadulterated clips that show every aspect of our relationships, the good, bad and the ugly.
“Lady Bird” will make you want to talk to your mom, dad, ex-best friend, ex-lover, brother or sister just for the sake of letting them know their existence, at the very
least, is appreciated by you.
Most importantly, it lets us know that it is okay to want more. That we can be foolish, bitchy, occasionally selfish as long as we don’t forget the important things. And
that, just like what Sister Joan said, by showing attention we are showing love.
Photo credits: Universal Pictures
