If for some mad reason you haven’t already seen Lady Bird, go watch it right now
‘Lady Bird’ which has been out since 2017 is one of Greta Gerwig's greatest triumphs. In this partly autobiographical coming-of-age tale for a young woman in Sacramento, set between the years of 2002 to 2003, Gerwig portrays very generic aspects of her life. The film's protagonist Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a high school student attending a Catholic school in Sacramento who later moves to New York for college. The film’s magic doesn’t come from its storyline but from its depths. The simplicity of the plot allows for a great level of character insight, the emotion and quirkiness throughout don’t go unmissed.
The strong sense of personality from its protagonist is admirable, when it comes to her name we learn its origin early on as she’s asked for her given name, “It was given to me, by me”. We see the frustration she faces when she’s called Christine, the name given by her mother Marion McPherson (Laurie Metcalf). Marion is a full time nurse, who works double shifts to keep up with financial pressures at home. It would have been easy for Gerwig to simply nod to the mother having worries, however she not only interprets it, she plays it out. The fact we see Marion at work and at things as mundane as driving home, it makes us realise she too is a person to be seen. Her tough exterior and constant frankness with Lady Bird appears harsh but throughout the film, you grasp a true understanding of the mother. Her relationship with her father appears healthier, we see her confiding in him about her desire to leave Sacramento to go to college on the East Coast. He helps her with her financial aid application but when it gets back to her mother, it drives a further wedge between Lady Bird and Marion.
Lady Bird, like any adolescent, faces the unavoidable struggles that come with friendships, relationships, self image and discovering who she wants to be. Through two short term relationships, she learns a lot and by the time she goes to college she is more sure of her identity and what she expects. The film doesn’t shy away from the fact the family dynamic has shifted due to financial stress. In fact, it seems all of the characters' worlds revolve around money, the two sides of the track couldn’t be clearer. Herself and her best friend Julie, who lives in a humble apartment with her single mother contrast significantly to the likes of Danny, Kyle and Jenna.
