“Anybody who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.” These first words presented to us in the film Lady Bird encapsulate the heart of the movie. Director Greta Gerwig not only uses this as the first clip we see, but also introduces us to the main character’s contempt for Sacramento that shapes much of the film’s significance. Recently released in 2017, Lady Bird has quickly become a contemporary classic in the coming of age genre with its subtle realities, and this frank and direct quote gives the viewer a preview of the candid story that is to come. This blatantly honest statement about her hometown from American author Joan Didion sets up Lady Bird as a film that is not your average coming of age movie, and spoiler alert, Lady Bird is anything but predictable.
Right as the film begins, we are instantly inserted into the rocky situation that is Christine (“Lady Bird”) and her mother Marion’s relationship. They are driving home from a college trip listening to an audiobook of Grapes of Wrath, both tearing up at the ending. A shared heartfelt moment soon turns into chaos as Lady Bird impulsively throws herself from the moving car when a heated argument over college erupts. Strained and humorously chaotic, “it’s a jolt of an opening that establishes Lady Bird’s contempt for her family; the rest of the movie elaborates on it” (Groff).
Starring Saoirse Ronan (Christine), Laurie Metcalf (Marion), and Beanie Feldstein (Julie), Lady Bird’s narrative follows the classic coming of age formula we all know too well, but in a refreshingly different way. The film “captures the ever-ebbing and ever-flowing current that is maturity. An adolescent thinks she’s mastered it all; an adult realizes maybe she still hasn’t”
(Jacobs). This familiar yet unique storyline of a mother-daughter relationship in a teenage film differs from its companions in the genre because of the attention to detail in this dually complex and simple dynamic.
The film is shot in a way that feels like a memory, flashing the greatest hits of a high school girl’s senior year, along with all the highs and lows that come with it. Director Greta Gerwig “makes otherwise mundane elements funny and memorable by employing simple tricks like camera placement and positioning of the actors. Scenes like these are aplenty and they flow so well, and look so natural it almost feels improvised on the spot” (Fadnavis). This technique contrasts with the style of filming in other coming of age movies such as those directed by teen film icon John Hughes.
Lady Bird experiences all the rituals found in movies about adolescence.
At one point (she) declares that ‘the learning part of high school is over.’ And, yet, there is still much to be absorbed when it comes to losing one’s virginity, cheating on quizzes, settling for being in the chorus of a drama club production, ditching a guy who clearly has no special feelings for you, breaking up and making up with your bosom buddy and finding out that smoking and drinking are not all that they’re cracked up to be (Wloszczyna).
All these events considered to be a rite of passage for a teenager can be found in any film in the coming of age genre, and Lady Bird stays true to this aspect by reflecting many of its predecessors.
Lady Bird fits into the coming of age genre and pays homage to the iconic teenage films that have come before it. There are subtle similarities to Pretty in Pink throughout, with two pink-hued frocks and a pair of suitors along with a soundtrack filled with pop oldies. (Wloszczyna) Lady Bird wrestles with similar topics to those of other coming of age movies, but to a higher and sometimes more relatable extent. While The Breakfast Club’s stereotypical leading lady played by Molly Ringwald must handle her own insecurities as a high school girl,
Lady Bird must not only wrestle with her own issues, but also those of her parents and their place in society. (Groff) These parallels show the similarities between the two films, but also highlight the differences.
All coming of age movies revolve around self-discovery. What makes Lady Bird so captivating is Christine, a free spirit who gives herself the name “Lady Bird'' and constantly asserts her individuality. Whether it is singing at the top of her lungs in an audition for a school play, or ditching the lousy ‘cool kids’ for her best friend, Christine is completely true to herself. “Bedecked with a messy blood-red dye job, a smattering of acne and thrift-shop chic sensibilities, she is thoughtful and impulsive, sharp and naïve in equal measure” (Wloszczyna). She is strong-willed and loving, sensitive and opinionated, and her strong personality holds true all throughout the film as she experiences her last year of high school.
Lady Bird breaks stereotypes often set in coming of age movies with the actions of its main character. “Lady Bird regards neither romantic breakdown as a treatise on her general worth: how she values herself is almost entirely self-determined, a bullish sense of her potential” (Williams). The focus on individuality and the underlying layer of feminism make Lady Bird a refreshing and modern take on the typical coming of age narrative.
The film stands out among others in the genre because it addresses realities and issues many other films have failed to do in a truly relatable way. While many coming-of-age stories are based on simply getting into a college such as Cameron Sawyer’s Tim Timmerman, Lady Bird wrestles with the actual issues that occur as families reconcile the costs of higher education and the rifts that come with it. (Groff)
The impact Lady Bird has had on regular audiences and critics alike has earned the film multiple nominations and awards. Gerwig has created a film not only concerning the messy
melodrama of youth but also about the melancholy of an age when we often cannot see our own limitations. “It is a perfect storm of innocence lost, from hoarding Communion wafers at school and debating the quality of clove cigarettes to virginal trysts and incessant criticism from peers and parents alike.” (Jacobs) People have connected with Lady Bird in ways other coming of age movies have not been able to. “In Lady Bird, on movie screens from Sacramento to Brooklyn, women and girls are seeing themselves reflected in all their warts and glory: Mothers whose love for their daughters has at times filtered messily through envy and resentment” (Berman).
With its modern take on the typical elements of the classic teenage movie, Lady Bird can be viewed as a feminist version of the genre tropes associated with teen movies. The film “has more in common with John Hughes’s hormonal outings in the 1980s than the 90s second wave (Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You), or even more contemporary takes on the genre (Easy A, The To Do List)” (Williams).
Lady Bird has made a name for itself within the coming of age genre as a groundbreaking achievement. It is truly an accomplishment to create something fresh in the often repetitive ‘coming of age’ genre. Gerwig breaks through as a director and has such a grasp on the story’s soul, something that is rare to see a filmmaker accomplish. (Fadnavis)
Lady Bird reveals the real and non sugar coated version of growing up. Everyone has an opinion of where they grew up and where they come from. Lady Bird starts her senior year despising Sacramento and its people, only to go off to college realizing she left a place that she truly loved. A coming of age movie often follows this narrative, but not in the way Lady Bird does. There is not always a conclusive ending wrapped up and tied with a bow, and sometimes you end up in the same place you began with a different outlook. That is the truth about coming of age, and that is what makes Lady Bird stand out among the flock of teenage movies.