what is the point of lady bird movie

The movie, Lady Bird, changed my life when it first came out two years ago, and it feels even more relevant today. This coming of age film addresses a lot of topics that we might all be dealing with right now: arguing with parents, applying for college, feeling out of place, falling in love, etc. Saoirse Ronan plays Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a senior at a Catholic High School. Lady Bird is desperate to leave her hometown of Sacramento, which she has dubbed the “Midwest of California,” and head to the East Coast, where she believes culture lives.

The film is centered around the complex yet loving relationship between Lady Bird and her mother, portrayed by Laurie Metcalf. The theme of class struggle is the main point of tension between Lady Bird and her mother. Lady Bird describes herself as someone who “lives on the wrong side of the tracks,” amidst her wealthy peers at school. There are few films that truly explore mother-daughter relationships, especially ones that can resonate with an audience through the power of empathy.

This movie changed my life when it first came out two years ago, and it feels even more relevant and powerful today. To be completely honest, most of the teen movies of the past decade have been kind of cheesy. I haven’t found any ones that I’ve been able to empathize with or appreciate. Lady Bird is the complete opposite because it is extremely sophisticated in the way it is vulnerable to the audience. It does not shy away from awkward, heart-breaking, or unpleasant scenes.

The film does not end in a particularly satisfying way; not everything is wrapped up into a neat little bow. However, the lesson that Lady Bird learns is one that we can all take into our own lives: appreciating where we come from. Like Lady Bird, I too want to leave home for New York. However, in wanting that escape, I have sometimes forgotten to enjoy Minnesota. As teenagers, we are all so close to becoming adults, going off to college, and “starting” our own lives that we forget that there is beauty in living in the present.

Gerwig doesn’t sugarcoat the McPhersons’ refined annoyances; instead, she demonstrates how they also channel Lady Bird. After Larry loses his job, Marion chastises Lady Bird for being demanding. In an intelligent but immature outburst, Lady Bird demands that Marion give her “a number”—that is, the amount it costs to raise her. She says, “I’m gonna get older and make a lot of money and write you a check and never speak to you again.” (Marion’s response is remarkably composed yet savage: “I don’t think you’ll land a position that good.” Afterwards, Marion tells Lady Bird, “Money isn’t life’s report card,” discussing Larry’s depression and attempting to separate it from his job insecurity. Being successful doesn’t mean that you’re happy. ” Lady Bird responds, “But he’s not happy. It’s a wise exchange: money doesn’t ensure happiness, but it also doesn’t prevent it. Conversely, Lady Bird has an idea of who she is—a vision of style and unrestricted movement—that will require financial support to develop and maintain. In her sour retorts, there’s a ring of truth.

The title itself tells a tale in and of itself. When asked her given name, Christine responds, “Lady Bird,” adding, “It was given by myself to myself.” Her intense battle to go by this name is a battle over what her parents gave her or what she received from them. Laurie Metcalf plays Marion McPherson, a nurse who works long hours and appears to handle most of the housework. She is also very honest about the struggles she and her family face, which causes her to have a tense relationship with her daughter. Above all, Lady Bird wants to move out of Sacramento and attend college on the East Coast, preferably in Connecticut or New Hampshire, where authors reside in the woods, if not in New York. Marion claims that the family cannot afford for her to attend a public school, so Lady Bird begs her laid-back and humorous father, Larry (Tracy Letts), to submit an application for financial assistance on her behalf without disclosing the information to Marion. He does so, but when the secret is revealed, it seems to permanently damage the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother.

In “Lady Bird,” Gerwig narrates a loosely autobiographical tale of a young woman in Sacramento coming of age between the fall of 2002 and the fall of 2003. The story is cognate with very general aspects of the protagonist’s life. Like Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (played by Saoirse Ronan), the lead character in the movie, Gerwig was raised in Sacramento, went to a Catholic high school, and then attended college in New York. But rather than the setup, what makes “Lady Bird” so deeply personal are the little things—the characters’ emotional worlds, the whimsical and elegant touches that the author uses to create it.

Throughout the entire movie, there is a noticeable sense of restraint, and freedom—both Gerwig’s and the actors’—is the price of that clarity. “Lady Bird” has a bold, unique, and intimate text and theme, but her texture and style are distinctly conventional. The majority of the movie is essentially just images of actors performing; they do it with care and skill, vigor and imagination, but they don’t bring any more uniqueness to the tone or temperament of the picture than Gerwig does to the majority of its direction. Her focus on the subtle looks that characters exchange gives the dialogue and action additional psychological and comedic depth. However, “Lady Bird,” a film that pays such a great deal of attention to a particular location and sense of place, seems to occupy it very sparingly, presenting glimpses of notable locations that are not particularly close to it. The film is almost entirely devoid of landscapes, has few intermissions where anything noteworthy is happening other than vision and motion, and lacks even the characters’ regular dialogue and strolling in certain locations. (The tendency is evident right away when Lady Bird and Julie are shown touring their ideal homes; they appear almost cut off from the surrounding streets.) It also lacks narrative vistas because the scenes are trimmed closely to fit the characters and actors, giving them little opportunity to move around, breathe, or simply be. (As I watched the movie, I longed to see the interactions between the characters right before and after each scene change.) ).

However, two scenes that take place toward the end of “Lady Bird” are among the most intensely directed scenes in recent memory, and they strongly imply that the director’s imagination extends beyond the film’s main mode of realistic drama. Let’s just say that one is a scene in which Marion drives alone and the other is a scene in which Lady Bird is experiencing flashbacks in order to prevent spoilers. These moments stand out greatly as cinematic music because they are made up of a variety of elements, are rich in subjectivity, and use straightforward yet daring editing techniques to evoke drama and emotion. The movie’s most thrilling sequences are these few minutes; they hint at the broader and more liberated inspirations of the directing career that, if there’s any justice in the industry, Gerwig is launched on, even more so than the copious and generously imagined drama that gives rise to them.

When this film debuted two years ago, it completely transformed my life, and it still feels incredibly powerful and relevant today. To be perfectly honest, the majority of teen films in the last ten years have been fairly corny. None that I could relate to or find admirable have come to mind. The total opposite is Lady Bird, which is incredibly sophisticated in the way it exposes itself to the viewer. It does not avoid uncomfortable, painful, or awkward situations.

When Lady Bird came out two years ago, it completely changed my life, and it seems even more relevant now. Many issues that we may all be facing at the moment are covered in this coming-of-age movie, including arguing with parents, applying to colleges, feeling uncomfortable, falling in love, etc. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a senior at a Catholic high school, is portrayed by Saoirse Ronan. Lady Bird is itching to move to the East Coast, where she feels culture thrives, from her hometown of Sacramento, which she has dubbed the “Midwest of California.”

The movie’s conclusion is not especially satisfying; not everything is neatly wrapped up in a bow. But we can all apply the lesson Lady Bird learns to our own lives: having gratitude for our origins. Like Lady Bird, I wish to move to New York and leave my hometown. But sometimes, in my desire to get away, I’ve forgotten to enjoy Minnesota. Teenagers often overlook the beauty of living in the moment because we are so close to growing up, attending college, and “starting” our own lives.

The film revolves around the nuanced and affectionate bond between Laurie Metcalf’s character Lady Bird and her mother. The primary source of conflict between Lady Bird and her mother is the theme of class struggle. Among her affluent schoolmates, Lady Bird identifies as someone who “lives on the wrong side of the tracks.” Few movies genuinely examine mother-daughter relationships, particularly those that elicit strong feelings of empathy from viewers.

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