Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing? Love and attention?
High school is one of those times in our lives that we never forget. The awkward navigation of puberty, self-consciousness, and tumultuous interpersonal relationships are the baseline for what become our formative years. Trying to figure out who we are and at the same time, keep up on school work and planning the trajectory of the next phase of our life. This can be daunting, but Greta Gerwig was up to the task in her solo directorial debut, Lady Bird.
Lady Bird follows Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, played by Saoirse Ronan, as she finishes up her senior year in high school. Her combative relationship with her mother, Laurie Metcalf, causes the primary source of tension throughout the film. The McPherson family’s low-income status reduces Lady Bird’s post high school options and is a major source of stress for her mother. With out-of-state college out of reach, Lady Bird is forced to deal with her ambivalent feelings towards Sacramento and the lackluster prospect of city college.
This authentic portrayal of high school life, has an honest realism that few coming of age movies ever achieve. It has the quirks and awkwardness reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite while still anchored in reality.
