Ladybird (2017) is a coming-of-age film about Christine “Ladybird” McPherson, a high school senior, who has a tumultuous relationship with her mother and dreams of moving away to New York for university. Greta Gerwig highlights her personal connection to the film in an interview “Joan Didion is from Sacramento […] it was spiritually seismic […] it was the first time I experienced an artist’s eye looking at my home.” . This is evident in Ladybird’s love for her hometown yet longing for a more “culturally significant” place might represent this part of Gerwig’s life. These details make the film genuine and memorable rather than a superficial and template story about self-growth
Even though the film has a typical storyline to portray teenagehood and its transition towards adult life, I find this film special. It encapsulates the zeitgeist of 2003 California, but also involves themes, feelings, and conversations that everyone has experienced in their teenage years – those full of confusion and heightened emotions. I first saw this film when it came out in cinemas, when I was around 15. I remember I mostly resonated with the main character, which is quite different now on a second viewing. Not only do the teenage characters feel more awkward and endearing when watching it the second time, but the parents’ deeper motivations make more sense, meaning that it ages quite well. Furthermore, I now feel that I have more of an outsider’s perspective view on the film, allowing me to appreciate it more in capturing its subject of coming of age. For example, you might recognise the same struggles Ladybird goes through, which are a large variety, in yourself, but with this outside view, you can feel a sense of hope, since you are now most likely past those milestones and worries she experiences. Therefore, I think it can be this insightful even on first viewing as a young adult.
Next to the serious themes, the film is a light-hearted drama littered with playful moments, such as the characterization of the teenagers. This mostly comes from the fact that to them everything is overly serious and sort of grandiose. For example, Kyle, another student in Ladybird’s class, and also love interest seems very intellectual to Ladybird, someone who is finally also interested in culture and “important things” – however he comes off as pretentious and a try-hard as he sits alone at a party reading a book. But the beauty of this film is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, creating an array of similar humorous situations.
Ladybird’s central theme is the theme of direction, specifically relationships with home changing as you move away, with home containing both people and places. Direction could be interpreted both as literally – moving away – and figuratively – working out what your identity is.This shows most at the end of the film, when she moves away to New York and now misses everything she took for granted or hated at home. In order to regain a sense of balance or comfort in a strange environment, she returns to symbols of familiarity. It’s a touching and peaceful couple of scenes after the tumultuous rest of the movie. Agan, I think many people can recognise themselves in these, if going for studies or just when travelling, when you get a new perspective on your life. Despite how the movie here slows down with pace, I do not think it’s anticlimactic, because Ladybird makes peace with her family and closes the chapter of Sacramento in her life.
Directed by: Greta Gerwig
Ladybird (2017) is a coming-of-age film about Christine “Ladybird” McPherson, a high school senior, who has a tumultuous relationship with her mother and dreams of moving away to New York for university. Greta Gerwig highlights her personal connection to the film in an interview “Joan Didion is from Sacramento […] it was spiritually seismic […] it was the first time I experienced an artist’s eye looking at my home.” . This is evident in Ladybird’s love for her hometown yet longing for a more “culturally significant” place might represent this part of Gerwig’s life. These details make the film genuine and memorable rather than a superficial and template story about self-growth
Even though the film has a typical storyline to portray teenagehood and its transition towards adult life, I find this film special. It encapsulates the zeitgeist of 2003 California, but also involves themes, feelings, and conversations that everyone has experienced in their teenage years – those full of confusion and heightened emotions. I first saw this film when it came out in cinemas, when I was around 15. I remember I mostly resonated with the main character, which is quite different now on a second viewing. Not only do the teenage characters feel more awkward and endearing when watching it the second time, but the parents’ deeper motivations make more sense, meaning that it ages quite well. Furthermore, I now feel that I have more of an outsider’s perspective view on the film, allowing me to appreciate it more in capturing its subject of coming of age. For example, you might recognise the same struggles Ladybird goes through, which are a large variety, in yourself, but with this outside view, you can feel a sense of hope, since you are now most likely past those milestones and worries she experiences. Therefore, I think it can be this insightful even on first viewing as a young adult.
Next to the serious themes, the film is a light-hearted drama littered with playful moments, such as the characterization of the teenagers. This mostly comes from the fact that to them everything is overly serious and sort of grandiose. For example, Kyle, another student in Ladybird’s class, and also love interest seems very intellectual to Ladybird, someone who is finally also interested in culture and “important things” – however he comes off as pretentious and a try-hard as he sits alone at a party reading a book. But the beauty of this film is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, creating an array of similar humorous situations.
Ladybird’s central theme is the theme of direction, specifically relationships with home changing as you move away, with home containing both people and places. Direction could be interpreted both as literally – moving away – and figuratively – working out what your identity is.This shows most at the end of the film, when she moves away to New York and now misses everything she took for granted or hated at home. In order to regain a sense of balance or comfort in a strange environment, she returns to symbols of familiarity. It’s a touching and peaceful couple of scenes after the tumultuous rest of the movie. Agan, I think many people can recognise themselves in these, if going for studies or just when travelling, when you get a new perspective on your life. Despite how the movie here slows down with pace, I do not think it’s anticlimactic, because Ladybird makes peace with her family and closes the chapter of Sacramento in her life.
Directed by: Greta Gerwig
