Ladybird (2017) directed by Greta Gerwig, is one I have been wanting to write about for a long time. I saved it because I knew I had a lot to say, and I think I finally can put my feelings into words about this film.
I went into Ladybird not knowing what to expect. I did not know much about the film beforehand, just that my friend had heavily suggested I go see it when it came out at our local theater for indie films.
Around a year ago, my dad and I went to see it and I kid you not, I fell in love.
This film centers around a senior in high school navigating the ups and downs of her final year of high school, while focusing majorly on her relationship with her mother. They are very similar people: "loving, strong-willed and deeply opinionated" (Google).
Marion McPherson is a nurse at a psych hospital trying to keep her low-income family afloat.
Anyone who has been through any of these major plot details will be able to resonate with Ladybird. She struggles in finding the place that she belongs. She wants to stand out, but also fit in. She tries to find a happy medium.
Now I, have gone through it all too. I think that's why this film means so much to me.
Auditioning for the school musicals, not having my license in high school, dating, trying to find my solid group of friends, struggling to figure out which college I would go to, the whole shebang.
Nominated for Best Picture in the 2018 Oscars, Greta Gerwig was the fifth woman ever to be nominated for best director that year, after Ladybird being her first film.
Now, Greta Gerwig focused solely on not making Ladybird a typical teen romance film, simply because they can be problematic.
"They revolve around one romantic interest; they inhabit a reality where there's one right person. But this is not the movie that Lady Bird is in; it's the movie she wishes she was in. She has all these romantic projections on her love interests because you know that girl watched Titanic. She believes he's supposed to die for her. I'm interested in the teenage fantasy life that comes from film but that is not what's playing out here," said Gerwig. She wanted the film to be realistic, which is something I admire.
Gerwig also pulled from her own life, making the film set in Sacramento, California. She admits that there are "pieces of her," in multiple characters and parts of the film.
Now, I highly recommend you watch the film and find those pieces. Greta Gerwig is a very inspiring female director, and she is one I really look up to. If you are interested, Ladybird is free to stream with Amazon Prime!
