Lady Bird is about growing up & growing up is hard. Then, we don’t think about it because it’s over. We don’t think about the people who helped raise us, we don’t think about the places that defined us. Ultimately, we don’t reflect on our past enough because we are trained to look forward. Looking back, we are told, is not productive.
Lady Bird, if nothing else, is a unique, smart and genuine look into a young girl discovering who she is. So intelligently crafted, this movie forces you to look into a time forgotten perhaps. Your childhood and upbringing.
The places, the people, the sights, sounds and smells. Your experiences. Lady Bird confronts the ugly of family life and pressures of expectation, but so sweetly morphs it into something beautiful. Sometimes, the people who smother you, and the people that encourage you to spread your wings, are doing it for the same reason – because they care.
About mid way through, this film asks a great question: “Is attention and love the same thing?”
In Lady Bird’s case, she loved what she was trying to escape. She learned this a little late. But she still learned. And that’s what growing up is all about.
ddileo 