I thought Lady Bird was an interesting film and I think it not only showed an authentic Mother daughter relationship but an authentic parent child relationship. I see this in the way that children almost always rebel especially in the ages of 13-18 right in the age range of Lady Bird. Kids hate their parents because during this time period in that they don’t know how to process emotions and everything going on with their body’s as they are being bombarded with hormones. It’s not until later in life or once we get that true escape we want that we realize that what our parents were saying and come to respect and understand them and that continues throughout life.
The film oddly also reminded me of Bruce Springsteen music. In that in his early career he wrote about wanting to leave your hometown and escape the life that is there for you. He writes lines like “It’s a town full of losers and I’m pulling out of here to win” or in the title “Born to Run”. Just like how Lady Bird was desperate to leave Sacramento and go to the east coast. She was leaving her loser town and going off to win in a more cultured environment. Springsteen then goes on to sing songs about being back in his hometown and how special that place is to us or regretting on never setting things right between parents and children. IN songs like “My Hometown” a song about loving your town despite the bad things and being able to see the glory of it always and the song “My Father’s House” which is about a man who has a dream about running to his old house he grew up in to see his father and set things right with him finally but when he decides to go there his father doesn’t live there anymore. This I think relates to the end of the film when lady bird calls her mom and apologizes with truth because she realizes she needs her mom in her life and in the part of how the nun says Lady Bird writes about Sacramento very glowingly.
Finally, I think this was a great film that focused on the relationship of a mother and daughter during the most trying time of any parent child relationship. They both say and do things to each other that are terrible and usually in response to the other and only done to hurt one another. The film as done by a woman has defiantly a stronger perspective of this kind of relationship and coming of age story for a young woman.
Parent- child relationships are very hard. Speaking from experience, teenage girls are hard to deal with. Having been one and raised one, years 15-20 are the worst. I actually don’t think Ladybird’s rebellion lasted long enough. it was like she had a two month tantrum and then snapped out of it. I like your reference to Bruce Springsteen.
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That’s an excellent point about Bruce Springsteen music, and I don’t think it’s odd at all. Springsteen was from New Jersey, but it’s still really much the same concept: an audience that’s solidly blue collar and doing okay but chafing under expectations. Lady Bird’s life was neither really privileged nor really disadvantaged. Sometimes it’s hard to find purpose from a life like that.
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