What's All the Fuss About 'Lady Bird?'

With dozens of award nominations, 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, “I Heart Lady Bird” buttons popping up everywhere and even themed school parties, Lady Bird has sparked something of a cult movement. It’s true, Greta Gerwig’s debut feature has a lot going for it: a spotless cast, a fun soundtrack, a soft early noughties aesthetic, lots of heart and humour. Not to mention it passes the Bechdel test with flying colours, a feat that still manages to be remarkable, even in an era where issues of gender inequality are front and centre of our news cycle.

I just don’t get it. I wanted to love Lady Bird so badly; I mean, this is my STUFF, guys. Maybe that’s precisely my problem — and forgive me if this sounds insufferably pretentious, but I’ve seen this movie so. many. times. Have the people who are so obsessed with it seen a coming-of-age flick before? Because that’s what Lady Bird is: a coming-of-age movie that, for me, has nothing on Billy Elliot, The Way, Way Back or Last Summer. Sure, it gets a lot of things right — female friendships, teenage sexuality, family dynamics — but all of that had so little impact on me, I came out of it like, “okay, whatever, I guess.” I’ve heard it described as “personal,” so it could be that it just didn’t resonate with my life. That said, I find the best movies always do, however remote from my own experience (Moonlight, Lion, Hacksaw Ridge, essentially the entire 2017 Oscars lineup, RIP).

Aside from everybody else being so much less knowledgeable than me and just a whole lot more basic, another explanation I have for Lady Bird’s success is this: my friend who works in the film industry (hi Andrew, love u boo) cited its “superb directing,” “quick editing” and “set design.” It’s not that these aren’t valid points, but they just aren’t things that your average moviegoer (that’s me, I’m speaking for myself) will pick up on, which is exactly my issue with film critique and why I’m projecting my rubbish opinions into thin air here. Cinema isn’t for the critics; it’s for the people, to change their lives, keep them company, carry them, broaden their minds and help them escape all at once. Lady Bird may have done this for many, although perhaps not so much for the Academy, but it really didn’t do it for me.

6/10