“LADY BIRD” IS HELLA BAY AREA
Photo credit: A24
Puka shell necklaces abound.
Watching Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird sent me through a roller coaster of emotions. I felt PTSD at the frustrations of applying to college. Embarrassment on behalf of the main character, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, when she learns some painful lessons only naive young heartbreak can teach us. I felt a combination of chagrin and nostalgia when Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash Into Me” was played on repeat as a moping-around-song. The overwhelming feeling I had, though, was that this was probably the best representation of being a high schooler in Northern California that I have ever seen on screen.
Gerwig is from Sacramento and managed to capture what for me felt like the spirit of the mundaneness of being a high schooler here. What I loved about Lady Bird is that while it was dramatic, the events of the film could be experienced by any teenager anywhere. There were so many eerily accurate details that gave it such a genuine quality, it really felt like home. Puka shell necklaces abounded, people were gifted cars that were WAY too expensive for anyone not old enough to vote to be driving, amidst constant discussion over which UCs one might get into.
Gerwig is from Sacramento and managed to capture what for me felt like the spirit of the mundaneness of being a high schooler here. What I loved about Lady Bird is that while it was dramatic, the events of the film could be experienced by any teenager anywhere. There were so many eerily accurate details that gave it such a genuine quality, it really felt like home. Puka shell necklaces abounded, people were gifted cars that were WAY too expensive for anyone not old enough to vote to be driving, amidst constant discussion over which UCs one might get into.
The storyline itself is also fantastic. Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird is unlike any female teen I’ve ever seen depicted on screen that I can recall. Gerwig and I had the chance to chat about the character and how unlike Gerwig she actually is (Gerwig also wrote the screenplay). From her fights with her family to her trouble with boys, the character struck a chord with me. She’s quirky in a “this is a real person you could know” way, as opposed to the too cool for real life caricatures we often see on screen.
It seems treading over territory that was so familiar to her has allowed Gerwig to infuse Lady Bird with a refreshing authenticity that allowed her to focus on the story and performances. The film is somewhat a love letter to growing up and Sacramento. Though I grew up 90 minutes away from Oakland, and particularly as a youth would be quick to say Sacramento isn’t Bay Area proper, I found the spirit of Lady Bird to be hella Bay Area.
It seems treading over territory that was so familiar to her has allowed Gerwig to infuse Lady Bird with a refreshing authenticity that allowed her to focus on the story and performances. The film is somewhat a love letter to growing up and Sacramento. Though I grew up 90 minutes away from Oakland, and particularly as a youth would be quick to say Sacramento isn’t Bay Area proper, I found the spirit of Lady Bird to be hella Bay Area.
This article originally appeared on KFOG.com on November 10, 2017.