Coming Of Age In The Film 'Lady Bird'

The film Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig is in regards to finding identity and growth, elucidating the theme of coming of age by demonstrating the experiences of a young adult trying in order to find her way through life while dealing with confusion of her identity. And this is what the main character Ladybird is going through when she discerns that she wants to go to prom with her best friend Julie, rather than ditch prom and hang out with a boy and his ‘cool kid’ friends. Throughout this event, Ladybird sticks up for herself for the first time. This action of finally not always trying to fit in had triggered her to think about her actions more and have the realisation that fitting in with others is way more complicated than fitting in with yourself.

She wanted to blend in with the popular crowd and stick out from the normal. A turning point in the film and Ladybird's mindset is when she goes against others' opinions and stands with her own. ‘Crash Into Me’ plays on the radio in Kyle’s car while driving to prom. Ladybird and everyone in the car agrees to ditch prom and go to Kyle's friend's house, Kyle says, “I f*****g hate this song”. Ladybird fixes her posture while saying “I love it” with realisation in her eyes about how she isn't with the people she should be with. She asks Kyle to take her to her friend Julie's house, and Jenna, a popular girl Ladybird befriended asks, “Who’s Julie?” Ladybird replies, “She’s my best friend”. This dialogue shows an event related to a scene near the start of the film when Ladybird became friends with Jenna, and Julie felt jealous about it. When someone asked Julie where Ladybird was, “She’s with her new best friend, she thinks she’s too cool for theatre” is what Julie replies. This shows us how they were foreshadowing at the start of the film. This scene is filmed in low-key lighting with Kyle and Jenna blending in with the background, while Ladybird's dress is bright pink, Gerwig is indicating that she is not in an environment that is relatable and suitable for her by using costume and low-key lighting as film techniques. It is also filmed with a lot of close-up shots to show Ladybird's emotion, and how it doesn't match up

All her efforts were worth it because she got into Barnard College in Manhattan, New York. This is a relief and exciting for Ladybird as she had always dreamed of going to a big city for college. “I want to go to where culture is like New York, Connecticut or New Hampshire.” And after finally reaching her goal, she goes through New York with a more responsible mindset, by understanding her goals and reasonings for her chosen actions. In New York, she meets a guy called David at a bar and for the first time goes by her given name, and almost tells him where she’s from. “What’s your name?”, “Christine. My name is Christine.” In this scene, the dialogue chosen makes it feel as if she is telling herself her name. This is a sign of her being more comfortable with herself as she usually goes by Ladybird. When David asks Christine where she’s from she tells him she’s from Sacramento, slowly stepping out of her comfort zone, but she switches her answer to San Francisco, showing us she is not completely comfortable with her identity but is open to trying new things. “Sorry, where?” David asks. “San Francisco.” She was grateful after changing her ways of thinking and sent her parents a voicemail showing appreciation for everything they did for her, going by her given name. “Hi Mom and Dad, it’s me. Christine. It’s the name you gave me.