Greta Gerwig’s Directorial Debut Raises the Bar for all Coming-of-Age Films to Come

In an era of popular young adult media, consumable for teens but also adults, a fair share of cheesy, unrealistic coming-of-age films have hit our screens. As an avid consumer of all things teen when it comes to my media selection, most movies over the years have slipped behind the curtain – except for one.

Greta Gerwig made her directoral debut in 2017 with the release what I consider to be one of the best coming-of-age films of all time, Lady Bird.

This semi-autobiographical piece follows Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) throughout her final year at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic high school, where she embarks on daunting, yet simplistic coming-of-age journey.

Lady Bird doesn’t think about consequences. She is quick to make a move on Danny (Lucas Hedges) when she falls for him during his theatre audition, resulting in a budding relationship. When that ends, she’s quick to capture Kyle’s (Timothee Chalamet) attention after forming a friendship with his friend, popular mean girl, Jenna (Odeya Rush).

Lady Bird is good at getting what she wants, especially when it comes to romance and friendship. But her spontaneity comes back to bite her. After Danny says he loves her, she catches him kissing a boy and breaks her heart. When she moves onto Kyle, she realizes he’s not at great as she thought he was after he lies to her about being a virgin and ditches her on prom night.

What she desires most in the film is to leave Sacramento, California, longing to “go where culture is like New York. Or at least Connecticut or New Hampshire where writers live in the woods,” as she tells her mother.

She decides to apply to colleges on the East Coast behind her mother, Marion’s (Laurie Metcalf) back in attempt to prevent an argument.

Her relationship with her mother forms most of Lady Bird’s hatred for Sacramento. As the family struggles financially, the mother daughter duo have a strained relationship.

Marion is tired of worrying about finances. She puts her stress out on her daughter, getting into arguments about what Lady Bird does and how she presents herself. She wants Lady Bird to do better than she did.

She takes the time to take Lady Bird dress shopping and makes the alterations herself. She comes home in the morning to get the family ready for the day and cook breakfast. She works extra shifts to pay Lady Bird’s tuition so she doesn’t have to go to the public school where her brother saw someone knifed.

As Lady Bird graduates, she receives an acceptance letter from a university in New York City. She paints over Danny and Kyle’s names she wrote on her walls and finally gets her driver’s license. Her time in Sacramento comes to a close, setting off on her next adventure.

Lady Bird dwells on this move for the span of the film, thinking about how free she will be; however she never thought about the consequences of moving.

She finds herself one Sunday morning in the hospital after being rushed by ambulance for alcohol poisoning after her first party. She leaves and walks though the city’s streets, finding herself at a Church. It all starts to come back.

Lady Bird doesn’t think about consequences. She surely didn’t think she would miss home so soon. The choir’s song inspires her to call her mother.

Her voicemail on her parents’ phone say “Mom, did you feel emotional the first time that you drove in Sacramento? I did. All those bends I've known my whole life, and stores, and the whole thing. But I wanted to tell you I love you. Thank you.”

And that is the end.

This was Lady' Bird’s consequence of moving to New York; making the realization no matter how much she hated it and how far away she is now, Sacramento is home.

The film teaches the lesson on focuses on the present instead of dwelling on the future, which is often lacking in other coming-of-age films, where characters move off to college and never look back. Gerwig gives us closure to Lady Bird’s story, that she isn’t this big, strong adult that has made it on her own.

She’s still a kid even though she’s across the country from her family. She’s still learning and growing, and still needs her mother and the love from her family.

This refreshing ending shows teenage viewers that they still won’t know everything when they move away from home. Home will always be with you in the lessons you learned there and how you continue to grow no matter how far you travel away.

Sarah Travis

Sarah is a second-year Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not in zoom classes, she’s either making coffee for the green siren, or at a thrift store.