Lady Bird
Jumped into this about 20 minutes in cause it was on Showtime. I saw this like 4 times and never wrote a proper review — this isn’t gonna be a proper review either — but it’s cool revisiting after a few solid years.
Main thing I grabbed from this viewing was the time period. I forgot how perfectly the early 2000s time frame was inputted into the backdrop of the story (I was gonna say “the tapestry of the film” but I thought the word tapestry would be really pretentious to use, maybe I’ll say it another time). It’s just a great period piece in such a subdued way.
Tailing off of that; I think what also works so well as a period piece is the way the characters display their values throughout the story. Sure, the little details about post-9/11 set the stage, but the way the characters interact is an important aspect.
I think Lady Bird’s family is a great example of what many families looked like in the early 2000s as the landscape of the working-middle class began to grow into more financial uncertainty.
The typical image of a family like this in the 80s and 90s would be 1 job, mom stays home, dad works, weekends off, college paid for, etc. 862
<PERSON> family deals with a lot more, and I think it really displays what a lot of people went through in this time period.
There’s one line where her mom says (paraphrasing) “we didn’t think we’d live here that long, and we’d move to a better place” - and I think that really encapsulates how many middle class folks found themselves after years of false promise built by Reaganomics finally began to let people down.
Didn’t mean to do a whole spiel about the economy, but somehow the movie very slyly portrays this part of society perfectly. There are plenty of other examples in the film that are a great representation of the time period, but I’m not in college writing an entire essay where I would need to provide more evidence, so just take my word for it. This is a great period piece.
A few more notes:
— I also forgot how unbelievably funny the back and forth dialogue gets - specifically laughed very hard at the scene where <PERSON> hooked up with <PERSON>’s character, and the ensuing dialogue.
— The cast is just put together perfectly. Unreal how seamless everything feels.
— Haven’t watched anything from/with <PERSON> in a while, interested to see what’s next. I’ve been out of the loop.
Edit: wait what the heck, I just looked it up, she’s directing that upcoming <PERSON> movie??? 🤔 80