Representation in Lady Bird

 Lady Bird

 

   Lady Bird(2017) is a comedy/ romance film directed by Greta Gerwig, following the life of a teenage girl, named Christine, although she likes to go by the name Lady Bird, in her senior year of high school, highlighting her relationship with friends, love interests, her family, and in particular, her mother. The film stars well-known actors Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird and Timothee Chalamet as Kyle Scheible. The film is able to successfully represent the struggles in life for a middle-class teenage girl surrounded by privileged upper-class teens.

    

    A constant theme highlighted in his films is the pressure to be the same as others around you, and this is highlighted by the divide between the upper and lower classes in society. In this film, Lady Bird lies about her financial status to her classmates by telling them she lives in a house in an expensive neighborhood, in her city. Her resentment for her financial status is clear as she tells her companions that she lives on the "wrong side of the tracks", and while she does literally live on the opposite side of the train tracks in her city, she says this figuratively, meaning that she lives in the 'wrong' side of the city. Lady Bird's classmates can be seen living in expensive houses and driving in their own cars, while Lady Bird's family struggles to make ends meet, with Lady Bird's father even losing his job in the span of the story. Certain mise-en-scene also emphasize this. For instance, the characters that are in the upper class are always dressed very presentable, while Lady Bird is seen multiple times buying her clothes second-hand in thrift stores. Mise en scene is also used in the set of Lady Bird's house, as neutral colors are used in the design of the house, creating the feeling of a stereotypical middle-class home.

    A feature of this film is that it accurately displays the life of a teenage girl, exploring herself and finding out what defines her as a person. Films focusing on teenagers regularly use stereotypes and cliches when describing these characters. Lady Bird realistically shows the suffering and joy teenagers experience and creates a realistic dialogue, not shy to use awkwardness to make the conversations seem realistic. Another way this film displays an accurate depiction of a teenage girl is by showing things such as he relationships with men and even some of her sexual experiences. This makes it feel as though you are right there with Lady Bird, making the story even more accurate to a teenage girl's life.

    This film also focuses on representing groups that are not as commonly shown in media, such as those with a variety of body types and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Lady Bird's first love is an important character not only because of his romantic relationship with her, but because he is a recurring character, showing up often in the story. Another underrepresented group shown in this film is Lady Bird's best friend, Julie Steffans, has a body type that is not regularly shown in media. 

    

    Taking all these features into account, the 2017 film Lady Bird does a good job in the area of representation as it both represents many groups as well as giving them accurate representations.

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