In Retrospect: Lady Bird

I get it more now on the second go.

Lady Bird is a movie about life, identity, and acceptance. It's a very good movie and that while I feel came just a touch late in my life, in some respects it still holds great truth at this point of my life. And I think this movie could be seen 100 years from now and still hit people close to home. I understood the greater emotion to it all and that's what the movie's drive is, emotion. The character's while still thinking, logical beings are guided and driven by emotion. Christine wants to be recognized as an individual, Lady Bird, and yet falls into following others and not doing what she wants to do until the end. It made me think an awful lot about my teenage years and honestly this movie wasn't that far off, I was emotional, I was trying to figure stuff out, I was not appreciative of certain people and things but I got better at life and not taking things for what they are. The movie is an important movie, and one that should be seen regardless of age or other factors in life. The ending kind of puzzled me the first time seeing it in the theater, she wanted to go to New York, she got there, achieved what she wanted and I thought the credits would start rolling not long after she walked out of the subway station. So why keep going until she calls her mom and then end? It's like in The Graduate how the ending keeps going after a point where every other movie would stop. Well, realizing more of the emotions and motivation for Christine on further viewing made the ending makes sense, she accepts the person she is and not the person she wants to be, she is Christine and not Lady Bird. She accepts it, but still remains who she is almost as if Christine and Lady Bird were synonymous. Now that may seem odd, it's the same person so why act like they are different yet the same? Names are really the most arbitrary thing to a human being besides, well....the human being. She realized regardless of whether her name is Christine or Lady Bird, she is who she is so there was no reason for Lady Bird to still be her name. It's a clever and meaningful ending to her character. I for one am happy to see this movie again and will no doubt give more insight in future viewings.