Ladybird & Greta Gerwig

*** Complicated Woman Rating - Lady Bird. Ladybird is a perfectly imperfect depiction of a young woman coming of age: complicated, unique, excitable, impossible to control, dramatic, angsty and totally relatable. (1:47)

*** Complicated Woman Rating - Marion. Lady Bird’s mother has a tough exterior, a biting wit, and the weight of her family’s struggles on her shoulders. She has a softer side for everyone it seems but Lady Bird. Kate thinks the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree for Lady Bird and Marion, but Carinn thinks the two are different at their core.  (5:45)

*** Scenes - We both love any scene with Lady Bird and her mother, but the opening one is a real standout and tells the viewer everything you need to know about these women and their complex relationship (11:38); Carinn highlights the scenes showing good heart pounding intimacy between first kiss and sex, reminding us that this is a coming of age story for sure, but it is also a journey through Lady Bird’s sexuality (and praise for the forgotten art of dry humping!) (15:58); Kate brings us back to the mother-daughter drama and discusses the painful, yet so relatable, prom dress shopping scene between Lady Bird and Marion, which leads both Kate and Carinn to get personal and talk about their own mothers (21:55); Carinn brings it home with a look at the final scene when Ladybird leaves for college, returns to her given name -- Christine -- and realizes that paying attention is the most generous form of love. She has truly come of age and grown. (28:05)

*** What’s your damage, Heather? Carinn finds it hard to discuss Ladybird’s damage because it hits too close to home for her. Kate makes her feel better when she tells her she doesn’t think Ladybird is damaged at all, just a young woman trying to escape, longing for something more and trying to fit in. Basically teenage Carinn is Lady Bird and teenage Kate is teenage Greta Gerwig. (34:35)

*** What She Said. Carinn admires the paradoxical nature of Greta Gerwig and her refusal to be put in a box when it comes to her filmmaking. Only Greta could have us talking about period piece movies, Barbies and a link to Sally Rooney! But it’s Greta’s take on deviations from the path that really hits home.  Kate’s quote reminds us of why we need more female writers and directors interested in telling complicated and nuanced womens’ stories. Of course we manage to discuss astrology too and how Gerwig, a fellow fire sign, had her birth chart compared to that of her literary hero, Louisa May Alcott. (41:33)

*** Crystal Ball. For the future, Kate envisions a sad, yet poignant, Terms of Endearment inspired mother-daughter story, where Ladybird is fighting for her mother instead of with her. Carinn hits it out of the park, as usual, essentially writing an Oscar-worthy version of LadyBird Part 2, tentatively titled “Christine.” Greta should seriously contact Carinn to develop this script unless we write it first!  (51:40)

*** Takeaways. Greta Gerwig says she wrote this movie as a love letter to her hometown of Sacramento. Kate, who lives in her hometown, gets personal and discusses how no matter where you go, where you grow up is always a part of you. Carinn brings it back to Dave Matthews Band and reminds us that you gotta love what you love. (65:40)

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