Lady Bird makes me understand my mum’s abusive texts

Lady Bird is basically a story about a mother-daughter relationship, which is why it was so apt that my mum texted me just before I went to see it.

The weather in the UK is currently snowing and you’d be mad to drive but when I went to see this film it was just a bit cold – you needed an extra jumper but we’re not talking extreme weather.

Anyway, this is the text I received from my darling mum: “Going to the cinema in these weather conditions is reckless, stupid and dangerous. You need to decide if it’s worth taking risks for the sake of a movie. It’s not clever and you will get no sympathy if you take idiotic risks.”

I promise that I  haven’t made this up – but it is absolute gold dust. A text saying have a lovely time at the cinema darling wold have sufficed. But, no, I get an Armageddon style warning labelling me stupid and reckless.

The film opens with Christine, who has renamed her self, Lady Bird and her mother in a car. What’s special about this film is that in that one opening scene you can tell how much they love each other – but you can also tell how easily they drive each other to insanity by the very next scene where Lady Bird breaks her arm.

It is brilliantly directed by Greta Gerwig because essentially not much actually happens but what does happens is all about the characters and how they change and interact. Gerwig notices the little things and that’s what makes this film resonate – you recognise the characters, you recognise the situations, it’s awkward and funny and tender.

There are some great laugh out loud scenes and there are some moments that I think only daughters and mothers will truly appreciate. One of these is when Lady Bird’s mum refuses to say that she looks nice when she’s getting dressed up – and instead always finds something to criticise.

Lady Bird’s dad is the anti-christ of her mother. He is gentle and soft and wise as she struggles to find who she is through a maze of boyfriends, friends, tests, subjects, auditions,  ambition, lack of talent, siblings and Catholicism.

Her mother is volatile, intense, opinionated and never without criticism – but I think this is because she loves her daughter, really really loves her and ‘wants her to be the best version of herself’.

It helped me understand my mum’s crazy text about driving to the cinema in cold conditions – she wasn’t having a raging rant for no reason she was having a raging rant because she cares.

(What I can’t bring myself to tell my mum is that the heating was broken in the cinema and I almost froze. But it was worth it to see this film – abusive texts and all!)