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Thoughts on the Movie "Lady Bird" and the Portrayal of the College Search Process

TTGTTG 1663 replies14 threads Senior Member
in Parent Cafe
I just recommended this movie to a CC student poster because I thought it might be particularly interesting to them. The movie "Lady Bird" is Greta Gerwig's autobiographical account of her high school senior year in Sacramento, CA. A major thread of the story is her college search. The movie opens as mother and daughter are just completing a long college road trip. I think the movie is a very compelling movie that portrays this part of her senior year in a thoughtful, touching, multifaceted, and potentially helpful way.

I would love to read what other CC parents and students think of the movie in relation to their own college search experience, or that of their kids.

(This is not a movie advertisement. I have no connection to the movie or anyone involved in its making or distribution. I just think it something potentially interesting and helpful to CC parents/students going through the college search process.)
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Replies to: Thoughts on the Movie "Lady Bird" and the Portrayal of the College Search Process

  • Twoin18Twoin18 1848 replies18 threads Senior Member
    It was a great movie (unless you live in Sacramento/went to UC Davis). But the message at the end (sorry for the spoiler!), when her parents remortgage their house in order to send her to her dream school in New York, is probably not a popular one with CC parents.

    The other two college entrance related movies I've seen in the last couple of months which resonated with me were The History Boys (from 2006 but set in the 1980s close to where I grew up, bringing back memories of my school days) and Brad's Status (which is new and will be on Amazon Prime next month) - ironically also picking on Sacramento as a place you go when you've "failed" in life.
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  • mstompermstomper 1034 replies40 threads Senior Member
    I assumed that Lady Bird was full pay at NYU, since she had been wait listed. It's inconceivable to me that any parent would borrow that much money to send a kid to his/her dream school. I think I liked Brad's Status a little more.
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  • MidwestmomofboysMidwestmomofboys 4060 replies27 threads Senior Member
    Loved the movie, though very nervous about the message that a loving parent who had been laid off from work would refinance house in order to pay for the "dream" college.
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  • Twoin18Twoin18 1848 replies18 threads Senior Member
    And I couldn't help notice that her brother is seen as a slacker and relative failure, despite having attended Berkeley!
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  • doschicosdoschicos 22754 replies238 threads Senior Member
    I think that was because he and his girlfriend were working a minimum wage grocery store jobs with their Berkeley degrees. :)
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  • Twoin18Twoin18 1848 replies18 threads Senior Member
    @doschicos They probably didn't have to get well paying jobs to pay off huge college loans...

    @DoinResearch I loved it too. But I wouldn't recommend it to a potential college student as an example of a successful college application process!
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  • sly123sly123 253 replies1 threads Junior Member
    I thought it was kind of boring. It seemed to me she just wanted to get away from home life in attending an east coast school. She didn’t seam to have any concrete plans, a direction or clear answers to why she wanted to leave Sacramento. She was also a little selfish knowing her families finances on wanting to go out of state.
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  • MYOS1634MYOS1634 42352 replies455 threads Senior Member
    edited February 2018
    She doesn't end up attending NYU but Barnard, I believe. Also it takes place before 2008 and the big cuts to public college funding so her brother would be unlikely to have huge loans. He'd be seen as a disappointment for failure to launch despite huge potential.
    I agree it's a great film to go see with teenagers.
    edited February 2018
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  • VeryHappyVeryHappy 18737 replies328 threads Senior Member
    edited February 2018
    I didn't focus at all on the finances per se but on the fact that the dad wanted to do everything possible to help her achieve her dream. She is smart and focused and I'm sure she will take full advantage of all NYC and her school (whatever one it is) has to offer. I didn't think the financial stuff was meant to be taken literally.

    I loved the movie. I thought the relationships between the characters were wonderful, and the movie showed how they all grew wiser and kinder as time went on.
    edited February 2018
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  • DadTwoGirlsDadTwoGirls 5986 replies1 threads Senior Member
    I liked the movie a lot. I agree that the cost of going out of state was not actually a good choice given the parent's financial situation. However, the movie was about people who, like pretty much all of us, have flaws. We make mistakes. We do our best to get on with life anyway.
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  • maya54maya54 2384 replies97 threads Senior Member
    ...And if you become a susessful actress and director it won’t be too hard to pay off those loans. Probably not a good plan though.
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  • TooOld4SchoolTooOld4School 3360 replies12 threads Senior Member
    edited February 2018
    I thought the movie was kind of boring and overrated, and Lady Bird was flaky. I was not at all sympathetic about her having to attend UCD (the horror!), which is not much different in quality from NYU. It was mostly about her wanting to leave home and get away from her Mom. I did find it amusing that a Californian wanted to leave for school, while it seems many people from the rest of the country wants to pay the ridiculous OOS tuition at UC's.

    What bank would have approved a mortgage of that size ($300K) anyway for a family with a single income as a nurse? But it's a movie.
    edited February 2018
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  • klbmom18klbmom18 323 replies8 threads Member
    Dont want to watch. Sounds like it would trigger more college admissions stress. Maybe next year.
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  • Bromfield2Bromfield2 3685 replies37 threads Senior Member
    I enjoyed the movie, mostly because of its focus on relationships—especially between LB and her mother as well as others in her life—her brother, her BFF, the popular girl, etc. I didn’t really focus on whether the parents were being unwise financially—I thought they were folks just trying to support their daughter the best way they could.
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  • JanieWalkerJanieWalker 441 replies16 threads Member
    edited February 2018
    I didn't like this movie. Thought it was overhyped and that the main character came across as spoiled. My two teenage daughters felt the same way. I love Laurie Metcalf and am glad I saw it because of her excellent (as always) performance, but I am also glad I got to see it for free (as a voter for the SAG Awards). My overall reaction was "meh" and I thought Ladybird herself needed a giant dose of reality -- she had no idea how privileged she actually was. And I'm sorry, in this day and age, there is NO WAY she would get into Barnard after bad grades and a suspension.
    edited February 2018
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