Lady Bird was lauded as being a revolutionary ode to women upon its 2017 release. Deemed to be ‘universally relatable’, many audiences praised Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut to be a raw, authentic approach to the often romanticised coming-of-age genre. However, one mistake Gerwig has made in this truly ‘feminist’ and otherwise well-made film is the fact that she neglects to feature characters of colour.
The truth is, Gerwig has almost completely eradicated the existence of POC in a film which prides itself on addressing a multitude of issues. There are only three POC featured in the entire story, whose characters are reduced to plot points that only exist to further Lady Bird’s evolution as a character. Not only is this entirely uncharacteristic of 2002 Sacramento, which was named the most diverse city in America at the time, but reflects the lack of intersectionality in our ‘feminist’ media. Indeed, Lady Bird is not the pinnacle of representation that it claims to be.
This lack of self-awareness seems to be a running theme for Gerwig. In 2019, critics flocked to applaud her succeeding film ‘Little Women’ for intertwining modern day women’s issues within the Louisa May Alcott classic. But at its core, both the book and movie were centred around the bourgeois female struggles of four middle class white women. In reality, these sisters were growing up in a hermetic bubble, shielded from the raging civil war in the south. Nevertheless, Gerwig does attempt to acknowledge the women’s privilege by including a conversation between Marmee (the girls mother) and a black woman in her adaptation of the 1868 novel. In one rather short-lived scene, Marmee confesses how ashamed she used to be of her country to which the black woman responds, “No offense, but you should still be ashamed”. However, the dialogue comes across as being very disingenuous—especially as it is only 2 seconds long and is the only time race is mentioned in the entire film.
Diversity appears to just be a tick box exercise for Gerwig. Whilst I do appreciate that some white writers feel it is insincere to write POC characters themselves as it would be inauthentic, this can only be used as an excuse to a certain extent. There are ways in which we can encourage diversity in cinema without co-opting the experience of others. Lady Bird is deeply personal to Gerwig; it is heavily influenced by her own youth and perhaps it would ruin the rawness of the film if she had written about a POC experience she had not lived. Yet, to have included 3 POC characters and written so little about them is blatant tokenism.
Gerwig prioritises female solidarity in her movies, but only from the perspective of white women. There is seldom a genuine attempt at any race-gender relations in Lady Bird nor Little Women. But Greta Gerwig is not the only one at fault here. A majority of feminist coming-of-age films are white-centric. They are dominated by a white cast and crew, and then received by white audiences and critics, which is why it is no mystery that any film praised for being radically progressive nowadays, is also radically exclusive. I understand that it would be an immense challenge to unpack both sexism and racism in one 135-minute movie, but the lack of intersectionality in Lady Bird is appalling, especially for a 2017 Oscar nominee.
Nonetheless, I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy Lady Bird. The film is expertly shot—the way in which Gerwig envelops the film in warm, rose hues to evoke feelings of nostalgia and the cinematography, which makes the movie feel more like a photo album rather than a story. It is also incredibly refreshing to watch a film where the female lead is not defined by her romantic relationships. Instead, it is Christine, her mother and her best friend who are truly at the heart of this movie.
We need more films like Lady Bird, stories that focus on and prioritise womanhood. Even today, the film industry continues to be dominated by men and it is shocking that only five female directors have ever been nominated for an Academy Award. And for that, I am grateful that Gerwig has made Lady Bird, and in doing so has increased that shockingly small number. So yes, of course we need more feminist narratives in cinema. But in 2021, they must be intersectional.
