YMMV / Lady Bird

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Is Julie really just Lady Bird's neglected and loyal best friend who finally stands up for herself? Or is she overly sensitive and a little jealous? She takes it to heart pretty badly when Lady Bird merely opts to hang out with Jenna instead of her and not audition for the play, and immediately clings to a "new" friend that she once made fun of. Then again, with how much Lady Bird complains about her own weight and downplays Julie's part in the play — not to mention fails to notice Julie's pained crush on her teacher — she may have a point in dumping her as a friend.
  • Did Jenna fall out with Lady Bird because she was upset about being lied to or because Lady Bird was poorer than she'd pretended to be. It's possible it's a combination of both, in which case the question is still valid since it's then a matter of which of these two angered her more.
• Award Snub:
  • Greta Gerwig didn't get a nomination for Best Director at the 2018 Golden Globes, though she ultimately received directing nominations at the Directors' Guild and the Oscars, making her the fifth female director to be nominated.
  • The film was nominated in five categories at the 2018 Oscars—Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan) and Best Supporting Actress (Laurie Metcalf)—but didn't win any. It and The Post were the only Best Picture nominees to go home empty-handed.
  • Of particular note is Metcalf’s loss. Many were quick to say that this film would win her the Oscar, but she lost to Allison Janney's performance in I, Tonya.
• Base-Breaking Character: Is Marion a refreshingly realistic and complex parent who shows mothers can be both good and flawed, or an abuser who rarely misses a chance to whittle away at Lady Bird's tenuous self-esteem and agency?
• Cliché Storm: Like many other great teen comedy-dramas before it, the movie doesn’t exactly change up the formula or break new ground, but it presents itself with plenty of heart, charm, and substance.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Some fans actually see Kyle as being a dreamy guy, which is completely ignoring the fact that he's a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk Hypocrite who probably has the least depth of all the principle characters, with Lady Bird realizing he's an awful person and leaving him. This is almost certainly due to his actors' Pretty Boy looks and allure being played up before he's revealed as a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Lady Bird making up with Julie on prom night and being her date.
  • Danny apologizing to Lady Bird and her promising not to tell anyone he's gay.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Michael Keaton, aka Birdman, announcing Lady Bird as winner for Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy at the 2018 Golden Globes.
  • In 2016, Greta Gerwig starred in the Jackie Kennedy biopic, Jackie, which features Lady Bird Johnson as a character.
  • Lucas Hedges plays a gay teenager from a religious family. He later plays a similar role in Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased.
  • The first play Julie stars in is Merrily We Roll Along. Three years after the films release, it was announced that Beanie Feldstein was announced to star in its film adaptation.
• Hollywood Homely: It's a little weird for a character played by Saoirse Ronan to be fawning insecurely over the looks of another character or gripe that she doesn't look like "the girls in the magazines." This combined with the fact that she has to instigate all of her romantic encounters suggests that she's supposed to be less attractive than she was cast.
• Jerkass Woobie: Lady Bird - while she's often self-centred and temperamental at times, there will be other moments where you just want to give the poor girl a hug.
• One-Scene Wonder: The Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher gym coach who's assigned to take over the theater program.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Marion is meant to come off as a very, very flawed mother, but still a good one, but many people find her to be needlessly cruel to Lady Bird, sometimes to the point of emotional abuse. While Lady Bird can certainly be difficult, Marion is often way nastier than she is, leading a lot of viewers to conclude that she really didn't deserve the apology she got in the end.
• The Woobie: Poor Larry. The guy loses his job, suffers from depression, and yet helping his little girl (whether she deserves it or not) is still first and foremost for him.

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