In The Deft, Insightful 'Lady Bird,' A Girl Grows Up — And Grows Wiser
Greta Gerwig's directorial debut, a semi-autobiographical examination of her adolescence, vividly captures the stirrings of empathy that transform a selfish teen into a clear-eyed adult.
The title of Greta Gerwig's semi-autobiographical refers to the name— not the nickname, the — a mildly rebellious senior gives to herself, part of the comprehensive array of quirks meant to separate her from the pleated drones of an all-girls Catholic high school. She insists that everyone call her "Lady Bird," including her parents, who grudgingly oblige, though they prefer the name they gave her, Christine, and it stings a little to see it rejected so casually. They
