Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 162

Modern Age

*

Winter 2018

those schools anyway," she insists. "You know, with your work
ethic, just go to City College, and then to jail, and then back to
City College. And then maybe you'd learn to pull yourself up and
wouldn't expect everybody to do everything for you."
Though focused on its title character, the film is as much about
Marion, who doesn't want to let her daughter go. The film starts
with them facing each other, emphasizing opposition, as they
sleep in a motel room during a college visit. It ends with their
images overlaid on each other, emphasizing likeness. Their similarities-both are determined and willful-make it necessary for
them to struggle.
To mother a child, to care for an utterly dependent human
being through every stage of change, also requires preparing
oneself for the child's independence. The film's title alludes to a
nursery rhyme: "Lady bird, lady bird, fly away home. Your house
is on fire. Your children are gone." "Lady bird" refers not only to
the child, who's flying away, but also to the mother scared of her
child's leaving. This is the repeated experience of parenthood.
One sadly puts the infant clothes away, as in some sense the baby
has died to become the toddler. The child disappears, replaced
by a teenager. Then the teenager leaves to become the adult. At
every stage, children do things parents wish they wouldn't. The
parent's role is to prepare them for being let go, and parents'
culminating gift to their children is letting them go to do as they
think best.
Some parents have more trouble with this than do others.
Marion doesn't know how to encourage without also correcting. "I'm proud of you, Lady Bird," she says after graduation. "You
walked weird across the stage, but you did it." Lady Bird struggles
to understand her mother, who is both harsh and big-hearted.
162

modernagejournal.com



http://www.modernagejournal.com

Modern Age - Winter 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Winter 2018

Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - Cover1
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - Cover2
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 2
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 3
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 4
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 5
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 6
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 7
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 8
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 9
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 10
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 11
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 12
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 13
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 14
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 15
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 16
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 17
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 18
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 19
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 20
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 21
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 22
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 23
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 24
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 25
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 26
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 27
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 28
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 29
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 30
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 31
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 32
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 33
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 34
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 35
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 36
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 37
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 38
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 39
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 40
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 41
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 42
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 43
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 44
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 45
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 46
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 47
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 48
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 49
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 50
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 51
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 52
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 53
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 54
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 55
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 56
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 57
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 58
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 59
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 60
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 61
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 62
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 63
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 64
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 65
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 66
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 67
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 68
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 69
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 70
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 71
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 72
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 73
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 74
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 75
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 76
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 77
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 78
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 79
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 80
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 81
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 82
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 83
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 84
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 85
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 86
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 87
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 88
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 89
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 90
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 91
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 92
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 93
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 94
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 95
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 96
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 97
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 98
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 99
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 100
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 101
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 102
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 103
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 104
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 105
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 106
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 107
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 108
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 109
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 110
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 111
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 112
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 113
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 114
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 115
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 116
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 117
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 118
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 119
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 120
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 121
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 122
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 123
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 124
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 125
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 126
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 127
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 128
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 129
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 130
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 131
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 132
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 133
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 134
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 135
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 136
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 137
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 138
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 139
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 140
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 141
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 142
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 143
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 144
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 145
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 146
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 147
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 148
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 149
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 150
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 151
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 152
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 153
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 154
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 155
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 156
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 157
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 158
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 159
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 160
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 161
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 162
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 163
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 164
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 165
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - 166
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - Cover3
Modern Age - Winter 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com