O, to be young…and be a girl in an oppressive patriarchal society. Lena Dunham certainly experienced her fair share of this unfortunate rite of passage Girls had to go through. Now, she thinks she’s putting Bella Ramsey through a medieval version of that tale. However, Bella was Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones, so, she’s got the experience to climb that biased ladder, which is probably why Catherine Called Birdy is so delightful.
Lady Catherine (Bella Ramsey) is the youngest daughter of Lady Aislinn (Billie Piper) and Lord Rollo (Andrew Scott) in the 1200’s. Catherine got her “Birdy” name from her bird collection and I dare say her flighty manner. Despite Aislinn’s desires, Birdy is quite content going on fake Crusades and adventures in the comfort of her own home. Rollo, on the other hand, has mishandled family money, and cannot wait to marry Birdy off to a male suitor to get back his finances. Birdy, because she is “cleverer than most,” becomes an early adopter of the lie, cheat, and steal methodology to evade a life of servitude to a man she barely knows.
I was very worried Catherine Called Birdy would adopt Lena Dunham’s propensity for snootiness and elitism. However, the medieval setting softens all of Dunham’s controversial edges, showing the audience the best of her artistic talents. Bella Ramsey and Dunham make a wonderful match, with Ramsey’s charm and wit enhancing Dunham’s writing. The story walks the same fine line Birdy is walking: trapped between childhood and adulthood, but unready for the latter. Ramsey captivates the audiences with her monologues, transforming real life horrors like the Crusades or first periods through an innocent, confused filter, making the audience love her more. That effervescent charisma gives Catherine Called Birdy this innate sweetness that forms the bedrock of the movie.
That sweetness is super necessary, because Lena Dunham and Bella Ramsey walk the audience through the life of a woman inside an oppressive patriarchal regime. As Birdy becomes an adult, the burdens of an adult life become clearer as she sees the lives of her family and friends. There’s the obvious “daughter/marriage transaction,” but not just for Birdy: her best friend Aelis (Isis Hainsworth), the prettiest girl in the village, is forced to marry the best suitor: a 9 year old boy instead of Birdy’s uncle George (Joe Alwyn) or brother Robert (Dean-Charles Chapman) which would make Aelies MUCH happier. Because, as a woman, happiness is secondary to duty to men in a patriarchy. That consuming oppression threatens our Lady Catherine on all sides, but Dunham and Bella Ramsey always find a way to filter these tough scenarios through Birdy’s eye for a funny remark or a chance to make herself a better person. It’s never not funny when Birdy sabotages potential suitors in all sorts of delightfully silly ways. Sadly though, it’s clear, at some point, one of them isn’t going to say no, because too much of society’s burden wills Birdy’s marriage to happen. And as mean spirited as Dunham has written in the past, Catherine Called Birdy is actually a wonderfully uplifting tale about how no matter what society does to you, they can’t change YOU. Birdy carries that beautiful feminist spirit inside of her, so beautiful in fact that it loosens the patriarchy’s grip on society just a little bit. An amazing but deserved feat for one Catherine Called Birdy.
I’m excited for Birdy’s crossover potential. Maybe Birdy time travels to 2017, and is ready to be a freshmen in high school. There she wants everyone to call her Birdy, but they won’t because Lady Bird rules the seniors and that nickname. From there, we get a Mean Girls situation pitting our two heroes together, who will come out on top? The answer is Freddy Krueger, who murders all the teens while they’re sleeping before the big school dance. Ok, I went too far with my crossover, my bad.