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Catherine Called Birdy

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Catherine Called Birdy 2022

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Reviewer

Emily Tsiao

Movie Review

According to Catherine, there are many things that girls cannot do. They can’t go on crusades, for instance. They can’t cut their hair, be horse trainers, laugh very loud, marry whom they will, be monks, drink in alehouses or go to hangings.

Catherine, who’s called Birdy by her friends and family, wants all of those things. Unfortunately (and again, according to her), her birthright as a woman is to bleed and give birth.

Upon discovering that he’s broke, Lord Rollo, Birdy’s father, decides to marry the 14-year-old Birdy off in order that he might use the dowry payment to lift his family out of debt.

Birdy, of course, is having none of it.

Yes, some might consider it her duty to support her family by marrying a man and bearing his children. But Birdy just wants to avoid her chores, critique her father’s swordplay, cause mischief in the village and listen through doors she shouldn’t.

Positive Elements

Birdy is growing up. And there are some growing pains that go along with that. She can be selfish, spoiled and inconsiderate at times. She hurts more than one friend in her efforts to make her own dreams come true. And she’s often cruel to the people who love her most.

However, she is growing up. Like many teenagers her age, she quickly learns there are consequences for her actions. (And the adults in her life are quick to correct and discipline her when necessary.)

And as Birdy begins to figure out who she is and how she wants to live, she slowly grows in maturity and wisdom. She apologizes to those she’s wronged. She begins putting the needs of others before her own. She recognizes the importance of friendship. She extends grace to those she had previously written off, realizing that she may have misjudged or misunderstood them before. And she realizes that if she ran off to have the adventure of her dreams, not only would she miss her friends and family, but they would miss her as well.

Birdy describes her father as “often vain” and “always greedy.” And for a time, she’s not wrong. Lord Rollo claims that their village’s financial success is due to his own strength and cunning, even though he’s managed to spend all his family’s money on frivolous things. He also treats his daughter like a financial asset instead of a person.

However, Rollo gradually puts his pride aside. He supports his wife, Lady Aislinn, through several stillbirths. And when it really matters, he stands up for Birdy and literally fights for her.

Birdy is also rude to her brother, Robert (and he to her). However, the siblings eventually make amends with each other, setting aside petty differences and childish behaviors to make room for real love.

Birdy respects the value of life. Though she jokingly contemplates death over marriage, she never truly sees that path as an option. And she experiences genuine heartbreak over her mother’s many stillbirths, wishing that Aislinn could meet her children.

Aislinn deeply cares for all her children. She asks Rollo to ensure that their children each find their place in the world (not just any place but their place). She delays Birdy’s marriage for as long as possible and genuinely believes that her daughter’s goodness will inspire goodness in her future husband as well.

A newly married couple, though they don’t love each other romantically, remain faithful and loyal to each other.

Spiritual Elements

Birdy’s oldest brother, Edward, is a monk. He instructs her to keep a journal of her life, telling her that knowing her own story will be her salvation. Additionally, he encourages her to read a book about different saints, hoping it will inspire her faith.

Birdy claims she reads the Bible and knows “all the important prayers” by heart. However, this seems to be purely ceremonial due to her general disrespect for religious artifacts. (She makes an inappropriate sketch of herself with Christ, pets the carving of Jesus on a crucifix and uses a cross as a sword.)

Many villagers (and Birdy’s family) participate in All Hallow’s Eve, dressing as demons, witches and other monsters. Birdy says she doesn’t fear the dead coming back to visit on the holiday; that’s because the only dead she knows of are her stillborn brothers and sisters, whom she wishes would come visit to ease her mother’s grief.

On Christ’s Day (the name for Christmas at the time), Birdy reminisces about a golden statuette of Jesus that made it look as if He was urinating wine. Villagers perform the Nativity story. Birdy’s father decorates their manor to make it seem like “heaven” is coming through the windows.

Birdy’s brother, Robert, compares his future wife to Christ, stating that her acceptance of his hand in marriage would reform him and make him feel reborn. Another man says his wife is “so close to God” without even uttering His name.

A priest prematurely tries to baptize a woman and her unborn child when it seems as if both might die during labor. The woman’s husband sends the priest away, and later his daughter thanks him for facilitating the miracle of birth instead of giving up, like the priest did.

We hear Crusaders fought for “God, Christ and our king.” Someone compares a man to the archangel Michael. Crosses adorn graves. Birdy has a misconception about virgins and the immaculate conception.

Sexual Content

While menstruation in and of itself is not sexual, it becomes a key point in Birdy’s journey. When she has her first cycle, she learns that it means she is old enough to bear children. So, she hides the evidence from her parents for several months, so that her father won’t marry her off.

On that same note, while childbirth in and of itself is not sexual, we see Birdy’s mother giving birth in a shift (essentially her undergarments) twice.

Birdy and Aelis, her best friend, both receive marriage proposals from suitors who are much, much older than the 14-year-old girls (and Aelis kisses a man twice her age). However, Aelis is eventually wed to a boy only 9 years of age (though it should be noted that they do not consummate their union).

Though Birdy harbors a crush on her uncle, George (which he doesn’t return), she is eventually promised to Lord Murgaw, a crude, older man who attempts to “fornicate” with several women at a wedding. (He frequently states his “carnal” desires, hits on Birdy’s mother and says he would “dance in the nude” if it weren’t a sin.)

Aelis’s father, Lord Sidebottom (who is 81 years old), allegedly purchased his current 25-year-old wife the day after Aelis’s mother died. The couple hates each other and constantly fights. We hear a baker was fired for exchanging “wistful glances” with Lady Sidebottom, and later we see her dancing and flirting with another man.

A few couples kiss, and others make out. Birdy accidentally walks in on her parents being intimate (they cover themselves up before anything is seen). We see a few shirtless men and boys. Birdy sees a man in his “privies” (the medieval equivalent of underwear). We see Birdy in a bath from the shoulders up.

Birdy ogles several young monks while visiting Edward. She hides under his robe to sneak around the abbey since “comely young women” are a “danger” to monks.

Perkin, a friend of Birdy’s from the village, tells Birdy that he is attracted to other boys. And in a scene near the end, we see him talking to another boy.

Morwenna, Birdy’s nursemaid, examines Birdy under her dress when Birdy starts menstruating. She explains a little about the female anatomy and then teaches Birdy how to make a sanitary napkin and put it in place with underpants, which Birdy then dons under her dress.

Perkin gives Birdy false information about how babies are made. (His version involves shoving seeds up a woman’s nostrils and delivering the baby through the rear.) Meg, another village friend of Birdy’s, gives her a slightly more accurate depiction of sex, describing the body parts and actions involved.

When Birdy trades clothes with a man for a disguise, several people tease the man for wearing her dress. We see black handprints on a nun’s rear—a prank by Birdy to embarrass the woman. People doubt that a woman is a virgin. A girl’s virginity is “confirmed by examination.”

Violent Content

Two men fight “to the death,” and one bleeds after getting struck across the chest. But the duel ends when the uninjured man is disarmed and fakes a muscle spasm.

Whenever Birdy misbehaves, her father strikes her on the hand with a rod multiple times, leaving a mark. And Birdy is later shocked to learn that this is a light punishment. Her mother’s father seared the skin on her neck when she was rebellious, creating a scar. And Aelis says her father whips her when she disobeys.

Birdy says that Morwenna is an expert at slapping, and it’s implied Morwenna slaps Birdy often as a punishment. (At one point, Birdy screams at Morwenna in anger and starts to hit her. However, Morwenna grabs Birdy’s arms and forces her to stop.) Birdy slaps herself in the face when she is cruel to a friend. Someone punches a man in the face.

Perkin tells Birdy that part of the baby-making process involves shoving hot pokers up women’s nostrils to enlarge them. When Birdy learns this is a lie, she threatens to shove a spike up Perkin’s rear.

Birdy’s parents have suffered multiple stillbirths (and they experience another during the course of the film). And Birdy asks Rollo if he is trying to kill Aislinn when they announce they are expecting another baby, since the midwife said the next baby could be the death of her. (And Aislinn nearly does die in childbirth.)

When Birdy has her first period, she fears she is dying.

Birdy considers becoming a saint because she admires their tragic deaths. She forces herself to walk barefoot on sharp rocks and sleeps with a comb under her back. She says one saint was placed on a red-hot grate, thrown before a wild steer (which tossed her into the air with its horns) and eventually killed with a dagger.

George tells Birdy that fighting in the Crusades isn’t the adventure she thinks it is. He explains that many of the knights return home badly injured.

Birdy tells a suitor that God told her to form an army of women to gut all men and leave their entrails as an offering. She sets a privy on fire with the father of another suitor inside (though he’s not injured).

Birdy constantly complains about not being allowed to attend public hangings. Birdy says she would rather be fed to a dragon than be taught to spin thread like a lady. She tells Perkin he is lucky his father is dead (which upsets him since he loved his father). A tiger dies while being transported to England from Siberia. A girl feeds a dead mouse to an owl. A bird dies and falls to the ground. Two women joke about slaying a sultan.

Crude or Profane Language

There are a couple of uses each of the s-word, “a–,” “p-ss” and the British expletive “bloody.” God’s name is abused thrice. And though we technically don’t hear any uses of the f-word, a fleeing suitor’s name—Fulk—is screamed in anger. A man gets upset when his servant calls his future wife a “wench.”

Birdy says she has “endeavored to find the best curse of all”; accordingly, she tries out a variety of colorful expressions, including “God’s thumbs” and “Satan and all his minions.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Lord Rollo is described as “usually drunk,” and we see him drinking heavily from a bottle of ale in one scene. (Later, we also see Birdy take a swig from a bottle.) Another man makes a fool of himself after getting drunk.

People drink throughout the film. A man talks about smoking a pipe.

Other Negative Elements

Women are often treated as property. One man defends his choice to give his daughter to the man who offers the greatest dowry because a woman’s “master” only changes from her father to her husband. And Birdy notes that even though most girls are quite smart, they’re rarely given credit for it.

We hear that Lord Rollo’s father gambled away everything of value before he died. And though Rollo claims he saved their village from ruin, he seems to have followed in his father’s footsteps, spending every coin of the family’s fortune.

A widow says it was convenient her husband died while he was still rich, even if it was a bit sad.

People lie. Birdy steals a chicken as a prank. She also acts behaves bizarrely to scare off potential suitors.

There are a few jokes about passing gas, and we hear people doing so. Birdy tricks a potential suitor into rubbing animal feces on his joints. A girl steps in manure. Birdy says she would rather bathe in feces than menstruate. We hear about a girl who allegedly taught herself to urinate while standing. A man vomits. Someone spits out foul-tasting tea. Someone picks his nose. We see mucus running down another man’s face.

Conclusion

Catherine Called Birdy is, first and foremost, a coming-of-age tale.

When Birdy begins to menstruate, people tell her she’s a “woman” now. But saying someone is a mature adult is not the same as being a mature adult.

Birdy still has a lot to learn about kindness, gentleness, selflessness, loyalty, bravery, self-sacrifice, friendship and, especially, love. She learns about these virtues through trial and error. And all the while, she has to endure the hardship of women being treated like possessions instead of people.

But therein lies the film’s second lesson: the importance of father-daughter relationships.

Lord Rollo fails Birdy in many ways. When the film begins, he doesn’t know how old his daughter is or even what color her hair is. He uses her as a tool to fix his own financial blunders. And unfortunately, he’s not the only man who’s behaved that way.

Birdy learns that Aelis’s father turned down a marriage proposal that would have guaranteed his daughter love and safety because virgins are worth more money than the offer he received.

“You men are not God!” She screams at him. “You don’t get to decide who we are or where we go or how much we cost like we’re just things. We’re not things. We’re people, and we can think, and we can hear, and we can feel. And you just broke my best friend’s heart—your daughter—because of your greed.”

Sadly, her impassioned speech does little to sway the aged Lord Sidebottom. However, when it comes to her own nuptials, Birdy is pleasantly surprised to learn her own father isn’t as greedy as she once believed.

Lord Rollo, for all his flaws, realizes that forcing his daughter to marry a man more than twice her age is unfair to her. And though Birdy was prepared to sacrifice her own happiness to ensure her family’s prosperity, Rollo delivers her from that cruel fate.

As the film ends, Birdy still has a lot to learn about life. But even if she still plans to be a pest to her parents, she appreciates the sacrifices that they have made for her and her siblings.

Content-wise, there are still a few things to note here.

Language, while infrequent, includes misuses of God’s name and the s-word (not to mention a name that perhaps purposely sounds like the f-word). And Birdy takes it upon herself to find the “best” curse.

Although Birdy’s brother is a monk, she enjoys blaspheming. She does crude things with crucifixes to irritate her family—especially Edward.

And despite Edward’s hopes that keeping a journal will help Birdy to grow “less childish and more learned,” even she notes that it may have only made her “cheekier.”

So while Birdy’s story certainly has the makings to inspire teen girls, parents probably won’t want their daughters to aspire to her goals of “invent[ing] original curses” and “pee[ing] standing up.”

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Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.