If it were up to Gigi, she'd be Peter Pan and wouldn't grow up. She sees the ridiculous lengths adults go to trying to impress each other. Coming of age in Gigi's world has as much to do with other people seeing you in public as it does with physical and psychological changes or spending less of your allowance on candy. For Gigi, coming of age also means that she'll be expected to fulfill her professional destiny and make a living as eye candy and sex plaything to a (hopefully) wealthy man. She's dreading it. As we we see our girl morph from energetic school kid to gorgeous conversation stopper, think about what's really changed about her and what hasn't.
Questions about Coming of Age
- At what point do you think that Gaston realizes that Gigi has become a woman? What does Gaston think defines a woman vs. a girl?
- Does being a woman rather than a young girl mean having more or less agency, in the film? In what ways?
- Having seen the film, how is womanhood defined differently in our society vs. turn-of-the-century Paris?
Chew on This
Gaston's falling in love with Gigi is his own coming-of-age moment: it's when he becomes a real man instead of a spoiled boy.
Female characters in Gigi signal the status of their womanhood with glamorous clothes and carefully orchestrated society appearances.