What "THE BEAR" & "LADY BIRD" can teach us about writing conflict

Lesson 3 - How REAL Humans Talk! Dialogue Writing Essentials

Art by Mariam Chagelishvili

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Most great stories hinge on knotty conflicts—so your skill in writing clobberingly petty, skillfully vicious, desperate or desperately hilarious fights will help bring your work to blazing life.

I live for the “give me a number” fight scene from “LADY BIRD.” It gives me chills! Watch below how Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf puff themselves up to hide their fathoms-deep hurt (the scene’s roiling subtext):

This scene is an outstanding example of what “charged subtext” can look like in the hands of a masterful dialogue writer—soon YOU!—when characters engage in “conversational violence.”

Question: How would you describe what “Lady Bird” & “Marion” are pretending their conversation is about, versus what the ACTUAL heartbreaking subtext of this scene is? 

I’d parse it as: