It embarrasses her son who would rather keep his head down while enraging members of the local police-force who do not like their credibility challenged. It upsets people like the fat dentist and priest who prefer to keep the order of things.
Mildred’s mission reverberates around the town.
Mildred, a resilient and abrasive figure, goes on to claim the billboards, subverting their commercial purpose for a personal fight that also speaks to wider American societal issues. In this state, these wasted billboards stand as the symbol of a decayed and tainted American Dream. As described in the script, they ‘sit like tombstones on a dusty road’ – a reference to the death of Mildred’s daughter in this same spot and (perhaps) to a deeper malignance within American society. They can signal opportunity or exploitation, depending on your vantage point – the American Dream (or the American Greed) encapsulated in eye-catching imagery and snappy taglines.Īt the start of Martin McDonagh’s film Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Hayes (played by the magnificent Frances McDormand) drives past three worn-down neglected billboards. BILLBOARDS are a symbol of American commercialism, prosperity and corruption.