# Does the movie Pretty Woman" have a "message" of any kind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443 "2009-10-20T04:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/21 "2009-10-20T14:57:49Z")
The message is: [Roger Ebert](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900323/REVIEWS/3230305/1023) will give three and a half stars to a bowel movement. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/22 "2009-10-20T14:58:55Z")
It’s Cinderella. Only in this one, “ball” is a verb instead of a noun. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/23 "2009-10-20T15:37:33Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > The original script was darker and more realistic. Geer’s character drops the whore in the end and she returns to the streets and overdoses on crack. And _that_ movie might have been a critical success but certainly a box office failure. The message of _Pretty Woman_, therefore, is that focus groups are a worthwhile investment. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/24 "2009-10-20T16:07:32Z")
Whores and millionaires are the best people and who fall in love for the right reasons. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/25 "2009-10-20T16:45:41Z")
It’s clearly a corallary to the great Beatle’s hit, proving that you can actually buy love. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/26 "2009-10-20T16:55:13Z")
Rich guys like prostitutes ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/27 "2009-10-20T17:27:55Z")
Seriously… “You and I are a lot alike Vivian, we both screw people for money.” In the end, they both stop screwing people for money. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/898d66/32.png) [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/28 "2009-10-20T17:32:31Z")
I always thought the message was: You’re a pretty woman but you’re not hot enough so bring on the body double. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/29 "2009-10-20T18:57:24Z")
The message is with enough promotion you can convince the american public that Julia Roberts is even the slightest bit attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/30 "2009-10-20T19:31:49Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > I think the message is if you are a script writer under a deadline and you ran out of ideas, your best bet is to take a catchy lyric from a popular song and write a story around it using stream-of-consciousness and whatever pops into your head when thinking about the song. Hey, you can’t buy me love. Girls just want to have fun, you know. It’ just a prelude to a kiss. I’m going to go blow out sixteen candles, now, and shat out a screenplay about this girl who meets a guy, only she’s engaged to some other guy, but the complications ensue and he turns out to be a serial killer with multiple personalities, one of which is actually a record-breaking racehorse. I’m sure to get middle fives advance on a six figure payout. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/31 "2009-10-20T21:01:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Or, as Anna Nicole Smith discovered, all three. Ok, how much did you have to pay **don’t ask** to set you up with such a perfect straight line? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/32 "2009-10-20T21:20:05Z")
Yes, the message is that [John David Carson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_David_Carson) needs a better agent. That movie was his last appearance on film - [this scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnuvrDc1_mM) - and he hasn’t been in a single production since. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/33 "2009-10-20T22:03:59Z")
> [@simster](#): > > It’s clearly a corallary to the great Beatle’s hit, proving that you can actually buy love. Nothing I can say but win ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/34 "2009-10-20T22:40:48Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Seriously… > > “You and I are a lot alike Vivian, we both screw people for money.” > > In the end, they both stop screwing people for money. It only appears that way because they never made the sequel: _Pretty Woman: The Divorce_. ---
**Author:** ![McGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@McGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/35 "2009-10-20T23:20:40Z")
The message is: Don’t worry, you are not a sleezebag if you… 1. are a guy who goes for hookers Instead, you are a “prince” in a “Cinderella story” 2. are a woman who goes after flashy rich guys Instead you are a “Cinderella” and you are good for him and “saving him” from his empty life. And hookers are not drug addicts. Instead they are nice girls. And they’re not being exploited by pimps. Instead they are independent and empowered, and support their sisters on the street with little pep talks like “work it, girl!” And the REAL message is that the movie-going public has a totally screwed up idea of what is “romantic”. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/36 "2009-10-21T00:05:50Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > I think the message is if you are a script writer under a deadline and you ran out of ideas, your best bet is to take a catchy lyric from a popular song and write a story around it using stream-of-consciousness and whatever pops into your head when thinking about the song. Well, considering the title the movie bears today is NOT the one it was written under… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/37 "2009-10-21T02:54:26Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > I think the message is if you are a script writer under a deadline and you ran out of ideas, your best bet is to take a catchy lyric from a popular song and write a story around it using stream-of-consciousness and whatever pops into your head when thinking about the song. No, no, no. It isn’t even a very original story, not by a long shot. It is a re-write of My Fair Lady, which in turn was a re-write of Pygmalion. Old story. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/38 "2009-10-21T14:00:08Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > No, no, no. It isn’t even a very original story, not by a long shot. > > It is a re-write of My Fair Lady, which in turn was a re-write of Pygmalion. Old story. Which Shaw based on a Greek myth. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/39 "2009-10-21T14:32:14Z")
> [@Haunted](#): > > I always thought the message was: You’re a pretty woman but you’re not hot enough so bring on the body double. Just curious about this. Why would she need a body double? Julia Roberts has a nice body albeit on the thin side. Now if you’re talking about the scene where she is walking through the lobby in the new dress after shopping and the hotel manager is admiring her backside, yeah I don’t think her ass is that well formed. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443/40 "2009-10-21T14:53:59Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It only appears that way because they never made the sequel: _Pretty Woman: The Divorce_. And Cinderella ends before she finds out about the royal mistress and the royal bastards. Fairytales end with “happily ever after” - we know that reality seldom does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-movie-pretty-woman-have-a-message-of-any-kind/514443.md?page=3)