# The economics of Pretty Woman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290 "2006-10-04T18:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/1 "2006-10-04T18:41:55Z")
So, this is an old movie, but I’ve been wondering about this for a long time, and finally decided to post. Vivian winds up with $3,300 at the end of her week with Edward. She sets Kit up with the _Edward Lewis Scholarship Fund_ - I’m assuming that has to be about $1,000 for it to make enough of a difference that Kit starts looking into beauty colleges. So, Vivian is left with $2,300 and a snazzy new wardrobe. With this she plans on leaving LA and moving to San Francisco to start anew. She has no marketable skills, other than being a ho, near as I can tell. Is this in any way, shape or form realistic? I was in LA at the beginning of August and stuff was pretty expensive (particularly rent and whatnot). From what I gather, San Francisco is the same, if not worse. Now, the movie is 16 years old, so I’m assuming that prices have increased quite a bit, but even still, would $2,300 and a bunch of nice clothes be enough to start up in San Francisco in 1990 and NOT wind up being a hooker within two months if that was the only thing you had any experience at? Obviously, _Pretty Woman_ is not a movie based in reality, but this particular thing sort of stuck in my craw. FWIW, I always thought that $3000 was WAAAAAY to little to have to put up with Richard Gere for ANY amount of time, let alone a week, but YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/2 "2006-10-04T19:17:45Z")
You’re instincts are right on. Even back then that amount wouldn’t have gone very far. I don’t know that it’s a case of a flimsy plot point as much as I think we’re supposed to believe it would seem like a fortune to Vivian and \*she \* believes she can make it on that amount. Luckily she never has to find out because her knight in shining armor rescues her, as is the custom here in the states :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/3 "2006-10-04T19:37:23Z")
The were very expensive clothes IIRC. I suppose she could sell them and use that cash plus what she got from Edward to get started. First and last month’s rent, turn on utilities etc. Of course she has to find a job and with no skills (and wasn’t she a high school drop out?) she’ll be slinging burgers or cleaning or working a cash register somewhere. Still it doesn’t sound like a good life. Move to an expensive area. Get a crappy minimum wage so you have to live in the worst part of town. Eat through your savings in a couple of months then try and support yourself and put a little away for college or whatever. Seems like a losing proposition. Selling the clothes would only tide her over for a little while then I think she’d be in trouble. Good thing she got the fairy tale. Know what I always hated about that movie? The ending when he asks what happens when the prince rescues the princess and she responds “she rescues him right back”. That line is just awful in so many ways. Anticlimactic and really just kind of clumsy and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/4 "2006-10-04T19:51:05Z")
But you forget that [del]King Cophetua[/del] [del] Henry Higgins [/del] Edward and his world taught her how to be A Real Lady, and now she can go amongst honorable society and have her own [del] kingdom[/del] [del] flower shop [/del] job as a snooty sales clerk. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/5 "2006-10-04T19:56:08Z")
[QUOTE=velvetjones] The were very expensive clothes IIRC. I suppose she could sell them and use that cash plus what she got from Edward to get started. [/quote] Nah - I used to work in a high end ladies consignment shop - you get about 10% of the purchase price when all is said and done. Even if he spent $20,000 on clothes for her, that’s still only $2000 more. > [@](#): > > Know what I always hated about that movie? The ending when he asks what happens when the prince rescues the princess and she responds “she rescues him right back”. That line is just awful in so many ways. Anticlimactic and really just kind of clumsy and stupid. This I **TOTALLY** agree with. What she should have said was “They get married, the fact that she’s a ho never goes away, hilarity ensues, they divorce within 2 years and she takes him for half.” But that’s not _SUPER_ romantic, really. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/6 "2006-10-04T19:57:13Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] But you forget that [del]King Cophetua[/del] [del] Henry Higgins [/del] Edward and his world taught her how to be A Real Lady, and now she can go amongst honorable society and have her own [del] kingdom[/del] [del] flower shop [/del] job as a snooty sales clerk. [/QUOTE] And make what? $8 an hour in 1990? Yer still not gonna be livin’ high on the hogg, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/7 "2006-10-04T21:23:23Z")
[QUOTE=velvetjones] Know what I always hated about that movie? The ending when he asks what happens when the prince rescues the princess and she responds “she rescues him right back”. That line is just awful in so many ways. Anticlimactic and really just kind of clumsy and stupid. [/QUOTE] Really? I liked that. She was a whore, he was a john, and together, they saved each other from that. I’m a sucker for Redemptive endings. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/8 "2006-10-04T21:40:42Z")
I hate this goddam movie. ---
**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 4, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/9 "2006-10-04T21:40:55Z")
Completely off topic – I just needed to point out that I got a nice chuckle out of seeing **WOOKINPANUB** and **velvetjones** post one after the other. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/10 "2006-10-04T21:42:09Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] I hate this goddam movie. [/QUOTE] That’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/11 "2006-10-05T00:47:13Z")
An English teacher of mine in my Sophomore year of college told me that the original script for this movie involved the femalie protagonist’s death by overdose of cocaine. Does anyone know if that’s true? I doubt it, but, you never know… -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/12 "2006-10-05T01:25:36Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Does anyone know if that’s true? I doubt it, but, you never know… -FrL- [/QUOTE] I heard that the move _Whore_ is supposidly the why _Pretty Woman_ was originally supposed to go. Of course, I’ve never seen it, and I have no support, whatsoever, for that statement, other than something I heard somewhere 15 years ago. Fighting ignorance indeed. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/13 "2006-10-05T04:02:10Z")
\*Pretty Woman \*was supposed to be a gritty movie about the seedy side of the Hollywood area - you can still see some signs of it, for instance the homeless guy that wanders around the streets saying “Whass your dream?”. But when the sweet innocent-looking 19yo \*\*Julia Roberts \*\*was cast as the hooker it just wasn’t going to work as athat, and they had to re-think it as a light romantic comedy. A less likely looking street hooker I’m yet to see. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/14 "2006-10-05T04:28:45Z")
Some anecdotal evidence, for your consideration: In May of 1989 I moved to Oakland, CA. I had less than 2 years of experience as a data entry clerk, no college degree, and $1200 cash. I got a studio apartment in a moderately dingy neighborhood at $375/month, and within two weeks I had a data entry job in Berkeley at $9/hr. and supported myself without a problem. Vivan was smart, attractive, and charming. I’m positive she could have gotten an entry-level job in an office relatively quickly, even without a resume’. As has been pointed out already, there was basically no reason for her to be a hooker in the first place. I think she would have been able to make it in the Bay Area as long as she didn’t set her sights too high at first, but worked, step-by-step, to acheive incremental goals of improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/15 "2006-10-05T06:05:34Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] \*Pretty Woman \*was supposed to be a gritty movie about the seedy side of the Hollywood area - you can still see some signs of it, for instance the homeless guy that wanders around the streets saying “Whass your dream?”. But when the sweet innocent-looking 19yo \*\*Julia Roberts \*\*was cast as the hooker it just wasn’t going to work as athat, and they had to re-think it as a light romantic comedy. A less likely looking street hooker I’m yet to see. [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s the story I heard from my English teacher. In posting the question on this board, though, I was hoping for some cites or something. Right now I know no more or less than I did before. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/16 "2006-10-05T11:20:07Z")
[The Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Woman) claims that the original script portrayed her as a heavy drug user, and says that a few scenes from before rewrites showed up in the 15th anniversary DVD extras, like her being confronted by drug dealers. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/17 "2006-10-05T15:43:59Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] But when the sweet innocent-looking 19yo \*\*Julia Roberts \*\* [/QUOTE] Wasn’t she 23 when the movie was released? Surely, it didn’t sit on the shelf for 4 years? As for the OP, wasn’t she a part-time hooker? This tells me that she isn’t good with money management, or, she has a lot of bad luck requiring her to dip into her cash reserves. Either way, it doesn’t look too good that $3k will last a long time. With a lot of discipline, and great timing, she could be well on her way to being out of that life and onto something more stable. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/18 "2006-10-05T20:05:08Z")
[QUOTE=Rufus Xavier] Vivan was smart, attractive, and charming. I’m positive she could have gotten an entry-level job in an office relatively quickly, even without a resume’. As has been pointed out already, there was basically no reason for her to be a hooker in the first place. [/quote] But if this was true she wouldn’t have bombed out of parking cars at wrestling and fast food gigs. She didn’t have 2 years of office experience, she had 2 years of ho experience. Seriously - if she interviewed for a reception job and was asked what she’d been doing to support herself previously what was she going to say? Public relations? Sales? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/19 "2006-10-05T20:15:37Z")
I think the $2300 and the expensive clothes were so she could pick up a rich husband. I mean, that’s a job in a way. ---
**Author:** ![Slapbin\_Waddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Slapbin\_Waddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slapbin_Waddle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290/20 "2006-10-05T21:11:22Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] I think the $2300 and the expensive clothes were so she could pick up a rich husband. I mean, that’s a job in a way. [/QUOTE] And, technically, that is what she did. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-pretty-woman/375290.md?page=2)