I don’t think my question is so much about Cinema as it is about a situation, so I am inclined to drop this into IMHO.
Over the years, via anecdotal evidence and observation, I can’t escape the fact that women like the movie “Pretty Woman” a heckuva bunch more than I would ever guess. Women, in general, love the story.
I don’t get it. She starts out as a prostitute and falls in love with a rich, good looking guy, who seems to fall in love with her. La tee freakin’ dah. Is that some kind of insight into what is a fantasy for women (who are very scarce on information about what their fantasy is anyway)?
Is there some sort of DNA-based inclination to fall in love with a night in shining armor trigger sitting on some chromosome in women?
Is their something noble about her occupation? I think the whole premise is ridiculous and puts women in a bad light. I would think women would look down their nose at the whole thing.
Her comes rich guy and he just decides he wants a prostitute and he gets her and her respect through his power and money. Doesn’t hurt that he looks like Richard Gere.
People…help me out here. Of all the heroes in all the movies, it is obvious to me that women like this hero/story/situation waayyy too much.
I’ve wondered this myself. No one I know would think it ‘romantic’ if it happened in real life…millionaire picks up a prostitute and then falls in love? I don’t think most women I know could get past the first part.
But I think the appeal is that it’s basically a retelling of Cinderella. She’s a poor nobody, an amazing thing happens and she gets the prince and the pretty dresses.
I’m more surprised that not only do women seem to like The World According to Garp, but they also seem to think that mass of misguided misogyny is somehow a feminist tract.
she won’t kiss anyone on the lips because that’s an emotional limit is inserted to show that, while she may bang for money she’s really emotionally and spiritually a ‘good’ girl and that when true love came she left her troubled past (which she was semi-forced into) and became the princess.
I don’t really care for it, but I can see how some women might like it. Lots of cool clothes, bitchy shopkeep gets her comeuppance, hot Richard Gere (well, to some people), nice and nonthreatening Julia Roberts, catchy title and theme, blah blah blah boxofficecakes.
It’s about rescuing and redepemption. Vivian was never a hooker, not like Cat was (she cried the first time) and she was still naive enough that Edward felt he could rescue her.
If Cat had gotten in the Lotus instead of Viv, then Edward would have given her bus money after he got to the hotel and it would have been a very short movie.
That’s not it. We don’t get a sense of Viv’s clientele at the beginning of the movie…she’s picked up by Edward and it’s off to the Beverly Hills Hilton, where he’s in town for a week attempting a hostile takeover of a company. He needs someone pretty on his arm for the schmoozing, someone who will be professional, and hires Viv for the week to be his “beck and call girl.”
But I liked Pretty Woman; it’s just a fantasy Cinderella thing. Obviously in real life it would be ridiculous and somewhat repulsive, like a lot of movie plots.
Hey! My sig is relevant here. We are not all cut from the same mold.
But even though I never wtched Pretty Woman and don’t like the premise, and positively hated World According to Garp (he was raped!) even hav and understand the longing for a Cinderella story. I just like mine to be a little different.
I had to see this for a film criticism class, else I’d have never watched it.
Wasn’t she hooking so that she could get money to go to college and do better in her life? To the best of my recollection, once she bagged her sugar daddy - er, found true love with a dude who just happened to be rich - she didn’t even mention going to college again.
It’s been many, many years since I’ve seen the film, so my memory may be fuzzy. Regardless, I sure as hell don’t love the film. But it is a take on the classic Cinderella story, with her not being presented as a whore but as sort of someone you could relate to and maybe understand how she got there, then toss in the standard Hollywood ‘And They Find True Love Together’ bit and a bunch of women viewers get all mushy.
Actually, I think of it just the opposite. In fact, she “rescued” him, that’s why he went back for her in the end. She was perfectly willing to walk away and build her own life for herself. I think she had great strength of character, even if she resorted to what some feel is a dishonorable way to make money on the way up.
And besides, the movie was FUN! Some great lines (“If I forget to tell you later, I had a really nice time tonight”), some great scenes (the dress shopping, the opera) and some great music. What’s not to like?
Because they want to believe that there is such a thing as “romance” which can overcome the largely business arrangement between many women and the rich men they get involved with.
To me it was a movie about two people who really “got” one another. He saw past her blonde wig and less than honorable profession and she saw past his money and corporate attitude. They seemed to fit together well and recognized that, which is why he asked her to stick around instead of sending her on her way after their tryst and why she didn’t just take the money and run after the sales girl wouldn’t wait on her. It kind of leads you to feel like maybe there is someone out there who would stick around through the unpleasant shit for you, too.
Well, for the masses, I think it is more Cinderella, and that is what I don’t get. Pardon the expression but…in this day and age, women go for that Cinderella crap? Yeah, what did she accomplish exactly? Landing a rich/powerful/good looking guy? Cinderella should hardly be exalted. Women can’t be measured by the type of guy they land can they in 2008?
…and worse yet, the farther down the food chain you are and the greater the number of levels you jump up in the food chain by bagging a rich/powerful guy equals even more admiration from the womanly masses. Prostitute to millionaire via the guy. Well, that says loads for women.
This is what we (well, you women. Not me, I’m a guy) aspire to? And he is cool 'cause he got hot arm candy before AND after they fell in love. WTF?
Look, it’d be one thing if it were just a decent movie and generally just ‘liked’, but women mention just loving this movie way too much and it is at the top of so many of their lists. The movie plot and the admiration for it don’t speak too well for women.
Again, it’s not even on my Top 100 list, so could you stop with the overgeneralizations? Plenty of women don’t like the movie. But here it is:
Some women like to fantasize.
Some women like fantasies of knights in shining armor.
Some women conflate these fantasies with real life.
Other women merely enjoy the fantasies for what they are and don’t behave that way IRL.
Some women think getting rich and having a handsome men is the end all be all.
Some women like to think about getting rich and having a handsome man, just like dreaming of the lotto, and then go back to their real, rich, fulfilling lives and take it for what it is - a fantasy.
And some women don’t do any of this. Women are as different from each other as men!
I don’t love it, but it’s still fun to watch, even all these years later.
Richard Gere’s character is emotionally distant, and a lot of us are still attracted to that, no matter how unhealthy it is.
Richard Gere’s character is a gentleman, which is a nice change of pace.
Hector Elizondo’s character, though he scares Vivian at first, turns out to be a sweetheart, and who doesn’t love that?
The lady at the department store who helps Vivian find a dress…I think she and Hector Elizondo’s character are destined to become a couple some day. Or maybe they are already!
Of course it’s nice to watch the snotty store clerks get their comeuppance.
