The Ugliness of Pretty Woman
A Misogynistic Myth
Last week, I was speaking with a bright young woman who told me her favorite movie is Pretty Woman. She believes she saw it for the first time when she was nine years of age. She is now in her late 20’s.
Since its 1990 release, millions of girls and women have been dazzled by this seeming fairy tale starring an enchanting Julia Roberts and a debonair Richard Gere.
I say “seeming” fairy tale, as this particular “Cinderella” isn’t working hard scrubbing floors. She is a streetwalker, a common Hollywood prostitute, initially lured by Edward, the Gere character’s, millions, but eventually finding true love with the man.
When I think of Pretty Woman, while I admit I can also be a sucker for Roberts’ charms, the words that come to my mind are not “romantic comedy” but “pernicious” and “insidious.”
Its disturbing values may have corrupted generations of young women. The message it conveys is that it is preferable to work in the sex industry than at McDonald’s.
Vivian tells the man paying her for her services, “I worked at a couple of fast food places. I parked cars at wrestling.”
So it’s better to be a hooker than take a legitimate, though low-paying, job?
