"Pretty Woman" and concept of the "Lady" Hiroki FUJITA (11/29/04) The movie starts with a famous and attractive melody, easy and memorable phrase. The first movie in this week was “Pretty woman.” I would like to talk about the gender stereotypes on this movie and the society. At the beginning of the movie, the leading actor Edward told the leading actress Vivian to buy some “conservative” and “elegant” clothes to go to an important dinner. But at first, she was not able to get into the shop, because she looked not eligible to the town; Beverly Hills in Los Angels. People are supposed to be sophisticated and rich there. “You are obviously in wrong place,” she was yelled by one of the clerks. There was no woman looked like her. But next day, Edward went to the shopping together, then, she could buy anything regardless of the price. She wore expensive clothes, and thanks to actress’s body style, she looked unbelievably beautiful compared to the before; she became a member of the community. She was no longer a “hooker,” but a “lady.” Clothes changed her social position. Not only did her clothes change, but also she started to learn “lady’s” behaviors. By “behavior,” I will discuss two things; manners and words. Firstly, her manner was very unfavorable. In one dinner scene, Edward and Vivian went to an excellent restaurant. Vivian dressed so beautiful, but her manner was not great. Sometimes she looked confused using silvers. I worried about her bad manner in an important business dinner. Actually, she occasionally interrupted the conversation. That should not be happened to the “lady.” Secondly, her language was bad. She used slang many times that was sometimes hard to understand for me. Slang is never to be welcomed in business and “ladies”. Eventually, unlike the movie My Fair Lady, her informal language was not derailed, she should have paid attention to her words in accordance with the situation. (Yes, the story was really similar to My Fair Lady. The concept must come from the same idea.) As I talked above, the point of view of this movie is based on the idea of “ideal lady.” In order to be a “lady,” she had to change her clothes, manners, and languages. Every thing must not look bad or rude. This movie describes the process of her “growth.” There definitely exists the idea of “ideal lady” in this society. Many females are somehow urged to be a “lady.” I won’t expect females to be an “ideal lady,” but unfortunately, even if I don’t expect ideal, the society do expect ideal; thus, the illusion of “ideal lady” cannot be disappeared. The problem is that not all the woman can be an “ideal lady” as Vivian did. The way must be hard for many people. Works cited Touchstone Pictures. (Garry Marshall). (1990). Pretty Woman [Videotape]. Burbank; Buena Vista Home Entertainment.