"Theme stated" in Pretty Woman?

Dirk Riptide · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:04 am Post subject: "Theme stated" in Pretty Woman?

Hi all, I like to use Pretty Woman as a structure analysis tool but I have never been sure where the theme is stated.

Might it be where Vivien charges Edward for directions and when he tells her she can't do that she tells him "I can do anything I like, I ain't lost."

I think that this might be the theme because the film is about these to people who have lost their way and need each other to find themselves again.

Any thoughts?

auntieant · Tiger Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 189

I haven't watched it for a while but I've seen it a few times and I think you're right. Almost two themes in one sentence.

"I can do anything I like", which is wrong because he CAN'T do anything he likes. The scene where Vivienne makes him take a day off explores this first, with his interractions with the little bald guy from Sienfeld re-itterating this. He may be a powerful guy in his world, but it's ONLY that world where he can do what he likes.

Then "I'm not lost", which is true on the surface, but as his affection grows for the old codger with the business (ship building is it?) he realises he doesn't really know who he is or who he wants to be.

So good call, I think.

Also worth considering is Vivienne's statement to her friend "We say who, where, how much" (or whatever) which is her illusion of control. She doesn't need love, but like Edward she is deluding herself about her life.

martinm · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:50 pm Post subject:

Also, perhaps "Take care of YOU" - maybe a theme stated. Is life just about taking care of ourselves? If so, where does that lead?

Most of the characters in the beginning are loners, taking care of themselves, first. Perhaps the characters arcs involve moving beyond fear and selfishness in order to care for others, too, and to accept the risk and responsibility it brings. And then, having accepted both, enables them, finally, to grow, to experience the joy of life.

Most of Act Two is Gere and Roberts learning how to extend themselves beyond themselves, and the fear that each step out of themselves generates, as well as the joy. I LOVE the scene when Julia keeps answering the phone. :-)

Probably, the Shipbuilder learned that lesson a long time ago, as did his son, it seems. Possibly they represent who Gere (Gere and Roberts?) could become.

This selfishness is confirmed, I think, in other characters, too - as when the roommate takes the rent money (or spends it? - can't remember).

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crazrick · Liger Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 655

in a way, you're all right, while in another way, you're not...

in my amateurish opinion, Pretty Woman Theme Stated happens at 6:43, just after Edward takes Stuckey's Lotus from the party, when Ed's cruising Hollywood, looking for his hotel in Beverly Hills, but ends up on Hollywood Blvd...

Pretty Woman is a Fairy Tale, right? Every-Woman's Fantasy... a dream come true kinda story, right?

Edward talks about being so caught up in his world of business, of take-overs and leverage buy-outs, crushing people's dreams in some vain effort to find satisfaction for his own sheltered and priveleged upbringing; he even bought and sold his own father's company out from under the man, out of spite for his father splitting from his mother when Edward was a boy!

Vivienne's dream ever since she was a girl, being locked in a closet for hours by her evil monster of a mother, was to some day be rescued by the typical knight in shiny armor on a white horse... but, she's stuck being a prostitute after fleeing Georgia to make something of herself out from under her evil upbringing...

so, childhood nightmares beget tragic grown-up lifestyles, while entertaining fantastic dreams of some other, better sort of life... it's a fairy tale, a story about dreams...

the movie runs approximately 125 minutes. According to the beat calculator, in a 125 minute screenplay, Establishing Theme should occur within 1 to 6 minutes. Setting up the theme of money matters vs people considerations and concerns, we open on Edward and his lawyer at a 'fun' business luncheon or party of some sort... rich people hob-nobbing. Edward is dumped (over the phone) by his flavor of the month in NYC for always wanting her to be at his beckon call, so he retreats from the party to his hotel in Beverly Hills...

at 6 minutes, 34 seconds, as Edward makes way into the valley, the black tie-dyed man shouts out about 'everybody comes to Hollywood with a dream... What's your dream?' he stomps toward the camera, basically shouting directly at US 'Hey man, what's your dream?'

to me, that screams Theme... especially so given the ending back on the mean streets of LA, the same guy screaming about dreams, after Edward saved Vivienne and she so sweetly and completely saved him right back!

taking care of one's self to better enable them to take care of other people in general-- and one special other person specifically-- is all-encompassed in the dreams of both Vivienne and Edward. They want to be better people than who they are when the story starts; they have dreams, big dreams, bigger than either of them think possible, so they remain stuck in their dead-end lives, doing what they do, knowing what they know... until they get to know each other, and realize their dreams, enabling them to make the other's dreams come true.

in conclusion: What's your dream? Everybody got a dream! What's your dream? is the Theme Stated for Pretty Woman....

maybe...

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writingmama · Bengal Tiger Joined: 13 Aug 2008 Posts: 211

Dirk, I agree with Rick about the theme stated in PRETTY WOMAN ---

Woohoo Rick ---- love your analysis of the theme!

All this is making me want to see the movie again -- right now Smile

MAY ALL OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!!!

HUGS!

martinm · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:25 pm Post subject:

Okay, I've changed my mind. Smile

Here's another possibility:

Theme is stated in the very opening sentence. It doesn't always occur "on time" in the beat sheet.

Theme Stated: "It's all about money."

Goal: to realize their dreams.

Theme turned into a question: "Is it all about money?"

Answer: No. It's about acting out of the kindness of your heart (like the hotel manager, the Shipbuilder), acting out of love, not out of the desire for money (Roberts refusing to give directions unless Edward pays)- and acting out of their hearts, not for money, is the adjustment that needed to be made in order for them to realize their dream.

Plot question answered: Dream realized.

Everyone has a dream. Not everyone realizes it. The dream is the goal, which is realized or not. Whether they realize their dream is the plot question. The theme relates to the story question, the inner struggle, which enables them to get their dream, the plot question. They realize their dreams because each became whole as a result of the other, and it was only because they started acting out of love, not money.

Theme question answered: It's not all about money.

Or something like that.

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crazrick · Liger Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 655

after further review, I concur.

Is it all about money? its the basic question: For Love or Money?

you have the powerful money man and the people-person prostitute; Edward claims to know people, but he only knows them by the size of their bank accounts. Viv claims to only have interest in the same $$$, but she has heart and is really a people person... and they both make due with what they have, then even some how try to fit in when confronted with the other person's world and POV, while they figure out what they really want, and it turns out they really want each other.

so, it's all about money, magic, dreams and love and I think why it works so well is that it answers all those questions all at once as it goes along, where other stories shift things around and sometimes tend to lose track of those subtle treads that connect things...

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