my fair lady is a *much* weirder movie than i was led to believe, good lord
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professor higgins does a bunch of really controlling stuff, borderline abusive, and plenty of it the movie never calls him out on. weird experience, made it hard for me to settle into the movie
audrey hepburn was incredible at least
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It's a lovely film. Every character left better off from the encounter.
Eliza goes from street-corner flower-girl to shop-owner.
Higgins gets the daughter he never had.
Not sure what the problem is.
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Higgins' transformation is from someone who considers humanity equal - but in the abstract - to actually loving an actual person from a different class.
Eliza's goes from someone who is working hard at the level she was born at, to someone who is hustling at a higher level.
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I really disliked it as well and there's an emotion I have that I can't quite name but I'm horrified that the movie is presented as a light-hearted cultural icon while being so terrible when you peer below the surface. No one really talks about that.
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Replying to @sashachapin
Not new, but if you want some entertainment + side project of discussing changing gender/class stereotypes, may I suggest Pygmalion & P-themed movies. I hated _My Fair Lady_ what a terrible movie. _Educating Rita_ was pretty rad. _Good Will Hunting_ best. See also _Pretty Woman_.
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it actually makes for kind of an interesting case study in guru / cult leader dynamics that way, the specific combination of he's doing horrible shit + nobody else in the movie seems to really notice or care + except maybe eliza but she doesn't have the words to describe it
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