Day 145 - My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady (1964) directed by George Cukor

Okay, let me get this straight. Higgins spends the entire film being a complete ass and Eliza falls for him? I generally have a big problem with romances that are portrayed in this manner. It just seems completely unfeasible and unsatisfactory to me when I see it. In the end it always boils down to the fact that the man is not deserving of the woman's affections no matter what revelation he comes to at the end. And what revelation does Higgins come at the end? That he's grown accustomed to her, that her being around is second nature to him. Why does he need her? Why is he drawn to her? Because she is kind or virtuous? No, because he has grown to basically tolerate her. What he says about her is in reference to herself; he needs her because of how she makes him feel. Never mind what he can offer her in return or whether or not she even wants him. It is the same selfish attitude that he's displayed throughout the entire film.

So Eliza comes to Higgins in the beginning of the film hoping that he could improve her. Typically in this scenario it is the girl that ends up improving the guy, but Higgins doesn't learn anything at all. The poor are exactly that, poor, nothing more and probably a lot less. What ever happened to inner beauty and all that stuff? Doesn't exist in My Fair Lady. It is only until Higgins has properly "fixed" Eliza that he even begins to tolerate her, if that. What exactly are young girls, or poor folks for that matter, to make of this message? That they aren't good enough as they are? This film spends a lot of time being sexist and classist without having much to say about it. I dunno, the whole tone of the film just rubbed me entirely the wrong way. I really hope I just missed the boat on this one because I refuse to believe a film with such a deplorable message is so widely regarded.

It is somewhat telling that my favorite song of the movie is "Why Can't a Woman be More Like a Man?" I'll be honest, it's a hilarious song. But I knew the film wasn't heading in the right direction when Higgins is singing this song with twenty minutes left in the film and is still in a heated argument with Eliza with less than ten minutes left. He spends over two and a half hours being a total prick and I'm supposed to believe in the final ten minutes something miraculous is going to happen? And it still begs the question, why does Eliza even care? Supposedly she is now empowered and proves it by arguing with him eloquently and fervently, yet this is totally negated by the fact that she still seeks his approval and/or affection. I guess it's true, girls do like the bad guys.

I do like Audrey Hepburn, though it is strange to see her as anything but an elegantly beautiful woman which made her beginning scenes so strange to watch. She succeeds in not only annoying Higgins, but the viewer as well, which I suppose is the whole point.

I also think the film is long, not because it's almost three hours, but because it basically circles around the same point over and over without really resolving anything, namely Higgins being a douchebag. I do think the film is well made though.

Sorry for the disjointed rambling, but this film just really irritated me. Like I said, I really hope I just completely missed the boat here. I'm more than willing to revise my opinion on it.

Grade: D+