Great Character: Vivian Ward (“Pretty Woman”)
Recently I asked if there were members of the GITS community who would like to participate with guest columns. Today’s Great Character post is provided by longtime GITS follower Jason Cuthbert.
When it comes to romantic comedies, a prostitute is usually the last love interest that we would expect for a typical cinematic relationship. But in 1990, director Garry Marshall (Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve) and screenwriter J.F. Lawton (Under Seige, Blankman) combined forces for an unexpected hit about a suave business mogul named Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) falling uncontrollable in love with an irresistible freelance sex merchant by the name of Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts).
Pretty Woman plot summary from IMDB:
A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets… only to fall in love.
Pretty Woman went from being a rather low budget, easily recoupable comedy, with only a $14 million production budget on the line — to a $463 million world wide grossing mega blockbuster. Julia Roberts had previously shown signs of the stellar acting talent we have since come to expect from her with her first Oscar-nominated performance as Shelby Eatenton Latcherie in Steel Magnolias one year prior in 1989. But this was a supporting role amongst well established actresses such as Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field and Olympia Dukakis. Playing Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman gave Julia Roberts not only the opportunity to be the sole leading woman in a highly successful film, but also her second Oscar nomination — this time for the Best Actress in a Leading Role category.
What exactly makes Vivian Ward such a really great character? Despite her professional of sleeping with complete strangers to pay her bills, Vivian wants two things that any sane human being cannot live without — love and respect. And even though Edward is paying her thousands of dollars to be his sexy sidekick — her heart begins to hold him to high standards, even at the expense of walking away from his huge financial contribution. Vivian’s quest to be loved for who she is and not for what people wish she would become comes across when Vivian Ward is kept waiting:
VIVIAN: You’re late.
EDWARD LEWIS: You’re stunning.
VIVIAN: You’re forgiven.When Vivian Ward is struggles to accept a compliment:
VIVIAN: People put you down enough, you start to believe it.
EDWARD LEWIS: I think you are a very bright, very special woman.
VIVIAN: The bad stuff is easier to believe. You ever notice that?And also when Vivian Ward clarifies her relationship expectations:
VIVIAN: When I was a little girl, my mama used to lock me in the attic when I was bad, which was pretty often. And I would- I would pretend I was a princess… trapped in a tower by a wicked queen. And then suddenly this knight… on a white horse with these colors flying would come charging up and draw his sword. And I would wave. And he would climb up the tower and rescue me. But never in all the time… that I had this dream did the knight say to me, “Come on, baby, I’ll put you up in a great condo.”
The obstacles that stand between this “forbidden love” affair do not begin and end with their vastly different and possibly conflicting professions. Even though Vivian glows with an honest, sincere, and sweet personality — her lack of upper class tact unfortunately becomes a stumbling block, even though it appears to be for completely superficial and pompous reasons. It becomes really easy to forget Vivian sells her body to the highest bidder and easy to remember that she is a good-natured human being when it becomes difficult for Vivian to adapt to Edward’s world of the rich:
Edward’s desire to provide the love and respect for Vivian that she begins to doubt that he has for her gets a great redemptive pay-off when he finds out she has been denied access to the finest designer clothing shops his money can buy:
Vivian Ward is a protagonist in the realm of Cinderella or Titanic that unite rich and poor lovers in an authentic way that utilize the pompous stigmas that society places on economic classes and highlights the idea that true love has no price tag. Vivian Ward could have easily turned off her emotions and turned her sights towards the $3,000 dollars Edward was offering her. But once again, her desire for love and respect prevented this compromise — and her admirable integrity makes Vivian Ward a — GREAT CHARACTER.
The story of the movie’s development is remarkable. Here is some background from IMDB:
The movie was initially intended to be a dark drama about prostitution in Los Angeles in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The relationship between Vivian and Edward also harbored controversial themes, including the concept of having Vivian addicted to cocaine; part of the deal was that she had to stay off it for a week. She needed the money to go to Disneyland. Edward eventually throws her out of his car and drives off. The movie was scripted to end with Vivian and her prostitute friend on the bus to Disneyland. These traits, considered by producer Laura Ziskin to be detrimental to the otherwise sympathetic portrayal of her, were removed or incorporated into the character of Vivian’s friend, Kit. These “cut scenes” have been found in public view, and some were included on the DVD released on the movie’s 15th anniversary. One such scene has Vivian offering Edward, “I could just pop ya good and be on my way”, indicating a lack of interest in “pillow talk”. In another, she is confronted by drug dealers outside of The Blue Banana, and rescued by Edward and Darryl. One example of a changed plotline was when Edward breaks into the bathroom to find Vivian flossing her teeth instead of doing drugs as he had feared. In the original script she was doing drugs.
What are your thoughts about Pretty Woman and the character Vivian Ward.
Thanks to Jason for another guest post in the Great Characters series.
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