viously. Higgins clearly lacks the eroticism ofOvids Pygmalion, but his distaste for women in lifesgutters, his passion for creation, for an art that concealsits art in carrying a thing of beauty from raw materials,his dressing Eliza in gowns and jewels, and his desire toarticulate life and achieve an ideal, all echo Ovids hero.Pygmalions passions finally impregnate his creation;Higgins finally sparks Eliza to give birth to the womanwithin her (Berst, p.13). Elizas growth involvesincreasing self-realization, an evolution from a lower to ahigher state of being, and an important quality thatsometimes is not innately there and must be developed. Pygmalion spent great time and effort in creating hisideal woman. This gives hope to society, especially thelower classes, that one can change and succeed if they justtry hard enough. The more advanced and modern version of MyFair Lady was spawned in a film entitled Pretty Woman. This1980s film is more blunt than its predecessors because theHiggins character (played by Richard Gere) chooses aprostitute (Julia Roberts) not as someone to try to passinto high society, but as a companion to himself. The movietakes place in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, in a wealthy areain present day, and is not so unlikely a scenario to happenconsidering the day and age that we live in today. Gere is arich, cool executive who finds a soft spot for Roberts, whoturns out to be a strikingly honest, real and charmingwoman. Gere decides to hire her for business and socialreasons (as a woman for display) with the agreement that sheis treated like a princess for a week. She gets a newwardrobe, goes to the opera, and learns proper etiquettemanners for fine dining. We see Higgins plight paralleled inGeres attempt to pass her off as a normal, Beverly Hillsdebutante. We see Eliza Doolittle represented in Robertsbecause she decides she wants more from Gere than money.Julia ends up like a fairy tale character, succeeding inpassing a...
