MONDAY MUSINGS: ANOTHER LOOK AT A CLASSIC

Last week I watched the classic film, My Fair Lady, probably for the 20th time. That movie has always had a special place in my heart. I went to the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood in November 1964 to see it the week after its world premiere in New York. I was with someone very special—but that’s a story for another day far in the future.

TCM, the Turner Classic Movie channel, showed it. In these days of political correctness, their introduction included a commentary on the anti-feminist storyline of the film. I had never seen it as anything more than a classic film with great acting and music. It got me to thinking, which to be fair, was probably their objective.

But while I don’t assume the same disparaging view of the production as TCM did, I do see now that the “happily-ever-after” ending is not what it should be for a true romance, or even for a positive social relationship. The only genuinely romantic character in the film is Freddie, the upper-class wannabe suitor for Eliza. It still amuses me that Jeremy Brett played Freddie. He went on to achieve great success as the star of the BBC series Sherlock Holmes, the antithesis of Freddie’s romantic, love-sick character. But I digress.

While it’s true in My Fair Lady the end reaches a kind of stability in Eliza and Professor Higgins’ relationship, it stops short of romantic love, at least on his part. Eliza yearns for real love, but she settles for him becoming “accustomed to her face.”  There is no marriage, none of the undying love proclaimed by Freddie at every turn. Their relationship has no assurance of any long-term survival. It’s based on some tentative level of mutual respect—sort of.

I love the music (especially the uncredited singing by Marni Nixon), I admire the performances, and I love the cinematography. But the story? It’s like some other films I’ve watched. Either they should have ended five minutes earlier than they did, like La La Land, or as in this case, should have gone on for ten more minutes to achieve a more satisfying and equitable conclusion.

As for the more serious social implications, I never considered My Fair Lady as a role model for how to treat others, especially women. If anything, I identified with the love-struck Freddie—certainly not Prof. Higgins.

One may rightly argue that the typical happily-ever-after ending of romance novels is not very reflective of life in the real world. Riding off into the sunset doesn’t happen so often here in our reality. But I argue, that’s the point of romance novels. It’s to show what could happen, how things might be if we open our eyes and look at each other as we really are. As one of my characters in a backstory scene says, “Let’s take off the masks—okay?”

True love does exist. Good men and good women are real. Happily-ever-after’s can happen. But you have to want it bad and be willing to work for it. And perhaps, most important of all, is that “happily-ever-after” comes in all sorts of flavors and dynamics. That’s what I hope my stories show.

The real-world versions are probably somewhere between the idyllic perfect endings I write and the less-than-perfect ending of My Fair Lady. Perhaps that’s exactly why we need to acknowledge both.