I recently rewatched "My Fair Lady" and deborah's earlier post instantly reminded me of this song. The homoerotic undertones between Higgins and Pickering were too obvious. The film has a terrible ending as well. I may need to reread "Pygmalion" for a cleanser.
26 comments:
Thanks, chick :) As far as the ending, at least there was some sort of resolution, but the part where she was going to run away with that guy was pure filler.
If rh where here, he would agree.
As far as the ending, at least there was some sort of resolution, but the part where she was going to run away with that guy was pure filler.
It's been a long time since I read "Pygmalion." I thought that Higgins actually fell in love with Eliza? In "My FairLady," it's clear that he and Pickering will continue their odd couple arrangement and Eliza will just fetch slippers and amuse him.
I learned this from Wiki:
Shaw fought against a Higgins-Eliza happy-end pairing as late as 1938. He sent the 1938 film version's producer, Gabriel Pascal, a concluding sequence which he felt offered a fair compromise: a tender farewell scene between Higgins and Eliza, followed by one showing Freddy and Eliza happy in their greengrocery-flower shop. Only at the sneak preview did he learn that Pascal had finessed the question of Eliza's future with a slightly ambiguous final scene in which Eliza returns to the house of a sadly musing Higgins and self-mockingly quotes her previous self announcing "I washed my face and hands before I come, I did" linky
Lem said...If rh where here, he would agree.
Subjunctive mood, locative case. :)
Oh, for fuck's sake. What is wrong with you guys?
You're sharing info that's been around for many decades, and that's fun and all, but you're using it to avoid taking a stand when taking a stand is most important.
I mean, gimme a break: oh, please.
"My Fair Lady" & "Pygmalion" & etc.: NOW, you're interested in talking about that. Now? Oh, really!
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Too late.
Get the 1938 dvd with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller ,ambiguous ending nonwithstanding,
I find it a lot more entertaining without the bloat and muck of the musical. It was also monumentally stupid to pass on Julie Andrews.
It was also monumentally stupid to pass on Julie Andrews.
Yes, it was.
rcommal said...Oh, for fuck's sake. What is wrong with you guys?
This was a lighthearted post I did for entertainment value. I'm sorry I offended you so.
for entertainment value
Maybe the cryptic remarks are posted for the same reason. One of my first exchanges with a reader who clearly seems unable to take and clarify a stand, had to do with the repeated use of "you" remarks rather than "I" statements, even though "I am" was part of the moniker. Some things haven't changed.
rcommal said...Oh, for fuck's sake. What is wrong with you guys?
"This was a lighthearted post I did for entertainment value. I'm sorry I offended you so."
Yes, by all means, we must focus solely on politics. Play dirges, wail and beat our breasts, and never ever have any sense of humor or interest in anything else.
Gloom despair and agony on me
But Wait....there's more
OK I'll spare you.
Leslie Howard who played Henry Higgins in the movie was not a member of the gentry. He was the son of Hungarian Jewish refugees......It does seem that to play the part of a true English gentleman, it helps to be an outsider who has studied the mannerisms. Cary Grant, the Cockney, was much more credible as a well bred Englishman than Peter Lawford who was the son of a peer.........I think the woman who plays Mary Crawley on Downton Abbey really nails the accent and languid arrogance of an English aristocrat . In reality, she's the daughter of an Irish immigrant........Status is an aspiration and not a birth place.
I'm sorry I offended you so.
No, you didn't, chickelit.
You didn't offend me, much less offend me so.
Yes, by all means, we must focus solely on politics. Play dirges, wail and beat our breasts, and never ever have any sense of humor or interest in anything else.
Exactly, DBQ. Exactly.
MamaM: Here's what you have failed to understand, from the start.
You are not my mother, you are not my father, you are not my mother-in-law or my father-in-law, you are not my brother, you are not any of my sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, you are not an aunt or uncle, nor a cousin, nor even my stepmother relatively recently acquired, and you are not a grandparent, a niece, a nephew, a friend, someone I knew long ago, or even a former co-worker, co-blogger, co-worker or, I am assuming, a previous or current neighbor.
I am not accountable to you, on account of all of that to which I am actually accountable, and always have been, in real life.
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Get yourself straight and sorted out, MamaM, and stop acting as a second-rate Greek chorus in an ongoing drama.
Hey, isn't that ^ what you originally set out to get me to do?
It worked. I reconsidered. Thank you.
Now: Right back atcha, "MamaM." Sort your self out or find another target.
You are accountable for the words you write, "rcommal". I am glad to hear you accepted direction and reconsidered your approach. You are welcome.
The "get yourself straight and sorted out and stop acting as a second-rate Greek chorus in an ongoing drama" comment made me laugh. Thanks for that.
You are accountable for the words you write, "rcommal".
I am, full stop. Thanks again.
Also, I appreciate your sense of humor. I suspect we therein share a similar sort of thing.
At the end of the day, that might be a great, good thing.
chick:
"In "My FairLady," it's clear that he and Pickering will continue their odd couple arrangement and Eliza will just fetch slippers and amuse him."
Wrong.
Sorry, deborah. The very last shot is the worst ending I've ever seen. Sure, Higgens may have grown "accustomed" to her but a pairing isn't evident. If you read the Shaw link, you'll understand why.
Okay, read the link, I get Shaw's perspective, BUT stories are malleable. In this re-telling, Higgins is toast, and she will get her man. It's a comedic musical.
Dammit, I wanted to see a marriage of equals!
Gay marriage was not an option...perhaps a modern update???
I meant a marriage between Higgins and Eliza!
:)
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