If you have ever seen the movie Pretty Woman, you know who Vivian Ward is. I like to think of Pretty Woman as a modern version of Cinderella. A woman has encountered struggles in life that has led her to prostitution, but in the end she learns to love herself and ends up with the man of her dreams. I am not condoning or recommending that anyone should be a prostitute, but the hopeless romantic and the humanist in me has a soft spot for Vivian Ward. In some ways, I relate to her. Let me share with you a few reasons why I love Vivian Ward.
1. She doesn't let the things that she's endured in life change who is she. Whether it's watching reruns of I love Lucy or taking a bubble bath while listening to music, she does her best to remain who is she. She may feel like she has to sell her body to make ends meet, but she doesn't let that taint her soul, because she would not be in this situation permanently. In one of the opening scenes, Vivian says to her friend, Kit, "Don't you want to get out of here?" This life was never meant to be permanent foe Vivian and she didn't want it to be permanent for Kit either.
2. She has some self efficacy problems. Throughout the movie, Edward constantly tells Vivian to stop fidgeting. It seems as though Vivian is unable to stand tall because of how she see's herself due to how others treat her; or due to the shame she feels because of the lifestyle she has fallen into.
3. Even though her self efficacy and her lifestyle keeps her from commitment, Vivian is a hopeless romantic at heart. No matter how bad her past relationships were, and wanting to protect herself from that kind of heart break again, Vivian still believes in love and wants the love that she's always imagined. She goes from fearing commitment and not kissing on the lips to falling in love with Edward and getting her fairytale. Some quotes to show Vivian's hopeless romantic-ness.
"In case I forget to tell you, I had a really great time tonight. "
“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.”
Vivian and Edward have the most realistic, yet unrealistic, love story. Two broken people come together, fall in love and work on themselves in order to be together. They accepted each other's brokenness in order to allow a beautiful love to blossom. Vivian and Edward loved each other despite their faults, which they grew to love about one another. If there was one love story I could live out, it would be this one. I would love to experience this pretty woman kind of love, without the prostitution of course. What some people might consider to be an unthinkable act, Edward looked past and loved Vivian anyway. Through their brokenness, they found each other; they found themselves, and the love they had been searching for. Love should transcend as the love of Vivian and Edward did. Their meeting and situation weren't ideal, but their love was.
