Mum's Monday: Pretty Woman

When this film begins we see into two very different lives. You have a high flying business man juggling relationships, work and a social life – Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), and then you have a prostitute – Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) who is later described in the film by her friend and roommate Kit De Luca (Laura San Giacomo) as not fitting in on Hollywood Boulevard.

It seems Vivian has a lot more going for her than most women in her position. This is highlighted when these two lives come together. Edward gets himself lost and Vivian is all too willing to give him directions but at a cost. She starts to play act the prostitute part but Edward quickly gets to the real Vivian and they hit it off to the point where he invites her to be his professional date for the week.

Sometimes in business you can have success and money and a long term relationship or one without the other Edward is left with an ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend. A relationship is not to be taken for granted, hence the now ex- girlfriend, and the hiring of Vivian. Business men tend to hang out with either their own kind or people who are only friends with them for the money or the prestige. Vivian is a breath of fresh air in Edwards world and with nothing to prove or lose, she stays true to herself all the way through this film.  Even near the end when Philip Stuckey (Jason Alexander) Edwards lawyer makes a move on Vivian, on hearing from Edward that she is a prostitute he thinks she is a sure thing. Vivian however, going back to what she was told by Kit realises she doesn’t fit on Hollywood Boulevard and things have changed in her world.

The ending of this film is a good interpretation of a fairy-tale in the modern world and also shows it doesn’t matter how much money you have you can still need rescuing by the unlikeliest of people.

If you get a chance to go to Los Angeles, Hollywood or Beverley Hills there are a few places you can visit that appear in this film. Here are some of them:

1735 N Las Palmas Avenue is a hotel that doubled as the apartments where Vivian and Kit lived. This can be seen during a Dearly Departed Hollywood Ghost Tour pre-bookable from 6603 Sunset Boulevard or independently. The avenue leads off the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Beverley Wilshire hotel situated on Wilshire Avenue on Rodeo Drive: This is where Edward is staying and where he and Vivian find romance. The hotel manager Barney Thompson (Hector Elizondo) is kind and helpful to Vivian. Edward however, doesn’t even know who he is - just one of the many traits in a focused business man, which is only having eyes for the business. This shows how much Edward needs rescuing, as Vivian wins over Barney, acknowledging he exists; it is a shame that Edward doesn’t build the same kind of connection with the people around him.

Barney thinks he has, as he sees Edward as a valued customer, leaving me feeling sorry for Barney. Another scene in the hotel room, that is actually a famous adlib, is when Edward and Vivian are getting ready to go out, Edward holds open a jewellery case with a necklace in it whilst Vivian is looking at it, she goes to touch it and Edward snaps the case shut, causing Vivian to laugh. I can see why this has been left in the film as it is so natural and the beginnings of where they want to take Edwards character.

This next place is more to do with the company name than the actual shop Vivian visited in the film. The shop Boulemiche was, during this film situated on Rodeo Drive, but has now moved location to one road east to 321 N Beverley Drive next door to the MGM studios. This was the shop where Vivian tried to buy outfits for the week, but seeing as she was dressed from the night before the shop assistants refused to serve her. The next day however, with help from Edward she acquires some new clothes. Dressed and transformed she walks back into Boulemiche and lets them know that they had missed and will be missing out on some hefty commission in the future. This is fun to watch as Vivian takes control of the situation and with little dialogue it is all there in spades.

Rodeo Drive can be found off Santa Monica Boulevard, if you are travelling from Hollywood Walk of Fame you can acquire a Metro tap card from the Hollywood and Highland subway station. I purchased a 7 day one that enabled me to travel on any public transport (bus or trains) as long as the bus had the symbol “M” on it. You just get on the bus, tap the card on to the designated area of the driver’s booth, and sit down. However, you have to know your stops, because they only stop if people need to get on or off, so may not stop at every stop. You can then walk down N La Brea Avenue to the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard where you can get the bus No.4 travelling west. A few stops down is Rodeo Drive.

During this film, Edward got lost coming down from Beverley Hills, to have done this and to then meet up with Vivian he would have had to come down from the hills, join Santa Monica Boulevard, travel a fair way east, travel up a side avenue on to Hollywood Boulevard, and back along said avenue to reach where Vivian was standing. This is possible but I think a little bit of artistic licence was involved in the mapping of the routes.

This film has a line in it that asks “what’s your dream?”. This is fantastic as when people think of Hollywood they think the dream is to become an actor/actress. This shows a different side to Hollywood, the darker side, on the streets. This film shows us that there are many dreams hidden behind an obvious one.

Keep dreaming, I did and I found myself writing this article having been to Hollywood and have acquired the knowledge of where some of the scenes are set and how and where to find them.