I am glad you mentioned that they do NOT love each other, and Freddie is a better choice. You get it!!!!! I am amazed how many people - MOST people - do not get the point of the story. People want Eliza and Henry to be lovers??? No!!!! That is the whole point of the movie! It was the whole point of the play, and the original myth! She STOPS BEING AN OBJECT! She becomes independent of him, he cannot control her anymore. In the original myth, Pygmalion sees women as just objects to be controlled or admired. He has to learn that women are people too, they are not perfect statues and are not subject to his whims. Women are real, And because of that, if Eliza married Henry she would be miserable, she would be his toy again, to ignorantly use. That would be awful. Do people really think that is healthy? No wonder there are so many unhappy relationships in the world. Bad romances train people to make bad decisions. People who think Eliza should marry Henry, or think that Henry has changed, should be forced to watch the movie again and again until they see what he is like. What is nearly as bad as making them be lovers (but not quite as bad) is the modern view that Eliza should throw Henry's slippers at him, or wear them herself, to express dominance. Don't they get the point of the story? Dominating others is wrong, that is the whole point. The story ends when they are friends. Equals. Mature. Emotionally healthy. Well, Eliza is emotionally healthy anyway. Henry is not a man who changes. But she is now mature enough to accept that and still enjoy hs friendship, without unrealistic expectations, and without hating him. That is healthy. They are NOT lovers. There is NOT a power struggle. Eliza has blossomed into a complete and healthy human being. She is everything she should be. She no longer fetches slippers. Men and women can be friends without being lovers. And without being master and servant. Without being rivals. Modern people seem to have forgotten that, and that causes us much unhappiness. The point of the ending is that they are now equals. Henry asks for his slippers, and Eliza smiles and does not get them. Why is that not obvious? She comes back because they are now friends who can respect each other and appreciate their differences. She comes back because she wants him to be happy. But not at the cost of dominating her. he likes her face, so she will be around. That is the kind, mature, loving thing to do. But she will NOT fetch his slippers. She will NOT be his trophy wife half his age. Men and women can be friends and like each other without sex. They can be friends even though they might drive each other mad at times. Like my ex and myself! I totally admire her, but we cannot stand being together for more than a day or so. That is OK. We both admire each other's strengths but we are very different people. Maybe that is why I like My Fair Lady. I am like Henry, and my ex is like Eliza. And that is fine. A healthy world is where people can respect each other even when they are different. What happens next (after the play ends) is so obvious that George Bernard Shaw did not have to write it - why state the obvious? He thought the audience would get it. But it drove him crazy that audiences did NOT get it. He said that audiences were so used to bad romances that they could not think for themselves. So Shaw wrote a big essay explaining exactly what must happen next. Eliza and Henry remain lifelong friends: she visits him every weekend. But they are ONLY friends. Eliza marries Freddy. Yes, he is not a hero or a genius, but he is a genuine nice guy and not totally dumb either. They buy the flower shop, They struggle financially at first but Henry helps them out. That is what friends do. They gradually made the flower shop a success. It is a happy life, fulfilling, with friends and love and all the things Eliza dreamed of when she was a flower girl. it is a happy ending, and it is REAL. This is what a real happy ending would look like. I am glad that you recognised the central point of the movie - she should not marry Henry!!!!!!!!!!!
I am glad you mentioned that they do NOT love each other, and Freddie is a better choice. You get it!!!!! I am amazed how many people - MOST people - do not get the point of the story.
People want Eliza and Henry to be lovers??? No!!!! That is the whole point of the movie! It was the whole point of the play, and the original myth! She STOPS BEING AN OBJECT! She becomes independent of him, he cannot control her anymore. In the original myth, Pygmalion sees women as just objects to be controlled or admired. He has to learn that women are people too, they are not perfect statues and are not subject to his whims. Women are real, And because of that, if Eliza married Henry she would be miserable, she would be his toy again, to ignorantly use. That would be awful. Do people really think that is healthy? No wonder there are so many unhappy relationships in the world. Bad romances train people to make bad decisions. People who think Eliza should marry Henry, or think that Henry has changed, should be forced to watch the movie again and again until they see what he is like.
What is nearly as bad as making them be lovers (but not quite as bad) is the modern view that Eliza should throw Henry's slippers at him, or wear them herself, to express dominance. Don't they get the point of the story? Dominating others is wrong, that is the whole point. The story ends when they are friends. Equals. Mature. Emotionally healthy. Well, Eliza is emotionally healthy anyway. Henry is not a man who changes. But she is now mature enough to accept that and still enjoy hs friendship, without unrealistic expectations, and without hating him. That is healthy. They are NOT lovers. There is NOT a power struggle. Eliza has blossomed into a complete and healthy human being. She is everything she should be. She no longer fetches slippers.
Men and women can be friends without being lovers. And without being master and servant. Without being rivals. Modern people seem to have forgotten that, and that causes us much unhappiness.
The point of the ending is that they are now equals. Henry asks for his slippers, and Eliza smiles and does not get them. Why is that not obvious? She comes back because they are now friends who can respect each other and appreciate their differences. She comes back because she wants him to be happy. But not at the cost of dominating her. he likes her face, so she will be around. That is the kind, mature, loving thing to do. But she will NOT fetch his slippers. She will NOT be his trophy wife half his age.
Men and women can be friends and like each other without sex. They can be friends even though they might drive each other mad at times. Like my ex and myself! I totally admire her, but we cannot stand being together for more than a day or so. That is OK. We both admire each other's strengths but we are very different people. Maybe that is why I like My Fair Lady. I am like Henry, and my ex is like Eliza. And that is fine. A healthy world is where people can respect each other even when they are different.
What happens next (after the play ends) is so obvious that George Bernard Shaw did not have to write it - why state the obvious? He thought the audience would get it. But it drove him crazy that audiences did NOT get it. He said that audiences were so used to bad romances that they could not think for themselves. So Shaw wrote a big essay explaining exactly what must happen next. Eliza and Henry remain lifelong friends: she visits him every weekend. But they are ONLY friends. Eliza marries Freddy. Yes, he is not a hero or a genius, but he is a genuine nice guy and not totally dumb either. They buy the flower shop, They struggle financially at first but Henry helps them out. That is what friends do. They gradually made the flower shop a success. It is a happy life, fulfilling, with friends and love and all the things Eliza dreamed of when she was a flower girl. it is a happy ending, and it is REAL. This is what a real happy ending would look like.
I am glad that you recognised the central point of the movie - she should not marry Henry!!!!!!!!!!!
Omg! He totally has the hots for her. He just doesn’t know how to express it very well. British stiff upper lip and all!😉