There are not too many familiar titles left for me to review for The Legionnaire, or so I tell myself.  Occasionally, someone will mention a movie to me that could be everything in their world, but I have not seen.  By this point, without my viewing it (or Cameron), then there is likely no article for said movie on the blog.  In this light, one film that goes against this trend is Pretty Woman (1990).  It may be thirty-five years old, which is bonkers to think about, but it remains iconic.  For its co-star, Julia Roberts, it was the role that brought her superstar status.  What has always made me hesitate in watching it is that she plays Vivian Ward, a prostitute.  Yet, I recently heard about St. Vitalis of Gaza.  Yes, that Gaza.  He lived in the seventh century, so the current sectarian violence in that part of the world was not an issue in his day.  His connection to this story is that, to put it simply, he is the patron saint of prostitutes.  That is all I will say about him for the moment as I intend to discuss him further later.  Until then, know that Roberts’ opposite, Richard Gere, is, in some respects, similar to St. Vitalis.  Please stick with me as I connect these seemingly disparate dots.

From the outset, mega-wealthy businessman Edward Louis (Richard Gere) is having a problem emotional connecting with his current Pretty Woman.  He is in Los Angeles as his enterprise attempts another corporate takeover, while his girlfriend remains in New York.  It is only the latest in a series of actions where he puts his work over his relationship, and she phones him to tell him they are through.  With the pressures of his job and another failed chance at love, he leaves early from the party he is currently at, asking to take the expensive sports car of his lawyer, Philip Stuckey (Jason Alexander).  Not only is Edward unfamiliar with how to drive the vehicle, but he does not know how to get back to his swanky hotel.  Getting lost on Hollywood Boulevard, he pulls over and is approached by Vivian.  She is on the street arguing with her friend, roommate, and fellow lady of the night, Kit De Luca (Laura San Giacomo).  It is Kit who suggests that Vivian try to solicit the man in the Lotus.  When all he wants is directions, she tries to get $10 out of the deal, which leads to him offering $20 if she will go with him to point him in the correct direction.  She has a disarming charm to her, which comes out as she comments on his poor driving, and she ends up getting behind the wheel.  She is about to get a bus home after they reach his hotel, but then he asks if she wants to come to his room.  “Room” is the wrong word.  He has been staying in the luxurious penthouse suite, and her entrance into the establishment turns more than a few heads.  She believes she is being brought up for sex work.  While that eventually happens, he is much more interested in spending time with her and talking to her.  Indeed, upon paying for a whole night of little physical intimacy, in the morning he makes a proposition involving her spending the rest of the week with him.  She agrees to do so for $3,000, more money than she ever thought she could obtain.  With that, he leaves to go about his errands, leaving her with some money to buy a dress for a dinner he plans on taking her to that night.  However, because her current clothes suggest her trade, she is ill-treated by the boutiques’ staff when she browses their inventory.  Defeated, she goes back to the hotel where she is stopped by the manager, Barnard “Barney” Thompson (Héctor Elizondo).  She protests that she is Edward’s guest, but Barney will not buy it until her identity is confirmed by a bellhop.  Barney attempts to explain her existence as Edward’s niece, even though the manager knows it is an obfuscation.  Still, Barney takes a liking to Vivian, and arranges for her to be properly dressed.  He also gives her some rudimentary lessons on table etiquette for that night since she will be dining at a fancy restaurant with the people Edward is trying to buy out, Morse Industries.  Though she is clearly still “rough around the edges” as the saying goes, she makes it through the meal without completely embarrassing herself.  It is Morse Industries founder, Jim Morse (Ralph Bellamy), who is ruffled.  Jim does not like the idea of his company being bought and then sold into pieces, and he leaves disgusted.  Edward is not bothered with this result until Vivian offers her opinion, saying she understands why Jim feels as he does.  The next day, after doing a lot more shopping, Edward takes Vivian to a polo match where he tells Philip about Vivian’s actual profession.  Despite being married, Philip tries to solicit her.  It is the first time since being in Edward’s employ that she felt cheap.  She is about to leave and call the deal off, but he begs her to stay.  Further, she convinces him to take a day off, which they spend in the park reading before flying to San Francisco to take in the opera.  If you are at all familiar with this movie, this is when the iconic when Vivian’s fingers are slammed in the jewelry box happens.  Upon getting home, they finally kiss for the first time, which is a sign that she is breaking her rules about getting too close to a client.  Unfortunately, in the morning they realize that the following day is their last.  He says he wants to see her again, but presents an ill-timed idea involving him paying for a place for her to stay and them only being together when he is in town.  She says she wants more.  This has an effect on him, causing him to change the deal with Jim to helping with his company instead of wresting it out of their control.  Barney is furious with this development, going to the hotel where Vivian is about to leave and physically assaulting her before Edward comes to save her.  Once healed, she departs, but Edward quickly realizes his mistake.  With flowers and opera music, he goes to her, they kiss, and presumably live happily ever after.

The fairytale ending to Pretty Woman is in keeping with the reason why many come to Los Angeles: to live their dreams.  As we learn more about Vivian, we find out that being a prostitute was not her dream.  In the Georgia town in which she was born, she had been with a series of “bums” before following one to California.  When that relationship inevitably ended, she tried a number of menial jobs until she met Kit.  The new acquaintance made the life of a hooker seem glamorous, but Vivian admits to crying throughout the first time she had been paid for sex.  Sadly, she gets used to the lifestyle.  She also compounds the promiscuous lifestyle by being too proud to go home.  What I hear as a Catholic is a lot of brokenness all around.  It is to such people that Jesus specifically catered.  As Jesus says in a few of the Gospels, like in Matthew 9:12, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”  Put differently, Jesus hung around people like Vivian because he sought to make them better.  This brings me to St. Vitalis.  He would pay to spend the night with a woman of the night, not for sexual gratification, but in order to proclaim the Gospel to them.  As one might expect, and a film like this one bears out, people tend to think negatively of those who consort with so-called loose women.  You can see this attitude in the faces of the saleswomen at the clothing store who kick out Vivian.  What they are not doing is treating Vivian with the dignity that everyone deserves as God’s children.  Because somebody behaves in one fashion or another, such as being a hooker, does not mean we know the circumstances that brought them to such a sinful state. Furthermore, we are all sinners, and God loves us just the same.  It takes Edward experiencing love for him to learn this lesson, which is always how it goes with God, at least in my experience.

And I was glad to have experienced Pretty Woman, finally.  There are a few somewhat sexually explicit scenes, but nothing too graphic.  What I appreciate is seeing people of good character, who can come from the most unexpected of places.  It shows that we need to keep an open and loving heart to everyone.