Ranked as one of the greatest modern metal bands in Brazil, My Fair Lady br… Read Full Bio ↴Ranked as one of the greatest modern metal bands in Brazil, My Fair Lady brings a new musical proposal that englobes technique, quality and maturity in their compositions.

The achievements of the group should be, at first, encharged to the first two works of the band. The EP's independently managed an incredible visibility across the Internet.

This visibility has become more apparent through the various appearances of the group's print and audiovisual addition sites and the presence of its music in international web radio stations. Some members of the band made a visit to the United States where it was formed a public that today is responsible for the spread of My Fair Lady’s material overseas.

My Fair Lady aroused the interest of Fernando Quesada, Shaman’s bassist, EM&T's teacher and Ceunsp University's audio coordinator, who invited the group to record and produce their first full-length album at the Fusão VM&T Studios and Headstock Produtora in São Paulo/Brazil, which are two of the largests institutions of music and artistic production in the country.

The album was mastered at the Universal Mastering Studios in New York/United States by Vlado Meller, a leading mastering engineer in the world, whose carries in his resume such names as Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith, Metallica, Lamb of God, Slipknot, System of a Down, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyoncé and many others.

Formed in 2008 by Sam Alcantara on vocals, Artur Alcantara and Felipe Faco on guitars, Lucas Beam on bass, and Rodrigo End on drums and vocals, the MFL now prepares for the release of their debut-album "Mindwalk" with the forecast for 2011.

Free tracks can be downloaded at their offical website, www.myfairladymetal.com.

Harry's Mistake
My Fair Lady Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by My Fair Lady:

A Hymn To Him HIGGINS What in all of heaven could've promted her to…
Ascot Gavotte Every duke and earl and peer is here Everyone who should…
Get Me To The Church On Time A few more hours, that's all the time I got A…
I Could Have Danced All Night Bed, bed I couldn't go to bed My head's too light…
I'm an Ordinary Man Well after all, Pickering, I'm an ordinary man, Who desires…
I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face Grown accustomed to her looks Oh I, I've grown, grown accus…
just you wait Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins, just you wait! You'll be sorr…
On The Street Where You Live When she mentioned how her aunt Bit off the spoon, she…
Show Me Don't talk of stars, burning above If you're in love, show…

The Rain In Spain Poor Professor Higgins! Poor Professor Higgins! Night and …
Why Can't the English Henry Look at her, a prisoner of the gutter, Condemned…
Why Can't The English? Henry Look at her, a prisoner of the gutter, Condemned…
With a Little Bit of Luck Alfred The Lord above gave man an arm of iron…
Without You What a fool I was, what dominated fool To think that…
Wouldn't It Be Lovely It's rather dull in town, I think I'll take me…

You Did It Pickering Tonight, old man, you did it! You did it!…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@socratesrocks1513

1y↑21

That matches my interpretation. The point being made in the musical is that they've educated each other. She's become a lady, yes, but he's realised that, for all his blustering, he's only been a bachelor because no woman was strong enough to stand up to him. There's a lot of self-delusion in HIggins' character. He was really looking for someone like his mother who, we see in the play, is a tough lady. She knows what he's like, is mostly willing to tolerate his childish behaviour until it gets completely out of hand, at which point she slaps him down, but she does love him despite it all. That is what Eliza has become at the end. She knows where he keeps his ties, what size gloves he needs and how he likes them -- not just the rough, thin leather, but lined with something soft. For all his show, Higgins is the same. Rough on the outside, but he is, in many ways, a child looking for someone who will accept him as he really is, and Eliza's the first to do it because she's the first to live with him long enough to know the real man. She has learned a great deal from him, but she's learned enough from Pickering to be more than just Hggins' creation. If she were just that, they couldn't possibly be together. Instead, she knows his mother well enough to go to her place when Higgins become insufferable, is welcomed ("I was happy to have her") and Mrs Higgins probably explained some truths about her son. She also probably explained to Eliza that the only way she'd make him realise what he was doing would be by taking his toys away and letting him stew, once he understood why. ("Without You") It takes him a while as he tries to hold on to the shell he's created to protect himself but, in the end, he has to admit to himself that she's cracked that shell and, if she leaves him now, he'll be weaker.

These are two very strong people, but they know each other's weaknesses. That makes them stronger together. If Higgins is looking for someone like his mother, Eliza could be argued to be looking for the best parts of her father. Not the violence or the drunkenness, but the honesty (and Doolittle is nothing if not remarkably honest about himself, his position, and the games he plays to keep going, "I'm one of the undeserving poor, that's what I am!"). After the ball, Higgins' raises his hand and she goads him to strike her -- something she's suffered many times before. He proves himself the better man by not doing that. He's says she has struck him and wounded him to the heart. She now knows that he can drink without going so far as to become a drunkard and he's not a physically violent man. After he's gone, she digs in the fire ashes to rescue the ring that, we're told, he gave her in Brighton. She contemplates it, and then puts it on the mantlepiece. He's not passed all her tests, but she's not given up on him... yet! She also, by now, knows that a lot of his offensive comments are a defence mechanism. Higgins is old enough to have felt attraction to women and, probably, been rebuffed, and so he pretends not to want them as its less painful. Instead of HIM being rejected, he's the one doing the rejecting. It's HIS choice. HE'S not an insufferable ar$e, THEY'RE not good enough for him.

The scene at Mrs Higgins' house is her making it clear to him that she will NOT be his servant. If he's to have a chance with her, he needs to accept that she is a strong woman who has earned his respect. Again, like a child, Higgins admits it while insisting on taking the credit. That's when she walks out. He's admitted that she's the 'consort battleship'. Now he needs to recognise that this makes her his equal, not his creation. Thus she leaves him to stew, telling him she's leaving for good. Will he get it? Accustomed to Her Face is his turn around: the recognition that she's changed him and the thought of carrying on without her is far from pleasant "I was serenely independent and content before we met. Surely I could always be that way again... and yet..." The only problem is that she doesn't hear this realisation... unless she was quietly following and watching him. If she was, then this is when she realises he's got it and that's why she returns so quickly. He's finally passed the test.

This is why their getting together at the end is satisfying to the audience. She was looking for a father figure, he was looking for a mother figure. Freddy would be a child to her, doting on her every wish. That might be satisfying short term, but just as she doesn't want to be Higgins' servant, so she wouldn't be able to tolerate a man who became hers. Their relationship simply wouldn't last and she knows it. She doesn't want to control someone or be controlled BY someone. At the end, Higgins knows he can play games of dominance and she'll accept them playfully but, if he pushes too far, she'll slap him down and put him in his place (just as his mother does). They'll have rows loud enough to lift the roof in private. In public, she'll correct his more childish behaviour with a look, and he'll nudge her if her social roots start to show, and together they'll be each other's bulwark against the world.

THAT'S why it works.

@kobaltkween

3y↑44

@@kaleytaber9237 So much to unpack. So first, you're just wrong about nice guys. The guys who tend not to get girls are guys who aren't actually nice, but judgmental alpha types who lack confidence. Every happy, pleasant nice guy I've known has had no problem at all finding someone to be with. Including introverts. As the geek daughter of a geeky father who grew up going to events with his geeky co-workers and socialized with geeks as from a child to an adult, I can tell you that while women are socialized to see manipulation as interest and abuse as need, actually decent guys who adore and worship their women have zero problems getting women.

Just as an example, I have a good friend who's a pale, thin, not tall programmer. He's goofy, geeky, and looked like a late teen without his beard when he met a woman who was tall, intelligent, good with finance, and used to do some modeling. They now have four kids, have been together more than a decade, and I don't think I've seen him get upset with her once. And just a bit before he started dating her, he was with a gorgeous petite woman.

All of my female friends have spent time either dating sweet introverts or crushing over them.

Second, most women want a mentor to just be that. Sure, some will go for the whole teacher thing, but most women who do whatever it takes to get knowledge they need from a misogynist don't give them their true selves let alone see them as romantic. They play dumb and subservient to get what the instruction they need. I watched this again and again in grad school. From random professors to Eric Raymond, fellow women automatically stroked men's egos to their faces, and made their opinion of their posturing clear when it was just us.

The problem with the entire narrative is that it's not Eliza's story. It's the douchebag whose ego she needs to stroke's story. He's the main protagonist, and it's his skewed and inaccurate perspective we share. And that might work if he had an arc. But he doesn't change. She does.

We see Freddy like you describe, because we share the perspective of the one character who doesn't actually understand people, let alone affection. And because we focus on his efforts, not Eliza's life as a whole, most want the obvious payoff of him getting rewarded. If we followed her perspective, I doubt we'd think of him as much at all.

And yes, he is a bad guy. We just aren't shown any of the actual consequences of his cruelty, or we're shown them from his perspective. As foolish, hysterical outbursts. The narrative allows us to ignore the harm he does as much as he does. But he's cruel, arrogant, ignorant of anything outside of his privilege, and has pretty much nothing to give as a person outside of his money and what knowledge he already gave her.

@montecarlo1651

33w↑2

Very interesting review of this subject Ms Draper. I really enjoy your other work too and have referred it to my friends on numerous occasions. On this subject, there is an elephant in the room: class.

A lot of cultural works, arguably all, are made by bourgeois people. They reflect bourgeois sensibilities and characterize them as if true, in every sense. What Shaw did in this play is to essentially, though perhaps unwittingly, recreate the original story: he created Eliza Doolittle. He gave her agency, independence of spirit and a separate life, however he remains her creator, the character cannot escape this truth.

Consequently, the idea that, with some polish, someone as raw as Eliza Doolittle could actually successfully cross the class boundaries on a permanent basis is highly dubious. By opening Eliza to a world she can never fully enter is to wound her in perpetuity. She is now stuck. Higgins has made her return to her own class painful for now she sees its many problems from the bourgeois perspective and yet she can never enter bourgeois society without being a perpetual actor in her own life, she lacks authenticity, through no fault of her own. Really looked at from Eliza's position, the story is more akin to Shelley's Frankenstein. Higgins has made a monster that can never be accepted. This reflects not one jot on Eliza, it does reflect very severely on Higgins.

It is likely that Shaw was influenced by the Womens Movement, notably suffragists, of his time when giving Eliza/Galatea a perspective and agency. In doing so however, he did not free himself from being Higgins/Pygmalion, nor perhaps could he, any more than he could free himself from his class. The hidden biases in bourgeois works is, to someone like me, from a working class origin, infuriating. A strong argument can be made that working class women have as much or even more agency than working class men, certainly much more than bourgeois or upper class women. The working classes are all relatively powerless in comparison with those other classes and survival requires all parties working themselves to the bone to survive, let alone succeed, the latter may not even be possible. The biggest burden to working class women of Shaw's time, in addition to the burdens of their class that required perpetual work, was their additional enslavement to fertility - the constant pregnancies. Oh the happy lot of a woman who could not have lots of children!

As for Higgins, I was gratified to see that Shaw loathed a romantic outcome for him and the 1938 film was, in my view, the most faithful to the idea Shaw had in mind about Eliza, at least up to the point when she left with Freddie. Indeed the best option for a real Eliza, accepting that marriage was the desirable option (which it isn't necessarily for women), was to marry a Freddie who (a) loved her (if that is possible in the short time he knows her) and (b) he steps down, closer to her class, as she steps up slightly to shopkeeper class. Arguably Freddie has the harder time in this scenario than Eliza would but at least Eliza is not irreparably damaged by that swine Higgins. By any standards, marrying Higgins is a disaster for Eliza. She would trade some material comfort for all agency in her life. She would become a type of Stepford wife. To someone as vital and alive as Eliza Doolittle, that is a horror beyond imagination.

@chrissyr8387

36w↑1

I think theres a satisfy ending.

Henry Higgins after singing accustomed to her face gies to the study and listens to the record. His mind wonders. He imagines the epiloge of Eliza opening her shop. Having high clientel in the fanciest shop in town. There's no Freddy in the image. Just Eliza.

The scene goes back to higgins. Eliza gramaphone line plays and the record stops.
He smiles a tear in his eye.

His last words are.

If a line can be changed " Best to you my Galatea. "

If not. "Eliza" smiling with pride he stands up and walks off stage " Now where the devil are my slippers"

With this ending Eliza is content her future bright ahead of her. Higgins is left with the last line but he's left with bittersweet pride. Pride in the Lady he created and the woman she had become.

@bobashby3106

1y↑11

About the ending: Higgins is in his study, listing to the recording. Eliza comes in. "Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?" (perhaps Henry delivers the line as in the 2018 clip in the video). The props crew has pre-set the slippers between Henry's chair and Eliza's position when she enters. She points to them. The two go to the slippers together, Henry perhaps kneels to get them while Eliza watches, getting closer to him. The "romantic" ending is preserved, while we see that Henry, after all, has learned something and come to realize that he cannot simply be a domineering jerk.

How do we get there? First, by understanding that there is sexual tension between the two. Shaw was notoriously skittish about sexuality, but it is implicit in the Henry/Eliza relationship. There was a lovely moment in a Stratford (Canada) production of MFL some years ago when, during "Rain in Spain" Henry lifts Eliza down from the sofa and there's a brief, but intense, look between them. What is it? Neither one really knows. Henry - confirmed bachelor. Eliza, with her lower class prudery (e.g., her disapproval of her father's relationship with his partner), are as inexperienced in sexual feelings as can be. But sexuality can be a strong pull even if unrecognized and unexpressed.

Where does it some from? Henry is the smartest person Eliza has ever met. Eliza, accent and all, is the smartest person Henry has ever met, even though because of his class prejudice he doesn't realize it for a long time. That mutual, whip-smart intellectual electricity can readily lead to an attraction that neither can ignore, deny it though they might. It is something she can never get from an amiable twit like Freddy, and deep down she knows it, which is a plausible reason for her to come back at the end of the show.

And who is Henry? Suppose we play him as someone who is so in love with his ideas, living so much in his head, that he genuinely lacks awareness of others around them and their interests and feelings, often manifesting as being an emotionally abusive jerk.His mother adores him -- the Henry-Mrs. Higgins relationship is one of the most important in the show -- while being utterly realistic about his blind spots.

And at some level, Henry lives afraid of things, parts of his humanity, that he cannot understand. His nastiness is a defensive wall. But his getting to know Eliza begins to chip away at that wall, and he can't deal with it. I'd like to see "A Hymn to Him" played not simply as a mysoginistic rant, but as something close to a panic attack. A woman like Eliza
gets inside that wall, and it terrifies him. So when it comes to the "Without You" scene, he already has some, not yet articulated, sense of how much he needs what he has with her - consort battleship and all -- which he finally articulates in "Accustomed to Her Face" which, if the actor is any good, is about a lot more than familiarity. He has learned some sense of what it means to be on a path to becoming fully human. Which is why at the ending, as I see it, he goes to meet Eliza halfway at the slippers.

This reading gives Henry an actual character arc, the absence of which is a major flaw in most productions.

@SadisticSenpai61

1y↑8

@@DiegoBosch90 I didn't say it was romantic. But it does very much remind me of the melancholy of a divorced misogynist missing his ex-wife. He misses her, but he still ducking hates women!

I only meant to clear up the ambiguity where the song is unclear as to exactly why he misses her and exactly how he feels about her.

And I think that clarity is needed specifically because our culture likes to assume romance between any man and woman that aren't related, but grow close to each other - no matter how very much not romantic their relationship is depicted.

And with him having been her teacher and being like 30 years older than her, it does make sense that a father/daughter relationship might make itself known.

We're also used to seeing "distinguished older gentlemen" and very young women being put in romantic relationships by Hollywood - although it doesn't happen as much these days as it used to. And frankly, that's a particularly gross image that needs to die. Cradle-robbing is not cute or romantic!

All comments from YouTube:

@spiritualanarchist8162

36w↑354

What the ending needs is Eliza throwing a slipper full force , hitting Higgins in the head 😂

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w↑12

Then he laughs and says, "Sit down & have a seat you beautiful guttersnipe." And she does with a smile. 😁😂😉

@Ratigan2

32w↑4

OMG YASSSSSSS

@kikidevine694

31w↑11

Or just slapping him across the face with them

@RamblingSailors

25w↑29

I'd pay to see that. She slowly comes back, wanting to give him another chance, he completely misreads, says "where are my slippers!?" and utterly blows his chance; she shakes her head like "what was I thinking?" throws the slippers at the back of his head and fully walks out. Henry kicks himself, as he will do forever. Curtain.

@frankharr9466

21w↑1

I like that. :)

7 More Replies...

@ticketmanager7940

4y↑1.7K

I recently saw a community theatre production of MFL and the actress playing Eliza was already on stage, seated in Higgins’ chair, partly in shadow when he enters. Not noticing her, he plays the recording & when it stops, Eliza continues with the “I washed my face...” line. Higgins turns and shows a slight affront to her being in his chair. He asks where his slippers are & Eliza lifts her skirt slightly to show she is now wearing them. He smiles & nods, as if to say “Well played.” Lights fade...

@JDraper

4y↑554

Okay, this is my favourite.

@user-sv5rs1rz2i

3y↑227

I like the 2001 finish with Jonathan price. When Eliza turns off the phonograph, Henry says the crown phrase about the slippers and stands up, folding his hands on his chest. Eliza copies his pose and facial expression, after which both laugh. Curtain

@cturtleGA

3y↑15

I love it!

@lmatlock7969

3y↑59

@@user-sv5rs1rz2i YES! Like an insde joke!

@lmatlock7969

3y↑49

THIS ENDING!!! This is the one I want!

40 More Replies...

@RevolutionUtena

36w↑334

I remember as a teenager snorting at Eliza going back to Higgins and my mother saying dismissively "well in the original she ends up with FREDDY" as if it was obvious that was a worse choice and meanwhile I was like "But Freddy LIKES her. He's kind of a fop but he's a NICE one." We were definitely at a stalemate so I'm glad to see a video that agrees with me!

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w↑2

The "white picket fence" and they live happily ever after ending is what most simpletons want in stories. The movie dealt with the realities of human male & female bonding. Shaw's version was a yawner imho. Facts are most women dont' "fall in love" nor "respect" with weak minded men like Freddy. They usually go with the stronger more realistic men that keep things real. Instead most of the women in here want a fake Shaw's version of the with picket fence & they live happily ever after ending of BS. Smh at the simpleton's who totally missed the point of this most cleverly made musical version and it's ending's message thoughout the entire movie. It kept life's realaities & the human nature of the male & female bonding correctly to suit each other's differences in check.

@marvelousmissmysie4837

32w↑60

@@WrestlingErnestHemingway Jesus, who hurt you?

@ILoveYou-rv3pd

29w↑24

@@WrestlingErnestHemingwaywtf are you talking about? 😂

@readfamilylearner

27w↑14

Ya, I like her solution at the end. Now if only the Freddy character was shown to have a touch more depth, so it's clear that he does actually respect Eliza and loves her fully, not just in a simple, love-sick way.

@pechaa

22w↑11

@@WrestlingErnestHemingway The world is what we make it. If you chase after the kind of women who are only attracted to abusive men, then that is all you'll see in the dating pool. But there are many good women who are looking for men who treat them with respect and kindness. Such men expect to be treated with genuine respect and kindness in return (not out of fear). Such men are the true strong-willed ones, the kind that can form a mutually loving marital bond that withstands all the vicissitudes of life.

As a teenager I was attracted to abusive men because it was all I knew from home life and from depictions in movies like the Aubrey Hepburn version in this Youtube video. I got smart and grew up just in time to partner with a wonderful man who has been my husband for more than two decades now. His strong character is no less an inspiration to me because it is paired with unwavering support from him. He is stalwart, steady, and unwavering in the face of the inevitable pressures that we face from the world outside our family.

Abusive men crumble and dissemble at the first moment of adversity. They can't support their families emotionally because they are the main blade cleaving the family. If the alternative to them is "weak-willed," I'll take that any day -- and all the days of my life till death do us part.

8 More Replies...

@gengis737

1y↑391

Shaw was such a visionary man that he anticipated the proper ending 80 years before we could understand it.

@samuellawrencesbookclub8250

28w↑5

Perhaps it is an overstatement to call a man who advocated eugenics a visionary.

@spaghettipastasaucyboi

25w

@@samuellawrencesbookclub8250 a visionary but only for a few opinions cause the other ones are pretty bad

@vlad5042

25w↑10

@@samuellawrencesbookclub8250do u need to have a gotcha lmao can u not just take the point that theyre making

@phantomkate6

25w

@@samuellawrencesbookclub8250
Sir/Ma'am, Reddit's that way 👉

@msecujski

12w

@@samuellawrencesbookclub8250 Just because eugenics is not popular at the moment, doesn't mean that someday it won't be.

2 More Replies...

@mollymarjorie9495

1y↑999

The first time I saw My Fair Lady, I was upset that Eliza went crawling back to the jerk, rather than hooking up with the completely genuine guy who actually loves her, so it's nice to learn that Shaw felt the same way, even if he didn't win out.

@meinhartfrancois

52w↑51

I was at university when I saw the Audrey Hepburn version for the first time. The dress she wears to the ball is one of the lodestones of what I find beautiful!
My impression of Freddy was that (she found) he's completely vapid, you know? At the races, he likes the look of her, in her super tight dress & then he sniggers at her "new small talk", even though she doesn't know what she's doing & he only catches half of her meaning... isn't that a useless compliment? And then in "words words words" he hardly offers any rebuttal, right? He literally can't keep up with her because he's trapped behind some railing!
I always felt that the best ending would have been Eliza as a kind and elegant companion for Lady Higgins, who enjoys genteel events and dignified entertainment.

@dyutibasu4541

43w↑28

@@meinhartfrancois coming in very late to this conversation apparantly, but I feel like in that era it wouldn't be practical since as a lady companion, she would be dependent on an old lady who may not have the legal means to write her into the will and even if she does may choose not to. Marriage to Freddy would just be financially stable while allowing her to have the independence she needed. In today's day and age, maybe she could go on to become a tutor herself. 😊

@meinhartfrancois

43w↑10

@@dyutibasu4541 I totally see your points : working as a tutor would be better, or maybe running her own flowershop (if she miraculously finds the starting captital)

@MiljaHahto

34w

@@meinhartfrancoisStaying with Lady Higgins would have been a good option - but not permanently. Lady Higgins would have found him a better husband than her own son, or Freddy..

@Neville60001

33w

@@dyutibasu4541 , according to the afterword to Pygmailon by Shaw, Freddy was as poor as Eliza was, only appearing to be rich; his mother and he only got by on charity from friends of his mother. After he and Eliza married, they had to struggle for a while, but eventually they were able to set up a flower shop, and seel flowers, which is what Eliza always wanted to do.

9 More Replies...

@tinymxnticore

3y↑2.3K

In the original, Eliza never loses sight of her initial goal: refining herself so she can open a flower shop. She becomes independent and self-possessed, and along the way meets a gentleman who enthusiastically adores her. What more could you ask for in a happy ending?

@riverbanzachamploo9725

2y↑15

Perfect.

@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar

1y↑7

Great comment!

@singingway

1y↑33

The play ends differently than the movie

@LadyWervyn

1y↑64

Yes! And Higgins just laughs at the idea of her marrying Freddie, and that's the end. I love the original ending!

@barbaramelone1043

1y↑86

I don't remember Eliza necessarily being "independent." Shaw says that neither she nor Freddie knew much about handling a business, and so Colonel Pickerington supported them quite a bit. But Eliza and Freddie both worked, and kept their marriage going, so there's that.

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@rachelwharton4245

1y↑709

I saw My Fair Lady as a young teen, and all I knew was that the ending filled me with rage. I had felt such a sense of triumph when she left him, only for it all to come crashing down. Now, as an adult, I appreciate that I can actually unpack all that 😅

@scasey1960

1y↑5

Spoken as a true feminist where male and female relationships serve up our Orwellian destiny.

@lh8593

1y↑94

@@scasey1960 God forbid a woman wants to be treated with kindness, respect and courtesy. The point is that imbalanced relationships are failed relationships. Both sides must give to each other and value each other. This provides a stable nurturing homelife for children. Domestic violence even if it is only verbal takes us to an Orwellian future.

@jojo-pk

1y↑39

@@scasey1960 relationships are way better if the partners see eye to eye.

Of course it takes 2 adults to do that.

@tomireland3644

1y↑35

@Rachel Wharton - 100% the same for me. I watched it as a teen and absolutely detested that last minute reversal but wasn't really able to articulate more than that it didn't make any sense to me when the guy had been so obviously awful to her constantly.

It's a pleasant surprise to know that the original author thought the same

@HollowGolem

1y↑23

@@tomireland3644 Thankfully, the gradeschool teacher who had us read Pygmalian made a point to talk about the changes in the ending with us, so we got to consider the politics of it (and we all came out of the movie thinking the ending was profoundly irrational)

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@amandavigue3857

1y↑473

Shaw wrote an essay explaining what happened to his characters after the play. It is included in some editions of Pygmalion. Eliza did marry Freddie. She got her flower shop, too. She and Freddie were poor, but respectable. Throughout, Shaw maintained that Higgins could only truly respect one woman -- his mother.

@andyharman3022

1y↑35

I thought it was made clear in the movie that his mother despised him when he took Eliza for her debut at Ascot, and his mother said "Henry, what a disagreeable surprise."

@lysanamcmillan7972

1y↑49

@@andyharman3022 She wasn't proud of how he turned out. She clearly tried her best considering her treatment of Eliza. For her son, he insisted on becoming a jackass but saw in turn that he got his spine from her. This makes for a dynamic where Henry likes his mother's company but she's had it with his for decades. Very Shavian.

@judychurley6623

36w↑24

Not poor. They struggled and got better at it. They got help from the major. All remained friends, in Shaw's postscript.

@daledrinnon7307

30w↑6

@@judychurley6623 Cool. I could go with that. And actually my favorite number from the movie was "Just you wait, ;enry 'iggins"

@jennywren1420

30w↑5

Freddy was a simpleton and dull as dust. Life with him would have killed all pleasure and growth for Eliza. Maybe (in the movie, anyway) Higgins' last remark was a way of covering from Eliza how much he had missed her. But she didn't have to marry anyone. If Pickering could be a longtime guest in the household, why not Eliza? Of course, the whole thing is a charming fiction, so maybe Eliza and Higgins could have married and accommodated to each other's (somewhat altered, I'd hope) personalities. Or a marriage of convenience of sorts. Not at all unheard of (though I'd like to dream that they could love each other, eeach in her or his own way, even if that's my pipe dream).

@rhov-anion

1y↑599

When my family watched this when I was a kid, I cried out at the end, "Ewww, she hooks up with the MEAN OLD MAN?" My mother told me, "No, she's just visiting him as her former teacher." So I honestly didn't realize this was supposed to be a ROMANTIC ending. I haven't seen the musical since moving out of the house, but I rather like my mother's interpretation. She DID make it on her own, and she's only visiting him for tea.

@stuffchat

1y↑50

There is actually no indication that she came back to marry him. Probably she just came to make friends again and end on a good foot, maybe to live there for a while seeing as she's been living there for months anyway and hasn't moved out yet.

@VictoriaForSale

1y↑24

I said kinda the same thing and asked, "why she's coming back? He treats her badly" and my mother answered "because she loves him and love means accepting the flaws of the loved one. She accepted him as he is" I must say this lingers still in my mind because it's so true. We all have flaws and if we love someone we accept certain flaws. The question is if he realized after losing her how much she meant to him and started to change some of his mannerisms but the movie leaves this open.

@sarasamaletdin4574

1y↑5

That’s what I thought too.

@rhov-anion

1y↑71

@@VictoriaForSale There's loving flaws, and there's tolerating abuse. My husband has to be told to do simple chores multiple times until I'm nagging him like his mother. That's a flaw, and I love him despite it. My sister's husband punched a hole into the wall when he was mad at her and mocked his daughter so much as a small child, she stopped speaking for a while. That's abuse, yet she refuses to leave him, even to protect the kids. Big difference.

@VictoriaForSale

1y↑7

@@rhov-anion I agree with you. That is why I said if he realizes he has to change his mannersims

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@erubin100

3y↑1.5K

I choose to believe Henry has gone insane and is actually hallucinating Eliza came back. It's more satisfying than the alternative.

@catherinerosa644

3y↑139

I've always believed that, and it's seriously the perfect ending. She went away to live her life, we don't know if she married Freddie or not, it doesn't matter. She sang her last song about how she can stand on her own, and so she does. Higgins is clearly upset, he listens to her recordings and imagines her return. But she never really returns. And eventually he gets used to being alone again. In my head she opens a successful business (a flower/tea shop?). Maybe they run past eachother on the streets sometimes, or bump into eachother at some social event, or Higgins sees her shop and smiles inwardly. That's how I always saw the ending, and I refuse to believe anything but.

@jyan466

2y↑18

That's what I thought was the ending

@mohammedsaud145

2y↑6

Same here

@markarmage3776

2y↑5

@@catherinerosa644 That song is pure delusional.
Only idiots would think that passing off at that one dance is enough to blend in to the aristocratic life.
It's just a dance, and Higgins tailored her to it. Higgins solo song put it nicely, it's quite obvious her life is going to fail miserably without his help. People like to dream but it's quite clear what will happen if she tries to "make it on her own".

@Kelaiah01

2y↑62

@@markarmage3776 Except you're missing one key detail: Eliza said that she was going to offer herself as an assistant to "that brilliant Hungarian" (forgot his name), the one who made a living off of blackmailing people, and supposedly teach him Higgins' methods. What's more, that guy told an entire court of people that Eliza was a Hungarian princess... when in reality she's just a common flower girl. Eliza would have him over a barrel with that information: she could utterly humiliate and ruin him by revealing his blunder. Therefore, he'd be the one being blackmailed for a change. In conclusion, Eliza does indeed have what it takes to make it on her own.

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@nancyanderson5310

28w↑90

YOU MADE MY DAY! I am 85 years old and that ending galls me ALWAYS! You did it! You made it real, human, sane. As a battered woman myself, Julie, Nancy and Eliza gave me mere acceptance of the era-specific reality, but never any hope. I got out the hard way - left my kids and lived as a pariah from then on. My kids had food, clothing, shelter and a step mother who made a great wage. My sons got college, my daughter got to cheer them on, then got out and wrestled horrifically because she was drop dead gorgeous and got hooked into Hollywood. Thank you, thank you! Sanity is such clean air.

@JaneNewAuthor

I'm 70, my mother loved the movie and had the record.

I never liked either ending. Even in my early teens I thought she must have had other options.

@grutarg2938

38w↑76

Another possible ending: While out walking Henry Higgins stops into Eliza's flower shop. He doesn't know it's her shop but he hears her speak from behind the flowers and recognizes her voice. They talk briefly, she sees him out, and locks up for the night. The camera stays in the shop with Eliza as she walks upstairs to her living space above. A reprise of "All I Want is a Room Somewhere" plays in the background as she sits in her enormous chair and watches Henry walk away down the street.

The problem with everything I've seen is that Eliza never gets a room of her own. In every version she is seen only in the space Henry Higgins owns and controls. That's why the scene in his mother's house is so important, it's now a space owned and controlled not by Henry, but by another woman. It's a step in the right direction, but it still is closely tied to Henry Higgins and is not Eliza's own. To move from there back to Henry's office just doesn't work on a symbolic level. She needs to end in her own space.

@oliviaknight1123

8w↑2

I completely agree!! Yes, she wanted a room, a space of her own. It's so sad that she doesn't ever achieve that. I believe you'd have written the perfect ending ❤

@grutarg2938

@@oliviaknight1123 Thank you so much!

@tremorsfan

1y↑524

What I love about the George Bernard Shaw is that he lived to the age of 94 and didn't even die of old age. He died falling off a ladder trying to prune an apple tree. Which begs the question of how long he would have lived if he hadn't decided to trim that tree.

@deniseengle4269

1y↑22

This is exactly the kind of thing I like...

@srothbardt

1y↑13

The real question is whether he would have written another play, perhaps similar to that show about the two old guys/actors who live together.

@rubaiyat300

1y↑24

Unfortunately that tree had it out for him and had plans to strike that very night.

@TristanMorrow

1y↑8

If he'd been harvesting his ghoughpteighbteaus, he'd have been much closer to the ground and much safer.
(Yes, I know the direct Shaw attribution is likely not correct, but true or not it remains a whimsical part of his legacy)

@RAFMnBgaming

48w↑3

What does that go down on the death certificate as? death by falling or death by tree?

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@markthompson112

1y↑347

I played Higgins last year and we found the solution in playing Higgins like a tired toddler throughout Act 2, irrational, emotional (all the things he accuses women of being as I was being dammed if I was ever going to validate any of the things Higgins says). For the 3 parts of "I've grown accustomed to her face", the first was played disdainful and bitter, section two was callous and wicked but section three was sobering; done like it was the most truthful thing he had ever spoken. We went out of our way to demonstrate that Higgins was basically showing himself his true colors and coming to realization that, in the same way he and Pickering had had an effect in Eliza, so too had she had an effect on him and that he needed to change. My Higgins had a meltdown, sobbing as the recoding played, real ugly, honest, cry. When she comes back in, she sat next to me on the couch and I choked out a quiet "Eliza?". I put out a hand, she takes it, I go to say something and nothing come out. I try again, nothing. I try one more time only for an errant thought to cross my mind. "Where the devil are my slippers?" asked in full and complete earnestness. She laughs, I realize I said the quiet part out loud and groan/laugh/cry and the lights fade to two friends unsure but hopeful for the future laughing at the dumb thing Higgins just said.

That final laugh of the two of us really uplifted that final music, it makes it a grand, hopeful, raw and honest ending. One that says, we don't know what's next, but things will be better and in my opinion is far more satisfying ending.

@JBearwa

1y↑33

Thank you for sharing something that was done professionally and also very personal. I truly would’ve enjoyed seeing this performance to feel what my reaction of your emotionally revealing ending would’ve left on me.

@markthompson112

1y↑22

@@JBearwa if I could, I'd share it in a heartbeat, but copyright and all that. I was very proud of the work we did and I wish we'd have been able to share it with more people

@socratesrocks1513

1y↑21

@Nannyj9007

1y↑7

Best ending offered so far. I would have loved to see that!

@rachelwharton4245

1y↑2

That’s the best take on the ending I’ve ever heard

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@aeolia80

38w↑173

I did linguistics in uni, and even though I came from a theatre background this one thing I did not know till I started in my undergrad. The voice on the phonograph in the movie helping Eliza with her sounds is a recording of a real phonetics professor at the time, a British guy teaching at UCLA that wrote the intro to phonetics text book that most students still use to this day. He was the linguistics consultant on the set too. Peter Ladefoged

@Ratigan2

32w↑12

I love word nerds

@paulsutton5896

30w↑1

People should study REAL subjects at university.

@markmh835

30w↑5

@@paulsutton5896 -- Uh-huh. And phonetics is a "real subject."

@gufu21

23w↑2

Peter Ladefoged! I did indeed use his phonetics text book when I studied linguistics about 10 years ago.

@charlesgantz5865

13w

Ask the thousands of students in grade school taking a speech class to remedy some speaking difficulty, or an actor studying how to speak with an accent different than their own if phonetics is a "real subject."@@markmh835

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@Nothing_Israel

45w↑60

The “Galatea!” ending works perfectly for modern audiences if they add a scene where Higgins foreshadows it by recounting the story of pygmalion to a friend.

@technicolorstatic

1y↑305

I always imagined a last scene in a busy bustling flower shop with Colonel Pickering dropping in to visit Eliza and Freddie, and then Higgins steps in and delivers the "I washed my hands and face before I came" line to her, a way of asking forgiveness.

@muurrarium9460

1y↑7

Nice one :)

@amelguoc4682

1y↑8

I like that idea!

@davidannderson9796

1y↑6

Wonderful!

@dandooshnanoosh

WTF? What is this man-hating barbarianism? The only thing Higgins owes her is a pat on the back and a congratulations on a job well-done.

@danielsmith9814

1y↑3

I really like that!

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@colleenmarin8907

1y↑264

As a child, I saw Pickering and Higgins as 'consummate bachelors' without a hint of romantic tendencies towards the 'fair sex', so I assumed she came back to discuss her future business prospects with Pickering, and Higgins was pleased that he hadn't ruined their friendship. As an adult, I see the 1950s ending as Eliza coming back to teach him manners much in the way he had taught her phonetics, in addition to what I thought when I was a kid

@angelawossname

1y↑37

Yeah I always thought Pickering and Higgins ended up together.

@srothbardt

1y↑5

Very good points.

@Donnagata1409

1y↑4

@@angelawossname Reasonable.

@jeffhreid

1y↑9

Exactly. Eliza brings as much to the relationship as Henry. People can change, it’s the very soul of the story

@DiegoBosch90

1y↑6

@@jeffhreid glad to see some people understood the film. Eliza denies any love feelings, higgins do the same, who are we to say it is a romantic feeling if they clearly deny, and also they never shown any thing on this way... through the film? wtf, people doesnt understand the concept of friendship...this film is a master peice cause of that , it denies any no sense and unjustified romance...the final is brilliant for me...open final (but it excludes any romance between both).

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@abigaylebonham4510

1y↑277

I think it would be clever if the movie ending was kept and Eliza’s reaction to the “wear the devil are my slippers” line was changed. Like imagine Eliza decided to come back to just see how Higgins would react, maybe hoping she could reconcile with him and give him another chance; only to be greeted with that line and after he says that to her she just sighs and turns back around and leaves for good.

@tyrant-den884

37w

why would she ever give an absolute bellend like him another chance?

@monicanlamppost9631

36w↑8

This one.

@archivist17

33w↑10

This would be the most elegant.

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w↑2

Another one who obviously misses the point of the ending & movie. He wasn't going to change his personailty or being for any woman. He realized & thought he lost her and I like to think he learrned from that. And she excepeted him for who he was just as much as he appreciated her for who she was. Why on earth do most simpltons miss this in the ending? SMH. It keeps the dynamics of love & the natural human bonding of males & female relationships in reality. The Shaw's version was the white picket fence fantasy ending made for simpletons and the movei ending made a point & added actual "love" in it & very cleverly & clearly.

@paulsutton5896

30w↑1

Do you mean: "where"?

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@dreadpirate2432

32w↑16

I played Eliza in My Fairy Lady, and I had always been uncomfortable with the ending. At the end, when Eliza comes back and Henry says "Where the devil are my slippers?" I played it angry, and as if we were going to get into another argument. The other actor was very good, and played "I've grown accustomed to her face" in a way that suggested he'd learned some humility. The idea (for me) was that these were both imperfect people who enjoyed bickering with each other and challenging each other. They would continue to bicker and fight and challenge each other (probably never getting married), but they could continue their relationship and perhaps become better people through their friendship. He would be humbled by the wit of a "common flower girl", and she (as she states in her 'I want' song) having someone's head resting on her knee. She thinks (in the beginning) she wants a tender soul who takes good care of her, but when Freddy presents this, she realizes that's not what she really wants. What she wants is connection, and through My Fair Lady she comes to realize that she is an equal to Henry Higgins--she is intelligent, and clever, and able to battle wits with him at the end. In my head-canon ending, he comes to realize this too, and they live (perhaps not happily), but understandably? ever after?

@abbyk.6410

3y↑841

As a kid watching this hundreds of times, I thought she just visited Higgins like you would visit a father you had a falling out with. I thought she had married Freddie.

@marilynsmymother711

3y↑143

I guess I felt the same. I’d never seen Henry and Eliza as any sort of romantic pair. This is one of my favorite movies, and for some reason I’ve always thought that Henry and Eliza maintained a friendship. I always thought of it as a mentor/mentee relationship. Henry is comfortable with Eliza, and Eliza makes life comfortable for Henry. I didn’t realize that they were meant to be in a romantic relationship in the end.

@premanadi

3y↑60

@@marilynsmymother711 I think your reading of it is just as plausible. If she did stay with him, it would probably be to look after his household, not as a romantic partner.

@aragorniielessar1894

3y↑7

Yeah i kind of agree with that, it make.

@TaniaArpaAndTakaMoritaForever

3y↑34

Same! haha For kid me, her getting together with old man Higgins made no sense at all

@davidallen508

3y↑29

In the original “Pygmalion” she does end up marrying Freddie and Higgins is left roaring with laughter ; not the stuff
of musical comedy.The ending of “My Fair Lady” would have been better handled by Julie rather than Audrey.

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@keithcurtis

1y↑109

Our local dinner theater(!) fixed this ending considerably, without changing a line of dialog, but only adding two bits of choreography. When Higgins is singing his final song, and walking through the city, he comes across a Cockney flower girl and buys a bunch of violets. He tosses coins to her, like in the fist act, but although they scatter as before, he unconsciously bends and helps her gather them. He sees her as a person. When he delivers the final "where the devil are my slippers" line, she grabs them off the floor and is about to toss them at the back of his head, just before he slouches down and tosses the flowers over his head to her. She drops the slippers, catches the flowers, tableau. It's not perfect, but it immeasurably improves the scene by keeping Eliza fierce, and showing emotional growth and acknowledgment of his past carelessness in Higgins

@jwf2125

1y↑2

Could be. You're making obvious the character development that some of us have already inferred from the current (MFL) version.

@JaniceLHz

36w↑17

@@jwf2125
I might change my mind on a careful rewatching, but I never saw evidence of Higgins becoming less misogynistic and classist, just realizing that he'd rather have Eliza around as his student and doormat than for her to leave.

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w↑4

Not needed. The movie nailed the ending perfectly. He learned his lesson & excpted her & repsected her for who she was. As he says in the movie, "I like you this way!" Then the entire thing about it being in a play format is, MOST actors can never express what the movie showed in Rex Harrison's face when he was about to open his door. Realizing he lost her. That one small bit of his expression is what won him the Academy Award for best actor. Most actors in plays can't propley do that or express or show that in their face. Dootlittle & Eliza both came together respecting one another for who they were. This is the main point of the movie that most simpleton's don't seem to understand or get about the movie's true real male/female bonding relationships in real life. The ending makes the perfect sence for a realistic ending. To go and change that imo after the musical being one of the most clever writtn musical & movies ever is pure blasphemy and modern day "political correctness wokeness" at it's worst. A case of the mondern day simpleton's not being able to handle the truths in life. Smh. Shaw's version & ending was nothing but the typical boring white picket fence ending. Most women would never respect or fall in love with a smitten SIMP like Freddy.

@vlad5042

25w↑6

@@jwf2125theres no real development for higgins. to the very end he shows no sign of becoming less selfish or respecting eliza any more. in his iconic supposedly romantic final song he spends most of it just resentfully fantasizing about her miserable life without him.

@Lou-Lou8343

23w

@@WrestlingErnestHemingway absolutely agree! Why would Freddy ever be a good alternative???. A lazy, good for nothing, silver spooned simp is “good enough” if … he’s nice to you!!! I would never want that for my daughters or grandchildren.
So no one likes the song Prof Higgins sung
at the end. He doesn’t sound “changed” or contrite enough. Was he supposed to suddenly become icky sweet and “All hail Eliza” like simpleton Freddy? In what world would that have sounded genuine ? I saw prof H’s strides as huge but in keeping with his to reticence to move on from bachelor-hood or anything showing loving emotion. He was all academia , very cold. Eliza had a profound and life changing effect of him. Love had a profound effect on him. Shaw didn’t believe in either. Shaw condemned her to unsteady Freddy and poverty but at least she got a few pats on the head now and then. Freddy was not her equal in any true sense but Shaw thought he was good enough for the likes of her. Who’s the real misogynist here? Shaw wins the prize with all the “woke” lemmings on this comment page.
“People see what they want to see” and “misery loves company” comes to mind.
“What do people want to see happen” … says a lot about them.

“Modern sensibility” doesn’t constitute right or righteous sensibility.

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@davidwright8432

1y↑63

In a way, Shaw's ending with Eliza fully self-realized, but Higgins as the trigger of that transformation, would be most satisfactory to present audiences. Every parent - the better ones anyhow - have both a regret at the 'growing up' of a deeply beloved child - and the realization that in that growth and emancipation, is their true success. Possibly with just a little twinge of melancholy for their undoubted loss. At least that's how it felt to me, seeing Someone fly joyously free. Wonderful! But I really miss that impish kid ...

@historyismyplayground1827

35w↑63

Shaw was a man ahead of his time. The times have finally come to a point where his original ending would be acceptable, and the true happy ending is not a forced “romantic“ one.

@Kelaiah01

3y↑181

Personally, I would have had it so that when Eliza comes back, Freddie is with her, and after Higgins says his slippers line and covers his face, Pickering comes in and happily embraces Eliza and Freddie, all three of them pantomiming their future plans as the music plays. This would show that Eliza is going to go through with marrying Freddie, but she's still going to be apart of Higgins' and Pickerings' lives.

@Checkmate1138

2y↑1

Ah, but what about Higgins? You said "all three of them". I assume you mean Higgins would join the three of them in rejoicing their future plans?

@Kelaiah01

2y↑18

@@Checkmate1138 Nope, I imagined Higgins just sitting there in his chair, hat covering his eyes, but his smile would be visible. He's slumped in relief, for once content to sit aside and let others make their own plans.

@Checkmate1138

2y↑5

@@Kelaiah01 I like it :) 👍

@Kelaiah01

2y↑1

@@Checkmate1138 Thank you very much! :D

@brxzbze

2y↑6

I thought of a fix to the Bartlett Sher ending where it's clarified that Eliza and Freddy just happened to be passing by and heard the voice recording playing from outside, so Eliza went back in to check, but never planned to go back to Higgins (and I guess when she leaves she goes with Freddy).
Yours works better, honestly, since we never really know what happens to Pickering, do we?

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@mistydreamz

2y↑280

This is news to me. It never occurred to me that they were supposed to end up together. I honestly thought her returning meant that she didn't want their friendship on such a bitter note, but rather they have a proper respectful good bye before they go their own ways.

@tinymxnticore

1y↑16

The triumphant music as he smugly leans back in his chair that kind of solidified how I interpret the end of My Fair Lady. It's worth noting that the slippers line was made up by Shaw as a compromise. It's intentionally vague so that audiences can interpret it how they wish.

@em_c-chucky5554

1y↑19

My mum gave me the VHS as a little girl. Audrey Hepburn's My Fair Lady is the only version I have ever seen and I never interpreted the ending as them becoming romantic.
I always thought that she ended up with Freddy but saw the relationship with Professor Higgins as an important friendship. He was a jerk but by the end, he gained a respect for her but in a way that's like 'don't tell anyone I have a soft side' with a tounge-in-the-cheek "Where the devil are my slippers?"
As I said, I was very young when I first watched it so I could have been off. However, I've shown it to my kids recently and I didn't see it any different as an adult.

@LadyWervyn

1y↑2

I like this ending! I never saw it that way, but I will remember this when I watch it again!

@macmachine

1y↑1

That's the genius of Lerner & Lowe's upgrade. Higgins learns to love for the first time.

@Ocker3

1y↑9

Doesn't Eliza have a line about staying and "not wanting you to make love to me, but more friendly like"

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@scottadler

34w↑23

I imagined an ending in which Eliza returns to Higgins, but much later, expecting her first child. She seeks penmanship lessons so that she may compose cards for bouquets of roses. The scene takes only a few minutes, but we see that Higgins is devastated that he has indeed lost her, yet is delighted that Galatea has come to life.

@hrani

48w↑41

I went to see the play (translated to Finnish, it was interesting what dialect and pronunciation choices they made) and the ending was one where Eliza takes off, marches off stage and is gone, leaving a slightly incredulous, slowly more and more distressed Higgings behind. Curtains. I was quite pleased!

@vully70

3y↑188

I once saw a Berlin production where - after Higgins asked smugly for his slippers - Eliza threw them in his face and they started arguing wildly while the curtain fell.

At the time I hated it but today I think it‘s great.

@giggle_snort

1y↑11

LOL!!!! Now THAT'S a memorable ending!

@blooncrazy

1y↑13

My favorite production ended with the usual song, the usual return, the usual smug line from Higgins, but when Eliza hears Higgins asking about the slippers, she see a shoe and throws it at him. Higgins, completely dumbfounded, throws the shoe back at Eliza. The set had been progressively filled throughout the performance with books representing the amount of learning Eliza was gaining resulting in piles of books everywhere, and as she dodges the flying shoe, she grabs a book and throws it at Higgins. Higgins returns with another book. Eliza throws a book. Higgins throws a book. Books fly. Actors laugh uproariously and the curtain falls. Eliza has returned but only as the equal that Higgins had intended. The image of two perfectly matched experts in phonetics - two sides of the same coin - leads us to imagine that, rather than offering herself as an "assistant to that brilliant Hungarian", she is able to begin teaching on her own. Pygmalion has succeeded. Galatea has become alive. Perhaps they might share offices, but never abodes again...

@sarahp7855

3y↑449

I suffer from the Mandela Effect when it comes to this film, because I loved watching it as a child, but I clearly remember Higgins being a father-figure to Eliza and I remember her leaving with Freddie at the end. I was quite shocked to watch it again as an adult and realize that she ended up with Higgins. I still can’t accept that ending. Their relationship just doesn’t read as romantic to me in any way, so my kid-brain must have edited my memories of the film to make more sense. So happy to watch this video and find out that maybe my false memories of the ending had a source!

@megwyn1611

3y↑14

That's what happens in the play

@jacinpickledoge8545

3y↑28

Yeah. In the original play, The Pygmalion, she leaves as a sort of equal to Henry Higgins.

@premanadi

3y↑40

I don't even think that the musical implies for sure that they will be a romantic couple. It's just as easy to see it as implying that she will remain with him as some kind of companion/housekeeper/secretary. Which is also very unsatisfactory. Nor should we assume that the arrangement would last.

@richardmayora1289

2y↑2

@veevyo It all depends on the casting. This lousy LC production cast them as the same age range and so romance was very possible.

@harshmnr

2y↑6

@@premanadi That's what I was going to say but actually I see them as friends (a very weird friend relationship, but friends of a sort). But that's what I love about My Fair Lady is that the ending is so open ended and there are so many different interpretations that can be "correct".
~:~

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@Harrydewulf

1y↑42

I love this analysis. I was always uncomfortable with the way that Henry Higgins didn't show... that mixture of surprise and pride that a teacher has when their student surpasses expectations and perhaps, surpasses them. I always felt that both Eliza and Pickering were better people than Higgins, and hence, that Eliza is the only hero of the piece. I would love to see an ending where Higgins feels more like a proud teacher or proud parent; I don't begrudge any parent their pride at the realization that their child no longer needs them. As a parent, some of that was you. But the idea they would end up together has always been, as the kids say, ick.

@jonathanjappe7

37w↑39

My favorite story about the movie "My Fair Lady" is that when my mom went to see it in theaters, she accidentally left at intermission and was disappointed they didn't sing any of the songs from the b side of the album.

@AthyDuGard

27w↑3

😂 That sound like something my mum would do.

@ByWayOfDeception

20w

That is a good one tbh

@ivarhusa454

1y↑64

I did so enjoy this explanation of the history of my fair lady. I could not help but recall the movie with Michael Cain and Marsha Mason, Educating Rita.
When I saw 'Rita's' ending, I practically cried with happiness. She kept her independence, asserting that she could now live in whichever world she chose, academic or 'pub'.
That was the happiest ending I could imagine.

It seems I have the same modern sensibilities as our modern London guide. Thanks again for this lesson.

@theresabradley4716

37w↑7

Michael Caine and Julie Walters.

@AthyDuGard

27w

That's such a great film.

@Checkmate1138

2y↑169

How about, for the happy ending, they try that ending bit that George Bernard Shaw suggested?

Eliza leaves, to go off with Freddie. Higgins sings "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" but contemplates that he his proud of Eliza, now seeing her as an equal, not someone he looks down at. He then goes out onto the balcony, sees Eliza and Freddy heading out in the car, and he exclaims "Eliza Doolittle!" and waves at her smiling. Eliza and Freddy both look up and beam up smiling and waving back.

Another option: All the same, but instead, copying the 1938 alternate ending, Higgins goes out after singing his last number, onto the street. Presumably some time has passed, and he chances upon Eliza and Freddy successfully running their shop, booming with business. There he exclaims "Eliza Doolittle!" or even "Eliza Doolittle! Where the devil are my slippers?" though it is obviously in jest. The three meet each other's gazes and smile and laugh at seeing each other again, like old friends.

In both ideas (where this is the happy ending), both characters get what they want or needed -- Eliza and Freddy live happy and independently in their life, while Higgins learns a bit of a life lesson and learns to respect and treat Eliza as an equal and friend.

@angelawossname

1y↑11

This, but where we also acknowledge the queer coding that Shaw insinuated about Higgins and Pickering. Higgins sings his final song to Pickering and Pickering consoles him.

@rfresa

1y↑7

Yeah, I don't see why he can't still sing the last song, and then see her in her flower shop and acknowledge that she doesn't need him anymore, which means he succeeded.

@cabbage-soup

1y↑7

i don't know, i feel like it'd be nice if the ending focused on eliza and her successes, rather than on higgins, his sense of superiority, and his (dubious) personal growth

@DaveLH

1y↑3

I can imagine it ending kind of in the way "Educating Rita" (a play/movie that is often compared with "Pygmalion") ends -- With Eliza recognizing that she and Higgins are temperamentally incompatible, yet Eliza is grateful for all he's done to change her life. And so they part amicably, ending with Eliza (just as Rita does in her movie) looking at Higgins intently, and then saying, simply, "Thanks."

@haveyougotyourtowel

36w↑26

It's important that Shaw was extremely against his work being either turned into a musical or ever studied in school.

He had to die before Pygmalion became a musical (My Fair Lady), and he was against being taught in schools because he never wanted his work to be as hated by the public as Shakespeare.

@gogreen7794

11w

Shakespeare is hated??? I know some people struggle with the language, but given that Shakespeare's plays are performed everywhere, all the time, I'd hardly say they are "hated."

@doraphase

11w↑1

@@gogreen7794 Totally agree with you here and I love his work.
My whole English subject is literally all about Shakespeare, plus we have to perform a play in a few months. I think some people hate him because they can't understand the terms and phrases he uses, but like, simplified versions exist as well...

@Lasciatemi_Guidare

38w↑12

I’ve always loved My Fair Lady. Chicago’s Lyric Opera did a production a few years ago, with IMO a brilliant ending. After the final “slippers” line in the script, Eliza snaps her fingers and the set becomes more femininely decorated. She takes a seat next to Higgins and starts enjoying some chocolates. I thought that was a brilliant way to give them a happy ending while showing they found a more balanced relationship.

Also no Irish ghost is gonna tell me who to ship!

@maz.s

3y↑212

I saw the Lincoln Center show. It was my first time seeing My Fair Lady. The vibe I got was that Higgins and the Colonel were an old married couple squabbling over what to do about their adopted daughter.

@richardmayora1289

2y↑1

I guess you saw Lauren Ambrose? I did not believe he found her appealing for a single second. She was so charmless.

@christinepaige2575

1y↑2

I saw it too…was disappointed. It seemed too much like a self-conscious exercise in political correctness, between the cross-dressing Cockney chorus folk and Eliza’s bizarre exit through the fourth wall, which the audience was left to figure out for ourselves other than it seeming clear that Higgins was being rejected. It was a treat to get to see Diana Rigg, though.

@Ocker3

1y↑13

Higgins and the Colonel are two old Confirmed Bachelors, which some read as implying they're quietly gay. Being language and culture experts certainly would be an acceptable occupation for such men, and would explain the strapping young men coming for lessons?

@angelawossname

1y↑4

When I read the original GBS play I just kinda assumed that Pickering and Higgins got together. It was certainly coded that way.

@DG-gx4sg

3y↑106

I never thought Eliza was attracted to Higgins one bit. I saw him more as her fatherly figure. That's why the ending almost made me throw up. Wished she just moved on and went her own way.

@suebob16

3y↑6

Eliza becomes aware of her changing feelings towards Higgins during the song I Could Have Danced All Night when she finally conquers her enunciation problems. Plus during their final conversation together I believe Eliza admits to Higgins that she had come to care for him, but they were too busy arguing for the words to sink in at the time. That was as close to expressing her romantic feelings as it got.

@sheribarnett3180

37w↑5

I like the updated delivery of the last line. I took it as she says her line as “this is who I used to be” and he responds in kind.

@giraffesinc.2193

34w↑9

I had always wondered why GBS wrote that postscript, and do appreciate the explanation! As for why audiences would want Eliza to be with Higgins, it is quite simple. Before the late 70s or so, a romance novel usually involved a girl 'taming' an irascible man, who comes to love her and also (of course) provides amply for her. That fantasy has mostly died out but it is still present to a degree. 'Princesses' (or shop girls) used to require rescuing; now they rescue themselves.

@colleen4ever

20w

But she didn't tame him. He treated her exactly the same way at the end!

@vannasilver

2y↑44

I remember seeing that film as a kid and thinking Henry Higgins was a bully. Thank you for this insight into all the characters and history

@MiriamMillen

1y↑59

Thank you for this wonderful and informative video! My take - Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) was not someone who could easily change, and the last song was basically him fighting with himself because the revelation that he loves Eliza is deeply disconcerting. He never thought he could feel vulnerable or lonely and when he says, "I've grown accustomed to her face", what he really means is, "I love her and I can't imagine my life without her". To play down his feelings, even as he muses to himself is not at odds with his character. When he says "Eliza", it's almost breathless, as he realizes that he has been given this extraordinary gift and almost lost it because of his arrogance. When he asks for his slippers, it's almost in a playful way, and I think it's obvious that Eliza knows that she can certainly indulge him, but if she told him to "Get his own damn slippers, and while he's at it, to bring her some tea", I think he would have absolutely given in rather than risk losing her again. Or, perhaps I'm just perceiving this because that is what I want it to be. I do agree that Higgins is misogynistic, arrogant, controlling, and selfish, and the age difference is a bit cringe, although, not completely outside the realm of reality. I'm not altogether convinced that Eliza's love for him isn't a bit of Stockholm Syndrome mixed with daddy issues, although I believe she is genuinely fond of him. Anyway, that's my two cents. Thanks again for this great video and I definitely want to learn more about George Bernard Shaw now!

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w

Excellent anology I totally can agree with. This is how I look at it as well. 👍

@michaelbenenson

51w↑11

A wonderfully comprehensive and empathetic commentary. I saw the Covent Gdn production with Harrison, |Andrews, Hyde White and Holloway - and come the "slippers" line, Harrison had his |Higgins deliver the line ironically, self-derisively. I think that's a key to a complementary ending for our age - 2023 - that heart and head are put into the scales, so that Eliza prospers 'intellectually' (head) and, reciprocallym, Higgins prospers emotionally in valuing the heart. I hear John Donne agree!!!!

@LindzTheLooneyOfLondon

1y↑22

I have only just come across your channel and am as a fellow British history lover in love with it. I found this expecially interesting, I think if I were to tackle this musical I would turn Higgins into a fatherly role, which shows a man unacustom to sharing his life with others become a substitute father for a child whose own parent is wayward, neglectful and often absent. Pickering in this scenario becomes his teacher, breaking down what is expected of a father to mold a child for a better role in society in terms of emotions, ethics and relationships. This would thus show at the end of the film his realisation that she was a daughter rather than experiment and has impacted his life far more deeply than he lets on. This allows for the song 'acostom to her face' to remain but in the guise of a guardian or parental look back rather than that of a lover. I think this way the age gap issue is less of an issue, the roles of the men become more parental than pervy and the outcome of her leaving is her growing up and establishing a life of her own but never truly loosing his paternal influence. It also allows for the fetch me my slippers attitude to move from misoginistic and become a parental order/request.
I also like this approach to it as it allows Higgins to express his doubts about her relationship with Freddie, as it becomes more a parental concern than a stag rutt! I feel that to put the characters in a more family dynamic in which the father creates his daughter to be the best and most desirable he can fits Shaws over all take of the story, and shows the growth of the main characters rather than returning them to a state possibly no better than they started.
Whilst I love the Rex Harrison film I was always left with questions about Freddie and how Eliza threw everything away to be nothing more than a maid or kept woman. Changing the dynamics of the relationship between them allows today's audience to feel forfilled that she's leaving to continue growing, with a family to return to when needed. It also shows growth of Higgins rather than putting effort into showing him get lessons in how to treat others beyond clinical distain and allows him to form a meaningful and far less creepy relationship.
On rethinking this I realise I'm describing the three men and a baby/ little lady films but in a more grown up scenario! This all said put into a period context we seem to accept and forgive more that today we find disturbing and unacceptable, and we love it and hate it at the same time.
Thank you so much for your content x

@chrisms_96

2y↑139

Watching My Fair Lady all my life, I've never interpreted its ending as Eliza and Professor Higgins becoming a couple. And why would I? The story offers zero indication that there's anything romantic between the two characters. The age difference alone would be enough to rule it out, but Higgins makes it abundantly clear that he's a bachelor for life, while Eliza makes it abundantly clear that she's done putting up with his ill-mannered temperament. Whatever relationship they end up having will be on Eliza's terms, as she's clearly transcended Higgins by the end of the story. Higgins needs Eliza, if for no other reason because he's "used to" her, while Eliza doesn't need him at all. I see her returning to him not because she's dependent on him, but because she's merciful. Higgins is a deeply flawed character, but despite all of his shortcomings, he did help her to improve her lot in life. I think she recognizes that and is grateful. I mean, Eliza's father contributed much less to her well being than Higgins does, and even HE gets a "good luck" from her at the end of his arch.

All of this said, there's no doubt in my mind she ends up marrying Freddie. She's a young woman with a new lease on life. The world is her oyster. There's absolutely no reason someone in her position would end up marrying their curmudgeonly father figure who's set in his ways. If Hollywood wanted us to think that's what happens at the end, they did a HORRIBLE job conveying it.

@christinepaige2575

1y↑10

I really like your thought that Eliza returns to Higgins because she is merciful. This honors the transformational role he has played in her life, and creates the potential for her to play a transformational role in his. Imo, the story is DOA if there is a permanent parting of the ways between the two of them at the end.

@stuffchat

1y↑8

Personally I just thought she came to live there as a friend, as she had been there for months anyway and hasn't yet moved out. Not sure why so many just assume her few seconds of being back means they then marry or something.

@GuapoJhimi

1y↑3

I never, for a moment thought they DID NOT wind up together. Of course they did. I don't see any other reasonable ending.

@tomshea8382

1y↑3

Higgins HAD made it clear he was a lifelong bachelor, but then he sings, literally, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," which is called (checks notes) "character development." This was a 50s musical. Of course they end up together. Shaw made it clear they didn't, and Lerner thought Shaw was wrong, but the source material is strong enough that it can be examined in many ways.

@DiegoBosch90

1y↑1

Congratulations. We can discuss why exactly she came back, in some way I agree she was merciful and also cause she cared for him, he was like his family and also colonel was... this colonel is very important too. BUt what I cant discuss is the romance. THere is not romance lol, they clearly said it was friendly feeling in the hosue of the mother...the story as you said offers zero indication...and if this wasnt enough, they deny it, in their words (not mine).

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@crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600

1y↑25

This just shows that no matter the time period, from this to twilight, every generation had a phase of liking male leads with red flags

@Apledore

38w↑4

I grew up watching this movie, and was startled in college to hear someone call the relationship between Eliza and Higgins "romantic." I had never even seen romance as a possibility between the two. My own interpretation of the ending was that she had felt — having put him in his place — that she could return as an equal, and be treated as such. His final line I took as a joke he invited her to enjoy, indicating that he intended to treat her as someone on equal footing (since he had realized that he actually cared if she was around). But it was always as good friends that I saw them moving forward. And I never took Freddy's infatuation seriously. To me, he was just there to show that she had other options, if she wanted them. But he was always beneath her, because he was a silly, inexperienced little boy.

Interesting to know that the movie ending was pieced together with the stipulation of no new lines. Explains why it's a bit abrupt!

@Gold-kb1ws

1y↑57

The Greek story has different endings that we don’t always hear about. I did not know until recently too.

In one version, the women asked the goddess to bring the statue to life teach the man a lesson. Once she is alive - she cannot be what he imagines her to be anymore. The statue coming to life was his punishment for treating women badly in this version.

@spiritualanarchist8162

36w↑7

The Greek version ended with our living statue throwing a wooden sandal at the man's head teaching him some humility in the process😉

@rgnyc

30w↑1

@@spiritualanarchist8162 - So the last line "Galatea, where the devil are my sandals?" could conceivably precede that bit of business. I like it!

@spiritualanarchist8162

30w↑2

@@rgnyc That's what I imagine my girlfriend to do if told her 'Where the hell are my slippers !' ' But maybe i'm just a pushover ;)

@premanadi

3y↑279

I totally vote for the sad ending. Just have him sing "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" and end it there, with a short musical coda (which is how the film soundtrack album ends). He is left to regret what he has lost. Not everything in life has a happy ending.

@jamesdiaz9078

3y↑10

I agree that not everything is a happy ending but the tone of the whole musical/movie is happy I feel like if they were going to end the movie with her coming back to him it should have been a final sad but cathartic moment where she talks to him and shows that his feelings of emptiness are because hes acted like a douche the whole time, maybe in that moment when hes sitting in the chair he talks to her and he realizes that ending on a happy note maybe with freddie at the doorway watching and supporting her for reaching out to help him. Idk just kinda how i felt about it

@RaymondHng

2y↑35

I was fours years old when I heard the London cast recording. And I really thought he sang "I've thrown a custard to her face".

@premanadi

2y↑9

@@RaymondHng Now THAT would make a great ending to the show!

@primercapitulo1109

2y↑3

@@jamesdiaz9078 People have to take into account the time and how societies behaved at that time.
It is easy to criticize in 2020. If we had lived that moment we would have behaved the same.

@jamesdiaz9078

2y↑2

@@primercapitulo1109 i dont think that would make the ending more sensible if you want my opinion.

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@kobaltkween

3y↑350

The ending with Freddy is more romantic, not less, because he cares for her. But everything from Wuthering Heights to Twilight has taught us that real men are a-holes who control, stalk, and belittle their women, and caring, supportive men are boring and weak.

If you really want to make it better, make Freddy's character show the kind of strength that would make him able to become a successful tradesman at her side. Show how he sees her not just as a lady, but a whole person. If he's her endgame, make his passion clear.

@kobaltkween

3y↑44

@jonathanbuzzard1376

@@kobaltkween The problem with that assertion is that research shows that women only find between 5% and 20% of men attractive depending on the study. So unless you claim that 80% of men are judgmental alpha types for which you have no evidence, then your anecdotal evidence is just that anecdotal.

@tinymxnticore

1y↑15

I absolutely agree with you about the original ending, but as a fan of the Brontës, I don’t thing that’s the point of Wuthering Heights. Cathy and Heathcliff are both selfish people who make each other worse, and I don’t think Emily ever intended for them to be aspirational. They’re toxic soulmates who end up haunting the moors because of their refusal to change. Much like Shaw’s work, it’s the audience who wants to see the asshole win, and the ending is usually interpreted through that lens.

@kobaltkween

1y↑4

@@tinymxnticore I kind of get what you're saying, but I generally find that a cop out. Like rape revenge movies that still shoot the assault from the perspective of the rapist and spend tons of time on the abuse and damage and few minutes on the revenge. There's no point to Wuthering Heights at all if the story has no appeal, and there's absolutely no story without their toxicity. So sure the author can say she's not endorsing that behavior, but what she is doing, pretty much by definition of the genre, is romanticizing and dramatizing it.

@tinymxnticore

1y↑4

I'm confused at how much unpleasantness you can take in a narrative, or what exactly Emily Brontë would have had to do to adequately frame Cathy and Heathcliff's toxic romance, aside from telling the entire story from the perspective of bystanders who disapprove of their relationship, and explicitly saying that their souls are damned...both of which she does.
I won't address the comparison to rape revenge films, since I've never watched that genre in my life and can't begin to address it.

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@zimnizzle

21w↑3

I always appreciated the complexities of the ending — and the believability of it. Human relationships are complicated and difficult to define. I never needed Eliza and Prof. Higgins to fit neatly into a box. Whatever they are — friends, family, etc. — there is certainly a depth of feeling that is magnetic and irrefutable. I appreciate that, and I think it is what makes their relationship throughout the story so compellingly touching.

@GinervaWeasleyPotter

29w↑3

When I first watched my fair lady as a child, I didn’t think her return was romantic. I thought she’d come back to forgive him for being so rude and to continue her life by working with him on other clients. I imagined her showing him a kinder way of educating people and learning from her own experiences. Their relationship just always felt more mentor-mentee, and now she had graduated and found herself, so time to work with him as an equal. It was only when I talked to my grandma that I realised it was meant to be romantic

@emilymcallister9885

2y↑27

When I first watched My Fair Lady years ago I didn't understand why she chose to return to Henry. I'm glad to hear that wasn't the original ending.

@crowfaerymori

3y↑172

As a child, I cried when she went back. I felt it was wrong. Glad I wasn't alone!

@epaddon

3y↑1

If you felt it was wrong, then stick to a production of "Pygmalion" and leave the greatest of musicals alone.

@steamboatwill3.367

3y↑9

@@epaddon ) so stick with original and not the musical version that ruined ending?

@epaddon

3y↑1

@@steamboatwill3.367 Leave the artistic work of Lerner and Loewe alone.

@steamboatwill3.367

3y↑16

@@epaddon ) then shouldn't they have left the artistic work Shaw alone?

@a.westenholz4032

1y↑5

So did I. Well maybe I didn't cry but I definitely felt it was all types of wrong. Just why would she after having said all that, gone off with Freddy, just magically appear for no reason? What had Higgins said or done to make her want to come back since that scene or Freddy done to change her mind? If it was Freddy it would make more sense for Eliza to return to Mrs. Higgins where she was staying before- and we know what Higgins himself did, nothing much, certainly not as far as Eliza knew, just moaned about how he had gotten used to having her around to HIMSELF. So why would she go back after just having having walked out on him so emphatically (and having chosen to marry Freddy) shortly before? It hadn't been more than an hour or two. I felt that ending NEVER made sense. Not as a child or as an adult. It totally ignores the characters and betrays the plot, to achieve this superficial romantic ending.

@TheGossipGays

1y↑10

a fantastic video! I never knew much about GB Shaw or the galatea connection. Thanks so much for this gem! And you could keep the same ending with the song and when he asks for gloves she could just knowingly smile and then give a formal handshake and farewell, because they both know - for real now - she is a real woman.

@montecarlo1651

33w↑2

@toshomni9478

3y↑91

Higgins could still realize he's in love with Eliza and also that they can't be together. There's no need to cut any songs.

@brxzbze

2y↑2

Yeah, I think the moment when he realises he's in love is too good of a character beat to leave out.

@venake1646

4y↑69

This video is amazing! I watched My Fair Lady for the first time yesterday and felt very surprised and disappointed by the ending. The fact that Shaw didn't intend for them to end up together makes a lot of sense. Great work! :)

@Foxhillstacey

22w↑3

Higgins, the self described permanent bachelor is perhaps not interested in women romantically. However, he is very fond of Eliza and values her. I see her negotiating to be his secretary/personal assistant because she is now strong enough to put him in his place as well as organizing the household. I think they both care for each other very much, but I never thought there was an actual romance.

@cpm9747

38w↑11

I can't help but be an unrepentant fan of the romantic pairing ending. The age gap, the class gap, these are obstacles to be overcome that make the pairing more romantic for me and those of like mind. In my case, what the ending really needs (and maybe a bit of the middle needs) is to show Higgins learning the hard way that being a jackass to everyone all the time could cost him something precious, something he doesn't realize is precious until its gone, and then he has to do something to earn her return. He has to (dramatic reverb) commit. And not just commit by proposing to her, but commit by acknowledging how difficult a person he is, how wonderful she is for putting up with him and for maturing herself as she clearly has done, and perhaps most importantly, he needs to commit to working on himself so that he can be a man worthy of her love and affection.

In short, Higgins needs a character arc, and I don't think that would be really all that hard to do. Two, maybe three extra scenes, you could keep Accustomed to Her Face, maybe expand on it with an additional verse that takes notice of her as more than a pretty and familiar face, as a whole person. Maybe even finish up with a new song, a duet and a big happy wedding scene.

It is some very significant changes, but it is also what the story needs in order to appeal to a modern audience's sensibilities about equality and personal growth, and I think, if done right, such a version could easily rival, perhaps even surpass, the 1964 version in popularity.

@wartgin

37w↑3

As I mentioned below another comment, I think this is why I still like the story. I've filled in his character arc myself.

@vlad5042

25w↑2

exactly my problem. id be so down for them to be together if the movie threw me a bone at any point and suggested him learning the error of his ways and becoming better but to the last moment hes such a prick.

@alexinitalics188

1y↑93

I recently went to see My Fair Lady with little prior knowledge of the story and I honestly assumed the ending was Higgens' imagination as he's listening to her voice on the recording, especially with how she walks off the set at the end

@darkwood777

1y↑14

You are 100% correct. She is there in his imagination. He misses her deeply, and imagines her returning to ease his loneliness.

@markarmage3776

49w

@@darkwood777 Or maybe a more down to Earth ending, where the little girl prepped for by Higgins realize that she has no clue of how to make it out in the big bad world and come back.
Keep it real, homie, your little delusions are adorable.

@alicequayle4625

38w↑16

@@markarmage3776she's a pretty tough cookie growing up on the streets of Central London.

@decusq

3y↑32

When i first saw this movie on DVD as a kid the ending really never struck me as romantic because it felt too prideful for me. If i wanted to change the ending it would have to be an ending that gives both of them closure on their time together yet allows them to appreciate the others happiness. What if Eliza does marry Freddy they run a flower shop together and one day Higgins comes into the flower shop to purchase flowers for a possible romance of his own. He talks to Eliza about their time together and how it taught him that even he is in need of female companionship and has found a woman to challenge his intellect and says he'd like to order a dozen roses to court her and ELiza says "In your case better make it two."

@lysanamcmillan7972

1y↑6

What you said about "The Rain in Spain" sequence drives home what I think Eliza really wanted from Higgins. A friend to match her collegial relationship with Pickering. But as opposites attract, the font of loving kindness shacked up with the sourest milk in the dairy. And Eliza had too much self-respect to stay barring a clear demonstration that Higgins saw his own flaws.

I now have an image of the ending being Higgins doing "Accustomed to her Face" (did you know Lerner and Loewe wrote it specifically for Rex Harrison because his range was abysmally small? They stuck it square in the middle of his capabilities, which was about six notes) followed by his going home to his gramophone. He's listening to his recording, Eliza steps in and announces herself, and he asks for his slippers. She finds them rapidly, as she always did, and throws them into his lap. She repeats her line from earlier about him never getting a moment's peace with them, only now it's with contained misanthropic annoyance instead of deep, fresh pain. She's tired of his shit. She sounds like his mother. That is when he sits up, his hat restored to the top of his head as he stares at Eliza's face. He half-whispers in awe, "Galatea." She restrains herself to a small smirk before she sweeps to a nearby table, picks up a pair of her gloves, and waves to him by waggling them in the air before she leaves again. Henry bellows for Pickering as the curtain falls.

@geosutube

1y↑2

Thank you, Ms Draper. Loved your critique. My parents, lovers of theater and musicals ( a bit less, however) played
the Rex Harrison performance often in the decade following its first appearance, and we children know the performance by heart, but we youngsters rejected completely the strutting arrogance of the Higgins character, and always laughed loudly at the impossibility of such a person actually existing today. We took the musical as a well acted critique of outdated social habits, while still liking the music. The most appreciated part was the assumption that a man could really change a woman.

@95goldenbird

3y↑61

I watched My fair lady with my mom tonight and we both were a bit confused by that ending. I was so into Freddy and Eliza ending up toghether!!! I couldn't belive she chose Higgins instead. So I've been making some research for the last hour and was shocked to read that in Pigmalion she marries Freddy... It's so... UNFAIR (haha) that they changed that in the movie adaptations. Somehow I ended up finding this video and I loved it so much, thank you for making it, I've learned a lot and it helped me being less angry for this 😂♥️ Greetings from Spain where the rain stays mainly in the plain ✌️

@Isabella66Gracen

1y↑3

I think you've got it!

@hollybigelow5337

1y↑32

I watched a version of this play once live. They didn't change a single word, but they changed the meaning completely. When Higgins tells Eliza to "fetch his slippers," she walks over like she is being perfectly obedient. Then she grabs the slippers and throw them at Higgins. Higgins then gives a smile that perfectly shows that mix of the fact that he is proud that she has basically become his equal, and he even looks excited to basically renegotiate a new relationship with the new Eliza in the future. Of course, in that version, in the worst abuses Higgins played them off in a way that you never knew exactly how serious he was, anyway. But he showed genuine emotion saying he missed Eliza. It was all in body language and facial expressions, but it is clear that Eliza being willing to walk out woke him up and made HIM grow, too.

@mikejames4540

33w↑2

A thought-provoking and intelligent reading of the different versions and an interesting apology for the 1950s. Also, carefully researched and presented. Thank you!

@KateSannicksLerner

I thoroughly enjoyed your analyses of the book, play, and films. You hit the nail on the head. I watched the musical with my mom (as a six-year-old child), and I enjoyed it without understanding it. I watched it again in my 30s, 40s, and 60s, and in each of those decades, I became less satisfied with the ending. Your "fix" is excellent, and I hope someone takes you up on it!

@bombshellmusical9566

1y↑14

I never saw their relationship as romantic, even in the film, they always seemed much more like a father & daughter. Especially because he refers to her as a child so often.

That’s another possibility of a happy ending, for Higgins to say to her that as his “creation” she’s like a daughter to him. That way she can marry / have a career and their relationship can continue as an adult woman would keep in contact with her father.

@Abbiecantfail

4y↑154

i thought i was the only one what thought the ending didn't make sense also love the vid

@musicallydisneyamvs6731

Dido

@chrissyr8387

36w↑1

@gplantam

1y↑1

I've been a lifelong fan of MFL and have always wondered about this issue with the ending. Thank you for your insightful and comprehensive look at this topic. It made my day! And I am subscribing.

@Norikosama562

3y↑41

If I were rewriting the ending, i would still keep all the same dialogue and only make a few changes to help the audience infer some new information. I'd still have Eliza come back to see Higgins (after some implied time had past) but only to pay him for his teachings like she promised in the beginning. She'd be in the scene holding her gloves and the money (possibly some flowers as a gift to imply she has her flower shop) and the audience can see she's wearing a wedding ring, implying that she married Freddy. Then they could part ways as friends and equals.

@ladylandlubber499

3y↑23

Freddie only cares about her because of her beauty and perceived status. Right at the beginning of the film he knocks her over and barely helps before leaving her in the mud to find a taxi. Eliza does go to his mother but she also completely dismisses her even though Freddie ruined the flowers she was going to try sell.

Henry Higgins is the only character in that film who isn't immediately dismissive of her. He shows her what he was writing at the beginning and considers teaching her before there was really anything to gain and gives her a handkerchief to dry her eyes "Or any other part of your face that feels moist"
If you say Colonel Pickering treats her better then watch the film again and see how he treats her situation like a game and doesn't really care. Even when she's gone missing he calls up an old friend and chats for a while with no sense of urgency while Mr Higgins is getting dressed in a panic. He's also the one who started the whole "you did it" nonsense. Mr Higgins dismisses the congratulations multiple times but Colonel Pickering and the staff just keep going. The only time he says that 'he did it' is after she tells him to go to "Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire", but you can see how proud her is of HER.

I think the real problem with the ending is miscommunication with a modern audience which is really rather ironic considering the films focus on communication. People don't tend to take kindly to abrasive, blunt people even if their actions show they are truly kind.

@chuangweiping

3y↑8

A very perceptive comment. So few mentions of Freddy knocking over Eliza when all versions accentuated Feddy's memorable callousness. GBS intended to show a "before" caricature of Freddy who treated Eliza like dirt under his feet. Higgins generously compensates her and she could go home in a taxi like a lady. The movie gave clues that drilling was not without reasonable breaks. Higgins bought Eliza a ring when they went to Brighton. Eliza rescues this sentimental ring from the fireplace. Eliza does not mention Freddy when she says Higgins and Pickering are the only people she can go to. Eliza confesses that she had come to care for Higgins but Higgins does not have a way with words with women. We are not told if she actually married Freddy. With all these nuances in the book and the movies, the 1964 ending was rational.

@jwf2125

Hear, hear!

@jwf2125

@@chuangweiping Absolutely right.

@Miata822

29w↑2

Wonderful. The ending always troubled me, with Eliza returning to a clearly unbalanced relationship. Yes, some women are comfortable with that, but it always makes me feel awkward when I see it in real life.

@kaarlimakela3413

35w↑2

At the end of the movie, I'd just add ... Hepburn takes off her enormous hat and smacks Harrison in the head with it.
Sbe intones 'Forgot me parasol!' She grabs it from behind the door and storms out with it.

@emilyhua5045

3y↑33

thank you for making this! this was one of my favorite movies as a child. I grew up poor and somehow at a very young age, had some sense of sadness I'd leave my community behind, and not belong truly in any world. I love the musical and costumes, but yes, even as a kid, I hated the ending. I wanted her with freddy.

@insidethegardenwall22

3y↑1

Insightful comment! I’d like to think that the community you left behind will always be a part of you but the world you’re in now is your true calling.

@maceomaceo11

3y↑53

"Where are my slippers?" Seems to be the hang up here. For whatever reason people either consciously leave out the last time the slippers were brought up or just don't connect it.
The previous scene involving slippers and Henry and Eliza involved her throwing them at him and ultimately leaving Henry's home.
Establishing her independence and she can survive on her own.

Henry is acknowlidging he knows Eliza may very well throw those slippers at anytime. A metaphor that the relationship (which in my view is platonic, mentor/student) is equal, since he stays true to himself as well.

@angeleagodwin3669

3y↑9

I always thought he was being flirty by playing at his old gags for giggles. It's kind of like self deprication.

@KiKi-gp7kp

I know this is 2yrs old but I just found your channel. This has been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid. But in my mind, I always hoped Eliza and Higgins remained acquaintances and that she gave him heck (got some of her own back anyway) and reformed his character in return for reforming her language and etiquette. Not necessarily a romantic future. I do adore the idea of her leaving though, I wish it had ended that way. . .Anyway, job well done J. Draper! I thoroughly enjoyed this video and will probably be watching it over again. Thank you for taking the time to create it!

@cliffgulliver4626

Thank you for the work that you put into this. My dad loved musicals and I remember him playing the LPs from many every Sunday. I need to see if I still have this one. Man, old memories. And now I have a better understanding of the play and film.

@bobashby3106

1y↑11

@TSIRKLAND

1y↑25

I read a novel that imagined life after "My Fair Lady," called "Wouldn't It Be Deadly," by D.E.Ireland. Eliza has attempted to go into business as an elocution coach. But surprise- the new mentor she has taken up with, a former pupil and sometime rival of Higgins, is found murdered: now it's a whodunnit, and the characters have to go around finding clues and proving their innocence, etc. There is also a thread that follows Higgins' history with a certain woman, and an affair they had some years ago...
It was a very interesting novel. Apparently one in a series of whodunnits featuring the M.F.L. cast...

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w

They already have one just as bad of a thought actually made into a movie. It's called "My Fair Zombie". LOL

@josephmiceli274

I NEVER regret watching any of your well thought out, entertaining videos. Thank you so much!

@KristofskiKabuki

36w↑2

For the ending where he exclaims "Galletia!" as he watches her go to work all you'd need to do is add a couple of lines when they're planning the bet where they talk about how it's like the story. And you could have an extra layer where he thought her "coming to life" as the statue did was her becoming what he wanted her to be, but realising it was actually when she gained independence

@Pww642

3y↑40

What if Eliza delivered the line, “Where the devil are my slippers?”

@katrinemyra2678

3y↑39

While I agree with all this, I have to say that, to me, Higgins genuinely has come around at the end of the 1964 musical. I always read the last scene as him falling back into an old line because he's still too repressed/vulnerable to express his real emotions, but that Eliza sees this; sees him for who he really is. There can be no real understanding between them until/unless Higgins comes to terms with his myriad issues, but, well, there's the possibility there? That's how I see the ending; not that she's come back to him and they'll get married and now everything is fine, just... there's a possibility for something.

@AlexDiesTrying

2y↑12

Exactly. He's genuinely happy that she's back but he can't yet let go of his protective armor. It has served him too well in the past. And she doesn't fetch his slippers either. She does what he won't dare: approach him. It's like she has already learned a bit to look beneath the surface of him.

And to be fair: He, too, has worked his butt off to give her something that he deems supremely precious.

@alicemerray

1y↑1

This is what I have also assumed.

@chashague8479

34w

Lovely analysis!
As long as we are playing around, how about...
Prof H watches Eliza walk out, with touch of longing. Fade to black. Back up, time obviously having passed. Prof walking jauntily down street, turns into flower shop, greeted by Freddy clerking, Eliza hands Prof large bouquet, says "I'm sure she will love these" "Yes- I can't wait to see her reaction to your work"
Eliza is her own woman, and Prof has found--someone.

@evebb1275

1y↑1

Thank you for this excellent summation. As a child, I didn't want Eliza to end up with Higgins but I was happy she came back because I didn't want her to starve and her last speech made me worry that she would not be happy anywhere. I would have far preferred her to end up with Freddy -- who didn't fall in love with him after he sings "On the Street Where You Live"? I think the best ending would be to make it clear that she chooses Freddy and for Higgins resign himself to his role in the background. He can to take pride in his having made that life possible for Eliza. This is what every parent does.

@TheBioramax

1y↑8

I had the same feeling about the ending of 'My Fair Lady' until a few years ago. After watching the movie, I went back and watched the last few scenes again, then watched the final scene. It was something subtle. She is a towring, fully mature flower (the flower motif of her costumes coming to fruition). She takes two steps, then stops. She does not get his slippers, and the expression of her face is not a woman with romatic love. She is looking down at him. Yes, he is sitting there with his hat over his head (he is still asleep, not awakened), but he was happy to hear her. His smile is not about winning. It was not the look of a man who had won. It was the look of releif. The smile on her face is that of a mother looking at a child. There has been a shift in their power dynamic. She learned how to be a woman not only from Col. Pickering, but also from Mrs. Higgins. And from Mrs. Higgins, she learned how to manage Henry. (He turned Eliza into the only woman he respected, his mother).

One night after watching the movie, I came up with my own version of the post-show story. As various characters say at the end, what will he do without her, or that Eliza would know; afterall, he is a child. Eliza marries Freddy, but instead of a Flower Shop, she becomes the secretary for Prof. Higgins and Col. Pickering. From the outside it would appear she is in a subservient relationship, but she knows how to manage these two men; it would be a more equitable arrangement between them. But that is my fantasy about how the story continues.

(One problem I always had with Shaw's post was that Eliza and Freddy kept going back to Col. Pickering for money; no, Eliza would be a savy busineswoman).

@rhyscrowley266

1y↑48

I think from reading the comment section we can see how this ending is rewriting itself. I never assumed that there was a romantic element to her reappearing. I thought she had taken pity on him and chosen to forgive him despite him not learning. Like how we look after our parents in their old age even if they don't appreciate it. It seems to be that most younger people never saw this in a romantic context

@Julesb2183

1y↑7

It's still awful that she's going back to an abuser.

@KaterynaM_UA

35w↑1

reminded me how I had a HUGE fight with my parents after waking out of The Taming of the Shrew, when I just commented how it haven't aged well and should probably be adapt more for modern audience... They took such an offence at it.

@DogWalkerBill

32w

"Success is getting what you want.
Happiness is wanting what you get."
George Bernard Shaw

@naly202

1y↑11

No way! I've always loved this movie and its ending. I mean i first saw the movie when i was 5 and fell instantly in love with its glamour, its songs and characters. Higgins has always been one of my favourite characters (dunno why) and i was overjoyed that she returned. "Accustomed to her face" was my favourite song.
Well... that until i experienced a silly infatuation for an older man who was just as jerklike as Higgins, and one day he went abroad and i never saw him again. (I was heartbroken for months, i can't believe how stupid i was)
Then, the song "Without you" gained a new meaning and its rightful place as my new favourite : " You dear friend who talk so well, you can go to.... Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire !!!"

@vacafuega

51w↑4

Aww, my dear youtube commenter. You're not stupid, you were trusting and hopeful, and that's something you can value and work to protect. He was a mean jerk who should have been kind to your feelings, it's entirely on him.

@Bropann

3y↑46

How about an ending where she doesn't choose either one of them? She would be REALLY declaring her independence, her transformation into Galatia.

@brxzbze

2y↑14

Her going with Freddy is essentially that though. Freddy basically supports her in everything, so she's kind of just using him as a social ladder, though not in a bad way as she clearly appreciates him too. I think I recall it being discussed somewhere in the stage show (it's really long and I don't know it that well, so pardon me if I'm wrong) essentially saying that since Freddy absolutely adores her she'll be free to do what she wants.

@tinymxnticore

1y↑18

@@brxzbze Also worth noting, there was a lot of stigma towards "spinsters" at the time, and an ending where Eliza was unattached would have been interpreted as an indictment of her character and a reflection on her values. Giving her a husband (who wasn't Higgins!) was George Bernard Shaw's way of affirming to the audience not only that she'd be OK, but that she was a good person "deserving" of happiness.

@pendlera2959

1y↑1

@@tinymxnticore That's a really good insight.

@reginaromsey

Eliza has no money of her own. How is she to continue to exist? Jobs for women at the time were not CEO’s or hired for well paying jobs, particularly with no job training. Unless Professor Pickering adopts her or funds her alone or Mrs Higgins, Henry’s mother, takes her for training as a maid 🎉she is without resources. Of course if she hangs on for another five years or so she could get a job in an armaments factory with a steady paycheck that might rent her that place somewhere out of the cold night air with one enormous chair to sit and possibly sleep in. The Working Girl is at least thirty to forty years away for the unskilled.

@todortodorov940

I would prefer one where she choses both of them.

1 More Replies...

@marikastewart2730

34w↑1

Thank you, this is phenomenal! I remember watching My Fair Lady with my Mom and sister. Although I loved the musical I hated the ending. I remember my Mom explaining it to me and being so indignant that he never apologized and Eliza was only there because she was stuck. This make so much sense.

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w

Because she was "stuck"? LOL. This seems to be the thought of most women who ended up settling for less maybe in their life perhaps? I think your mom missed the entire point of the movie ending then if she thought Eliza went back because she was "stuck". lol

@RP_Creative

1y↑7

I imagine an ending something like this:

Higgins watches Eliza leave from the window, a quiet smile spreading across his face as he internally comes to terms with the fact that while he and Eliza cannot be, he changed a life and his success cannot be doubted. An unspecified amount of time passes and Higgins visits a flower shop. He's met with Eliza who gives him his order; roses for a woman he's meeting. The two express their happiness for each other and part not with the feeling of lost love, but with a bond of friendship made permanent by their effect on each others lives.

@acasualcactus5878

1y↑40

I saw a production where he “heard” Eliza come back into the house, said “get me my slippers”, and she threw them into his face from offstage and they began arguing like wild parrots as the curtain fell.

@spiritualanarchist8162

36w↑2

Really ? I was just writing comments about it should end with her throwing a slipper at his head, but I guess someone came up with something similar already. 😂It intuitively feels far more satisfying .

@cdgross

33w

@@spiritualanarchist8162 I can see her threatening to throw them but not actually doing so.

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w

Lame. Political correctness woke really dumb ending. Smh at the simpleton's wanting to change everything. Reality hurts "feelings" more than fantasy does though. Weak minded generation of today. Sadly imho.

@SadisticSenpai61

1y↑43

I almost feel like "I've grown Accustomed to her Face" needs a slight re-write. One where he acknowledges her as a daughter figure and that he's proud of what she's become and that he wishes she still needed him. I think that kind of edit would change the implied dynamics of the ending itself - one that shows there is no kind of romantic feelings between them, that the dynamic of their relationship isn't like that at all. Then when she comes back, it's not because she left Freddie, but rather a daughter returning to visit her father.

Although, I think a good response to him asking for his slippers would be, "Have you tried looking at your feet?" Cuz him already wearing his slippers would imply that time has passed while he was singing the song.

@DiegoBosch90

1y↑2

I think Accustomed to her face is not romantic. Lerner said it had to be a lvoe song without being a love song...if it was a romance he just would have said it was a love song. He just realises she was like a family member and he has the nostalgy since she is gone. I never though about this in terms of romance, I never seen this film as a romance between both. I even doubt she marries Freddy, but we can debate about Freddy. About the romance between higgins and eliza then we cant debate. Both admitted friendly relation intentions in the house of the mother. End of the story. Is their words.

@SadisticSenpai61

1y↑8

@DiegoBosch90

@@SadisticSenpai61 for me It wasnt romantic and I understood it in terms of friendship or family feelings cause of the context of the film. When something is ambiguous then context decide. It could be less ambiguous? yes...,but i think It is more poetic this way. I like the song. I think the problem is What you mentioned ...is the fault of the audience...they need to explain anything in terms of romance...cause they cant think out of It. It is a extremely inteligent film...but most of people just make a shallow interpretation of It... So is kinda great ...they made money with them but also created something great. Anywsys is great to read people like you that understoond the real feelings of Higgins...

@WrestlingErnestHemingway

32w

I dissagre with this "rewrite" thought of an ending. He might have been a bit older than her but the thought of it being a daughter-father relationship like thing is disgusting to me a thought like that. He was a grown mature man that already established what & who he was. He fell for who she was and it confused him. Any oldr man in his right mind would fall for a "lady" who he relized she was from the time he met her. He learned as the time he spent with her. So many people in here I think totally missed the message of the ending of the movie. And IDC abotu Shaw's typical fantasy ending that was white pickey fence fantasy junk. The movei keeps the complexities of real life realtionships & love regardless of age. Cease this detestable booohooing of politcal correctness of the modern age wanting to be woke & change real life situations into what they think is "right or wrong". Them both being father-daughter like makes me sick to my stomach. NOoooooo, NO NO!!. lol

@SadisticSenpai61

32w

@@WrestlingErnestHemingway Ah yes, isn't being awake terrible? No, you'd much rather go back to sleep and continue your gross pedophile-adjacent dreaming.

A 50 year old and a 20 year old is never romantic or cute. It's always exploitative. And Higgins' dynamic with Eliza is very much exploitative and borderline abusive - or it would be if they were in a romantic relationship.

Higgins absolutely would need to do a complete 180 in how he treats Eliza in order for it to be anything even approaching a healthy relationship (whether it's a familial relationship or romantic). He's a terrible person and he treats her horribly.

But why exactly would them having a familial relationship make you "sick to your stomach?" Perhaps you're a 50-something who's hoping to catch a 20-something girlfriend? The fact that she's young enough to be his daughter is kinda the entire point - and people generally aren't attracted to their own children, you know? And those that end up in relationships with people their children's age... Well, there's a reason our society looks down on the them and have for much longer than "political correctness" was even a term used by people that want to be proudly and openly rude (and often racist as well) to everyone around them and not have to face any social consequences for it.

@mjwemdee

34w↑1

I really enjoyed this. A thoughtful, thorough analysis, with a tentatively offered solution to a perceived weakness at the end of the story. And a fair-minded judgement on the nature of musical theatre and its development since the 1950s. Well done!

@linus1703

37w↑2

I only watched it once many years ago and must have missed the last few seconds because it totally changed what I thought. And I think the song I've grown accustomed to her face could be modified to be less about him wanting her and more saying how strange it feels when someone goes, less as a break up song and more like a child moving out.

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