Pretty Woman

For years, women have been dogged for loving the movie Pretty Woman, it's been labeled as nothing more than a dirty story about a prostitute.  And yet, it's my second favorite movie of all time, something for which I am very thankful.  Nobody ever asks what your 2nd favorite move is, they always just want to know about the first.  I can easily tell someone that Steel Magnolias is my favorite movie, and other than the typical male rolling of the eyes and groan, nobody judges me.  However, they might feel differently if they knew what a close runner up Pretty Woman is in my cinematic affections.  It was the first R rated movie I ever lied to see.  Becchi and I used her mom's Blockbuster card to rent it when we were just 16, and I was the one who stepped up to the counter because, of the two of us, I looked older.
For the uninitiated, Pretty Woman is the story of a lonely rich man who picks up a Hollywood prostitute and asks her to stay the week with him in his Beverly Hills penthouse while he's completing business deals there.  He discovers a bright, funny, girl who once had big dreams that have been shattered by bad choices.  She discovers a decent man caught up in shady Wall Street business deals, still trying to please his long deceased father.  And, they fall in love.
Sunday afternoon, after a wonderfully long weekend of extended time outdoors with my very energetic nephew-cousins, I fell into a deep slumber for nearly 3 hours.  Thus, I was wide awake at 11:00 p.m. when I discovered Pretty Woman being aired on TBS.  I hadn't watched the movie in years, but I was instantly hooked all over again. This time, however, I watched it with one critical question in mind:  Why do I love this story so much?  Does it feed my sin nature or is there something here that's appealing to God's bigger story in my life?
I'm sure I'm going to be labeled all kinds of a heretic for this, but I'm going to say, I love the story because there's grace in it.  It's not just a romance about a hooker; it's about a little girl lost.  It's about a girl who made really bad choices, was used and abandoned, and trapped.  She didn't set out for the life he found her living, but she ended up there all the same.  Now, he's by no means a Christ-figure in this drama.  He, too, is lost.  He, too, is broken.  He, too, has set out to please men and ended up living a small and meaningless life because of his pursuits.
In the final scene of the movie, he comes to her, with flowers, and climbs a fire escape despite his fear of heights to "rescue" her, and he asks this question, "What happens after the prince rescues the princess?" and she answers, "She rescues him right back."
A woman I respect very much told me once that falling in love with her husband was the biggest grace she'd ever experienced in human form.  He knew her, really knew her, knew everything she considered unlovable.  And, he loved her.  He came to her rescue time and time again.  And, he felt the same about her, felt undeserving of her steadfast love.  She loved him, not because she didn't know his dark secrets, but in spite of all she knows.
Pretty Woman tells a story about two very human, sinful, fallen people who find the grace to love one another anyway, who choose to step way beyond themselves and their own fears to embrace one another.  Girls loves this movie because it really is a fairytale, and deep down inside, all of us long to be rescued.