My Fair Lady as a Retrograde Example of Erasing Women's Emotional Work

[lookfar]

Toby and I went to see My Fair Lady at the Kennedy Center tonight; he got the tickets as a birthday present from his sister Ann and BiL Jeff.

So, you know the story of My Fair Lady, right? It's the musical version of Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, which is roughly based on the Greek myth, in which a sculptor, Pygmalion, makes a model of a woman

Comments

[zvuv]

When I was at St. Martin's, I worked on a mystery series in which Eliza and Dr. Doolittle solved mysteries together. It was very adorable. In their version, there was some tension but no actual romance, which was more believable.

[lookfar]

You mean Dr. Higgins, right? Sounds great and reminds me of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, a wonderful series about a late-middle-age Sherlock Holmes and his mystery-solving apprentice and then wife. It's high level fan fiction of the first water.

[zvuv]

LOL. Wrong doctor. :)))

[lookfar]

Although "Dr. Doolittle, Animal Linguist and Detective" is a series worth writing; "the llama says YOU are killer!"

[zvuv]

:)

We listened to the audiobook with kids a few years ago and I have to say, that book did not age well.

[lookfar]

Of Dr. Doolittle? I think I recall quite a bit of casual racism, but the concept is a good one.

[zvuv]

Yup. The part with the natives was pretty cringe-worthy. Otherwise it's a fun book (and refreshingly well written, instead of being totally dumbed down in terms of vocabulary/grammar, like lots of modern kids fiction).

[timetiger]

I enjoyed that series, I must say

[lookfar]

Dr. Doolittle?

[timetiger]

Oops, sorry. The one that started with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.

[lookfar]

Yeah, I really liked those, too.