Men Singing About Women: 'Why Can't A Woman Be Like a Man' by lyricist Alan J Werner
reddit.com/gallery/rtweh6
reddit.comPosted Jan 2, 2022, 12:06 AM UTC
63590
reddit.comI played Henry Higgins in our high school production of My Fair Lady (I know, I know, I'll sign autographs later). I feel like Pickering and Higgins have simmering erotic tension, and that was my head canon during the performance.
I never told the guy playing Pickering about my inner artistic choice.
353
I'm in tears. This is such a theatre kid thing to say... thank you for sharing lol
107
The original play also had a lot more quips and jokes between Pickering and Higgins. I vaguely remember that Higgins at some point says something along the lines of how the three of them can keep living together for the fun of it, but to me it gave off strong "gay couple with their straight female roommate" vibes.
78
"simmering erotic tension" I'm dead.
36
He should just date a man then
326
That would seem to be the point, yes.
110
And im SURE he wouldn't mind at all if women took put OTHER men\s
37
A confirmed bachelor, as they used to say
30
So she turned him?
6
Ha ha, she must have, it’s so easy to do when the right woman comes along! /s
8
Yes that’s why it’s funny!!
4
This is literally mocking Higgins
113
And yet, at the end of the musical, with literally zero change in attitude or behavior, he still gets the girl with that immortal, 'romantic' line 'Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?'
And that's the last line of the play. How satirical can it be when the writers give the asshole everything he ever wants?
117
In the play that My Fair Lady is based on, Eliza runs away with the hot rich guy who courts her at the races. A far superior ending.
100
Sure, it stages a fantasy that he's learned his lesson and has turned his previous arrogant sexism into a wry joke with an apologetic subtext.
In reality, of course, there's no way a guy who had taken responsibility for his behavior or had grown would actually think that was an appropriate thing to say, and certainly in letting Higgins control the narrative at the end the play shows its sexism ("he's learned his lesson, forgive him and let him save face, he'll be a great partner now!") --
-- but that doesn't make the song "why can't a woman be more like a man" any less satirical.
52
It’s much more fun if you just go with the head cannon that he is gay and just enjoys her company. After all they never have any romantic indication between them.
20
In the most recent revival she leaves him
2
I want to believe that, but almost all his songs are like this and then the ending has Eliza hook up with him out of nowhere.
1
[deleted]
2
1
You understand that this whole song is presented saterically, right?
82
Yes, because Professor Higgens is a massive asshole. However, he never STOPS being a massive asshole and he still gets the girl at the end by yelling at her to fetch his slippers.
67
Doesn't Eliza just leave and never come back in the original book ?
In some plays, authors changed the ending to make her stay but never justify her choice
In the movie she comes back but after Higgins makes some efforts
49
Yes, Bernard Shaw never intended for Eliza to return, the original ending to the play had her riding in a carriage, being glamorous while Higgins kisses his hand to her. Emancipation from patriarchs was the intention. But the actor who played Henry Higgins somehow injected the idea of Higgins being in love with Eliza into the story, and audiences really wanted to see that. So when they adapted the play into a movie, Bernard Shaw was adamant he would not portray any romance between the two, but eventually caved to studio pressure and wrote the “where the devil are my slippers” scene.
56
He also said he couldn't imagine a worse tragedy than the two of them getting together.
23
Fascinating.
5
[removed]
1
wipes tear
I know. It's just so beautiful...
My wife's grandmother grew up with this stuff and doesn't see any of these issues with them when we talk to her about how problematic they seem to us.
She also didn't understand how her daughter could be raped by her husband because he's her husband, and it took a lot of explaining and basically deprogramming to get her anywhere near as fucking angry as she should be.
41
Ok, let me break this down though...
In what way does this show a male author's inability to meaningfully write about women?
21
it depends on the production. The revival that’s currently touring has a different ending that’s closer to the original ending of Pygmalion.
14
Kinda gay ngl
60
"Tell me you're gay without telling me you're gay".
39
That’s the sub this is meant for
3
Sounds like Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering are a perfect fit for each other. Maybe they ought to take that gay thing for a spin some time!
17
This entire play is tongue and cheek.
12
Why? Because someone has to actually do all the stuff that keeps the world ticking over, so you can make time for singing with your odious trouser-chums and shit.
11
I like how he says “historically fair” like most of the worst historical figures weren’t men.
10
The song is clearly satirical. True, it’s massively undercut by the rest of the musical, but still.
1
Is it? That’s a relief then.
1
This is a bi with male lean/gay man who thinks he’s straight trying to figure out why he doesn’t like women as partners as much and failing. Valiant try my guy
9
Omg, this song is dog shit in lyrics. I would describe my dog's poop with the exact same words.
5
Ngl, the song is pretty gay.
5
In the third stanza - if he’s talking about Cinderella, she didn’t want to leave the ball. The fairy godmother said she had to lol
4
That's a actually a reference to a scene in My Fair Lady- the Fair Lady, Eliza, in question has just been core to helping him win a bet after 6 months of brutally hard work on her part and exquisite showmanship at the ball in question; and he ignores the work, takes all the credit for literally everything she dis, and gets bewildered when he finds her sobbing in rage. This song is his offend response as he complains to his friend about her having actual emotions.
16
It’s humor. The whole point of the show is that in the end he comes to realize he was wrong. He can’t live without a woman, for all the frustrations of having a partner, it’s all worth it.
4
If we're honest, I think women use their brains more than men do-
Or maybe it's only this breed of men that don't use their brains
Plus they say this but the moment women want rights, want to work and start acting like a mAN- THEY SAY "No, be a lady!"
Like dang okay make up your mind
3
I mean, it’s okay to just like boys, Professor.
3
For a second I thought "Oh boy, the lyrics of Better With A Man are way different than I thought..."
(Yes, that one song gay).
3
I also thought of that song. I wonder now if it was an intentional parody of this one (even though this one is also not to be taken seriously.)
2
That's contradictory. He laments that a woman would notice when he's late but also that one will be late without telling him. And says that she shouldn't pay attention to details when he doesn't want her to but should notice when something is wrong to help out.
Which is the idea, right? That he's very clearly wrong and hypocritical.
Yeah. It's the classic "I set out to teach them but they taught me" story, and to pull it off he needs to show his ignorance. By tying it into the conceits of the day they dissect Henry Higgins character, showing his pomposity and absurdity standing side by side.
He's written (both in the original play and the musical) to be a complete asshole and dipshit. Being left alone at the end was the natural conclusion of the play, so the musical's ending makes no sense at all.
Fans reallyz really, really wanted Henry and Eliza to end up together to the point where previous movie adaptations ended with them together.
Her ending up with Freddy also seems awkward as well.
MFL wasn't the first to hook them up.
Yeah, the original play even has an ending attached about how she is NOT ending up with Higgins who is living his best life with the Colonel...
Kid me thinking them part of the gay is vindicated!
That was the first thought Bachelor me also had!
I remember my parents were really excited to show me the musical. About 3/4 of the way through, I turned to them and said "please tell me she doesn't end up with Henry."
They shared an awkward glance at each other after that.
He's so mercurial and rude on a regular basis, he's known for being obtuse.
I think that’s the point of the movie; men aren’t everything he thinks they are Ava women are smarter than he gives them credit for. And he’s possibly closeted given that he was a confirmed bachelor this entire time, who refused to hang out with women for the above reasons lol