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It’s hard for someone my age to conjure an era before the single, sexy girl was lauded for her fabulousness. Carrie Bradshaw has been dropping explicitly candid dialogue about sex on television (counting the ubiquitous reruns) since 1998. This wanton, sassy archetype owes everything to Ms. Holly Golightly, the loveable call girl in Breakfast at Tiffany’s made famous by Audrey Hepburn.
October is the 50th anniversary of the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. As iconic as Hepburn is, she wasn’t what Truman Capote envisioned. Capote’s Golightly was more like a voluptuous Marilyn Monroe sexpot. We’ll never know how female audiences would’ve responded to Monroe, if fate had cast her instead, and it doesn’t matter. Audrey’s sexy is still effective, while being less obvious. In the same way that Emma Stone is sexy, funny & charming will always be accessible & endearing to other women. I have no scientific evidence to support my claim, only intuition, but I’ll bet all your girlfriends are “Team Jen” while your boyfriends are all “Team Angelina” in the long-running high school drama of celebrity gossip.
The film version of The Best of Everything received the 1959 Academy Award nomination. Not only does Mad Men heavily reference this source material, but one scene shows Don Draper reading it in bed. In season 2 of Mad Men, the character Paul Kinsey reduced woman to two types: Jackie Kennedy & Marilyn Monroe. 1960’s sexual mores seemed to love compartmentalizing women: tramp or prude. Later, Valley of the Dolls, another book-into-film, continues these archetypes. Now, that’s the perfect segue to watch the seen with my favorite quote from a movie: Patty Duke as the star struck Neely chasing dolls with liquor. Seriously, if you ever find a “Sparkle, Neely! Sparkle!” tee shirt, please let me know.
As progressive as we were in 1990, 27 years after Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Playboy bunny, society might have taken a giant step backwards with Pretty Woman, although not as much as the really, really giant backwards made by the mother on Toddlers and Tiaras who thought a 4-year old’s homage to Pretty Woman was appropriate. It’s sooooo not. Nor is it tasteful to put on television. I’m looking at you, producers whose name I’m too lazy to Google. Pretty Woman didn’t break cinematic ground. It was a common boy meets girl love story. Julia Roberts’ character wasn’t especially deep or interesting, nor might I add, was her acting. Okay, granted she didn’t have the best source material from which to work, but the point is that no matter how much Julia Roberts is beloved, it’s not half as much as Hepburn.
One of my personal favorite singletons is Bridget Jones. Renee Zelleweger, who, as a skinny American, surprised many across the pond with her casting. She brought the neurotic, self-questioning, always dieting and boy crazy Jones to life. Not once, or twice even, but for an upcoming third time. Don’t get me started. The second film was terrible. I’m guessing the third, which is NOT based on a book, will be just as awkward, much like the sequel to Sex In The City. Please, please don’t sully my image of a young Mr. Darcy. I couldn’t take it. It would be like telling me unicorns don’t exist.
There is no shortage of the sexy, sassy girl examples on screen. Some are relatable; others seem outdated and irrelevant. Some are merely character sketches in washed out watercolors, but Hepburn’s character sketch is a highly contrasted one drawn of dark, indelible Sharpie. It’s Hepburn’s glamour, wit and warmth that makes her as popular today as 50 years ago
