MovieChat Forums > Pretty Woman (1990) Discussion > "You Couldn't Afford It..."

"You Couldn't Afford It..."

posted 9 years ago by FattyMcButterpants
14 replies | jump to latest

This has got to be one of the worst lines of the movie, never really understood why they put it in the movie unless they were really trying to make Vivian look really stupid and naive.

To refresh, this is after Edward picks up Vivian in the fancy $100,000 car and he asks her how much for the whole night together. Clearly Edward is a wealthy man. She's driving around in a fancy car and they are going to Beverly Hills, but when he asks how much for the night, her first response is "You couldn't afford it."

Now, if she came back and said something like $10,000 for the night, I could see her point. But she came back with $300! $300!!! LOL. Would Vivan really believe that $300 was something this guy "couldnt afford"? This guy wipes his ass with $300, just to make sure its clean.

always found that line to be strange and poorly written. I just dont think that number would have come out of her mouth, or that she would have ever thought he couldnt afford such a small amount. She KNEW how valuable that car was. In fact, she knew more about it than he did.

[–] JohnnyCastle (394) 7 years ago

It was supposed to be ridiculous and funny, which it was. I laughed out loud. She has no money so resorts to prostitution. $300 is so much money to her. Especially when the johns are usually cheap looking to spend $50. You can see she's like damn I should've asked for more money.

Then when it comes time to make a price for the whole week she goes much higher $4000 a week. He says $300 a night would only be $1800, but she says its days and nights. They settle on $3000. So she learned from the first time that she can get more money, gets a bit smarter.

That's the point, its supposed to be funny.

[–] Mustang (5524) 10 months ago

I can see it a number of ways.

1. It's just one of those stupid things women say. "You can't afford me" Well you're a hooker, you have a price. It doesn't make any sense because it's just her bullshit.

2. Why $300? This could be seen as an investment on her part. She likes him, he is clean and wealthy. He is miles ahead of her usual client. She probably sees the perks and a different kind of night that she is used to. Given how the film plays out, it was worth not charging mega bucks.

3. I think it is supposed to endear her to the audience. "Oh, she's so sweet she doesn't understand she could charge so much more." I don't necessarily agree with that but I think that was the plan on the part of the writers.

[–] [deleted] 10 months ago

That was just the standard line she told every guy. Also makes her sound top-shelf!

[–] Paperboy (151) a month ago

Yeah, when she charges $100 an hour, $300 for the whole night sounds like a bargain.