I opened this can of worms (celebrity ethics) so it’s only right that I put the squirmy things on the hook.
After delving into the annoying Crystal Hefner-Jon Lovitz feud (D-list celebrity vs. fading C-list celebrity), I was tasked by esteemed commenter John Paul to weigh in on the incident earlier this month when singer and talk-show hostess Kelly Clarkson claimed on social media that she got the “Pretty Woman treatment” when she went shopping at the Brooklyn-based Art of Play store, which sells home goods, puzzles, games, toys and books and also features a 26-seat theater that hosts performances by magicians. This prompted a social media rebuttal by the store’s owner, and another rebuke by Clarkson.
I was aware of the incident but chose to organize my sock drawer instead of investigating it. One reason is that “Pretty Woman” is one of the few famous movies I have never been moved to see. I have it on my list, but Richard Gere irritates me, and stories romantic comedies about prostitutes has never been my cup of metaphorical tea. So, until I researched it today, I didn’t know what the “Pretty Woman” treatment even is. As a cultural literacy bug, I deserve a rebuke for that—sorry. In the 1990 romantic comedy where Roberts plays Vivian, a prostitute who walks into an upscale boutique on Rodeo Drive and is instantly treated by a sales clerk as unworthy of service because she does not appear to be sufficiently wealthy or cultured. The clerk refuses to show Julia any merchandise, and tells her to leave. because she does not fit their clientele. Julia returns after she has entranced her sugar-daddy (I’m beginning to remember why the movie didn’t appeal to me), flashing expensive assessors from rival boutiques, and a delivers an apparently classic “So there!” coup-de-greys.
Clarkson had posted: “Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me. Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale. But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts character in Pretty Woman. For sure, check it out 👎”
The store slapped back,
I had a similar instance years ago at a car dealership. I was shopping for a new diesel pickup truck after work, so I was still in my work clothes. I ran a maintenance shop at a paper mill at the time so my jacket and boots had some dirt on them. I asked the salesman to show me new trucks. He told me they were expensive and insisted on showing me used ones even though I repeatedly asked to see new trucks. I finally got tired of the guy’s condescension and told him I would shop elsewhere. I purchased a new truck from another dealer. About a week later, a salesman from the first dealer call to tell me they had some more used trucks for me to see. After I got done laughing at him, I let him know I had purchased a new $100k truck from another dealer and let him know about the treatment I had received that caused me to look elsewhere. Too bad for them.
Thanks, Jack. I appreciate this.
I think on some level a lot of us have gone through the pretty woman treatment. In my first year in China, my wife and I did a tour of Beijing that was going to take us to the Great Wall. Part of the tour took us to a jade shop where the guy was giving a presentation (no clue what he was saying, wasn’t fluent yet) and after he noticed we were the only white people he looks at us and ask us something. I told him ‘ting bu dong (a common phrase for tourists in China that translates to “Listen, but don’t understand), and he started mocking me. Still no clue what he was saying (he repeated back to me what I said to him, so I know he was mocking), but several of the Chinese tourists started laughing.
I said in English that I hoped someone there could speak English well enough to translate, because the very fact I was in his country was proof I had money, and it wasn’t a good idea to make fun of his potential customers. My wife and I left after that. Always wondered what happened to that guy and if he ever learned what I said.