The sad sequence with her old rival

Spoilers...

The scene where Shirley runs into her old high school rival Marjorie, who was a top student headed to university, is such a sad commentary on women.

First Shirley is still jealous of Marjorie up and until she finds out that she is a high priced prostitute. Then she is all buddy buddy and full of respect for her. Really? Respecting her for choosing prostitution over air hostess or any other career?

Second, how sad that the top student at Shirley’s high school who was bright, intelligent, beautiful, had to choose prostitution as her career. When Shirley assumed Marjorie was an air hostess, I thought Marjorie was going to correct her by saying “No dear, I am the CEO of the airline” or something along those lines.

Guess 2020 20-20 hindsight takes a toll when rewatching this film. I can’t not take notice of the things taken for granted when this first came out, like this scene. Also other scenes seem darker in today’s light: the stigma Shirley suffered as a women traveling alone; the chip and egg incident which was just a “last straw” thing for Shirley but would strike modern viewers as a form of domestic violence.