Jourdan's hedonistic lifestyle is encouraged by Uncle Maurice Chevalier, a gregarious and now aged womanizer who has changed his women nearly as often as his clothes. The crisis for Jourdan and Gigi comes when their friendship cannot continue as it did before. Will Gigi become his lover and social escort, and if so, can he bear the corruption of her personality required by her new role?
How others will see it. In some ways, Gigi doesn't age well. An older man who sings "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" in public today would probably get arrested. More significantly, women are depicted differently on screen today. They are pro-active. If they want something, they directly try to get it. (Whether this portrayal is realistic is another matter.)
In the world of Gigi, women also try to get what they want, of course. But they do it covertly, by manipulation or stealth. And they have to have a man, unless they have aged beyond physical attraction, at which point they are only good for training young women to be just like they were, an accessory for a wealthy playboy.
Needless to say, such characterizations of women in this age of empowerment does not go over well. Today's role model is Jennifer Lopez, who has gone through a series of men rather than the other way around.
Gigi is also a musical, which means it is always out of style. There's no sex, nudity, violence, or action. It's a series of costumes and conversations. The quality of these conversations is rather high, but this will be of interest primarily to classic film fans, especially those familiar with the leads.
How I felt about it. The irony of Gigi is that its moral, the equality of gender through marriage, will be missed by many, especially those offended by the film's depiction of the rich elite as selfish pleasure seekers with disposable partners.
But our leads depart from the roles they are being steered into. Both major characters transform, in opposite directions. Jourdan is bored with society, and wants a simple, energetic girl whose company he can cherish. Gigi is such a simple girl, yet is prodded by her keepers into the exact stereotype of a society lady that Jourdan detests.
Her training is actually counterproductive, especially for Jourdan, whose motive in marrying her may be to rescue her from any further corruption of character. Probably, it is not too late to free the happy, careless schoolgirl concealed within her newly "sophisticated" exterior.