Vivian Ward from “Pretty Woman” (1990)

What Actually Happened: After Edward (Richard Gere) fails to convince Vivian (Julia Roberts) to stay with him, Viv returns to her fleabag apartment to retrieve her belongings so she can head up to San Francisco and start a new life. Fortunately, just as she’s getting ready to motor, Edward shows up in a tacky white limo with a dozen red roses and, even though he’s afraid of heights, successfully climbs the fire escape outside her window to prove his love. There, he plants on her a sloppy, wet kiss so powerful that Vivian forgets all about furthering her education in favor of becoming Edward’s lifelong plus one.

What Would’ve Happened: Instead of “rescuing him right back,” Vivian tells Edward money can’t buy him love, involuntarily starts humming The Beatles and then slams the window in his face. She travels on to San Francisco, as planned, earns her G.E.D. and then decides to enroll in Universal Training Institute, where she recieves mechanic training in foreign car repair. After logging thousands of hours at various European auto shops, Vivian decides to open one of her own called Beck And Call Repair, which after only three years, is voted Best Auto Mechanic by Citysearch, and sparks Viv to open more shops up and down California. In 2004, Beck And Call becomes the first woman-owned auto repair service company to offer franchise opportunities and Viv is able to retire a multi-millionaire at the age of 35.