"White Palace" is one of my favorite movies, and I am amazed at the negative comments about Susan Sarandon's armpits. They clearly are part of her character, and she is to be commended for going to the extra effort to fit herself into the part (exactly as Demi Moore did in "We're No Angels"). Gillette created the woman-shaving fad in the 1930's as a successful effort to double their razor sales. Then in the late 60's, young women stopped wearing makeup and stopped shaving as part of "the natural look." In the early 1970's, the cosmetic companies unleashed a media blitz to get women away from this natural look. <br /><br />They were successful, and heavy makeup (even cartoonish) and shaving became a fad again. The current advertising in the U.S. is designed to make women feel insecure and unattractive. Then it tells them they can be acceptable and beautiful if they wear the latest (and most expensive) gunk, and scrape off every bit of body hair below their eyebrows. Women have completely bought into it. Personally, I like women to look natural and not wear thick makeup (or any, in fact); I feel that they are much prettier without it.