Elle Woods: from Fashionista to Feminist Icon in ‘Legally Blonde’

Elle’s Shifting Motivations: Love to Law

Legally Blonde is a movie that is known as a comedy movie that has a balance between charm and silliness. A number of people have positive reviews regarding the movie, and a number of them responded that it is impossible to dislike this movie. The main role of the movie revolves around Elle Woods, who is leading the movie. The movie is a combination of romance and comedy as it is based on the novel Amanda Brown.

Basically, the movie was written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz and directed by Robert Luketic. The main cast of the movie consists of six people. The main role is of Reese Witherspoon as the Elle Woods. Luke Wilson is in the movie as Emmett, Selma Blair as Vivian, Matthew Davis as Warner, Victor Garber as Prof. Callahan, and Ali Larter as Brooke.

There are a number of reasons that I chose this movie, “Legally Blonde,” for the analysis. This movie was released in the year 2001 and was vastly popular at that time, and still, it is referred to by a number of people. This movie has two sequels that are very successful. The movie features a female who is leading the movie and likes to wear a completely pink color all over the movie. Most people considered this movie as a good girl power comedy movie. Most people are fascinated after seeing this movie.

The movie was filmed in a way that is an excellent example of modern films. The movie starts with shots of Elle, the blonde leading actress, while she is brushing her hair, reading the Cosmopolitan, putting up makeup, and getting called by a bunch of males in the car. The first shot of the movie shows that Elle is the girl who is so much into fashion and glamour.

The main plot of the movie revolves around a girl who is a fashion diva and a blogger and thinks about fashion all the time. She is reflected as a silly girl, as it is a perception that blonde people are silly. She always wears pink. One day, Elle gets ready because her boyfriend calls to meet her as he wants to discuss something important. She thought that he was going to propose to her, but instead of this, he called her to tell her that he did not want to marry her and go to Harvard Law College to study further. She was disappointed and acted like crazy for a week or longer, but after that, she decided that she would also be admitted to Law College in order to get her ex-boyfriend back. She had worked hard and finally was admitted to the same college with just passing marks.

Her boyfriend was engaged to the other girl who was with her in the class. Both the girls are so jealous of each other. She worked hard, kept her focus on her studies, and became a successful lawyer. Throughout college life, there was a professor who always supported her in her good and bad times. At the end of the movie, the professor tries to harass Elle, to which she takes strict action and responds very badly. It is analyzed that her knowledge of fashion helped her to win the case. Finally, she was graduated and found the right man.

There are a number of things that I have focused on all over the movie. Elle is portrayed as a girl who is emotionally volatile and is losing her mind as she breaks up with her boyfriend because she thinks that he is going to propose to her. The girl stayed in her room for more than a week, ate lots of chocolates, and got a manicure and pedicure in order to cheer herself up. She was portrayed as a girl who is very crazy. Later, she decided that she would take admission to Harvard Law College in order to win her ex-boyfriend back. Her decision to take admission was not a bad decision, but her motive is very unhealthy.

There is a kind of running joke throughout the whole movie, which is mostly linked with the women. Elle is also portrayed as a ridiculous girl as she is constantly ranting about discrimination in silly forms, whereas in real, there are a number of serious issues against discrimination against women. There was another character in the movie who was very rude and frigid to Elle at first, but after some time, when they both started to know each other, the girl started acting very nicely and feminine as they indicated some sort of kindness that is the main reason for femininity.

Another thing that I noticed is a very interesting issue. Elle had made major progress. She had knowledge regarding feminine topics, which helped her in her law career as well. Moreover, she shows a smack-down towards the opponents when she shows her knowledge regarding the dress-making procedures. There was another scenario when her knowledge helped her out when she won the court case as she had knowledge of the shoe trends of the previous year, and she also had expert knowledge about post-perm hair care.

This should not considered a bad thing. In the publication “Super-Sexualize Me,” written by Rosalind Gill, the author condemned the demand for femininity and the female sexualization by the males, but most importantly, it is discussed that if something is feminine, it never meant that it should be rejected by the modern feminists. In the movie, Elle does imitate the stereotypes that are dictated by men, so there is nothing wrong with that. The thing that a number of people appreciated about the movie is that in the movie, the girl grows up very strong as a person. Along with that, she is not afraid of letting down her ex-boyfriend. Moreover, she also insulted her professor when he tried to make a wrong move on her. At the end of the movie, Elle is shown as the valedictorian of her graduating class, and she also gives a speech in which she does not reference a single man.

The movie is labeled as a feminist movie by a number of people, but in reality, the movie is considered as the evolution of the Elle. At first, the motivation for Elle to attend the Law College is to get her ex-boyfriend back, but gradually, things start to change, and she discovers that she has a true passion for the law. The movie portrays Elle’s very unserious attitude of Elle as she floats in the swimming pool in the swimming costume and talks about her skills like decision-making and leadership in such aspects of life, which she referred to as serious.

Using Femininity as Strength in Court

Her serious topics include planning the sorority mixers and decisions regarding the brand of toilet paper. At the start of the 2000s, feminism was not so common all over the world. In Hollywood, there are a number of movies that are released, which are usually romantic or comedy movies. Movies like American Pie, Wedding Planner, and The Scary Movie were released at that time, and it is considered the best time to release such movies in which feminism is included. The era of the early 20s was considered the Dark Ages for feminists as it is observed that Americans are regaining favor from the traditional gender roles that are traditional.

There was a privilege problem in the movie “Legally Blonde.” A number of girls encouraged the role of the Elle as they started relating them to themselves, that they also like pink color, etc. However, there are a number of problems that arise along with movies that are reflections of the issues that are considered the major issues of the 90s and early 20s, such as feminism. This movie reflects the character of a girl who can spend on anything she wants from the money of their parents, so she is admitted to the law college as well.

There are a number of young girls who get negative motivation from this movie. Basically, Legally Blonde is considered the movie that originated in the early 20s, which contributes to fixing the roles of the gender binaries and such thinking that is shallow. But this movie had pushed away the boundaries for that time as there was a need for a movie like this at that time. In the movie, the woman is also reflected as career-oriented, as Elle placed her career and education above her romance and love life. Along with that, there was a question in that movie about why women are considered sex creatures.

References

• Brown, A. (2001). Legally Blonde.

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