I remember when I was a kid, there was this pullout shelf in our entertainment unit full of what I considered “adult” movies. There were video cassettes of films like The Mask, Runaway Bride, While You Were Sleeping, The Mummy, The Sixth Sense, and many others. All the “kid” films like our Disney movies and stuff were kept in a separate cupboard that was more easily accessible. I actually didn’t know this pullout shelf existed for several years. I was hardly interested in it though. I was perfectly content watching all my own movies. I didn’t much care for live action movies for a long time, much less these weird grown-up ones. I did sometimes like to pull out the shelf and just look at the covers. I don’t really know why; I guess I just thought they were kind of interesting because they were so different from the family-friendly, Disney-esque covers I was used to. Eventually as DVDs became a thing, those were added to the collection as well, but even then, I was still uninterested in these “adult” movies.
There was one DVD that always stood out to me whenever I pulled out the shelf; it had a very blonde woman wearing a shockingly scandalous, bright pink dress, she walked a Chihuahua on a pink leash and had this carefree smile on her face. I didn’t have the slightest idea of what this movie was about, but I had absolutely no interest in seeing it just based on the cover. I hated the pink dress and it looked like some stupid movie about a blonde ditzy fashionista girl getting into trouble. I had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever.
If anyone doesn’t know what the movie was that I was looking at, it was Legally Blonde. Looking back now at my original judgement of the movie is extremely ironic because the whole point of the movie is not to judge a book by its cover.
I freakin’ LOVE AND ADORE this movie! The more I think about it, the more I love it. It is by no means perfect, there are a lot of contrivances and cliches, but holy cow, I love its morals and ethics. I particularly recommend this film for girls who are trying to find their way in life, especially if they just got out of a relationship. However, it is applicable to pretty much everyone, even guys. This movie shows you that there is more to life than finding a significant other, everyone has way more potential than they think, and you don’t have to be what everyone expects you to be.
For those who don’t know the story, I’ll quickly summarize:
Elle Woods is the president of her sorority, Delta Nu, and expecting her long-time boyfriend, Warner, to propose. However, instead he dumps her, explaining that she is not “serious” enough for him since he plans on becoming a lawyer. At first, Elle is heartbroken and depressed, but then she decides to pursue him to Harvard Law School. She enrolls and is accepted in the school where she sticks out like a sore, very pink and blonde, thumb. She faces all kinds of challenges and discriminations in her new school as she struggles to win back her man and simultaneously become a successful law student.
I think this movie is interesting because it takes the average story that’s been told a thousand times (about being misunderstood, being the “ugly duckling”/fish out of water, etc) and putting a twist on it. Usually its an awkward, unattractive person who is judged for their looks and then has to prove everyone wrong by breaking out of their shell and/or displaying their great personality and skills. This movie does that except Elle is extremely not unattractive. She is judged for being too attractive. She is made fun of for being a sorority girl, for not being “smart” enough, for being too perky, for her non-traditional/non-conservative fashion choices, her too perfect figure and blonde hair, and so on. I connect to it on some level. While I am certainly not a sorority girl and super sexy-attractive like Elle, there are struggles that come from being too much of something. People like to tell attractive people they have it easy, but in all honesty, there are struggles that come with it. Also, it’s hard having a label put on you just because your majority group have a bad reputation (ex: sorority girls, white people, etc).
You be you! Elle has absolutely no problem with just being herself. While she does get upset through the film with the discrimination against her, she takes it like a boss and decides to prove everyone wrong. She doesn’t let it tear her down, she let’s it build her up. There are some fish out of water stories where the person has to recreate themselves in order to fit in. This is not the case here. Elle changes her priorities, but not herself. She remains constant throughout and it ends up working.
Another reason Elle is queen is because she is just so nice through the film. She is super perky and excitable like a sorority girl is, but she’s not a vindictive jerk like they are often portrayed. She is super happy, sweet, and selfless. She is nice to everyone, even if they don’t really deserve it-- not that she actively seeks out mean people and is nice to them, but if they’re there. But she’s not a pushover either. She knows exactly how to balance nice with being acquiescent.
This movie is also so quotable and funny. There are some movies that are funny and/or sweet, but don’t have that great of lines. This one is not one of those movies. It’s got a great script.
ELLE: “Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t.”
EMMETT: “I can’t believe you called me a butthead. Nobody’s called me a butthead since the ninth grade.”
ELLE: “Maybe not to your face.”
POOL BOY: “Don’t stomp your little last season Prada shoes at me, honey.”
WARNER: “You got into Harvard Law?”
ELLE: “What, like it’s hard?”
MR WOODS: “Oh, sweetheart, you don't need law school. Law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious. And you, button, are none of those things.”
ELLE: “Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed.”
TV: “I love you.”
ELLE: *throws chocolate at it* “LIAR!”
I love that this movie shows that there is more to life than finding a significant other. That is to say, if you want to find your significant other, you need to focus on bettering yourself. Elle was a perfectly fine individual, but then as she followed Warner to Harvard, she discovered she could become even more and decided she didn’t need him in her life and pursued her own goals. Then, so many other things became available to her by doing so (and not to get too spoilery, but if you watch enough chick flicks, you ought to know that there is someone else that comes along. But that’s not the main focus, come on! It’s all about Elle and her awesomeness!).
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| Legally Blonde: The Musical |
I love how everyone is proven wrong in the end. Everything just comes into full circle. All the irony and karma! Yusss!
It doesn’t happen just like that either, it’s a gradual adjustment. And it all starts with a change of mind. It just shows that all that we have to do is change our mindset and adjust our priorities, then we can achieve anything. Seriously, this is an amazing movie!
Reese Witherspoon is great in the role. I have to appraise her performance for a moment. She is by far the most standout part of the movie as the main character.
So, if anyone has not watched this movie, I highly, highly recommend it!
P.S. There is a musical too. I think I like the movie slightly better just because it gets the morals and stuff across better, also Elle is just portrayed as a better character overall. But there are things I appreciate about the musical more too (for example, they gave the character Emmett a bigger part. I always thought his role in the movie was a little too small. Also, awesome music!)
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