"This is about the matter that should be of
the highest importance to every American.
My hair."
Legally Blonde opens on an image of shiny, perfect blonde hair.
And the owner of this hair (who we meet several minutes later)
isn't just a blonde -- she's THE blonde identity ITSELF.
as it's typically perceived by our culture.
"I was a Zeta Lambda Nu sweetheart, president of my sorority, Delta Nu,
and last year, I was homecoming queen."
Elle Woods begins as a cartoon version
of all the "blonde" stereotypes you can think of.
She has more fun, she's attractive to men,
she's sweetly naive,
and she's seen by everyone around her
as the antithesis of intellectual, serious pursuits.
"Law school is for people
who are boring and ugly and serious.
And you are none of those things."
The movie goes on to systematically disprove
clichéd assumptions
that golden-haired women are ditzy, lazy and shallow.
"And for that matter, all masturbatory emissions
where his sperm was clearly not seeking an egg
could be termed reckless abandonment."
"I believe you've just won your case."
But it does more than just subvert the negativity --
it creates a new positive idea of what Elle the Blonde represents.
"It's pink."
"Oh and it's scented.
I think it gives it a little something extra.
Don't ya think?"
Using her character to present a fundamentally optimistic,
warm and inspirational outlook.
"It is with passion, courage of conviction,
and strong sense of self that we take our next steps
into the world."
Here's our Take on how Legally Blonde expresses the Philosophy of a Blonde
and teaches us how to "Think Blonde" like Elle.
"I feel comfortable using legal jargon in everyday life."
[Whistles]
"I object."
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Elle's blonde hair and associated identity
are what define her in the eyes
of almost everyone she encounters.
And what people see when they look at her
is a grab-bag of blonde stereotypes.
"Because I'm blonde I don't have to think
I talk like a baby and I never pay for drinks."
"He can't be left alone in the same city
with that blonde man-trap."
Namely, that blondes are frivolous and superficial...
"You know maybe you should check with the cruise director on the Lido deck."
that they choose fun over hard work...
"Hey, maybe there's, like, a sorority you could, like, join instead, like?"
and skate by on their looks, getting things handed to them.
"Well maybe you should sleep with the jury, too.
Then we can win the case."
And, most famously, that they're dumb.
"There's nothing I love more than a dumb blonde with daddy's plastic."
The movie quickly dismisses this most central and pernicious
stereotype of the "dumb blonde."
Legally Blonde tells us that Elle's mind is razor-sharp.
"It's impossible to use a half-loop topstitch on low viscosity rayon.
It would snag the fabric.
And you didn't just get it in.
I saw it in the June Vogue a year ago.
So if you're trying to sell it to me for full price,
You picked the wrong girl."
It's just that the areas where she focuses her brain,
aren't the ones that our society considers valuable.
"Oh, I have a 4.0."
"Yes, but your major is fashion merchandising.
Harvard won't be impressed that you aced history of Polka Dots."
Meanwhile, the other common blonde assumptions do apply to some degree
when the movie begins.
It's true that her interests are relatively frivolous;
she's mostly concerned with having fun;
and her biggest aspiration -- to become Warner's wife --
"In a few hours...I'll be the future Mrs. Warner Huntington III."
isn't the most worthy goal for a person with potential.
"I even hired a Coppola to direct my admissions video
all to get my boyfriend Warner back... so it was all for nothing."
So when the story begins, Elle gets a wake-up call
that her "Blondeness" is a liability.
"So you're breaking up with me because I'm too blonde?"
Warner tells Elle that he doesn't want to end things with her,
"It's not like I have a choice here, sweetheart."
And he seems as attracted to her as ever after the breakup.
"Well don't you look like a walking felony."
"Thank you you're so sweet."
"Ugh."
But in this man's view, his society demands that he marry
a certain kind of partner as a prerequisite for success.
"My brother's in the top three at Yale Law
and he just got engaged to a Vanderbilt, for Christ sake."
[Screeching]
Thus the key blonde stereotype that Elle ends up having to battle is
that blondes aren't serious.
"This is the type of girl Warner wants to marry.
This is what I need to become to be serious."
"What?
Practically deformed?"
"A law student."
The whole movie is her attempt to prove
that she can become a "serious person"
as our culture defines it.
"Wish me luck Bruiser.
This is my first class as a serious law student."
someone who pulls off difficult achievements
which require a lot of not-fun work,
inspire envy, and, at least in theory, contribute meaningfully to society.
What's exceptional about Reese Witherspoon's performance of Elle is that --
as much as she leans into a comic, cartoonish
exaggeration of blondeness to deliver laughs,
"You're gonna ruin your shoes."
"Hm."
she also immediately makes us like her and side with her
by getting across Elle's genuine, good heart
and kind caring nature.
"Brooke, your secret's safe with me."
We feel Elle's love for her many female friends,
"Miss Bonafonté is entitled to full canine property ownership
and will be enforcing said ownership...right now."
for her dog Bruiser,
"Hi.
I'm Elle Woods and this is Bruiser Woods.
And we're both gemini vegetarians."
and for the boyfriend she's given her whole self to,
only to learn how little love means to this man-of-the-world.
"I need someone serious."
"But I'm seriously in love with you."
So as much as Elle fits negative stereotypes
that make her easy-to-dismiss,
the movie quickly tells us
that this person is deeply sweet and feeling,
as well as secretly very smart.
As the story progresses we see that the OTHER people we meet
are just as superficial as Elle,
if not more so, in their own ways.
"You got the ring sweetie."
While very few have Elle's very important and powerful human strengths.
After Elle disproves the haters
with her hard work, intellect and "seriousness,"
Elle's core positive identity is what develops
over the course of the movie to illustrate the power
of the "Blonde Philosophy."
What makes her compelling is the series
of different gifts and fresh perspectives
she brings to the table,
which most of her Harvard peers lack.
"You had the best high kick I've ever seen.
Are you one of my lawyers?"
"Uh yeah, sort of."
"Well thank God one of you has a brain."
So what, then, are the tenets of Elle's Blonde Bible?
Look on the "Blonde" Side.
Elle is deeply optimistic.
"What are your backups?"
"I don't need backups.
I'm going to Harvard."
People interpret her positivity as naiveté
and another reason to underestimate her,
but her unmatched enthusiasm and can-do attitude count for a lot.
"I once had to judge a tighty whitie contest
for Lambda Kappa Pi,
trust me, I can handle anything."
They allow her to will herself into achievements
others wouldn't even try for because they seem out of reach.
"You got into Harvard Law?"
"What, like it's hard?"
Near the end of the movie,
after Elle dramatically wins her first case,
she marches out into the sunlight,
and this image captures the fundamental brightness
and sunny-side-oriented power of Elle.
"You ready to hit the ground running?"
"Are these not my comfortable heels?"
"Oh cute shoes!"
"Thank you."
Wear a Smile.
Elle is always nice and friendly.
"Well if there's one thing I know how to do, its rinse and repeat.
Shall we?"
It's a matter of principle that she treats the people she meets
with openness and good manners.
"You know if you had come to rush party, I would have at least been nice to you."
"Is that before you voted against me and then called me a dyke behind my back?"
"I don't use that word."
This gift allows her to make friends anywhere she goes.
"Bend, and snap!
Good job everybody."
And her "keep-smiling" mindset is a model in resilience.
"Thanks for inviting me, girls.
This party is super fun."
She won't be defeated by mean-spirited-ness,
"Oh.
I like your outfit too, except when I dress up as a frigid bitch,
I try not to look so constipated."
And her firm, immovable smile, no matter the animosity she encounters,
symbolizes the stubborn fortitude and grit underlying her optimism.
"You've come farther than any of us while maintaining your bounce and sparkle.
We never sparkle."
Be Smart, instead of Seeming So.
"Don't fight the fabric.
Change it."
Elle's intelligence is initially obscured because she applies it
to less respectable subjects.
"I'm able to recall hundreds of important details...
at the drop of a hat."
"Hey, Elle, do you know what happened on Days of Our Lives yesterday?"
"Why, yes, Margot, I do."
But, even after she embraces the study of law,
her aptitude is expressed unconventionally.
"I have to wonder if the defendant kept a thorough record
of every sperm emission made throughout his life."
She thinks a question through deeply and honestly,
referring to her personal feelings and experiences to guide her.
"Would you rather have a client who committed a crime malum in se
or malum prohibitum?"
"Neither."
"And why is that?"
"I would rather have a client who's innocent."
And while a statement like this gets her laughed at,
compared to Vivian's textbook-ready response
"Malum prohibitum, because then the client
would have committed a regulatory infraction
as opposed to a dangerous crime."
"Well done Ms. Kensington."
Elle's answer proves to be full of hidden wisdom.
In the end, she's the only one who can successfully defend Brooke Windham
because she believes in her client's innocence.
"I'm the only one that believes her.
Callahan totally thinks she's guilty."
Guided by this important purpose,
"I believe you, Brooke."
"Take care of me, Elle."
"I will."
she keeps working until she finds the evidence to prove her gut feeling.
"Are you crazy?
Just tell him the alibi."
"No."
"We're gonna lose this case if you don't."
"Well then we're not very good lawyers."
Others around Elle, like many successful people in general,
care more about WINNING than the truth.
But Elle's pursuit of veracity --
instead of projecting the trappings of intelligence --
helps her get to the bottom of a case and ultimately emerge victorious.
"Isn't it the first cardinal rule of perm maintenance
that you're forbidden to wet your hair
for at least 24 hours after getting a perm
at the risk of deactivating the Ammonium thioglycolate?"
"Yes."
Treasure Your Word (And your Sisters).
Elle gets the value of keeping her word.
"I can't tell you."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because I promised her I'd keep it a secret.
And I can't break the bonds of sisterhood."
This makes her the ANTITHESIS of her supposed love Warner,
who ultimately doesn't hold anything sacred
except the pursuit of success by any means necessary.
"If you tell him he'll probably hire you as a summer associate.
Who cares about Brooke?
Think about yourself."
"I gave her my word, Warner."
Ironically, this lack of a bond with his work
makes Warner end up a loser in the world's eyes.
He loses Vivian's trust, and fails to shine as a budding lawyer.
We're told he graduates without a girlfriend or a job offer.
Elle's integrity wins trust, and this connects to her
incredible talent for friendships.
This girl has a truly impressive number of intimates
who greatly invest in her trials and her successes.
"One seventy-nine!"
Her popularity is a testament to how much she values people
and is there for them,
reliably showing up and staying true to her promises.
"I brought you some necessities -- some Calvin Klein 720 count sheets,
umm, the entire Clinique skin care line, oh, and the Bible."
Live Passionately (and don't hide what you love).
Elle's very first class focuses on the words of Aristotle,
"The law is reason free from passion."
Elle decides she disagrees.
"No offense to Aristotle,
but in my threes years at Harvard I have come to find
that passion is a key ingredient to the study and practice of law,
and of life."
The clichéd reminder that we should follow our passion
is a fixture of graduation speeches,
but Elle shows us what this looks like in practice --
the source of her power,
as a lawyer and as a person, is how much she FEELS.
"You don't understand."
"Who could understand better than me?"
She jumps into every pursuit,big or small, with boundless commitment and enthusiasm.
"And that's why you should vote for me,
Elle Woods, future lawyer for the Class of 2004."
When they Wear Grey, We Wear Pink.
This also means that she doesn't hide her love for things
others would find embarrassing.
"Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed."
She proudly flaunts her taste for pink
and dresses up Bruiser for every occasion,
immune to the disdain this draws from her Harvard classmates.
"Hey Bras, check out Malibu Barbie."
Even as she becomes more aware of hostility directed at her,
her response still isn't to assimilate with bland-colored clothing
or disguise her true self by softening her spontaneous reactions.
"But I used to take her class at the Los Angeles Sports Club,
She's amazing."
Elle couldn't imagine not bringing her pink-obsessed,
Cosmo-girl, mani-pedi-loving personality to everything she does.
"We'll find harmony and love in the snap cup."
And this commitment to being herself, in all the little details
that bring out her everyday passion, makes her a forceful, coherent person
who knows who she is, whether you like her or not.
In so many ways, our culture sends the message
that traditionally feminine tastes and female-oriented bonding activities
are lesser, in order to devalue women.
So Elle's rise to the top without ever swearing off
the supposedly "inferior" elements of her signature style
made the statement that you can be a girly girl
and rise to the top of your class.
"Oh my god it's capitol barbie."
"She's so shiny."
Don't Judge, Lest You Be Judged.
Elle warns in her graduation speech against overemphasizing first impressions:
"Remembering that first impressions are not always correct."
She's much slower than others to leap to assumptions
about the people she meets,
and when she does get the wrong end of the stick
she's willing to quickly update her opinion
in light of new evidence.
"Look, he likes you."
"Aw, he's giving me kisses."
Elle reminds her fellow graduates: "You must always have faith in people."
What's doubly impressive about her ability to do this
is that people so rarely give her the benefit of the doubt.
She's always having to prove them wrong
after they assume the worst about her.
"You know, Emmett,
you just need to have a little more faith in people.
You might be surprised."
The final tenet of Elle's philosophy is: "You must always have faith in yourself."
The way that Elle is constantly laughed at
and underestimated would take a toll on anyone's self-esteem.
"Our group is full."
"Oh, is this like an RSVP thing?"
"No.
It's like a smart people thing."
It's remarkable that she doesn't come to believe
that she is stupid.
Yet the more she's written off,
the more she doubles down on her knowledge
that she can do anything she sets her mind to
"ME! yes!"
So this movie is a reminder not to let others get in your head
about who YOU really are -- nobody really knows your potential,
and they don't get to write the narrative of you.
"Being a blonde is actually a pretty powerful thing.
You hold more cards than you think you do.
And I personally would like to see you
take that power and channel it towards the greater good."
Elle's Blonde Power isn't necessarily greater
than Vivian's Brunette Power,
or someone else's Red-, Black- or Purple-haired power.
The reason viewers like and take inspiration from Elle
isn't because they're blonde, or necessarily at all like her.
Instead, Elle's Blonde philosophy demonstrates that there's nothing more compelling
than being yourself to the fullest.
"And remember you are beautiful."
When you figure out how to do this,
it's like turning on a bright light in a drab and dreary world,
like walking on sunshine.
"The rules of hair care are simple and finite.
Any Cosmo Girl would have known."
Look out for our SECOND Legally Blonde video up next.
We're digging into the history of the dumb blonde trope
and the cultural origins of blonde stereotypes.
So be sure to watch.
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