A Feminist Critique of Legally Blonde

 Nowadays, it is rare to find an American who has not at least heard of the 2001 film, Legally Blonde. The film centers on Elle Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon), a sorority girl who has recently been left behind by her boyfriend, Warner (played by Matthew Davis), who wants to pursue a more serious life after being accepted into Harvard Law School. From that moment, Elle decides that she will apply to Harvard Law School in an attempt to win her boyfriend back. Legally Blonde initially seems like a film of little depth or substance, but surprises viewers and tells a story of a woman who discovers that the extent of her potential is not at the end of a man’s arm.  

In the opening scene of the film we get a peak into the life of the women in this sorority and their college campus as we follow a fittingly pink card adorning the name “Elle” in glitter and rhinestones on its way to our protagonist’s doorstep. The card is being carried via bicycle by a college student who easily fits the societal standards of attractiveness. When this woman passes by a group of shirtless and fighting, and what I’m assuming are, frat boys, they all drop what they are doing to whistle and gawk at the delivery girl, effectively objectifying her in the first minute of the film.   From the very beginning of the film, Elle is shown as the stereotypical sorority girl. She is the president of the sorority, homecoming queen, and both her and her dog are wearing pink from head to toe; and her entire motivation is her boyfriend Warner.

When Elle finds out that Warner is breaking up with her on account of his being accepted to Harvard and her lack of seriousness, she is astonished. She determines that she will also attend the prestigious law school in order to prove that she is just as serious as Warner is. She does this via video application in which she is lounging poolside in a bikini, but that is beside the point. Elle gets accepted after scoring one point less than the highest score possible on the entrance exam, and proceeds to put herself through hell at the hands of her professors, other students, and most importantly, Warner’s new fiancée, Vivian. Vivian humiliates Elle in both social and academic environments, flexing her intelligence in the classroom and at a party, both of which are at Elle’s expense. Elle ends her first day as a student of Harvard Law crying in a nail salon.

At this point, one may be asking how exactly this film is a feminist work when so far all we have seen are women who’s only motivation is men and are willing to cut down one another for those men? The fact of the matter is that this is not how the movie ends. Elle eventually learns through her desire to prove herself to Warner and Vivian that she actually has a knack for the practice of law, and even though it is mainly because of her looks, Elle gets the opportunity to intern on an actual case with her professor, Professor Callahan, Warner, and Vivian. During this internship we see that Elle, while it is unconventional, has a talent as a lawyer. It is here that we see her motivation switch from solely being focused on Warner to instead being engrossed with the case at hand, so much so that when Warner again shows interest in Elle, she cannot be bothered with him.

At the closing of the film we are in an entirely different climate than that in which we began. Elle is no longer focused on her ex-boyfriend but has instead found an intellectual passion; the two strongest female characters, once enemies, are now good friends; and Warner, who seemingly had everything, is left with nothing. Legally Blonde is a surprisingly feminist work where a woman learns that her entire life does not revolve around the affairs of a man, but instead empowers herself to reach beyond him and every other man she comes across.