I chose this specific article because it brought out aspects of my chosen film that related to feminism when I didn’t even realize it. For example, Elle’s admission video to Harvard was a classic “dumb blonde moment” and I thought she chose to do this because she felt it was really important to her. However, the article points out that Elle chose to do this because she knew that people tend to objectify her based solely on her looks, so she twisted the situation and used it to her advantage. The admissions board that consisted of older white males couldn’t catch on that she used their blatant sexualization to help her, rather than hurt her. The article also speaks about Elle’s and Emmett’s relationship and how the movie could’ve turned into a cheesy romantic film, but stayed with the theme of ambitious career women achieving their goals. I personally didn’t realize that the film could’ve changed its entire meaning if the relationship was a bigger focus. Since the film was set in the early 2000’s, it definitely made a larger impact as men were considered to be the sole breadwinners. Yet, Emmett didn’t try to make Elle feel like she was not worthy of being a great lawyer, but supported her instead. The article ends with talking about the feminist movement and privilege, specifically the third wave feminism where women of color, trans women, and disabled women were left out of the picture. The film definitely did not have an inclusive cast which parallels the third wave feminism. Overall, this article corroborates a lot of my pre-existing opinions on the film and also gave me a more thorough analysis.
2 thoughts on “Article Analysis”
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It’s really refreshing reading an article that looks at the movie for how much of a feminist staple it is, and not just as another funny inspirational dumb blonde movie. The mention of the lack of inclusivity is so important and I hope that in the future there can be more staple films like Legally Blonde which can provide this message to a larger diverse audience pool.
I recall watching the scene when the board of admissions watched Elle’s admission video. As I watched it alongside them in the film, I thought Elle was trying to show how she was not the average candidate, but still had a lot of knowledge that could contribute to her role as a law student. I did not realize that she twisted the situation and used to her advantage. Since coming to this realization, I would assume that the men in charge of admissions would prefer to watch a pretty girl in a bikini instead of reading an essay.