Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) was always underestimated. After being dumped by her college boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis) for not being “serious” enough, the peppy sorority blonde follows him to Harvard Law School (“Like it’s hard?” she asks him) initially to win him back, and later to prove him wrong. Legally Blonde mines its comedy from juxtaposing Elle’s bright-pink bubbly attitude against the prestigious and intellectual atmosphere of Harvard. But it creates tension too.
Based upon the book of Amanda Brown’s real-life experiences facing opposition in Stanford Law School, Legally Blonde has Elle be belittled and mocked for her femininity. Elle is not dumb (she got into Harvard after all), but others rarely see past her “blonde hair and big boobs”, assuming that because she enjoys shopping she must be shallow. Elle ultimately proves them wrong not by conforming to their expectations, but by demonstrating her worth while remaining true to herself.
Legally Blonde shares many similarities with another coming-of-age comedy about a self-empowered blonde girl: Amy Heckerling’s 1995 classic Clueless. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) also initially seems like a vapid valley-girl, other seeing her as some “ditz with a credit card”, but Clueless shows there is nothing wrong with what Cher likes. Clueless is more subtle and complex than Legally Blonde, as Cher does have some flaws, such as being short-sighted as to who Tai (Brittany Murphy) should date. And the film is not built around proving others wrong. Rather, Cher does so with a subtle intelligence of being aware how the world works without sacrificing her personality. Like Elle Woods, Cher has a detailed knowledge of fashion, unabashedly enjoys makeovers, and carries a pen with a poofy-pink end. She even helps her father with his upcoming trial-casework. Cher shows that her girly-ness is not something to be overcome, but something that can be embraced.
Legally Blonde and Clueless are comedies, but they are ultimately loving parodies that side with their blonde protagonists. These films address the stereotype of “dumb blondes”, and the presumption that women who are overtly feminine must be simplistic bimbos. Early iterations of feminism thought that becoming a ‘strong woman’ meant shedding standards of femininity. Basically, to be more masculine. But the true freedom of feminism is that women can be whatever they like, that caring about clothes or hairdos does not invalidate them. These films defend the autonomy and intelligence of these woman, while emphasizing the importance of female friendship, without their leading ladies having to change their ways.
Another film that fits into this pro-blonde sub-genre is Steven Soderberg’s 2000 movie Erin Brockovich. Erin (Julia Roberts) is only strawberry blonde, but she impresses everyone through her handling of the legal case against PG&E for its groundwater contamination. Like Elle Woods, Erin is underestimated for her apparent nonconformity with the legal world. She is initially fired while out researching the case, her boss Ed (Albert Finney) sheepishly admits, because she “look[s] like someone who has a lot of fun”. Erin is older and cruder and brassier than Elle or Cher, but she is also unapologetic for the way she dresses or how she acts, and her self-confidence proves her offbeat worth throughout the film.
This “dumb blonde” stereotype was culturally solidified by Marilyn Monroe. In Legally Blonde, Warner even comments about needing to marry a “Jackie not a Marilyn”. Yet Monroe herself utilized these assumptions thrown against her, even when playing into them. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has Marilyn play showgirl Lorelei Lee with her best friend Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell), and although she is glamorous and breathy, Monroe spends the film self-aware of the ‘airhead’ men expect her to be and arguing why she should marry someone rich in turn. “Can’t you see that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty”, Monroe argues, “you might not marry a girl just because she’s pretty. But my goodness doesn’t it help”.
Sexism within the film industry is obviously very widespread. But it also effects the films we deem worthwhile. The top 20 movies on IMDb are all ‘male’ focused, with number 1 Shawshank Redemption having zero female roles. Romantic comedies are largely dismissed with cult horror films are lauded. And even then, female-focused ones like Jennifer’s Body were undervalued when they came out, and have only be reappraised fairly recently. This isn’t that male films are bad, but that our criteria should be expanded. Such teen-comedies and musicals are fun and silly, but they aren’t merely frivolous. Like the blonde women within them, they contain more rich complexity than initial impressions suggest. They can be unrepentantly feminine without sacrificing their intelligence, since the two were never mutually exclusive in the first place.