Movie Analysis: Legally Blonde

Movie Summary: Legally Blonde

Elle Woods is a beautiful, blonde, wealthy, college female who is president of her sorority, Delta Nu.  She is dating Warner Huntington III, and wants nothing more than to be his wife.  In the beginning of the movie, he breaks up with her because Elle is “too blonde” and he is going to Harvard Law School.  Elle does everything she can to win her man back, including studying and being accepted into Harvard Law to follow him and trying to break up Warner and his new fiancée, all while trying to fit into her new, vastly different life at Harvard Law.  Elle battles all throughout the movie to win Warner’s heart back and fights for what she wants. 

Excerpt One: Warner Breaks Up With Elle

In this clip, it opens with Elle in her sorority, walking down and greeting Warner for their date, with all of her sorority sisters watching.  The scene is played out as if she is some type of princess and Warner is Prince Charming.  Warner and Elle on a fancy dinner date promptly followed by them clinking their glasses and Elle saying, “Cheers to us”.  Warner then goes into the conversation of being serious, saying that they’ve been having lots of fun lately, but law school will be more serious and he needs a serious partner.  This eludes both the audience, and Elle, to believe he is going to propose to her.  However, when he states “I think we should break up”, Elle blurts out “I do”, assuming that he is proposing.  We then see Elle’s surprised reaction when Warner says “I need a Jackie, not a Marilyn”, followed by Elle screaming “You’re breaking up with me because I’m too… blonde?!”  It is clear to see that Elle was expecting much more out of this relationship and this dinner date than Warner was. 

This excerpt goes along with exactly the idea that women always want more commitment than men; women expect monogamy and a fairy-tale ending.  Men are more often expected to avoid commitment, while women “need a relationship” (Kim, Sorsoli, Collins, Zylbergold, Schooler, & Tolman, 2007).  More often, women are “seeking or asking for more commitment, monogamy, or marriage” (Kim, et al. 2007).  This follows the idea of Masculine commitment. 

Warner’s idea to break up with Elle during this very important dinner date shows that he is avoiding commitment after so many years of them being together.  He, in his conversation, causes the audience and Elle to believe he is serious, but to no surprise, he isn’t.  By Elle breaking down in such a fashion and causing a scene at the restaurant, we see how she fits the idea that women are seeing marriage; she expected to be proposed to this night and when it didn’t go accordingly, she had no idea what to do or how to react.  The way that Warner so nonchalantly brushes off the fact that he just broke up with Elle and Elle goes into a fit, shows how men avoid commitment and find it almost as a joke, while women go to all ends just to be with the one they love.

Excerpt Two: Elle Dresses Like A Bunny

In this clip, it opens with Elle dressed like a bunny, when clearly, nobody else at this party is dressed like her.  We see her walking through the party, Warner’s new fiancée making fun of her, followed by her friend saying “Don’t worry honey, you’ve got the rock” (referring to the fact that she is “winning” because Warner gave her an engagement ring, not Elle).  Elle then walks through the party and finds Warner.  Up until this point, Elle had been having a hard time at school, hasn’t made many friends, and has been avoided by Warner and his new fiancée.  However, in this scene, we see Warner’s eyes open wide and say, “Well don’t you look like a walking felony” and Elle continues to giggle and say, “Aw, thank you, you’re so sweet”.  He continues to say that now he is having fun since she is there and puts his arms around her hips.  As the conversation continues, he insults Elle by saying he is so busy, but she won’t get good enough grades to qualify for a spot because she’s not smart enough and to “do something more valuable with her time”.  The conversation ends by Elle saying, “I’m never going to be good enough for you, am I?”

This clip also goes along with the article, “From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television”.  Up until this point, Warner basically forgot about Elle; he has been avoiding her and living his life just fine with his new fiancée and his friends at school.  He fits the exact script that we expect of him.  Kim states that men “avoid commitment and crave space, prefer sexual fulfillment over emotional intimacy, and treat women as sexual objects” (Kim, 2007).  He has this rich, tough boy attitude toward Elle, and it really is exerted through this clip.

            First of all, the way that Warner’s fiancée’s friend says not to worry because “she has the rock” embodies the idea that having the ring is of utmost importance.  It is almost as if she is saying not to worry that Elle is so pretty and dressed so sexually, she will never get commitment from Warner; Elle is merely an object.  Also, the way that Warner just so happens to finally notice Elle when she is dressed in a bunny outfit goes along with the idea that men see women as sexual objects.  She needed to be dressed provocatively in order for him to even give her the time of day.  He then goes on to talk to her like she is slow and says she just isn’t smart enough.  It is as if he is treating her like a puppy or just someone who is sexy, but not good enough to do anything academically.  This all plays into the idea of women are only able to be seen as sexually gratifying objects, rather than educating, thinking, opinion-having people.

Excerpt Three: “The Bend and Snap”

            This scene opens with Elle chatting with her nail tech and good friend, Paulette.  She then goes on to say how much she likes the UPS deliveryman, but they barely speak.  Elle is appalled and says ways that she thinks she should try and get his attention.  Paulette states how she sometimes says, “okay” instead of “fine”, but that isn’t good enough for Elle.  She says she Paulette should offer him a cold beverage next time or a neck massage.  After this conversation, clip then opens to Elle teaching Paulette, and the entire salon, how to do the bend and snap because it “works every time!”

            This scene also embodies the idea that women are seen as sexual objects.  As previously stated, women long for relationships and commitment, while men avoid this and only see women as objects.  Elle is very much embodying this in her conversation and her actions in the salon.  It is said that “those who are partnered report higher levels of global happiness, greater life satisfaction, and lower levels of depression” (Lippman, Ward, & Seabrook, 2014).  We see how Elle pushes this statement onto Paulette just to get the deliveryman’s attention.

            The way that Elle tells Paulette to offer the deliveryman a cold beverage or a neck massage sexualizes the way in which Paulette already interacts with the deliveryman, but Elle wants more.  She is telling Paulette to service the deliveryman to make him happy.  When Paulette refuses, Elle then teaches the “Bend and Snap”.  By doing this, Elle says that it always works and gets a man’s attention.  This goes along with the idea that women are objects and everyone is happy in a relationship.  It shows that women are objectified because they have to do something as ridiculous as the “Bend and Snap”, instead of showing off something like their intelligence, to get a man’s attention.  This also plays into the idea that people are happier in relationships because in this clip, the women are going to all ends and coming up with ridiculous methods just to get a man’s attention, because they believe that being with a man would make them happier overall.

Narrative Analysis

This movie, Legally Blonde, embodies much of the Masculine Commitment and the Feminine Commitment.  We see all throughout the movie how Elle, and sometimes her friends like Paulette, go to all ends to get the man that they want.  This shows that men avoid commitment and see women as these unintelligent sex objects, while women long for relationships, commitment, and even marriage.  Women are always doing whatever they can and seeking more, while men would rather do as they please and move on to the next woman.  Elle Woods, and her friends, define the Feminine Commitment, while Warner and his horrible attitude toward women, embodies the Masculine Commitment. 

Works Cited: 

Kidney, R., Platt, M. (Producer) Luketic, R.  (Director). (2001) Legally Blonde. [Motion Picture]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.

Kim, J., Lynn Sorsoli, C., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. Journal of Sex Research, 44, 145-157.

Lippman, J. R., Ward, M. L., & Seabrook, R.C. (2015). Isn’t it romantic? Differential associations between romantic screen media genres and romantic beliefs. Psychology of popular Media Culture, 3(3), 128-140.