'A Very Legal Blonde': a feminist oasis in the ominous 2000s
There are many movies I haven't seen. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy, until the lockdown I hadn't seen Dirty dancing (what a marvel) or Pretty woman. I wanted to take advantage of this series of articles to effectively fill some of my cinematic gaps. In an era of massive audiovisual supply and absolute atomization of channels, I cure my FOMO with a delay. Ben-hur, Blade runner or E.T. Let's follow my summer journey to fill my cinematic gaps. I saw Legally Blonde for the first time and here are my notes (taken with a pen with a pompom):
- The typical story: a girl thinks she's going to marry a guy. Guy leaves her because she's stubborn and needs someone with more social capital. Girl goes to law school at Harvard to prove him wrong. Girl loses interest in this loser and achieves professional success. Along the way (full of effort and self-belief) she makes friends, fights for social justice, gives multiple practical lessons in sorority, denounces one of her mentors for abuse, doesn't change her essence despite criticism, and breaks free from misogynistic prejudices and stereotypes that suggest that if you dress femininely, you have the intellectual capacity of a rock mussel. What is this marvel? Why didn't I see it in 2001? (Well, because I thought, like everyone else, that Elle was an idiot.)
- My neighbors must have heard me yell These gays are trying to murder me! when Jennifer Coolidge appeared. What a thrill. I'd put her everywhere: in every movie, at World Cup matches, and hosting the 3/24 news. What a joy to see them, her and Reese Witherspoon. Special mention to the moment she helps her get back the dog that her ex-partner, the scoundrel, had taken. Reparation of vicarious violence with a happy ending. I'm crying.
- It has unrealistic parts, yes. A chihuahua would never behave so well. They are mini-demons.zip. I remember the diabolical Nino: he didn't have enough jaw opening to bite my leg and he'd hang from my pants; it was like a stapler attacking me. Point (extra) in favor of the actor dogs: they won't surprise you with any Zionist declarations or denunciations of gender violence.
- When Elle studies hard to excel in her career, she reminds me of Mulan training at night. There weren't many audiovisual role models encouraging you to improve yourself physically or intellectually; it was all more about being so beautiful and good and suffering so much that you'd end up attracting the attention of the prince who would rescue you. A flawless plan.
- Fall at the finish line: I thought we'd see an example of a good mentor with whom a romantic relationship is NOT established, but in the end, a title card tells us they've been dating for two years and he's going to propose to her tonight. Well, it couldn't be that beautiful. At least they have the decency not to show it in images in the movie.
- Interesting how when translating the title of Legally Blonde (a perfect title), they opted for Una rossa molt legal (not as good, but I doubt it could be done better). I still can't get White Chicks (terrible) out of my head, which in Spain was translated as Dos rubias de pelo en pecho and in Catalonia as Dues rosses amb pebrots.
Verdict: it's not perfect, but it's a breath of fresh air that is even more surprising in its context. The romantic comedies of this era are so sexist and fat-phobic that they have to be watched with PPE. An example of what I mean: Love actually. A most honorable exception: Ten things I hate about you.