The Wisdom of Elle Woods
Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods
One of my favorite movies is Legally Blonde – the story of Elle Woods, a young woman (played by Reese Witherspoon) who decides to go to law school to win back her college sweetheart. I’ll admit Elle has a few superficial traits, but there are two things I love about her: her belief in herself and her belief in others.
First, there is the scene where she is talking to her career counselor. Elle doesn’t doubt a fashion major can be accepted into and succeed at Harvard Law School though her counselor warns her courses like the history of polka dots is not a shoe in for acceptance. But Elle is undeterred. She even hires a videographer for a professionally crafted admission video (if you haven’t seen the movie that alone is worth watching).
At Harvard orientation, Elle is in a group that includes a man with multiple advanced degrees, a female activist and a self-proclaimed genius, yet she doesn’t hesitate to introduce herself and her dog Bruiser and share their astrological signs.
When her ex-boyfriend/ fellow classmate makes a hurtful remark Elle decides to buckle down and show everyone she can make it at Harvard – and make it she does, winning the case of an exercise guru on trial for the murder of her husband. Forget the fact she had never even participated in a moot court. And the key to identifying the true murderer? Elle’s knowledge of hair care.
Yes, I know parts of the movie are politically incorrect but at its core, Elle is someone worth rooting for. Because don’t we all want to be that person who never loses faith in his or her self and the people we care about?
Maybe we could learn a few things from Ms. Woods.