Five Reasons Why
IS MORE FEMINIST THAN
If you don’t know this about me already, Legally Blonde is my absolute favorite movie. The plot is impeccable, the characters are hilarious, and the message is empowering.
Here's a short synopsis: Elle Woods, the main character, is dating this guy Warner. They have the perfect relationship until he breaks up with her right before going to Harvard Law School, claiming that he needs “a Jackie and not a Marilyn.” In other words, he wants to marry a law school girl, and Elle is too beautiful, bubbly, and blonde for him. She, however, is in love, so she studies hard and gets into Harvard Law School, hoping to win him back. In the process, she’s judged harshly for her penchant for pink and her flowing blonde locks, with plenty of people assuming that she’s stupid. The movie follows Elle as she breaks through stereotypes, helps out her friends and loved ones, and ultimately becomes an amazing lawyer.
Legally Blonde should resonate with every woman on the planet for the simple fact that we’re judged before people get to know us based on our appearance. However, watching Elle look like the epitome of a bimbo blonde, yet still being herself and excelling beyond everyone’s expectations of her, shows us that we don’t have to change a thing about ourselves in order to prove our competence. Instead, we do it with our work ethic and our results.
Barbie, on the other hand, is— well, I wrote a whole article about why it’s not a good feminist movie. As a quick summary, I explored how the execution of the plot and character development highlighted Ken’s story while putting Barbie on the backburner, minimizes women’s emotional needs by having them help others even when they’re struggling themselves, and stereotypes several different female characters throughout the movie.
So now that we have some background info, let’s dive into the five reasons why Legally Blonde is more feminist than Barbie.
Legally Blonde should resonate with every woman on the planet for the simple fact that we’re judged before people get to know us based on our appearance. However, watching Elle look like the epitome of a bimbo blonde, yet still being herself and excelling beyond everyone’s expectations of her, shows us that we don’t have to change a thing about ourselves in order to prove our competence. Instead, we do it with our work ethic and our results.
Barbie, on the other hand, is— well, I wrote a whole article about why it’s not a good feminist movie. As a quick summary, I explored how the execution of the plot and character development highlighted Ken’s story while putting Barbie on the backburner, minimizes women’s emotional needs by having them help others even when they’re struggling themselves, and stereotypes several different female characters throughout the movie.
So now that we have some background info, let’s dive into the five reasons why Legally Blonde is more feminist than Barbie.
1. Elle Woods has marketable talents, while Barbie follows the story of ‘Stereotypical Barbie’
While I understand that following a different Barbie throughout the Barbie movie may not have been ideal, the decision to follow the Barbie with no marketable talents through a time of struggle tangles the message quite a bit. If the whole climax of the movie is supposed to be about how women do everything yet are still underappreciated and treated as second class citizens, then maybe Stereotypical Barbie wasn’t the best main character for this movie. After all, part of the reason behind her depression is literally that she doesn’t have any skills, unlike the President or Doctor Barbies. Having the one Barbie with no traits other than being pretty as the main representative for “underappreciated hard working women” is preposterous.
On the flip side, Elle is a fashion merchandising major in college, which many people think of as just fashion. Not that fashion is any chump major (it isn’t; just ask our website task cord, Angel), but fashion merchandising is completely different. She would’ve had to take several classes in history, psychology, and economics in order to get her degree. She’s not so much a fashion designer as she is a businesswoman, which people seem to conveniently overlook in the movie because she’s blonde and pretty. Because of this, she has to continually prove her worth and competence to people who refuse to see it for themselves, which has a much bigger impact on a viewer than watching someone who has no skills fight against the patriarchy.
While I understand that following a different Barbie throughout the Barbie movie may not have been ideal, the decision to follow the Barbie with no marketable talents through a time of struggle tangles the message quite a bit. If the whole climax of the movie is supposed to be about how women do everything yet are still underappreciated and treated as second class citizens, then maybe Stereotypical Barbie wasn’t the best main character for this movie. After all, part of the reason behind her depression is literally that she doesn’t have any skills, unlike the President or Doctor Barbies. Having the one Barbie with no traits other than being pretty as the main representative for “underappreciated hard working women” is preposterous.
On the flip side, Elle is a fashion merchandising major in college, which many people think of as just fashion. Not that fashion is any chump major (it isn’t; just ask our website task cord, Angel), but fashion merchandising is completely different. She would’ve had to take several classes in history, psychology, and economics in order to get her degree. She’s not so much a fashion designer as she is a businesswoman, which people seem to conveniently overlook in the movie because she’s blonde and pretty. Because of this, she has to continually prove her worth and competence to people who refuse to see it for themselves, which has a much bigger impact on a viewer than watching someone who has no skills fight against the patriarchy.
2. Legally Blonde shows women vehemently supporting other women, while Barbie’s friends scream at her flat feet
Yes, there are some scenes in Legally Blonde where Elle is beefing with other women—namely, Warner’s new girlfriend, Vivienne, and a masc lesbian named Enid who hates Elle because she assumes that she’s stupid (which she isn’t). However, throughout the movie, we see Elle’s sorority sisters from Delta Nu supporting her in any way they can, from helping her have the perfect day before her “engagement” dinner to helping her study for the LSAT to get into law school. Elle also helps her nail lady, Paulette, fight back against her crappy ex-husband and get her dog back from him. Women supporting women is a huge theme throughout the movie, and Elle is generally pleasant to every woman she meets.
By contrast, when Stereotypical Barbie mentions irrepressible thoughts of death at one of her nightly dance parties, the music stops and every Barbie stops and stares at her in disgust. When she develops flat feet, she shows her friends, and they scream in disgust. Weird Barbie and Pregnant Barbie have been shunned in the movie, and every time one of them is on screen, the Barbies address them with disgust.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Although Barbieland claims to be some kind of female utopia, if you aren’t perfect, they cast you aside and become disgusted with your imperfections. In Legally Blonde, however, Elle accepts every woman for how they are, refusing to even stoop down to the levels of those who are rude to her.
Yes, there are some scenes in Legally Blonde where Elle is beefing with other women—namely, Warner’s new girlfriend, Vivienne, and a masc lesbian named Enid who hates Elle because she assumes that she’s stupid (which she isn’t). However, throughout the movie, we see Elle’s sorority sisters from Delta Nu supporting her in any way they can, from helping her have the perfect day before her “engagement” dinner to helping her study for the LSAT to get into law school. Elle also helps her nail lady, Paulette, fight back against her crappy ex-husband and get her dog back from him. Women supporting women is a huge theme throughout the movie, and Elle is generally pleasant to every woman she meets.
By contrast, when Stereotypical Barbie mentions irrepressible thoughts of death at one of her nightly dance parties, the music stops and every Barbie stops and stares at her in disgust. When she develops flat feet, she shows her friends, and they scream in disgust. Weird Barbie and Pregnant Barbie have been shunned in the movie, and every time one of them is on screen, the Barbies address them with disgust.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Although Barbieland claims to be some kind of female utopia, if you aren’t perfect, they cast you aside and become disgusted with your imperfections. In Legally Blonde, however, Elle accepts every woman for how they are, refusing to even stoop down to the levels of those who are rude to her.
3. Legally Blonde seamlessly integrates reasons why the patriarchy is bad for women, while Barbie seems to shift the entire focus of the movie to Ken
Almost every man introduced in Legally Blonde is absolute trash, from Warner to the Harvard Law admissions team to Professor Callahan. Elle is dumped by Warner for being herself, admitted into Harvard by an admissions team who cares more about her body than her accomplishments, and is almost sexually assaulted by her Professor when she thought that he had only taken a liking to her because of how well she was doing in his class. There’s also Paulette’s ex-husband, who makes her feel like crap about herself after he cheated on her, and Elle’s dad (and to be fair, her mom, too), who discourages her from applying to law school because she isn’t “serious” enough.
Despite this, Elle perseveres. She still wins her court case, despite the fact that Callahan didn’t believe in her and thought that she was just a pretty face for him to prey on. She doesn’t take Warner back, even though he tries to apologize after treating her like crap because he views women as arm pieces to make him look good. She helps Paulette get her dog back, she graduates from Harvard Law as the valedictorian, and she becomes a successful lawyer, despite all the toxic patriarchal forces working against her.
Barbie, on the other hand, makes the whole movie about Ken discovering patriarchy and somehow being able to turn all of the Barbies into bikini-wearing bimbos—and then getting a redemption arc, learning that he’s his own person without Stereotypical Barbie—and then still trying to get with Stereotypical Barbie at the end of the movie while having this realization. There’s something suspicious about Ken getting his own original song while Barbie doesn’t. There’s something suspicious about the fact that the most popular merch that the movie is selling is the ‘I am Kenough’ hoodie.
The Barbie movie tried very hard to weave in patriarchy in a place where none of the characters were really affected by it, and they failed not only because they did a bad job of conveying the message but also because they managed to make the starring man the most loveable character in the entire movie.
Almost every man introduced in Legally Blonde is absolute trash, from Warner to the Harvard Law admissions team to Professor Callahan. Elle is dumped by Warner for being herself, admitted into Harvard by an admissions team who cares more about her body than her accomplishments, and is almost sexually assaulted by her Professor when she thought that he had only taken a liking to her because of how well she was doing in his class. There’s also Paulette’s ex-husband, who makes her feel like crap about herself after he cheated on her, and Elle’s dad (and to be fair, her mom, too), who discourages her from applying to law school because she isn’t “serious” enough.
Despite this, Elle perseveres. She still wins her court case, despite the fact that Callahan didn’t believe in her and thought that she was just a pretty face for him to prey on. She doesn’t take Warner back, even though he tries to apologize after treating her like crap because he views women as arm pieces to make him look good. She helps Paulette get her dog back, she graduates from Harvard Law as the valedictorian, and she becomes a successful lawyer, despite all the toxic patriarchal forces working against her.
Barbie, on the other hand, makes the whole movie about Ken discovering patriarchy and somehow being able to turn all of the Barbies into bikini-wearing bimbos—and then getting a redemption arc, learning that he’s his own person without Stereotypical Barbie—and then still trying to get with Stereotypical Barbie at the end of the movie while having this realization. There’s something suspicious about Ken getting his own original song while Barbie doesn’t. There’s something suspicious about the fact that the most popular merch that the movie is selling is the ‘I am Kenough’ hoodie.
The Barbie movie tried very hard to weave in patriarchy in a place where none of the characters were really affected by it, and they failed not only because they did a bad job of conveying the message but also because they managed to make the starring man the most loveable character in the entire movie.
4. Legally Blonde is actually relevant to populations outside of well-off straight white women, while Barbie is not
I’m not going to say that Legally Blonde, a movie made about a cis, straight, white, blonde woman in 2001, is “up there” in terms of diversity. However, it’s more diverse than the Barbie movie, which was made in 2023, and that’s saying something. While Legally Blonde definitely skimped on the POC cast and characters, they actually addressed queer people (Enid) and struggling people (Paulette lived in a trailer park), showing that not everybody is the “standard,” even if they only did so a couple of times.
The Barbie movie has one plus-size character. Their Weird Barbie is incredibly queer coded and even played by a queer actress. Their POC cast was limited, and even though the main characters from the real world are living in the expensive city of LA, they seem to be pretty well off. Barbie lacks not only POC representation, but socioeconomic representation as well.
Additionally, Legally Blonde’s message resonates with more than just white women. Women of color can relate to the message of being judged by looks more than anything else. Having to look attractive but professional, being judged for certain hairstyles (are we all making the connection between the judgment of blondes and black women with locs?), and being judged for different style choices—these ideas have broad resonance. Although this movie was Eurocentric in its casting and storytelling, the message wasn’t limited to white women. Barbie failed at this, creating an overly simplistic view of womanhood without addressing the disparities in experiences between women of different backgrounds, despite the fact that they had more diverse casting than Legally Blonde.
I’m not going to say that Legally Blonde, a movie made about a cis, straight, white, blonde woman in 2001, is “up there” in terms of diversity. However, it’s more diverse than the Barbie movie, which was made in 2023, and that’s saying something. While Legally Blonde definitely skimped on the POC cast and characters, they actually addressed queer people (Enid) and struggling people (Paulette lived in a trailer park), showing that not everybody is the “standard,” even if they only did so a couple of times.
The Barbie movie has one plus-size character. Their Weird Barbie is incredibly queer coded and even played by a queer actress. Their POC cast was limited, and even though the main characters from the real world are living in the expensive city of LA, they seem to be pretty well off. Barbie lacks not only POC representation, but socioeconomic representation as well.
Additionally, Legally Blonde’s message resonates with more than just white women. Women of color can relate to the message of being judged by looks more than anything else. Having to look attractive but professional, being judged for certain hairstyles (are we all making the connection between the judgment of blondes and black women with locs?), and being judged for different style choices—these ideas have broad resonance. Although this movie was Eurocentric in its casting and storytelling, the message wasn’t limited to white women. Barbie failed at this, creating an overly simplistic view of womanhood without addressing the disparities in experiences between women of different backgrounds, despite the fact that they had more diverse casting than Legally Blonde.
5. Elle Woods achieves several big accomplishments at the end of her movie, while stereotypical Barbie goes to the gynecologist
At the end of her movie, Elle Woods solves a huge case, graduates from Harvard as the valedictorian, gets engaged (not to Warner, thank god), and, most importantly, proves her haters wrong. By contrast, Stereotypical Barbie goes to the real world with no skills or credentials and visits the vagina doctor. And that’s her ending. That’s sad.
Barbie did a really bad job at giving Stereotypical Barbie any real purpose in this movie, and it shows at the end when the only real thing she achieves is the ability to say that she left Barbieland. Elle Woods was a hard-working character who pushed through countless obstacles in order to succeed, and it paid off at the end of her movie.
At the end of her movie, Elle Woods solves a huge case, graduates from Harvard as the valedictorian, gets engaged (not to Warner, thank god), and, most importantly, proves her haters wrong. By contrast, Stereotypical Barbie goes to the real world with no skills or credentials and visits the vagina doctor. And that’s her ending. That’s sad.
Barbie did a really bad job at giving Stereotypical Barbie any real purpose in this movie, and it shows at the end when the only real thing she achieves is the ability to say that she left Barbieland. Elle Woods was a hard-working character who pushed through countless obstacles in order to succeed, and it paid off at the end of her movie.
So what can we take away from this?
Other than, hopefully, the irrepressible desire to go stream Legally Blonde right now? I suppose just the knowledge that today’s version of feminism is at the bare minimum, and so is the filmmaking. If you want to make a good movie with a truly moving message, you have to be willing to push boundaries at the risk of being “canceled.” Because let’s face it: if you’re not willing to run the risk of strangers being critical of your movie on the internet in order to portray a powerful theme, you’re not passionate enough about that theme to be making a movie about it in the first place. Maybe, just maybe, if the makers of Barbie took some notes from Elle Woods, they would’ve made a movie that was more impactful and more real for their viewers.
Other than, hopefully, the irrepressible desire to go stream Legally Blonde right now? I suppose just the knowledge that today’s version of feminism is at the bare minimum, and so is the filmmaking. If you want to make a good movie with a truly moving message, you have to be willing to push boundaries at the risk of being “canceled.” Because let’s face it: if you’re not willing to run the risk of strangers being critical of your movie on the internet in order to portray a powerful theme, you’re not passionate enough about that theme to be making a movie about it in the first place. Maybe, just maybe, if the makers of Barbie took some notes from Elle Woods, they would’ve made a movie that was more impactful and more real for their viewers.
Trinity Jones
