For the past couple weeks throughout my daily routine I have seen several things that I thought would make a good topic for the research paper. Now that I'm sitting here trying to work on it I can't remember a single of those things! Go figure...I thought about sticking with the Dolce & Gabbana advertisements that I am writing my 2nd essay on, but I don't think I will have enough to write. Therefore, I believe I am going to stick with my blog topic from last week - the movie Legally Blonde. I am throwing around the idea of including the sequel, but as of now I am only going to focus on the first.
I think it will be interesting to research this movie and some of the stereotypes and challenges it presents. I secretly love this movie, and now I realize that it is full of the ideas that we've been discussing in this class. I am curious about further analyzing the stereotypes of our society that this movie reinforces. I am not sure on what I'm going to revise yet. I think it would be interesting to revise it that she doesn't get into law school..it would also be interesting to change the ending. The ending, as it is, has Warner wanting Elle back now that she is a successful law student, and she declines - basically throwing his words back at him (from when he broke up with her). What if she took him back? This would just further those stereotypes while at the same time challenges ideas that "men are the providers". I still need to decide this...
My intended audience of this is going to depend on which revision I decide to go with, but will still be aimed mostly at Females. I am worried that the hardest part of this is going to be finding the sources. In doing this research I hope to show just how prevalent stereotypes towards women are in our society.
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I like your idea about doing the movie Legally Blonde. I think it fits right into what we have been talking about this quarter. I like that you say it supports and challenges heteronormativity simultaneously. I am really interested to see what way you will go about this and which characters you will change. I think in the original movie Elle is very much your stereotypical blond, nice body brainless barbie like girl, but she tries to step out of those stereotypes and succeed so people can take her seriously for once. I think she sends out a very good message saying that looks aren't what is most important, yes they are a benefit but not everything in order to be successful, which sends out a very good message to girls.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI think this movie is a great idea for your paper. I first would like to say that while workshopping your paper in class, I was really interested in the D&G ads but I agree, you might not have had too much more to write about in your next essay. The character Elle depicts a lot of things. She is showing that a woman can be feminine and fun while also having brains and being in a serious role. However, I can also see how her character is kind of making fun of women. Especially sorority girls in this movie. You could take a lot of different standpoints on this. I am interested to see where your essay goes. Research-wise, what do you plan to look into? I think revising it will be fun and looking into what would have happened had the movie ended differently. I think if she took Warner back, it would for sure further the stereotypes. It would make her look desperate and feel that she can't go on without him (which is depicted when he first breaks up with her) However, I think that most of the movie is going through "girl power" and raising her up as an independent woman so what would the movie look like without that? I look forward to maybe reading your paper! Good luck. I think it will be great!
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteThis will be an interesting idea for your research paper. I have heard some fascinating analyses of Legally Blonde at conferences, and will be interested to see what you research turns up. I also like that you are thinking not only about how to rewrite the movie so that it challenges heteronormativity more, but also in ways that might reinforce it. The idea of rewriting the ending, where she takes Warner back, would be great. You also might think about what in the film gives Elle power, and what if that were flipped?
To be honest, I think that the research may help you figure out what to focus on in your revision. Just by browsing some of the articles, there's some interesting stuff out there on the film. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
I love this movie too. I think you could even focus in on the girls in the house she lives in. Like I feel like the movie portrays all of the women as very stupid. What if the movie made all of the girls in the house less sexualized and extremely smart? You might also want to focus in on the part where Elle’s teacher hits on her. What if the role of a teacher was played by a woman, and how would the audience respond to that? That would go completely against heteronormativity. You might be able to find some articles about the idea of women in law school and other professional programs. You could talk about how the rates of women in professional programs have gone up. You could also write about Elle’s hair stylist and how she is very dependent on some of the men in her life. What if she was more independent throughout the entire movie? Like did she really need to learn the bend and snap to get the UPS man? I think not. I think you could really make this paper somewhat humorous with the rewrite. I am really excited to see how it turns out.
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