David's Class - Summer 2013 - WeeK 3: LEGALLY BLONDE

[DavidC]

Think about the movie we watched, LEGALLY BLONDE and think about the protagonist, ELLE WOODS. Now think about how ELLE WOODS changes from the "beginning" to the "end" of the movie. What is one aspect of ELLE's character/personality -- one characteristic -- that is different at the "end" of the movie from the "beginning"? How do the filmmakers depict that change?

Briefly describe one scene in the first part of the film that establishes the characteristic for the "beginning," and then briefly describe one scene in the last part of the film that shows that characteristic has changed for the "end".

Finally, both CARS and LEGALLY BLONDE are "coming-of-age" stories. That is, they are both stories in which the main character matures from a state of innocence and relative weakness to a state of knowledge and relative strength: they grow up. The coming-of-age story is one of the most common story arcs across all cultures. Please think of one coming-of-age story from your culture that you have liked, give its title and briefly describe it (in one or two sentences.)

[jundong1994]

Hi David.
At first Elle Woods was full of vanity because she spent her time and money to decorate her.
But in the end, she bacame considerate. She helped people around her to overcome their adversity.
From the first scene, Elle Woods just liked party and had interest in beauty. She played with her girlfriends just like her.
Through the movie she became a successful law student. She won the case with her own knowledge. And she found true love.
In my country, Korea, there is an old story about ancient country, Goguryeo, and its founder, Ju-mong.
Many enemy was around him, but he overcame the adversity and became a king.

HI JUNDONG,

THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENT TO GET THE DISCUSSION ROLLING!

I THINK IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU SEE ELLE AS BECOMING MORE "CONSIDERATE" THROUGH THE COURSE OF HER JOURNEY. MOST STUDENTS IDENTIFY HER CHANGE IN TERMS OF STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE, BUT IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT HER PERCEPTIONS OF OTHERS CHANGES AS WELL.

YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN AN EXAMPLE OF A SPECIFIC SCENE (AND DESCRIBED IT IN TERMS OF ACTION) THAT ILLUSTRATES HER LEARNING AND BECOMING MORE CONSIDERATE. THIS IS THE GOAL WE'RE WORKING TOWARD, AND WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE IN YOUR PRESENTATION.

IF YOU'RE NOT SURE WHAT I'M SAYING, DON'T WORRY. WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT MORE IN CLASS.

SEE YOU THEN!

DAVID

[Mazen]

HELLO everybody,
Legally blond is one of the movies that try to eliminate some ideas which is created by societies. Elle wood represents this category of people who is described by stupidity and just concern about their appearance . From my perspective, people are the same regardless the little differences in their intelligence, however, this is not going to categorize people or put them in different levels and judge all this category by this attribute. I think this is not fair and the Legally Blonde proved that with assertiveness and resolve nothing impossible for anybody in the world whatever he is blond, white or black. Elle Woods succeeded in performance of his role, I like her act.
thnx

[SauloPaixao]

HI guys.
At the firt part of the movie Elle represent the stereotype of the "Valley Girl. A girl very superficial who only cares about appearance and others trivial things. For example, at the beginning part there is a scene that Elle's only concern is about look good for her date with his boyfriend. When his boyfriend dumps her she started to change to impress her boyfriend. When she started to go to Havard, she change. She started to see people personalities besides only what they look like. There is a scene that she helps a nerd that is trying to go on a date with a girl, and she come and tries to make him look cool for them.

[Khaled1988]

Hi everybody.
I agree with Saulopiaxao "A girl very superficial who only cares about appearance and others trivial things" because at the beginning of movie she was interesed in a make-up. However, what his boyfriend said about her she was not serious and he looked for a serious girl disappoints her. Therefore, she insists to change her personality, and she attends Harved University to show her ex-boyfriend how she is serious and smart. At the end of movie, she changes others views about blond girls, she graduates with the high ranking. His ex-boyfriend tries to come back to her but she refuses.

[Yumi]

Hello! Everybody!

This is Yumi.
At first, Elle was just fashionable girl. She had only interested in beauty, boyfriend and fashion.
For instance, she was the leador of solocity in her university. However, in the end, she became decent adult person.
I was really impressed the scene that she kept promise with her criant. She can earn reliability from people around her.
I think reliability is one of the biggest keyword. Also, she came to understand where is her true love. She earned the power to
know person! It is the surprising changes.


Yumi

[Faris]

HI, I LIKED THE MOVIE AND THE WAY THE GIRL'S PERSPECTIVE TOWARD LIFE CHANGED.
SHE WAS INTERESTED IN TRIVIAL TINGS BUT IN THE END TURNED TO BE INTERESTED IN REAL THINGS "KNOWLEDGE"
THROUGH PATIENCE AND HARD WORK, SHE GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED,

[tinghsuan]

Hi everyone!!!

At the start of the movie, Elle Woods was a girl who cared only about her appearance. All she wanted was married her boyfriend. Even when her boyfriend dumped her, the only thing she wanted to do was get her ex-boyfriend back. However, at the end, she learned to do the best for herself, and not doing something just because of others. Like in the movie, she finally got rid of her ex-boyfriend and became the best student in her classes. She proved her ability in becoming a great lawyer and broke the stereotype that people used to have on blonde girls.

I agree with Jungdong, the idea of “considerate”. At the middle of the movie, she helped the woman in the shop to win her dog back, and she also help her classmate to get a date with the girls. Moreover, she always believes in people and keeps her promise. Just like the way she believe in her client and kept her promise not to tell the truth of where she went. I think she really have a good personality.

[Fatma.Baroun]

Hi everyone,

I've seen this movie at least 3 times until now and i never get bored from it.
In the biggening of the movie Elle Woods cared only for fashion, her sorority, and boyfriend.
When her boyfriend broke up with her, bwcause he thinks she's not smart, she decided to go to the same university he went to.
Here was her first step of changing.
At the end of the movie she takes a hard case and is able to solve it and become a legal lawyer.
She was able to proof that she's not all look, and that she's smart.
And she was happy and really prowed of herself.

Hope you enjoyed the movie! ^^

[annewu]

Hello guys,

At the beginning of the movie, all we can see is the director showing us how Elle dress, and react w/ her friends.
Because of the stereotype to "blond", everyone will think that she is dumb and cares nothing but fashion.
However, in my opinion, Elle is a smart, sweet and kind girl.
And it's truly impressive that only b/c she's madly in love w/ her ex so that she worked so hard to get into Harvard Law school.
At the end of the movie, she did the graduation speech and shows that she changed her attitude toward life.