Blonde Ambition

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. Reese
Witherspoon stars in the new comedy "Legally Blonde" as
Elle Woods, a beautiful, fashion savvy sorority president turned
Harvard Law student.

By Emilia Hwang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The summer of girl power is well under way with estrogen-driven
movies ready to kick things up a notch. Already, Angelina Jolie has
caused quite a scene busting it up as Lara Croft in “Tomb
Raider.” In “Crazy/Beautiful,” Kirsten Dunst
plays an aggressive high school student who’s ready to get it
on. And don’t forget Dr. Aki Ross, the computer-generated
brunette in “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” who
battles aliens to defend the world.

Joining the ranks of these larger-than-life female heroines is
Reese Witherspoon (“Election,”
“Pleasantville”). She’s smart, funny and dressed
to kill in her latest film “Legally Blonde,” where she
plays Elle Woods, a sorority girl turned law student.

Armed with a degree in fashion merchandising and a big heart,
she takes Harvard Law School by storm. She rises above
people’s expectations of her and overturns common stigmas of
all blonde women.

“The movie dispels all those ideas,” said
Witherspoon at a Los Angeles press junket.

Though she’s dressed in her character’s signature
color, pink, it’s hard to imagine anyone confusing
Witherspoon for a dumb blonde ““ but that’s not to say
that the accomplished actor hasn’t struggled with
stereotypes.

Though she hasn’t experienced much blond discrimination,
the Tennessee native was told early on in her acting career to lose
her accent.

“I’ve had to deal with stereotypes from just being
Southern,” Witherspoon said. “People think
automatically that if you have a Southern accent that you must have
seven children and live on a farm.”

Witherspoon has since learned to tone down her Southern
mannerisms while overcoming the same close-minded adversaries that
her “Legally Blonde” character encounters.

In the film, Elle learns the hard way that blondes don’t
always have more fun. After her Harvard-bound boyfriend dumps her
for being too blonde, she follows him across the country in hopes
of winning him back.

She is admitted to Harvard Law School (many of the scenes were
filmed at UCLA) only to find out that her ex has found a more
suitable marrying type in the brunette Vivian Kensington (Selma
Blair).

To make things worse, Vivian is on a jealous rampage to sabotage
Elle’s life.

Blair, who went to boarding school in Michigan, admitted that
she knew plenty of treacherous pearl-wearing girls like Vivian.

“We never had an Elle Woods come to our school to test out
just how nasty they might have been,” she said.

Blair also confided that she was born blonde, although she grew
into a natural brunette.

“My mom still thinks of me as a blonde and she’s
shocked every time she sees me,” Blair said.
“She’s like, “˜When are you going to stop putting
that shoe polish on your hair?’ She definitely thinks blondes
are the way to go and I disappoint her every time she sees
me.”

Though it’s uncertain whether or not mom knows best, Blair
thinks that people perceived her as a little less threatening when
she was a blonde.

“I love being a brunette and I love blondes ““
I’m really drawn to the light,” she said. “But I
think people think of me as much more dramatic and a little scary
with dark hair.”

With “Legally Blonde” inevitably likened to the 1995
flick “Clueless,” both Witherspoon and Blair
don’t seem to mind comparisons to the teen-culture
classic.

“That really kicked off the whole teen thing of watching a
young girl be sexy and funny,” Blair said.

Like Alicia Silverstone’s character Cher, Elle teaches
audiences to look beyond her pretty-in-pink exterior.

Both girls use their hearts and their heads to find empowerment
while still remaining sexy and sweet.

Nevertheless, Witherspoon said that Elle’s story is still
very different from Cher’s.

“It’s about a woman not needing a relationship (and)
finding herself without the confines of other people’s
judgments,” she said.

If that theme sounds familiar, it’s because the film was
written by Karen McChullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (the team behind
“10 Things I Hate About You”). Fluent in teen speak,
the two took Australian director Robert Luketic on a tour of
Elle’s world, which included hanging out at Barney’s
and learning sorority rituals.

“I think you have to approach every character with a
certain amount of intelligence,” Witherspoon said.

“It’s important to do your research and really put
yourself in that person’s shoes because everyone wants to be
represented fairly and realistically.”

For Witherspoon, that meant literally putting on Elle’s
high-heels day after day, a heroic task that left the actor with a
big podiatrist bill. But it’s Witherspoon’s dedication
to her craft that has earned her the respect of co-stars like
Holland Taylor (“The Practice”).

“What she has along with a lot of other comedians like
Judy Holliday and Lucille Ball is that these women who play ditsy
blondes and silly women usually have IQs off the charts,”
said Taylor, who plays Elle’s hard-hitting professor.
“Most people who are good comedic actors are very smart
people. Comedy is much harder than just straight acting.

“She’s a very smart comedian and she knows what
she’s doing,” Taylor continued. “It’s her
intelligence that allows her to play this charm, this innocence,
this sweetness, this seeming brainlessness.”

At 25, Witherspoon already has an inspiring film career (which
includes her own production company), a promising Hollywood
marriage (with actor Ryan Phillipe who starred opposite her in
“Cruel Intentions”), a pet chihuahua named Cheech and a
lovely 2-year-old daughter.

Like her on-screen character who will do anything for the love
of her life, Witherspoon knows what it’s like to be bitten by
the love bug.

“When I met Ryan ““ I’d only known him for a
month and talked to him on the telephone ““ I flew across the
country to go see him,” she said. “The second I stepped
off the plane, I thought, “˜What the heck did I just
do?’ but it all turned out for the best.”

Taking a chance proves to be fruitful for Elle as well, who
remains true to her roots while discovering her passions and
realizing her goals.

“I love the spirit of the film,” Witherspoon said.
“It’s the kind of movie that you go and you laugh but
you realize at the end you kind of feel better about yourself. You
learn a little something.”