'Legally Blonde' At 25
This week’s writing
Elle is the new Amazon Prime prequel series to the classic 2001 film Legally Blonde, and it imagines a scenario where Elle Woods attends high school in 1995 Seattle. Presumably, she later suffers a traumatic brain injury resulting in retrograde amnesia, so the she completely forgets this experience in time for the original movie. (They probably also scrub R2-D2 and C-3PO’s memories in the final episode.)
However, prequels are how corporations leverage a popular intellectual property. It’s a testament to Legally Blonde that studios are still panning for gold there. The “franchise,” as Hollywood likes to say, began with the 2001 novel by Amanda Brown — herself a blonde who’d attended Stanford Law School but was obsessed with fashion and beauty magazines. This put her in conflict with many of her peers, and since conflict is the source of all great fiction, Brown decided to adapt letters she’d written to her parents about her law school experience into a novel. She took a community college writing course and shopped around her manuscript — unsuccessfully until she resubmitted it in pink, which caught the attention of an agent. Maybe I should write more scripts in pink.
When producer Marc Platt received Brown’s unpublished manuscript, he recruited writing partners Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith (10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted, The House Bunny) who adapted Brown’s book for the big screen. Then first time feature film director Robert Luketic signed on to the project: “I had been reading scripts for two years, not finding anything I could put my own personal mark on, until Legally Blonde came around,” he said.
The script’s first draft wasn’t that impressive, more in line with the studio’s desires for what Luketic described as “more wet T-shirts and boobs than it actually turned out to be.” There was no murder trial initially and the film ended with Elle dating a professor. It was very American Pie. McCullah and Smith vastly altered the plot and added new characters, including Jennifer Coolidge’s Paulette.
I remember seeing and very much enjoying Legally Blonde during the summer of 2001. Two years after playing a drastically different character in Election, Reese Witherspoon delivered an astounding comedic performance that also showed depth and complexity. Elle Woods defied the silly blonde stereotype and rejected 1990s-era hipster nihilism. She was confident enough in herself to maintain her earnestness and open appreciation for life. Both in college and in New York, I encountered a lot of the too-cool-for-school types who confused cynicism with sophistication. In Legally Blonde, Elle endures and overcomes the sneering contempt from people who mistakenly believe they are enlightened but are instead intellectual and cultural bigots. This conflict remains relevant.
Legally Blonde inspired a 2003 sequel with a great title (Red, White & Blonde) and an unsuccessful 2007 Broadway musical starring Laura Bell Bundy, who would later star in the unsuccessful 2025 Broadway musical version of Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion. It’s a shame, because I personally find Bundy delightful. It’s just possible that neither Reese Witherspoon nor Elle Woods can be easily reproduced.
(Oh, and the brilliant Alanna Ubach is her usual scene-stealing self as Elle’s friend Serena. Watch some highlights below.)
Summer has arrived, even if the days are now slowly getting shorter again. I’m celebrating with a special summer subscription sale — 40 percent off the usual annual paid subscriber rate. That’s just $30 a year. Thanks to all who have upgraded to paid subscriber status recently.
This week, I wrote about America’s 250th anniversary celebration and whether the nation can survive Donald Trump.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani suggested New Yorkers set their thermostat at 78 degrees and Republicans lost their minds. You’d think they were Frosty the Snowman.
Reforming the Supreme Court is a noble goal. Expanding the Supreme Court, however, would directly address the threat the current Court poses, which is why Democrats will likely resist doing so.
I felt like writing about Netflix, which I keep forgetting I have. It’s been a long time since The Crown.
That’s it for this week. See you on Monday.