I got the idea for making the above illustration from this article in RawStory: Trump’s lawyers were ‘surprised’ fraud trial wasn’t like Legally Blonde: Legal expert.

“Today… was a bit like watching ‘Legally Blonde,’ MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin told Chris Hayes on his show. 

She cited a critical denouement at the end of the film where the judge cuts short a trial after damning testimony. 

“For our viewers who know this movie well, there’s a moment that the end of the movie where a witness on the stand breaks down and admits to a crime, and the judge essentially rules the trial over, because Elle Woods’ client is ‘not guilty!’”

Elle Woods, portrayed by Reese Witherspoon, is the main character in the film who takes her sorority past to master the law and win a case in court.

RawStory

Thinking of the Elle Woods journey from stereotyical sorority girl to Havard Law and her becoming a formidibale defense attorney I thought of Barbie. I wasnt the only one:

LAURA EVANS, writing on the website CBR, had the same thought.

Barbie is the movie of the moment, being one of the biggest box office films to star a blonde, hyper-feminine girl and explore the virtues and powers of femininity on-screen. Generally speaking, hyper-feminine heroes on-screen have not typically been viewed as strong. The trailblazer in that regard was Legally Blonde, the Oscar-nominated classic starring Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods. The comparisons between Elle and Barbie have been made for some time (Elle is cat-called “Barbie” at one point in the film), but the 2023 film takes what Legally Blonde started and takes it all one step further.

Elle Woods was a trailblazer in showing that a woman could be both girly and successful; girliness did not have to be a joke or a sign of weakness. She owned her femininity while discovering a great new career in law school by dressing girly and valuing the things stereotyped as “traditionally feminine,” such as her lady friends, emotional expression and dating. But while all of this was great in terms of showcasing the virtues of femininity, the film was still a product of its time and only went so far with its feminine heroine.

Alina Habba is one of Trump’s current lawyers:

He might do better trading her in for Lawyer Barbie:

Addendum: There will be a Legally Blonde 3. For fans of Legally Blonde, and I am one of them, I liked Legally Blonde 2 which was set in Washington where she took it upon herself to be the “voice for those who can’t speak” and to outlaw animal testing. I still thought the original was much better. Reese Witherspoon will be back for Legally Blond 3 (read article).

As for Reese Witherspoon actually defending Trump he’s out of luck. She only played a lawyer in the movies. I don’t doubt that she could have gone to Harvard Law, after all she attended Stanford University as an English literature major, but left prior to completing her studies to pursue an acting career.

Today’s other post: Would you like to be the therapist who raised a red or yellow flag to stop someone like Robert Card from buying a firearm?

Archive of Hal Brown’s Stressline posts.