Legally Blonde (5 Stars)

I decided to watch this film today after discussing it with a friend. If you're reading this, you know who you are. I'm always willing to take suggestions from friends on what to watch next. That doesn't mean I'll automatically watch whatever's suggested, but I'll seriously consider it. In this case, I was glad of the suggestion. It's been almost 10 years since I last watched it, and I gave it five stars at the time, so why have I waited so long?

I shoved the film into my Blu-ray player, sat back in my comfy armchair, waited... and what happened?

"Disc cannot be played. Wrong region"

That is absolutely disgusting! I never knew the disc was locked to Region A, because my last Blu-ray player, which I bought in England, was multi-regional. The 4K player that I bought last Bonfire Day only plays Region B discs. Maybe I can recode it to multi-regional, but that's not the point. Region-locked DVDs are awful. Region-locked Blu-rays are even worse. I understand why the region thing was invented. It was so that cheap discs in one country couldn't compete with expensive releases of the same film in other countries. That's silly. International postage is so expensive that it would have to be a very big price difference to make it cheaper to buy abroad. Apart from that, why lock a disc to Region A (America) if it's not planned to release the film in Europe?

In this case, I bought the American release of "Legally Blonde" for the simple reason that it's only available on DVD in Europe. Oh! They never thought of that, did they? Region-locked discs are an abomination. The region code on "Legally Blonde" is telling me I'm only allowed to watch the film on DVD, not Blu-ray. That's something I don't accept.

Okay, I could still watch the film in my computer, because I have software that removes the region code. I'm still angry though. I want to punish the company that released the Blu-ray. I'm opposed to film piracy, but I'd like to distribute this film in full HD just to tell them that if they insist on region locking their films they'll lose money. I'm probably too late though. It's an old (-ish) film, released in 2001, so the pirates are probably already distributing the film. That's a shame.

After that rant I hardly have any energy to describe the film itself, but I'll do my best.

Elle Woods is a student at the City University of Los Angeles, studying fashion. She has a boyfriend from a rich, influential family. He boasts that his family has had five generations of senators. He dumps her, because he says he has to think of his image. If he wants to become a senator, he needs a respectable wife.

This inspires her to apply for Harvard Law School to win him back. She has a 4.0 average and an LSAT of 179. I'm not acquainted with the American education system, but I assume that's something good. She's accepted, and then we have the humorous theme of the whole film. She's a colourful girl in the midst of a drab, grey university. Despite her high intelligence, she walks around campus in bright pink clothes, talking like an air-headed bimbo.

Elle even has the most colourful laptop in the university.

After a bumpy start, Elle's intelligence and hard work pays off. A professor makes her an intern in his law film, and she helps defend a fitness instructor accused of murder. Does she get her boyfriend back? Yes and No. He wants her back, but she no longer considers him good enough for her.

This film is a masterpiece on so many different levels. It can be seen as a chick flick comedy, but it also deals with serious themes. It shows that women can be both beautiful and intelligent. They can compete in a men's world and come out on top. It's a film that's empowering for women, and not just aspiring lawyers.

Success Rate:  + 5.9

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