In 2001, rising actor Reese Witherspoon cemented her star status when she portrayed the memorable Elle Woods in the film, “Legally Blonde,” based on a novel by Amanda Brown of the same woods. After reprising her role in a 2003 sequel, Laurence O’Keefe, Neil Benjamin, and Heather Hach took the production to Broadway in 2007 for a major production.
Taking much of the plot from the film, the production tells the story of Elle Woods, an attractive, blonde sorority president, who abandons her aspirations of becoming a fashion designer to follow her boyfriend to Harvard Law School and the hijinks ensue. One of the running themes of the story is that nobody believes Elle Woods will be capable of succeeding at Harvard (aside from Emmett, the teacher’s assistant), based primarily on the way she looks and dresses. This includes Vivian, a snobby, overachieving student and Elle’s romantic competition. This changes in the penultimate song of the show, “Legally Blonde Remix,” as Vivian encourages Elle singing, “Maybe Warner [just] saw a blonde…but I see a woman who doesn’t have to. I used to pray for the day you’d leave, swore up and down you would not belong. But when I am wrong I say I’m wrong and I was wrong about you. So listen up! I see no end to what you’ll achieve…”
You’re probably familiar with the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but the lesson is taught repeatedly throughout the biblical narrative, from Jacob receiving a blessing from God and being renamed Israel, all the way through to the many tax collectors and questionable women that Jesus often associated, like Matthew and Zacchaeus to Mary Magdalene and the Woman at the Well. When Samuel questioned whether or not a scrawny shepherd boy named David, the youngest of his family, could really be the next King of Israel, God replied, ““Have no regard for his appearance or stature, because I haven’t selected him. God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the Lord sees into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Dear God, give us eyes to see others the way you see them, looking within instead of relying only on outward appearance, and remembering that all people have been created in your good divine image. Amen.
the harlequin complex 