Awesome / Legally Blonde

The Film

• The montage that follows the "costume" party when Elle finally realized that Warner was never going to take her seriously. She decides to focus on her studies as a law student while retaining her own personality.
  I'll show you how valuable Elle Woods can be!
• The whole final cross-examination when Elle is put in charge of representing Brooke. The witness, Chutney Windham (daughter of the man who was killed) claimed that Brooke killed her father while she was in the shower.
  Elle: Miss Windham, what had you done earlier that day?
  Chutney Windham: I got up, got a latte, went to the gym, got a perm and came home.
  Elle: [confused] Where you got in the shower?
  The Honorable Marina R. Bickford: I believe the witness has made it clear that she was in the shower.
  [Courtroom audience laughs]
  Elle: Yes, your Honor. [a sudden brainstorm comes over Elle] Um, Miss Windham, had you ever gotten a perm before?
  Chutney Windham: Yes.
  Elle: How many would you say?
  Chutney Windham: Two a year since I was 12. You do the math.
  Elle: You know, a girl in my sorority, Tracy Marcinco, got a perm once. We all tried to talk her out of it. Curls weren't a good look for her. She didn't have your bone structure. But thankfully, that same day, she entered the Theta Delta Phi wet t-shirt contest where she was completely hosed down from head to toe...
  DA Joyce Rafferty: Objection! Why is this relevant?
  Elle: I have a point, I promise.
  The Honorable Marina R. Bickford: Then make it.
  Elle: Yes, ma'am. Um, Chutney, why is it that Tracy Marcinco's curls were ruined when she got hosed down?
  Chutney Windham: Because they got wet.
  Elle: Exactly. [With sudden steel in her voice] Because isn't it the first cardinal rule of perm maintenance that you're forbidden to wet your hair for at least 24 hours after getting a perm at the risk of deactivating the ammonium thioglycolate?
  Chutney Windham: [stuttering] Yes...
  Elle: And wouldn't somebody who's had, say, 30 perms before in their life be well aware of this rule? And if in fact you weren't washing your hair, as I suspect you weren't because your curls are still intact, wouldn't you have heard the gunshot? And if in fact you had heard the gunshot, Brooke Windham wouldn't have had time to hide the gun before you got downstairs, which would mean that you would have had to have found Mrs. Windham with a gun in her hand to make your story plausible. Isn't that right?
  Chutney Windham: She's my age! Did she tell you that?! How would you feel if your father married someone who was your age?!
  Elle: You, however, had time to hide the gun, didn't you, Chutney? After you shot your father.
  Chutney Windham: [in tears] I didn't mean to shoot him! [points at Brooke] I thought it was you walking through the door!
  [Courtroom audience gasps]
  The Honorable Marina R. Bickford: [bangs her gavel] Order, order! Order!
  Elle: Oh my God.
  Brooke: Oh my God.
  The Honorable Marina R. Bickford: Oh, my God. Bailiff, take the witness into custody, where she will be charged for the murder of Heyworth Windham. In the matter of the state versus Brooke Windham, this case is dismissed. Mrs. Windham, you're free to go.
  Brooke: [hugging Elle] Thank you!
  • What's even more awesome? At the very start of the film, Harvard Law's acceptance committee consider her major in fashion to be largely fluff that is meaningless outside of being a degree. How does she win the case? An extremely obscure fashion tip that practically no-one in the courtroom even thought would be relevant, but Elle knew intimately due to that same "fluff".
    • Even better, beyond simply knowing not to wash hair after a perm, Elle actually knows the chemistry behind it.
  • A subtle part of that scene is the "Wait, what?" expression on the DA's face when Elle starts her Perry Mason routine. You can see the pieces start to fall into place for her, and she's stunned that this "Law School Barbie" managed to crack this. Especially sweet given her noticeable "Ugh, this dumb bimbo" eye-roll when Elle initially asked for clarification about Chutney's shower.
  • When Elle starts her speech, the camera cuts to her two friends from the sorority who have come to support her. While the rest of the court is laughing at Elle, they've realized that she spotted the thread and are giddily waiting for her to expose the real killer.
  • Another subtle part; when Elle questions her on how many perms she's had in her life, Chutney responds with "Two a year since I was twelve. You do the math." in a rather snide, condescending tone. When demolishing her testimony/alibi, Elle makes a point of noting that Chutney has had 30 perms. Looks like someone did the math in her head...
• Vivian has invited Elle to a party, telling her it was a costume party. Elle shows up as a Playboy Bunny... and everyone else is dressed normally.
  Vivian: Nice outfit.
  Elle: Oh, I like your outfit too. Except when I dress up as a frigid bitch? I try not to look so constipated.
• Paulette when she stuck it to her ex-husband.
  Paulette: I'm taking the dog, DUMBASS!
• At the end of the movie, when Warner decides he wants to get back with Elle, and she shoots him down awesomely:
  Elle: If I'm going to be a partner in a law firm by the time I'm thirty, I need a boyfriend who isn't a total bonehead.
  • Even more awesome when they reveal at the end Vivian also dumped him and he got no honors and no job offers. After him ridiculing Elle that she was incapable of being serious, he proved that he was the one who could not stand on his own.
• When Elle delivers a likely unintentional Take That! to Warner when she first shows up at Harvard:
  Warner: You got into Harvard Law?
  Elle: What, like, it's hard?
  • Especially awesome because he assumes that she's stupid, yet she found it so easy to get into Harvard Law that she doesn't even think it's hard. Warner didn't get in the first time he applied.
• Elle's 179 out of 180 on the LSAT definitely qualifies for this.
  • For clarification, this means that only one out of every thousand people taking the LSAT would have gotten a better score than her.
• Professor Stromwell's words to Elle when she is about to quit after Callahan came onto her are this and heartwarming.
  Stromwell: If you're going to let one stupid prick ruin your life, you're not the girl I thought you were.
• In Mr. Callahan's class, Elle is asked what type of client she would like to represent, malum in se or malum prohibitum. She answers she'd rather have an innocent client and the class laughs her off and Vivian then states she would like to represent a malum prohibitum which means one who committed a minor infraction as opposed to a serious crime. Elle then says she would rather represent a dangerous client and while giving Vivian a Death Glare says "Because I'm not afraid of a challenge." At this point you know Elle's Character Development is truly starting.
• There's also Elle's very classy Shut Up, Hannibal! to Enid after she's rejected from their study group.
  Enid: Hey, maybe there's like a sorority you could like join instead like.
  Elle: If you had come to a rush party, I would have been nice to you.
  Enid: Would that be before you voted against me and called me a dyke behind my back?
  Elle: I don't use that word. You must have heard it from Vivian.
  Vivian has been smirking at this, and now looks very put out.
• In the first film, the level of Delta Nu sorority sisters is largely downplayed, except for the fact Brooke is a member of the sorority. In the second film, it's revealed quite how large the support base of said sorority is... and it is AWESOME.
  • First, Elle spots that Senator Hauser wears a Delta Nu ring and uses the connection to finally convince the Senator to support her on Bruiser's Bill. Hauser quickly becomes one of Elle's biggest allies after learning about they're sorority sisters.
  • When things look dire Elle activates the Delta Nu phone tree which spans the entire country. In the space of roughly a day they arrange the Million Dog March to promote the bill.
• Most of the soundtrack is pretty awesome, but "Watch Me Shine" is probably the belle of the ball (it's playing during the montage at the top of this page).

The Musical

• Most characters get at least one.
• Elle's Establishing Character Moment, wherein she outsmarts a salesgirl who assumes that Elle is a Dumb Blonde and tries to swindle her into buying the previous year's dress for an overly expensive price.
  Elle: It may be "perfect for a blonde"
  But I'm not that blonde.
• This exchange Elle shows up as a Playboy Bunny in what she thought was a costume party, demonstrating her knowledge of historical feminists in the process:
  Vivian: Run home Elle. And change out of your skank costume.
  Elle: Oh, is that what you see, Vivienne? How unfortunate because I'm Gloria Steinem circa 1963, researching for her feminist manifesto "I Was a Playboy Bunny." Are you actually calling Gloria Steinem a skank?
• The You, Get Me Coffee moment works for Callahan and is a pretty great way to point out that Warner's done nothing to help the case, even if Callahan dethrones himself the next minute. Michael Rupert's venomous delivery is pure gold.
  Warner: (nervously laughs) But we're drinking champagne...
  Callahan: Splenda and skim.
• The "Legally Blonde" reprise for Vivian. Vivian has been one of Elle's biggest antagonists and then turns into one of her strongest allies.
  Elle: All this time I thought I was proving myself and making a difference, but it turns out I'm just one big blonde joke and that's all everybody's ever gonna see.
  Vivian: That's not what I see.
  • Also, the song itself for the actress playing Vivian: the character doesn't sing many solo lines up until this part, and then this song happens and it's like an epic belting moment surprising the audience.
    • Kate Shindle belted a high C at the final show of the Broadway production. To emphasize: the high C note two octaves above middle C that many have trouble singing classically, let alone belting it with perfect clarity. There's a video. It's mindblowing.
• "Bend and Snap" for Paulette and the sorority sisters, where Paulette gets a much-needed confidence boost and the Greek Chorus turn out to be plot-critical.
• The clothes change on "Legally Blonde" for Elle, where she cements that she's going back to law school, but doesn't have to sacrifice her personality to succeed.
• "Take It Like A Man" for Emmett.
  • Emmett gets two Moments of Awesome. His second is right after Callahan, recently fired by Brooke, states that Elle can't represent Brooke without a licensed attorney to supervise, and that without him, she can't. Emmett retorts that he's licensed and he'll gladly supervise.
    Callahan: Like hell you will. You work for me, remember?
    Emmett: No. I work for myself. (venomously) And I don't have to hit on interns, Professor.
  • Emmett casually tricking Nikos into revealing that he's gay gets at least an honorable mention.
  • Offscreen one for Emmett; in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, Paulette mentions that he was hired by Callahan's wife to handle their divorce. One can only imagine that Callahan was either stuck representing himself and completely grasping at straws, or quite possibly saddled with some hack from Legal Aide. Either way, it's a satisfying conclusion for him.
• Vivian has been a complete bitch to Elle all this time... until, after Elle's turned the trial around and saved the case, she witnesses Callahan kissing Elle, and Elle slapping him in response, which results in her getting fired. Warner, who only witnessed the kiss, but not the slap, makes a snide comment about Elle earning the internship, at which point Vivian promptly tells him to shut up and leaves.
  • Sanne Mieloo snarls at Warner to shut up, startling for her character.
  • A special mention needs to be given to Kate Shindle's delivery of the line too. The cold, matter-of-fact way she says it, tinged with the slightest bit of vulnerability, is palpable and painful.
• After Brooke fires Callahan:
  Callahan: Enjoy jail, Mrs. Windham.
  Brooke: [not looking up from what she's doing or even pretending to be concerned] Okay, bye!

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