History Film / LegallyBlonde

Based on the semi-autobiographical story of Amanda Brown, this 2001 film starred Creator/ReeseWitherspoon in her major breakout role. There was a sequel and a spin-off made: ''Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde'' in 2003 and ''Legally Blondes'' in 2009. A second sequel, co-written by Creator/MindyKaling, has been announced with development ongoing.

* ActorAllusion: In the sequel's opening, the girls look at a picture of Elle with Congresswoman Rudd (played by Creator/SallyField) and say "Those are two kickass women. I like them, I really like them" - referencing Sally Field's Oscar acceptance speech.

* AlmightyJanitor: In ''Legally Blonde 2'', Elle makes friends with one of the doormen, Sid Post. He quickly proves to be an invaluable resource, as his years of manning Congress' doors have given him an excellent inside view on politics.

* BrokenPedestal:
** As Callahan praises Elle for her hard work, Elle gains confidence in herself and her work and looks up to Callahan [[spoiler:until he reveals his true motives and tries to hit on her. This makes Elle question everything he's taught her and insult him before leaving.]]
** In the second film, Elle greatly looked up to her new boss, Congresswoman Victoria Rudd, [[spoiler:until she discovers that the latter had shot down Bruiser's Bill (that would ban animal testing) in order to keep a valuable campaign donor. Thankfully, Rudd redeems herself at the end.]]

* CampGay:
** Presented as an iron rule -- gay men know brand-name shoes, straight men don't.
** In the sequel, [[spoiler:Bruiser is revealed to be this. He develops an attraction to another male dog, much to the chagrin of that dog's owner. The owner coming to terms with this leads him to show his support for Bruiser's mother being set free. Also, he is seen always wearing pink, and Elle mentions after this revelation that he likes to wear her shoes.]]

* {{Flanderization}}: Elle's super effeminate side dangerously comes up more often in the sequel after having nearly gotten rid of it in the first movie. While pink was her signature color in the first movie, she rarely wears head to toe pink, sticking to fashionable and colorful but still appropriate outfits.

* FunWithAcronyms: The lab in the sequel is '''V'''eterinary '''E'''xperimentation '''R'''esearch '''S'''cience '''A'''nd '''C'''ritter '''E'''xploitation. Elle mistakes it for the clothing company Versace.
* GayConservative: Parodied in the second film where a senator comes out and states his dog is gay and in love with Bruiser. Everyone in the court reacts to this revelation as if the senator himself came out as gay.

* HardWorkMontage: Elle gets two. In the first, interspersed with her video application essay, she is studying for the LSAT. In the second, she finally applies herself in studying after the bunny costume debacle.

* PluckyOfficeGirl: Elle becomes this in the sequel.

* SequelNonEntity: Vivian neither appears nor get mentions in the second film. While Vivian isn't the only character this happens to, she stands out [[spoiler:since she is stated to be Elle's best friend at the end of the first film and all Elle's ''other'' close friends - Margot, Serena, and Paulette - show up.]]

* UnconventionalWeddingDress: In ''Red, White & Blonde'', Elle tries on a traditional white dress but ultimately decides to go with her "signature color" and wears a pink dress for her wedding.

* FitnessNut: Brooke Windham built her empire on this as an exercise video star, which is what makes her alibi for her husband's murder -- that she was getting liposuction -- so damning that she refuses to admit it, even if she'll go to jail. Elle herself used the videos at one point and tries to use this to defend Brooke, leading to this quote:

* UnderestimatingBadassery: The entire point of the film.

* BigWhat:
** Elle early on in the film in response to [[spoiler:Warner dumping her.]] Her subsequent crying is enough to draw attention from the other restaurant-goers.
** While still on trial towards the end of the film, Brooke exclaims "What?" [[spoiler:when she hears from Emmett that Elle quit her law firm]]. At that point, Brooke feels like she didn't want Elle to quit because the latter is smart enough to know that Brooke is innocent.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Margot thinks Serena is being CaptainObvious when she points out that her lucky scrunchy wasn't as responsible for her passing her Spanish mid-term as her flirting with the professor. Margot considers the scrunchy to be responsible for the flirting, which was the lucky part.

** Conversely, Warner shows that he's not nearly as with-it as he seems when he says he plans to be a senator by the time he's thirty -- which is expressly forbidden in the Constitution.[[note]]For non-Americans: Warner wants to be a senator ''before'' he turns thirty; the Constitution explicitly states that the minimum age to become a senator is thirty.[[/note]][[note]]The "by the time I'm thirty" part has been cut from the Netflix version, indicating it wasn't entirely intentional.[[/note]]

* AdoptivePeerParent: Chutney and her stepmother Brooke are around the same age. [[spoiler:And because of this, Chutney hated Brooke enough to want to kill her.]]

* WhamLine: [[spoiler:Near the end of the movie, Chutney claims that she couldn't have committed the murder because she was in the shower. After some questioning from Elle, Chutney claims she had gotten a perm earlier that day. Elle says a seemingly unrelated story on how a girl in her sorority was hosed down after getting a perm. When Elle asks Chutney why the girl's perm was ruined when she got hosed down. Chutney says it's because they get wet. Elle reveals that this destroy's Chutney's alibi.]]

* WhamLine: Near the end of the movie, Chutney claims that she couldn't have committed the murder because she was in the shower. After some questioning from Elle, Chutney claimed she had gotten a perm earlier that day. Elle points out why the alibi is fake.

--->'''Elle:''' [[spoiler: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?]]

* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: Elle's chihuahua Bruiser rides shotgun in her convertible, apparently without any kind of seatbelt but just loose in a shopping bag.

* BotheringByTheBook: He lectures Sheridan about their duties to the civilian office of President when Sheridan expresses discontent with Clark, while subtly reminding Sheridan about the ''limits'' of that civilian office's power in a military setting.