It’s amazing how you can see the same thing several times and not really get what it’s about.
If you’ve ever been bored one weekend and you were watching ABC Family, you’ve probably heard of the movie “Legally Blonde.” A while ago, the movie was made into a musical, and members of the Erie Playhouse recently performed it.
I had the opportunity to go see the show. I’m not sure if it was because this version was a musical, or because I became so desensitized to seeing it in almost every movie marathon, but this time, while I was watching it, the show made me realize something different.
For those of you who haven’t seen the movie or musical, “Legally Blonde” is about a peppy sorority girl named Elle Woods who, after getting dumped by her boyfriend, decides to go to Harvard Law School to prove to him that she can be serious.
Along the way, she becomes motivated to prove to herself and to everyone who ridicules her at Harvard that she can be an incredible law student and eventually reach the top of her class.
Before this happens though, virtually everyone at Harvard Law School, including her professors, ridicules Elle because she seems to be a blonde-haired, pink-wearing sorority girl.
What I really got out of this show after seeing it recently was that people aren’t always exactly what they seem.
This theme shows up several times throughout the show. One of Elle’s teachers, Professor Callahan, seems like a serious, go-getting lawyer, but he also turns out to be a sleaze when he hits on Elle and revokes her internship with him because she turns him down.
While most of the events that occur in this show are a bit unrealistic, I think this theme can be applied to everyday life.
Throughout the course of your life, there will be people who try to stereotype others and people who try to stereotype you. Whether it’s based on the clothes you wear, the music you listen to or the food you eat, it’s going to happen.
Not much can be done for other people trying to stereotype other people, but if you are someone who makes assumptions about someone based on a few facts about them, I encourage you to try to expand your mind.
People are very complex beings who have more layers than you could possibly understand.
In a way, it’s a bit similar to assuming a really big dog is going to try to attack you if it gets anywhere near you. In all actuality, it could just be really friendly.
Then again, it could be aggressive, but that’s beside the point.
But anyway, I understand that people have a tendency to judge people within the first seven seconds of meeting them, but those judgments are usually inaccurate.
So I guess the point of all of this is to say, if it seems like someone is really irritating, give them a chance and get to know them a little better before you decide whether or not you hate them.
KHADIJA DJELLOULI
