Repesentation of blonde girl though elle woods as the major character in the film legally Blonde

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THE REPRESENTATION OF BLONDE GIRL THROUGH ELLE WOODS AS

THE MAJOR CHARACTER IN THE FILM “LEGALLY BLONDE”

A Thesis

Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Strata One Degree

CITRAMINARTI 104026000949

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA

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APPROVEMENT

THE REPRESENTATION OF BLONDE GIRL THROUGH ELLE WOODS AS THE MAJOR CHARACTER IN THE FILM “LEGALLY BLONDE”

A Thesis

Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For

the Strata One Degree

Citraminarti NIM. 104026000949

Approved by

Innayatul Chusna, M. Hum NIP. 150 331 233

Supervisor

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA

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LEGALIZATION

The thesis entitled “The Representation of Blonde Girl through Elle Woods as the Major Character in the Film Legally Blonde” has been defended before the Letters and Humanities Faculty’s Examination Committee on August 19, 2009. The thesis has already been accapted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Strata One Degree.

Jakarta, August 19 , 2009

Examination Committee

Chair Person, Secretary,

Dr. H. M. Farkhan, M.Pd Drs. A Saefuddin, M.Pd NIP. 150 299 480 NIP. 150 261 902

Members:

Dr. H. M. Farkhan, M.Pd Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum

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ABSTRACT

Citraminarti, The Representation of Blonde Girl through Elle Woods as the Major Character in the film “Legally Blonde”. Thesis. Jakarta: English Letters Department, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, July 2009 This research analyzes the stereotypes of blonde girl in the film Legally Blonde. The aim of the study was to find the answers to the main research question: How does this film represent the stereotype of Blonde girl through the major character Elle Woods?”

The datas of this research are analyzed using representation concept. Representation is the way we think about ourselves and construct our own narration totally. The datas of this research are collected from the unit analysis and the other sources.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

All praises be to Allah SWT, the lord of the Universe, Alhamdulillah, with his amazing guidance, the writer can accomplish the process of making this thesis. The blessing and salutation are delivered to the most honorable prophet and messenger Muhammad SAW, who has guided people to be a great follower in the way of Allah

The writer would like to say her gratitude to:

1. Mrs. Innayatul Chusna, M. Hum., the writer’s supervisor, thanks for her advices, ideas, patience and suggestion in finishing this thesis.

2. Dr. Muhammad Farkhan, the Head of English Letters Department, Mr Abdul Chair, the Dean of Letters and Humanities Faculty, Drs A. Saefuddin, M. Pd, the Secertary of English Letters Department, and all Lectures and Staffs of Letters and Humanities Faculty.

2. The writer’s parents: Herfriadie, E.S. and Emi Aminah, the writer’s brother: Muhammad Rizkie, the writer’s family, and Tesa. They always give support, help, affection, patience, motivation, spiritual, material and pray to the writer in completing this paper.

3. All the writer’s classmates and friends who are not mentioned, who have given their support and meaning of friendship.

May Allah bless us. Finally, the writer realizes that this thesis is far from being perfect. Accordingly, the writer hopes any suggestion and criticism for this thesis.

Jakarta, August 19, 2009

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION... 1

A. Background of the Study... 1

B. Focus of the Study... 3

C. Research Question... 3

D. Significance of Research... 3

E. Research Methodology... 4

1. Objective... 4

2. Method ... 4

3. Data Analysis... 4

4. Instrument of the Research... 5

5. Unit of Analysis... 5

6. Time and Place ... 5

CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK..……… 6

A. Cultural Studies... 6

1. Representation... 8

2. Stereotype... 10

3. Costume and Make-Up……… 12

B. Stereotype of Blonde in the Film…….……….. 14

CHAPTER III. RESEARCH FINDINGS... 17

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B. Representation of Blonde through Elle Woods………..…….. 20

CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION... 29

A. Conclusion... 29

B. Suggestion... 31

BIBLIOGRAPHY... 32

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LIST OF PICTURES

1. Picture I. Elle in the swimming pool. Page 21.

2. Picture II. Elle is bringing books. Page 22.

3. Picture III. Elle in the firm. Page 24.

4. Picture IV. Elle in the court. Page 26.

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published and written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institution of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text

Jakarta, August 19, 2009

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

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This research focuses on the study of representation on Robert Luketic’s film entitled

Legally Blonde, which analyzes the representation of Blonde’s stereotype through the major

1

See Chapter II.

2

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character, Elle Woods in struggling herself in Harvard Law School community, who humbles her.

C. Research Question

Based on the background and the focus of the study above, there is an interesting question to be analyzed, “How does this film represent the stereotype of blonde girl through the major character Elle Woods?”

D. Significance of the Study

The writer hopes the result of the study can be used:

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CHAPTER II

Chris Barker, Cultural Studies Teori dan Praktik. Penerjemah Tim KUNCI Cultural Studies Center

(Yogyakarta: Bentang, 2005), p. 515.

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Representation is direct expressions or practices that represent an object or other practice in reality.6 In literary, representation is commonly defined in three ways7:

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X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama, ninth edition (United States: Longman, 2005), p.2245-2246.

6

Chris Barker (2005), op.cit. p.523.

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The first process is to definite the world by constructing something with ’conceptual map’ system. In the second process, people construct the ’conceptual map’ with the language or symbol, which has function to represent the concepts about something. Relation between ’something’, ’conceptual map’ and ’language or symbol’ is center of definition product another specific group.10 Stereotypes, therefore, can instigate prejudice and false assumptions about entire groups of people, including the members of different ethnic groups, social

8

Nuraini Juliastuti, Bagaimana Representasi Menghubungkan Makna dan Bahasa dalam Kebudayaan?, Representasi. Accessed on October 29, 2008. http://kunci.or.id/esai/nws/04/representasi.htm,p.1-2.

9

Ibid.

10

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classes, religious orders, the opposite sex, etc. A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image, based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the "other group" have in common. Stereotypes are forms of social consensus rather than individual judgments. Stereotypes are sometimes formed by a previous illusory correlation, a false association between two variables that are loosely correlated if correlated at all. Though generally viewed as negative perceptions, stereotypes may be either positive or negative in tone.

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Stereotypes are not accurate representations of groups, rather they arise as a means of explaining and justifying differences between groups, or system justification. Social status or group position determines stereotype content, not the actual personal characteristics of group members. Groups, which enjoy fewer social and economic advantages, will be stereotyped in a way that helps explain disparities, such as lower employment rates. Although disadvantaged group members may have greater difficulty finding a job due to in-group favoritism, racism, and related social forces, the disadvantaged group member is unjustifiably characterized as 'unmotivated' (he could find a job if he looked hard enough), 'unintelligent' (he's not smart enough to have that job), and 'lazy' (he would rather take hand-outs than work).

Stereotypes focus upon and thereby exaggerate differences between groups.12 Competition between groups minimizes similarities and magnifies differences. This makes it

11

Chris Barker (2005), op.cit. 328.

12

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seem as if groups are very different when in fact they may be more alike than different. For example, among African Americans, identity as an American citizen is a more salient categorization than racial background; that is, African Americans are more American than African. Yet within American culture, Black and White Americans are often seen as

completely different groups.

Since there has been a human species, individuals have been different from one another. Persons have gravitated to groups of other persons like themselves. People create and develop categories of qualities by which to classify the groups; some were based on

ancestry. Many of these groupings have become the key factors in determining which groups have political, social, and economic power in the world.

For individual people there can be both positive and negative effects of a stereotype, which is seen to apply to them. The overall effects of stereotyping are seen by many to always be negative. Some people believe that stereotypes are generally based on actual differences. Others believe that they are always false generalizations (by definition). For some individual people the effects of this might be positive or negative - a separate issue to whether they are positive or negative for society. Simply because a feature of a character can be categorized as being typical, it does not make the entire character a stereotype.

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-Stereotype of Blonde in the Film

The dictionary defines blonde as of a flaxen golden, light auburn or pale yellowish or pale yellowish brown color of a pale white or rosy white color.15

) $ these jokes are female, although male variations also exist.17 Research indicates that because

of this, men find blonde jokes significantly more amusing than women say they do.18

The stereotype of the "dumb blonde" may have emerged with the development of films, television and magazines as early as the 1920s.19 Some experts cite its first appearance in the 1920s novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by Anita Loos, which was made into a silent film in 1928 and later into a 1953 movie starring Marilyn Monroe (who was said to have had an IQ higher than Einstein). Released in 1953, this story is about two showgirls-a clueless

14_{David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson,}_{Film Art: An Introduction}_{(Mc Graw, Inc, 1993), p.150-152.} 15_{Anonymous, Dictionary, Blonde. Accessed on October 29, 2008. www.dictionary.com, p. 1}

16

Anonymous, Blonde, Stereotype. Accessed on October 29, 2008. http://www.geocities.com/todd862002/expos6.html, p.1-2

17

Anna Blundy (2007-08-25). 'Blonde' jokes aren't funny - No other minority would stand for this cruel stereotyping. Spectator, the (Romford): 18–19. ISSN.00386952. Accessed on September 10, 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumb_blonde.

18

D. Greenwood; LM Isbell (2002). "Ambivalent Sexism and the Dumb Blonde: Men's and Women's Reactions to Sexist Jokes". Psychology of Women Quarterly (Blackwell Publishers) 26 (4): 341–350. doi: 10.1111/1471-6402.t01-2-00073. Accessed on September 10, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumb_blonde.

19

Solorya, Dumb Blonde Stereotype – Myth or Fact, Accessed on October 29, 2008

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blondes and a sassy brunette. While perhaps highlighting the "fun" side of blondes (in fact, brunette women held a demonstration protesting the movie, showing that brunettes could be just as much fun), this certainly did nothing to showcase their intelligence.

As in the background of the study, there are two films that can represent the stereotype of blonde girl. They are 27 Dressed and the Hunny Bunny. Both of those films describes about blondes who always concern on their appearance without thinking about their intelligence.

Those are about all the things that blondes do, which obviously are also done by girls

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Women with brown hair, brown eyes.

21

Francine Huff, Can going from Blond to Brunette really improve your career? Comparison. Accessed on May 25, 2009. http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/03/19/can-going-from-blond-to-brunette-really-improve-your-career/ p.1.

22

Anonymous, Deconstruction of Legally Blonde, Film. Accessed on May 25, 2009.

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E .

American Kennel Club, Article, Chihuahua. Accessed on May 25, 2009.

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Representation of Blonde Girl through Elle Woods

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the dark blue jacket, several people consider it is used for formal situation and serious people. Besides dressing, her new straight hair means she wants to leave out unserious image in her education effort, because a person with wavy hair, for example, is typically thought to be nervous, energetic and impulsive. A stereotype, originating from the images of a sea or ocean: when there are waves in the sea, people tend to call it "raging" or "uncalm" due to it's dynamic nature. Hence, the more wavy the hair, the more nervous the person is considered to be.24 Her simple clothes, accessories, and hairstyle describe her as a simpler blonde who does not really concern with the appearance and she just wants to focus on her study.

The unique side of this picture is she brings many books. It is a very scarce view. Blondes like having fun and never notice about study, so they are called as dumb blondes. But in this picture, Elle shows the different sides of blonde that can make people amaze her. The fact that she is carrying books whilst still appearing as stunningly beautiful engages the idea that her books are both a strong and important prop as they symbolically exchange her for intelligence. It begins to prove us that Elle is different with other blondes. She is a smart blonde and is able to be as well as other students in education.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies Teori dan Praktik

ke Derrida. Translator Tim Kunci Cultural Studies Center. Yogyakarta: Bentang, 2005.

Boggs, Joseph M. and Dennis W. Petrie. The

Art of Watching Films, Fifth Edition. London: Mayfield Publishing

Company, 2000.

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film

Art: an Introduction. USA: Mc. Graw, Inc, 1993.

Charles, Nickie and Helen Hintjens. G

ender, Ethnicity and Political Ideologies. London: Routledge, 1998.

Hart, James D. The Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Hayward, Susan. Cinema Studies: The

Key Concept, Third Edition. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama

, Ninth Edition. United States: Longman, 2005.

Levy, Emmanuel. Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. New York: New York University Press, 1973.

T, Bennet. Culture: A Reformer’s Sciences. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 1998.

Website:

Anonymous. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – Feminism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a_vindication_of_the_rights_of_woman. Accessed on December 20, 2008.

Anonymous. History - Feminism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feminism. Accessed on December 20, 2008.

Anonymous, Dictionary - Representation.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/representation. Accessed on October 29, 2008.

Nuraini Juliastuti. Bagaimana Representasi Menghubungkan Makna dan Bahasa dalam Kebudayaan? - Representasi. http://kunci.or.id/esai/nws/04/representasi.htm. Accessed on October 29, 2008.

Anonymous. Dictionary - Stereotype.

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Solorya. Dumb Blond Stereotype – Myth or Fact. http://hubpages.com/hub/Dumb-Blonde-Stereotype--Myth-or-Fact. Accessed on October 29, 2008.

Anonymous, Dictionary - Blonde. www.dictionary.com. Accessed on October 29, 2008.

Anonymous. Blonde - Stereotype.

http://www.geocities.com/todd862002/expos6.html. Accessed on October 29, 2008.

Francine Huff. Can going from blond to brunette really improve your career? - Comparison.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/03/19/can-going-from-blond-to-brunette-really-improve-your-career/. Accessed on May 25, 2009.

Anonymous. Deconstruction of Legally Blonde - Film.

http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/Media_Studies/Films/Deconstruct ion_of_Legally_Blonde_L833940.html. Accessed on May 25, 2009.

American Kennel Club. Chihuahua - Article.

http://www.akc.org/breeds/chihuahua/index.cfm. Accessed on May 25, 2009.

Jurgita. Hair and character - Stereotype

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APPENDIX

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