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Introduction
Cultural artifact analysis is essential for ethnographic research in which case an ethnographer gets to decide what an artifact suggests or does not suggest. As a result, readers can gain insight into aspects of an artifact that they could not have deciphered without the help of the ethnographer. Accordingly, the researcher uses public identity as a critical lens for analyzing the cultural artifact. First, the researcher explains the context of the artifact before detailing how it creates and reinforces the socio-economic power structures within a community. Finally, the researcher evaluates the consequences or the potential impacts of the object. Therefore, this paper analyzes a cultural artifact identified as a movie speech from the film, Legally Blonde in a bid to make meaning out of it.
Context of the Cultural Artifact
The artifact features a speech given by Elle Woods during the Harvard Law School graduation ceremony in 2004, as portrayed by the movie, Legally Blonde. It follows that the object came into being as an idea scripted into the movie and borne out of the prevailing public discourse and social movement at the time; namely the promotion of feminist ideals. The placement of this artifact in history coincides with the third wave of feminism that began in the mid-1990s and into the early 2000s. This wave of feminism was realized as a result of the efforts by first-and second-wave feminists who helped in the development of legal rights and protections for women. Sinclair (2019) gives her personal experience in this era of feminism as one in which she was braver and learned to speak unpopular truths or unnamable things. This surge of courage well embodies the ideals of feminism at the time, which focused on the recognition of women as successful public figures.
Reinforcement of Social, and Power Structures in a Community
The third wave of feminism saw a noticeable inclusion of women in lead-character roles in superhero movies; a change from the previous male domination in such roles. Curtis and Cardo (2018) opine that the wave of feminism is seen to project the public identity of women as powerful and characterized by elevated social, economic, and political status. As seen in the article under analysis, Elle exudes a strong public identity and fearless disposition. With such an attitude, she helps portray women as capable of succeeding on their own. Her eloquence and determination create and reinforce the idea that women are fitted for being featured prominently in the mainstream. In the foregoing, the conceptual leverage of a third wave makes the case for young women to articulate feminism in such a way that it responds to circumstances in the economic, cultural, political, and technological domains. Accordingly, the third wave of feminism in which the article is placed was characterized by massive developments in technology and the media industry thus women were increasingly being featured or aimed at appearing prominently in the public arena.
The new generation of women in this period sought to believe in themselves and to climb up the ladder of success in all aspects of their life without having to rely on support from men. Women in this age as portrayed by Elle in the article are not liberal in the pursuit of their rights but use activism. This is consistent with the suggestion by Aune and Holyoak (2018) that women in the third wave of feminism had endured many struggles and sought to achieve their goals through activism. On the contrary, the second wave of feminism was characterized by liberalism. Moreover, society was increasingly aware of the activism and social movements of the time relating to feminism thus the changes formed an important part of the cultural dynamics. Therefore, the article portrays the coming to age of a new wave of feminism (third wave) where women sought to openly display their public identity as successful and powerful.
Consequences and Potential Impacts of the Object
A persuasive speech typically uses ethos, pathos, and logos in its presentation thus effectively activating the social outcomes of a discourse. Accordingly, the article under consideration is persuasive as it demonstrates ethos, pathos, and logos. Elle uses ethos by referring to her personal experience. She mentions that she is qualified to speak at the graduation ceremony because she is a graduating Harvard Law Student (David, 2018). Moreover, she establishes ethos by quoting Aristotle thus reinforcing the idea that she is a well-read student. The pathos technique is also evident in the use of the words We did it (AmericanRhetoric, n.d). These words show that Elle views herself and the rest of the graduating class as a collective group. The words also create an emotional moment for herself and the class in the process. Elle further uses the logos technique as she refutes a quote by Aristotle and backs up her argument with her experience at Harvard by saying that the key ingredient to law is passion. Therefore, Elle builds her public identity as a successful young woman who has weathered a difficult environment.
Various aspects of the article such as zoom shot, costume, and décor also make it more impactful to its audience. Accordingly, a story is not enough to make a good film but also relies on the proper use of aspects such as shooting techniques, movie frames, and sound techniques (Lu, 2020). First, the zoom shot is effectively used to emphasize the main message of what Elle is saying. It follows that the camera zooms to Elles face when she says certain points such as, You must always have faith in people, and most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself (AmericanRhetoric, n.d). Therefore, the zoom shot clearly explains what Elle wants to reveal, that whatever obstacles one faces, they can also succeed as she did. Moreover, Elles costume and décor feature her dressing in a gown like the rest of her graduating class which efficiently communicates that she is serious about succeeding as a lawyer and not the frilly and fancy appearance many knew her for.
Conclusion
A cultural artifact analysis of a movie speech from the film, Legally Blonde reveals a lot of insight into the object. Using public identity as a critical lens for analyzing the object, the researcher establishes that it is set in the era of the third wave of feminism. The mannerism of Elle as a strong public identity and fearless disposition reveals the attempt to portray women as powerful and eloquent thus fitted for inclusion in public discourse. Accordingly, the article shows that there is conceptual leverage of third-wave feminism for young women to articulate feminism more elaborately. Such articulation of feminism is in such a way that it responds to circumstances in the economic, cultural, political, and technological domains. Moreover, the article well achieves its purpose by demonstrating ethos, pathos, and logos; as well as the use of zoom shots, costumes, and décor in its presentation.
References
AmericanRhetoric. (n.d.). Movie speech from legally blonde Elle woods delivers speech at Harvard Law School graduation ceremony. Web.
Aune, K., & Holyoak, R. (2018). Navigating the third wave: Contemporary UK feminist activists and third-wave feminism. Feminist Theory, 19(2), 183-203.
Curtis, N., & Cardo, V. (2018). Superheroes and third-wave feminism. Feminist Media Studies, 18(3), 381-396.
David, K. (2018). Speech, drama, debate, negotiation, and the Model United Nations. Journal of Research Institute, 58(1), 95-122
Lu, J. (2020). Interpretation of the film, The Godfather from sound effect, movie frame, filming technique, and narrative. In 2020 International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2020) (pp. 11-13). Atlantis Press.
Sinclair, A. (2019). Five movements in an embodied feminism: A memoir. Human Relations, 72(1), 144-158.
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