Palin =! Elle Woods

I was meandering around the Internetz like I normally do and came across this link, an essay on why women possibly empathize with Sarah Palin, and in this, the writer, Judith Warner, draws a comparison between Palin and Elle Woods, from the Legally Blonde movies. I've only ever seen the first one, and it happens to be one of my feel-good movies.

Warner writes: "You don’t have to be female to suffer from Impostor Syndrome either — I learned the phrase only recently from a male friend, who puts a darned good face forward. But I think that women today — and perhaps in particular those who once thought they could not only do it all but do it perfectly, with virtuosity — are unique in the extent to which they bond over their sense of imposture.

...

The “Legally Blonde” fairy tales spin around the idea that, because Elle believes in herself, she can do anything. Never mind the steps that she skips. Never mind the fact that — in the rarefied realms of Harvard Law and Washington policymaking — she isn’t the intellectual equal of her peers. Self-confidence conquers all! (“Of course she doesn’t have that,” said Laura Bush of Palin this week when asked if the vice presidential pick had sufficient foreign policy experience. “You know, that’s not been her role. But I think she is a very quick study.”)"

The last paragraph is what bugs me the most: It implies that Elle Woods got to the point where she did at the end of the movie... by faking it.

And you know what? She didn't. She got to where she did through sheer effort, hard work, and a bit of tacky comedy.

I love Elle Woods. She undergoes some harsh realities and transforms from a silly, self-centered love-struck girl into a woman using what comes naturally to her to win her case. At the beginning of her law school term, she snubs the ones she considers the outcasts and freaks whom she wouldn't be caught dead with in high school, only to find out that this ISN'T high school, and her lack of intellectual capacity makes HER a freak. That was the first point for me in liking her; she's the HS freak who is, for all intents and purpose, too stupid to be where she is. I empathized with that, because I've been there. I've been in the position where people are nice to me only so they can mock me (like how Elle is invited to a "costume party" only to be mocked for showing up as a Playboy Bunny). I've been in positions where the teacher asks me pointed questions just to show how unprepared I am. From that point on, Elle is one of the "little guys".

But through it all, Elle doesn't come off as FAKE. She genuinely gets upset by these outcomes where her sense of entitlement gets her in trouble. Unlike Palin, Elle isn't sheltered from the consquences of her ignorance, her privilege, her sense of entitlement, and lack of intellectual capacity. She is derided, mocked, and sent out of class on her first day. She is dumped for being a "dumb blonde".

But the great thing about Elle is that she doesn't let this get her down. From the start of the movie, she resolved to do whatever she can to get her man back, even if it means taking on this momentous, ultra-boring task of becoming his intellectual equal. Within the first act, Elle is seen studying for the SATs. She confuses her friends by sitting in her room surrounded by books, reading them intently, and studying her way, rather than seducing anybody, to get the scores she needs to get into law school.

The costume party is another turnaround point for her - she realizes that these people are NOT going to accept her because she's not part of their special little intellectual elite. Does she pack her bags and go home? NO! She hits the books, hardcore: she reads in bed with her pet dog, she has her manicurist quiz her, she takes the books with her to the gym...

More interestingly, she starts answering questions in class. It takes quite a bit of courage to be the one always putting your hand up first in class, but she does it, making up for her first-day flub. Palin, on the other hand, isn't proving her mettle by putting herself out there; she allows the McCain campaign to shunt her away from the press, and when she does have press interviews, she's clearly not doing her fucking homework. Look, if the media's fucking MOCKING me about the fact that I have no foreign policy experience, the LAST thing I'm going to do is appear ignorant about it, and the FIRST thing I'd do is study my fucking ass off to make sure I know what the hell I'm talking about. Elle would do it.

So Elle gets to be one of the top 5 in the class chosen to assist her professor in an actual lawsuit. And she LOVES it. She finds that she no longer finds her ex to be the center of her universe and revels in the joy of an achievement she attained all by herself, through her own efforts, an achievement that is prestigious and even BETTER than being married to a rich man's son. OK, this doesn't have much to do with Palin, but I wanted to point out how awesome this is.

Another difference between Palin and Elle? PALIN IS MEAN! And she doesn't even feel bad about it! Elle snubs the outcast guy at the beginning, but later on, while passing by him, sees him trying to ask another girl out, and is being blown off. She takes a few steps away, stops, turns around, and proceeds to make a fuss as if he's some hotshot awesome fuck who didn't call her back. She walks away again, getting him a date, and she has a small satisfied smile on her face. (Later, he helps her out in the courtroom.) She never does anything to really ruin anybody, and she certainly doesn't go out of her way to hurt people. Palin tried to get a librarian fired because said librarian refused to ban books for her, and I'm sure you've read a little bit about Troopergate. WTF?

Elle didn't get by with "native intelligence" and "self-confidence"; she studies hard, fighting back against the reputation she has as a self-absorbed, flighty Barbie doll who shouldn't be at Harvard. And when Callahan hits on her, she's genuinely horrified that for all her hard work, sense of integrity and quick thinking, she's still seen as nothing more than a sex object: the Playboy Bunny of the party. Palin is a GOVERNER... and she touts herself as a hockey mom?? Who never had high ambitions in the first place? What the eff?? Elle WANTED to be on Callahan's team, and she GOT there by wanting it bad enough to do the necessary work; she doesn't take it for granted. Palin just gets picked out of the blue and dismisses it as a fluke with a toss of her hair. Just. Ugh.

Elle is so upset by being seen as nothing but a pretty face she even quits. And why the hell wouldn't she? She fought so hard, and all that effort is dismissed because she could be patronized to and treated like an inferior. So she quits, angry and hurt. Palin is being sheltered, patronized to, touted as physically gorgeous as if that was all that matters... and she doesn't show any annoyance at that. And she should.

(And let's not forget Elle's funny-ass video essay: "I feel comfortable using legal jargon in everyday life" - someone wolf-whistles - "I OBJECT!" Small thing, I know, but obviously she doesn't approve of someone wolf-whistling at her, just as women shouldn't in general.)

Sarah Palin isn't stupid... she's a governer, for chrissakes. But she's nothing like Elle Woods - Palin's brand of confidence borders on the arrogance of Bush, and her speeches betray a blind faith in God that's uncomfortably familiar. She allows herself to be kept out of sight, and even if she believes she deserves the veep position, she certainly isn't showing that she truly does.

Elle Woods may have intended to be some sort of "self-confidence wins the day" fairytale from Hollywood, but her valedictorian (!!!) speech makes it clear how she really got to where she did: Passion. Not just decency, not just self-confidence, not just ignoring the dumb pricks who keep you down - but wanting something badly enough for itself that you drive yourself to achieve it. She got some help along the way, of course, because it's not like anybody could go it alone, but she took their advice, heeded their words, and came out better for it.

So, Sarah Palin =! Elle Woods.

Got Milk.

Now. I grew up with milk powder. That's the sort of stuff where you put the powder into the cup, and add hot water, and ta-da, milk. I know it sounds fucking ghetto to your naive First World ears, but in Malaysia, this is a good thing, because not everyone as refrigerators to store fresh milk in. XP And fresh, cartoned milk tends to be expensive, and the use-by date for carton milk is shorter than the use-by date for powder milk. I could leave my powder milk alone for a few months and still use it and be okay.

I remember coming across carton milk and my dad had to teach me how to open the carton. It was confusing and I didn't quite get it the first few times. I thought carton milk wasn't a very good idea, and only good for small cartons which you obviously had to finish in a short amount of time. I also didn't think very much about milk in general - I mix milk powder with MILO (in fact, I still do; I actually don't quite like carton milk with MILO much... there's some odd tinge of a taste) and I try not to drink milk by itself. Not to say I haven't; I did when I was in England the first time and couldn't get a hold of hot chocolate easily.

I first came across bagged milk on my first trip here, when my father and I stayed with a friend in Toronto. He showed us how a bag of milk could sit in a jug, and be poured out, and all was needed was a small little cut on the corner of the bag. This, he explained, was economical, since one got more milk for one's money, and plastic bags are, I guess, better than jugs. It made sense to me, particularly in light of the fact that in my Occidentalist mind, Westerners sure did drink a lot of milk.

So when caitlin_chan showed me this insanely epic thread on bagged milk, I initially laughed at how much discussion bagged milk can spawn. Not only that, the graphic on it is pretty effin' funny too. lolmilk.

But the comments? Some are incredibly hostile to the idea of bagged milk. Very negative. Of the "what's wrong with Canada" variety. A lot of them are freaking out over the idea of bagged milks. Freaking out AND mocking, too. You'll have the one-off Canadian expressing disbelief that no one's ever heard of bagged milk before, but nothing compared to the overwhelming number of "OMGWTF BAGGED MILK??"

And I've got this to say to those people freaking out over bagged milk:
what's wrong with you? You'd think you'd never been able to understand the idea that liquids can be kept in bags! Next you'll be telling me "OMG EW MILK COMES FROM COW BOOBS?"

ONE comment on "wtf is wrong with Canada" can be funny. Two to three, okay. But the sheer number of comments reflecting on the weirdness of bagged milk as if it were some flaw of Canada is ridiculous, and NOT funny. Complaining that bagged milk is fucked up shit is like complaining that any liquis can be stored differently than what you're used to. And THAT makes you sound like a close-minded moron whose brain breaks at the slightest hint of "omg strange to me".

Just, wow.
I'm kinda irritated right now.