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LEGALLY BLONDE
(2001, 96 minutes, PG-13 for language and sexual references)

Have you ever been made fun of or ostracized for being legally or illegally blonde or red- headed, tall or short, too young or too old, skinny or overweight, for being one race or another, or for having one belief and not another, etc.?

Then you might identify with Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) in Legally Blonde. Throughout most of her life, people have not taken Elle seriously because she is blonde. In fact, Elle says most people think of her as a joke--specifically, they think of her as a "dumb blonde" and a ditsy sorority girl. "You're not smart enough, sweetie," her boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis) tells Elle. Her own father echoes the belief. "You're not serious," he tells her.

The problem with Elle is that for most of her life she has bought into the beliefs based on people's stereotyping of her. Sure, she is blonde and in college she certainly acts the part of the stereotypical sorority girl (even her resume is pink and scented), but Elle proves once again that adage that you can't (or certainly shouldn't) judge by appearances. Actually, Elle is quite smart and quite serious. When she sets her mind to something, watch out! "I'm not afraid of a challenge," she asserts.

Elle's challenge that forms the backbone of the movie--and displays her own backbone--is her decision to enter Harvard law school, initially in an effort to get Warner back after he has dumped her because he wants a "Jackie, not a Marilyn" to flesh out his own law and political career.

At Harvard, Elle finds herself in situations and relationships that test her initiative, determination, stamina, integrity, loyalty, and love. It will come as no surprise that Elle proves she is equal to every test; the joy is in seeing how she takes and passes the figurative tests. Elle's essential goodness and sense of fairness are especially seen in her selfless actions for her beautician friend and another student stereotyped as a "dork." Elle's sense of her own worth and identity are best seen in her relationship with Professor Callahan (Victor Garber).

The fact is that Elle's character was always strong. It just was not being generally perceived that way because of stereotypes associated with her looks and interests (buying clothes, having manicures, reading Cosmopolitan, dressing her Chihuahua).

One time when she is depressed about her experiences in law school, Elle thinks about quitting and says to friend Emmett (Luke Wilson) that she shouldn't try to be something that she is not. Emmett responds, "What if you're trying to be something you are?" He is right on target, because Elle's true nature is finally being allowed to shine rather than being suppressed under the weight of judgmental stereotypes.

It turns out that her looks, her interests and her talents are assets, not liabilities. Elle learns more than just the letter of the law at Harvard. She learns to express her light and faith and to value passion in life. "You must always have faith in people," Elle says, "and most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself." She disagrees with Aristotle's view that "The law is reason free from passion." Neither the law nor life should be free of passion, Elle argues. The likable, admirable Elle presents a winning case.

THE OTHERS
(2001, 104 minutes, PG-13)

Prepare to be scared and somewhat chilled when seeing The Others. Also prepare to open your mind to some of life's big questions about death: What happens when we die? Where do we go when we die? Do we continue our experiences but in a different realm? How is life after what we call death affected by feelings of guilt and unforgiveness?

The Others, written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar, doesn't have all the answers, but it certainly gets us thinking.

The film stars Nicole Kidman as Grace, a British woman who lives with her two children, Anne and Nicholas, in a haunted house on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1945. From the beginning, there is little doubt that the house is indeed haunted in some way--if nothing else by painful memories. As the deliberately paced story unfolds, viewers discover the alarming depth of the haunting emotions and activities.

As with The Sixth Sense, it's tricky to write about The Others without revealing the climax and giving away the film's surprise elements. Let's just say that Grace and her children, both of whom suffer from a light-sensitive condition that requires sunlight be kept out of the manor, are dealing with more than meets the physical eyes. The same can be said of three servants who mysteriously show up to work for Grace and are no strangers to the spooky house.

What exactly is going on here? I'm not telling, but we can, delicately, explore the general situation.

A quote from a personal favorite spiritual guide, Emmanuel, points us in the right direction: "Just because you die . . . does not mean that circumstances change. You carry the fruitful harvest of your life at the moment of your death into a birth that brings you back into similar circumstances."

Emmanuel further says in Emmanuel's Book II: The Choice for Love that "wisdom to perceive beyond illusion" takes away the fear of death. "Then you will know that living and dying are merely frames in a motion picture, a light playing on the wall. There is nothing of any genuine reality in dying or in living except what is allowed to touch the loving truth." As we strive to touch that "loving truth" at the heart of situations and relationships, perhaps our perceptions of reality -- of so-called "life" and so-called "death"--can blur. We're certainly in speculative territory here, but perhaps we're not always aware of what our true place in reality is. Are situations real just because they seem real to us? Are our dreams any less real than our so-called waking times, for example? Is there any "real" difference?

The main servant, Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), says to Grace, "Sometimes the world of the dead gets mixed up with the world of the living." She later adds mysteriously, "We must all learn to live together--the living and the dead."

If, in the Big Picture, there's no difference between the two conditions, the need for a more integrated perception of reality makes sense. The film certainly explores the thin line that may exist between living and dying, between being alive and being dead.

And just as The Sixth Sense does, The Others suggests that both the living and the dead often have need of healing and resolution, and that establishing contact with others, in whatever spiritual dimension, can be helpful.

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the actions and mental states of certain characters are very much influenced by feelings of guilt and unforgiveness, and that there are important issues being addressed in the haunted house.

Clues abound. For instance, viewers must ask themselves why Grace is so preoccupied with the idea of people being in limbo after death, why she seems so intent on giving her children Bible lessons, and why she comes across as being over-protective of her children.

Grace is coping with much, but she seems somehow tormented and conflicted, especially in her approach to religion. One moment she punishes Anne by having her read the Bible, and the next moment she is telling Nicholas, "The Lord is with you--there's no reason to be afraid."

Mrs. Mills seems to recognize and perhaps even understand Grace's conflicts. "There are things your mother doesn't want to hear," Mrs. Mills tells the children. "She only believes what she was taught."

Belief and perception are crucial to goings-on. For their part, both Anne and Nicholas say they don't believe everything in the Bible. Anne doesn't believe or trust her mother, and Grace doesn't believe Anne's stories about ghosts in the house. Belief, perception and truth seem as elusive as the nature and meaning of the possible ghosts, and for that matter, of life and death.

Is there a meaning? "Ma'am, there isn't always an answer for everything," Mrs. Mills tells Grace. Still, Grace ponders about what "the Lord in His great mercy" has given her and asks, "What does all of this mean?" Whatever the nature of reality and whatever events have transpired, the film indicates that "real" meaning is found in love. As Emmanuel says, "There is nothing of any genuine reality in dying or in living except what is allowed to touch the loving truth."

In every major faith tradition and in all stories about life and death, ultimate, soul- satisfying meaning always comes from an awareness of love. The Others provides a service by encouraging us to think about reality and to once more focus on the redeeming, restorative value of unconditional love, both in life and death.

Raymond Teague is the author of Reel Spirit: A Guide to Movies That Inspire, Explore and Empower, from Unity House. He is an award-winning journalist, an editor of spiritual publications, a popular New Thought speaker, and a lifelong movie buff. His book is available at bookstores; on-line at amazon.com, bn.com, borders.com, and by phone at
1 (800) 669-0282.