Do They Really Have More Fun?: A Look into Various Blonde Tropes in the Media
Collage by Mary.
Every guy wants to date her. Every girl wants to be her. She’s alluring and charming. She’s also ditsy and shallow. She’s envied and overlooked all at the same time. This is just the surface of the representation of blondes in the media and while I can’t possibly cover every single theme and example in this article, I thought I would explore some of the bigger tropes in the category and how the portrayal of them evolves over time. Without further ado, let’s begin!
Blessed by Sunshine: Everyone loves Blondes
We’ve all known this person: flashy smile, adorable laughter, graceful movements—they seem to breeze through life like it’s a permanent vacation. While we admire them for it, there is also a nagging voice in our minds saying ‘why can’t that be me?’, which would sometimes turn into outright resentment.
In fiction, this trend is even more apparent in the form of an attractive young blonde, usually with blue eyes. Sometimes they’re the main character and other times, they’re the best friend of a just as beautiful but not quite as charming main character. She’s shown to be easy-going, cheerful, and seductive, a lot of the time unaware of her ability to light up the room.
Other times, though, they know exactly what assets they have and use them to their advantage. Think of Andie Anderson from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days—as her friend says, she could ‘throw up on a guy and he would still fall on his feet for her.’ She has the looks for sure, but her ability to get a date boils down to her utilizing the effortless ease men seem to be attracted to when looking for relationships while her friend Michelle is a bit more intense (although she does seem to find her happy ending as well), as well as playful flirting and ‘dangling the bait,’ as she phrases. Let’s be real though, pretty much no guy would put up with some shenanigans Andy did for the sake of the article no matter how shiny her hair is, unless they have their own agenda (still love the movie!).
This trope, however, can also be deconstructed, as shown in the character of Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl. She is, as her best friend Blair describes, ‘a sunshine barbie.’ She seems to win everyone over with a smile, brushing off any rumors or drama as irrelevant. A running theme on the show is how Serena gets away with a lot of things that not even Blair can despite both of them being in the same social power hierarchy, and how she genuinely doesn’t realize how that can affect other people.
This proves to be Serena’s kryptonite, as she knows that some people and places (like Yale, for example) only care for her because of her looks and fame and not for anything else she might have to offer. Which kind of sets off a vicious cycle; if no one will ever take her seriously, why bother? Season five serves as a gut punch to her character when Dan portrays Serena’s counter path in the book as a shallow flake whose only weapon is her charm. It makes Serena question everything about herself and how it feels like to be in someone’s shadow for the first time and it’s safe to say, she doesn’t like it very much.
Beauty and Brains Can Be a Thing: Dumb Blonde
This is a continuation of the Everyone Loves Blondes trope of sorts, as a lot of examples for it have the same physical and behavioral attributes. However, while they might not necessarily be striving for academic excellence, they’re certainly not portrayed as dim-witted. For the Dumb Blonde trope, as the title suggests, their defining characteristic is their airheadedness and sometimes outright stupidity. Most Marylin Monroe film roles would fall into this category, as she’s become a staple for the trope.
A more recent example would include Karen Smith from Mean Girls, which is played quite straightforwardly; Karen is arguably the nicest one in the group, but she seems to lack both book and street smarts. It’s partially why Regina isn’t threatened by her, despite the on-par good looks. As bad as it sounds, Karen is not resourceful enough to go after her Queen B status. On a positive note, this made her relatively uninvolved in the whole drama between the rest of the plastics, which can’t really be a bad thing considering.
Over the years, the Dumb Blonde trope has been subverted repeatedly, such as in the case of Paris Gellar from Gilmore Girls, who is as ambitious as they come, proud of her goals, and not afraid to look like an overachiever. One also cannot write this article and not mention Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, the ultimate subversion of the trope and an example to young girls everywhere on how to realize your self-worth and not let anyone’s perceptions get you down. It should be noted that Elle was never ‘dumb’ (remember the fashion store scene where she put the sales assistant in her place), she was just intent on having the life that was expected of her. While there is nothing bad about wishing for true love and marriage, I think we can all agree she was a lot better off being rejected by Warner (even if she didn’t feel that way at the time). She’s the perfect example of how you can have both looks and the brains—who says you can’t love pink clothing and hair products but still be bright and well-read?
Popular in All Genres: Slashers Prefer Blondes
A quick look at the last trope in this article; even in horror, the image of a good-looking blonde girl running from a crazy axe murderer is deeply ingrained into our minds, so much so that trying to list examples would compile an article of its own. It plays into both of the tropes mentioned above, with charming but clueless blondes being easy targets while the smarter brunettes are the ones to survive the whole ordeal (although there have been exceptions to the rule).
A great subversion to this is none other than Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a show created for this exact reason—to show a strong and independent role model that likes girly clothes, dates boys (well, mostly vampires), and is interested in pop culture. Despite her bubbliness and not-very-stellar school results (although that’s mainly due to her slayer duties), Buffy is so much more than a pretty face when it comes to caring for her friends and saving the world one day at a time. There’s a reason this show is a classic and it would not have been possible without such a primary character. ◆
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