Beautiful Movies That Made Me Want to Study Law

“No amount of talent is genius. And no amount of effort will make it so. I want to be great or nothing.” - Amy March

The films that made me want to study law

There is something rather romantic about the idea that your future can be decided by the stories you fall in love with as a girl. Before I knew what I wanted to study, I knew what I loved to observe: the complexities of women, the injustice of being misunderstood, and the fascinating distance between what society provides as right verses what right means when you discover it for yourself.

Perhaps my decision to study law was never entirely about the courtroom and also began somewhere between a black-and-white film, a literary heroine and a fictional woman who refused to be understood on anyone else's terms.

These are the films that made me realise that I wanted to study more than people. I wanted to understand the systems, social expectations and power structures that shape them.

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୨୧ 01. Breakfast at Tiffany's

Identity, autonomy & the social construction of respectability

Holly Golightly is perhaps an unconventional starting point for a discussion about law, but I have always found her fascinating precisely because she exists in contradiction. She is glamorous yet vulnerable, independent yet searching for security, and determined to escape the limitations of her past whilst navigating a society that constantly attempts to define her.

What interests me most is the way women are judged according to their conformity to social expectations. Holly's desirability, financial circumstances and romantic relationships influence how others perceive her character, raising questions about the relationship between morality and reputation. Why are women so frequently required to prove their respectability before they are afforded dignity?

Law cannot simply be reduced to society's moral opinions. It requires us to distinguish between personal prejudice and legally relevant facts, between what is socially condemned and what is legally wrong. Holly's story made me interested in the consequences of allowing other people's perceptions to determine a woman's worth.

There is a difference between being considered respectable and being entitled to respect.

୨୧ 02. Black Swan

Perfectionism, institutional power & the female body

Nina Sayers is a tragedy of perfectionism. Her world demands that she become everything expected of her whilst leaving very little room for the person she might have been without those expectations.

What makes Black Swan so compelling is its portrayal of an institution in which authority, competition and the pursuit of excellence become inseparable from psychological vulnerability. Nina's body is scrutinised, her behaviour is controlled, and her value is repeatedly measured against her ability to perform.

It made me consider the conditions under which institutions become harmful, and the difficulty of distinguishing individual responsibility from the influence of an oppressive environment. Who is accountable when an institution cultivates the very circumstances that contribute to someone's suffering? What obligations should those in positions of authority have towards the people under their control? These are questions that extend far beyond ballet. They belong to discussions of workplace exploitation, safeguarding, coercion and institutional accountability.

୨୧ 03. Dead Poets Society

Intellectual freedom & the courage to question authority

Although it might not be traditionally considered a girlblogger film, Dead Poets Society belongs on this list for the way it treats independent thought as something worth risking everything for.

The film examines the tension between personal autonomy and institutional authority, particularly through young people whose futures have already been imagined for them. Their desires are secondary to parental ambition, social prestige and the preservation of established expectations. Legal systems are built around rules, but the existence of a rule does not automatically settle every moral question surrounding it. We must ask who created it, whose interests it serves, whether it is legitimate and what happens when it conflicts with individual freedom.

I have always been drawn to the intellectual discipline of questioning what others accept without examination. Studying law offers an opportunity to explore those questions through structured argument, legal principles and evidence rather than instinct alone.

୨୧ 04. The Devil Wears Prada

Power, workplace culture & the price of ambition

Miranda Priestly is a particularly interesting character because she complicates the way we discuss women in positions of power. She is undoubtedly formidable, but her authority also operates within a workplace culture where intimidation is normalised and personal sacrifice is treated as the price of professional success.

Andy's experience raises questions about the boundaries between ambition and exploitation. When does a demanding workplace become an abusive one? How much personal autonomy should an employer be permitted to compromise in pursuit of excellence? The film also invites us to consider the different standards by which powerful women are judged. Miranda's authority is often interpreted through her coldness, her appearance and her perceived lack of femininity, inviting a discussion about the relationship between gender and leadership.

୨୧ 05. Little Women

Women's autonomy, economic independence & legal equality

If there is one film that captures the frustration of being a woman with ambitions that extend beyond the life society has prepared for her, it is Little Women.

Jo March's desire to write, earn her own living and determine her future is inseparable from the economic realities of nineteenth-century womanhood. Her sisters' lives offer different perspectives on marriage, independence and fulfilment, but Jo's struggle makes particularly clear that personal freedom is difficult to exercise without the material means to sustain it.

This is where the film becomes especially relevant to law. Women's historical exclusion from property rights, educational opportunities and equal participation in public life demonstrates how legal arrangements can reinforce social inequality. A person's freedom means very little if the institutions surrounding her make exercising that freedom practically impossible.

Jo's story reminds me that equality is not merely about allowing women to dream. It is about whether they possess the rights, resources and opportunities necessary to pursue those dreams independently. There is also something wonderfully modern about Jo's refusal to accept that marriage must be the conclusion of a woman's story. Her ambition does not make her unfeeling; her independence does not make her incomplete.

୨୧ 06. Jane Eyre

Justice, morality & a woman's right to self-determination

Jane Eyre is perhaps the heroine most closely aligned with the kind of intellectual independence that draws me towards law. Jane's defining quality is not that she is untouched by suffering, but that she refuses to let suffering determine her moral worth. She insists upon her own dignity in a society structured by class, gender and economic inequality, repeatedly confronting the expectation that a woman should accept less simply because she possesses less power.

Her relationship with Rochester makes this particularly compelling. Jane's love does not erase her principles, and her emotional attachment does not justify abandoning her judgement. She understands that a relationship cannot demand the complete surrender of one's moral independence.

There is a legal dimension to this, too. Historically, women's rights within marriage were significantly restricted by doctrines such as coverture in English law, which constrained married women's independent legal and economic status. Jane's insistence upon self-respect resonates with the broader struggle for women's legal personhood and autonomy.

What I admire most is that Jane does not confuse submission with goodness. She can love deeply whilst maintaining the conviction that she is entitled to dignity, equality and freedom. To know your worth is one thing; to insist upon it when doing so costs you something is another.

୨୧ 07. Legally Blonde

Femininity, prejudice & the intellectual power of pink

Naturally, no list about the films that made me want to study law would be complete without Legally Blonde. Elle Woods is frequently remembered for her pink wardrobe, immaculate beauty routine and infectious optimism. Yet what makes her story so satisfying is the way it exposes the prejudice concealed within assumptions about intelligence. People underestimate Elle because her femininity does not resemble their idea of academic seriousness.

Her success challenges the notion that intellectual credibility must be accompanied by a particular aesthetic or personality. She does not become worthy of studying law by abandoning the things that make her herself; instead, she demonstrates that those things were never evidence of intellectual inadequacy in the first place.

More importantly, Elle's approach to legal reasoning depends upon her ability to notice details others overlook, challenge assumptions and apply knowledge in unexpected ways. Her understanding of traditionally feminine interests becomes an advantage rather than a liability.

This is perhaps the clearest expression of why law appeals to me. I love the combination of research, argument, interpretation and critical thinking. I am interested in how seemingly ordinary details can change the meaning of a situation, and how a persuasive argument can challenge a conclusion that everyone else has accepted.

And, of course, there is something deeply satisfying about the idea that a woman can enter a traditionally intimidating profession without sacrificing her love of beauty, fashion or all things pink. Femininity is not the opposite of intellect, and pink has never been a measure of one's capacity to think.

୨୧ 08. Erin Brockovich

Access to justice & the power of ordinary women

For a slightly different kind of heroine, Erin Brockovich demonstrates the human consequences of legal inequality.

Based on a real case, the film follows a woman without formal legal training who helps uncover evidence of environmental contamination affecting a community. Her work illustrates the importance of investigation, persistence and the willingness to challenge powerful institutions.

What I find particularly compelling is the relationship between legal knowledge and access to justice. Rights are meaningful only if people can identify when they have been wronged and access the resources necessary to pursue a remedy. Corporate power, financial inequality and informational disadvantages can make that process profoundly difficult.

Erin's story also challenges assumptions about who is capable of contributing to legal work. Her intelligence is demonstrated through her attention to detail, empathy and determination rather than conventional academic credentials.

It reminds me that law is not simply an intellectual exercise. Behind every case are people whose lives may be shaped by the outcome.

Justice should not depend upon how powerful, wealthy or well-connected a person happens to be.

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A final thought ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖

Looking back, I do not think these films made me want to study law because they all depict injustice in the same way. They made me interested in the different forms injustice can take: a woman judged by her reputation, a girl confined by institutional expectations, an ambitious employee navigating unequal power, or a community struggling to hold a corporation accountable. What connects these stories is their interest in the individual and the systems that shape her life.

I have always loved femininity, literature, fashion and cinema, but I have never believed that enjoying beautiful things should require me to abandon serious intellectual interests. If anything, the stories I return to most often have taught me to look beyond appearances, question familiar narratives and consider whose perspective is missing.

That is what makes law so appealing to me. It offers a framework through which to examine the questions that have interested me for years: how power operates, how rights are protected, how social attitudes influence institutions, and how we determine what justice should look like in practice.

Perhaps becoming a lawyer is not such a departure from being the girl who spent hours analysing fictional women after the credits rolled. Perhaps it is simply a continuation of the same curiosity, with a little more research, a great deal of reading and considerably more case law.

And if I can pursue that future with a pink notebook, a good book and an appreciation for a beautifully constructed argument, all the better.

After all, a girl can love the aesthetic and still want to understand the system. ♡

Films to add to your watchlist: 12 Angry Men for the importance of evidence and reasonable doubt; On the Basis of Sex for the fight against gender discrimination; and Philadelphia for the relationship between discrimination, human dignity and the law.