Sorry to Elle Woods, but Reese Witherspoon’s Best Role Will Always Be This Late ‘90s Comedy Classic That’s Now on Netflix

In her long and wildly successful career as an actor, media mogul, and celebrity figure, Reese Witherspoon‘s most famous role will likely always be as Elle Woods, the effervescent Harvard law student and 21st-century feminist icon in Legally Blonde. It’s the kind of culturally omnipresent part that will keep Witherspoon busy for the indefinite future, whether by returning to the character or speaking retrospectively about the romantic-comedy in interviews. However, everything we love about Elle was first cemented by the Oscar-winning star two years prior in Election, the 1999 black comedy that spawned the Witherspoon we know today.

Like in Legally Blonde, Witherspoon’s performance as Tracy Flick in Alexander Payne‘s biting satire about American politics is defined by a brand of modern feminism that vies for greatness and autonomy in a male-dominated field. The film, also starring Matthew Broderick as the anti-Ferris Bueller, radicalized the high school teen comedy and forced the audience to confront their predisposed disdain for plucky, eagerly enthusiastic young women in society.

‘Election’ is a Scathing Critique of American Politics Disguised as a Teen Comedy

With his most recent film, The Holdovers, being adored by all as the cinematic equivalent of wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket during the holiday season, some may be surprised by the drastic tonal whiplash found in Alexander Payne’s earlier work, particularly his social and political satires, Citizen Ruth and Election. Crafted with the shaping of a light coming-of-age high school dramedy set in small-town Nebraska, Election was produced by MTV Productions, which may have tricked audiences in 1999 into thinking they were about to see the brand of gross-out teen comedies that were en vogue at the time, and certainly not a scathing satire about the predatory nature of the American government and ambivalence of the people living in a democracy. The concept of treating a frivolous class vote like a papal conclave is not a cheap punchline, but rather, an insightful study of the anthropological relationship to politics.

The central conflict in Electionis not the race for class president, but the vitriol held by Social Studies teacher Jim McAllister (Broderick) toward her student, Tracy Flick, the brilliant wunderkind who wins the class vote in such a landslide that it’s practically a formality. Resentful of Tracy’s over-achieving attitude—the student who aggressively raises her hand to answer every question—Jim recruits the dimwitted but lovable jock, Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), to run against her for class president. As Jim’s personal life crumbles, this benign extracurricular activity escalates to an all-out war with scandals and conspiracies.

Jim’s disdain for Tracy is emblematic of the scornful treatment of ambitious women in power positions that still rings true today. As a highly educated, astute, and ready-to-impress girl, Tracy felt Hillary Clinton-coded in 1999, and her archetype draws parallels to contemporary political leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. While she is undeniably grating in spurts, Payne forces the viewer to reckon with our own double standards, as more likely than not, we wouldn’t condemn a man’s zealous campaigning. On the flip side, Paul, well-meaning but bereft of any ideas or aspirations, embodies the thought experiment that measures a candidate’s merit based on how likely you are to “have a beer” with them, a doctrine that helped George W. Bush in the 2000 election.

Reese Witherspoon’s Complex Performance as Tracy Flick Underlines the Pathos of ‘Election’

While Payne’s sharp writing and directing raise pressing political and social issues, these themes come to life thanks to Reese Witherspoon’s breakthrough performance. Along with being infectiously charismatic and an exuberant burst of energy, she turns a shrill caricature into a brilliant but deeply insecure girl who reflects the perils of teenage pressure. Tracy isn’t the future voice of a generation, nor is she the radical demagogue that Jim makes her out to be. She’s a multi-faceted young woman who longs for success as a form of validation.

Payne never shies away from mocking the absurdity of the political system through the eyes of overachievers like Tracy, people in midlife crises like Jim, and the Gen X disaffected voting body in the school, but he provides the election’s front-runner sympathy. Upon losing the election due to Jim’s act of chicanery, Tracy sits in her bedroom in tears, despondent about failing at the thing she cares about the most. With this sobering, heartbreaking scene, we realize that she was the one honest and sincere figure during this race. Witherspoon, in her stand-out scene, brilliantly switches from her bubbly persona to uncontrollable grief.

With the current state of the U.S. political landscape that more often resembles parody than reality, it’s safe to say that Election has aged exceptionally well. The film also reminds audiences of Reese Witherspoon’s uniquely special traits as a screen performer, a fact that’s been taken for granted as she’s transitioned to being a TV actor and media enterprise unto herself.

Election is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.