Tracy Enid Flick is a fictional character who is the subject of the 1998 novel Election by Tom Perrotta and portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the 1999 film adaptation of the same title. She is a smart, ambitious high school student whose quest to win a school election is nearly derailed by her teacher. She is the main antagonist in both the book and film.
Witherspoon's performance as Tracy was widely acclaimed by critics and garnered her multiple awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe nod. The character has since become an icon, as her driven, focused personality and unpopularity among her peers have led to comparisons with many real-life public figures, particularly female politicians such as Hillary Clinton.
Tracy Flick is the titular character in Tom Perrotta's 2022 novel Tracy Flick Can't Win, a sequel to Election. In the audiobook of the 2022 novel, the character is voiced by Lucy Liu.
Overview
Election
Tracy is an ambitious high school junior, preparing for an easy election to the office of student body president after three years of extracurricular toil. Her assumption that she will be unopposed is dashed when two challengers enter the race: friendly and popular athlete Paul Metzler, sidelined from the football team by a skiing accident, and Paul's younger adopted sister Tammy, a moody, sarcastic rebel. Paul has been coaxed into running by election supervisor Jim McAllister, a civics teacher nursing a deep resentment toward Tracy since her affair with Jim's best friend and fellow teacher resulted in the man losing his job.
As the race continues and Paul's effortless popularity continues to jeopardize Tracy's once sure victory, Tracy's frustration drives her to commit an act of sabotage against his campaign, ripping down his posters right before election day. Despite Jim's conviction of her guilt, she escapes punishment through a stroke of pure luck when Tammy claims responsibility for the crime and is subsequently expelled, which was her objective in "confessing." Tracy wins the election despite Jim's attempt at sabotage, and goes on to attend Georgetown University, her dream school. She is later seen in Washington, D.C., working closely alongside a Republican congressman from Nebraska.
Tracy Flick Can't Win
Tracy started law school, but had to drop out to tend to her mother, who became sick with multiple sclerosis. As a graduate student, Tracy also became pregnant during an affair with a professor named Daniel, and opted not to have an abortion per her mother's request. Tracy then became a substitute teacher, and eventually became vice principal of her high school. When the position of school principal came open, she found herself forced to maneuver through various political tides in her effort to obtain the position. Although school board members planned to give the job to a former football coach, in the aftermath of a shooting at the school, they end up giving Tracy the promotion.
Film adaptation of Election
In the late 1990s, following her starring roles in the 1996 dramas Fear and Freeway, Witherspoon found herself in an unexpected career slump that led her to change direction. "All my serious dramatic performances suddenly weren't getting me the jobs or opportunities that I really wanted," she said in a 2005 interview. "I have stacks and stacks of letters from great directors saying I can't cast you because you don't mean anything to the studios. That's why I turned the boat toward comedy."
Elections director Alexander Payne was eager to cast Witherspoon, based on her performances in Freeway and The Man in the Moon, and she was equally eager to sign on to the project—but not to play Tracy. Witherspoon was drawn to the part of Tammy Metzler, the cynical outcast who becomes the election's dark horse presidential candidate. Referring to the scene in which Tammy delivers a shocking campaign speech denouncing the school's administration and the entire concept of elected student government, Witherspoon said, "That speech alone made me want to play Tammy! So I was terribly conflicted."