Mean Girls Research Paper

Another example of a teen film that institutes a similar stereotypical high school social hierarchy is the well-known movie, Mean Girls. Cady Heron, who lived her first 15 years in the African jungle, being home-schooled and living only with her parents, never knew what "high school" meant, until moving out of Africa and enrolling in a real school. She instantly becomes friends with two teenagers, Damian and Janis, who were in the "out crowd", as opposed to the “Plastics”, which consists of Regina, the unofficial leader, Gretchen and Karen, her followers, all of whom are gorgeous and popular. The Plastics, after meeting Cady, immediately let her into their group, but Cady is unsure, because she did not want to leave her first friends, but they

Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post writes that it "boasts a one-two-three punch in star Lindsay Lohan, screenwriter Tina Fey and director Mark Waters, and, indeed, it delivers a knockout". Critics praised the screenplay highly, with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calling it "comic gold." Rotten Tomatoes named Mean Girls in its 'Top 50 Greatest Teen Comedies,” in November 2012. Mean Girls is relevant to today’s teenage society and its relatability is what captured the hearts of so many teenagers and is the reason why so many people still watch and quote it today. Mean Girls was able to capture the tension and difficulties of surviving in a high school environment with all types of people- ranging from popular bullies to goths to nerds. Not only does it display the complexities of such a social hierarchy, while highlighting the nature of wanting to fit in, and the desperation that comes with those feelings. In a high school society, many teenagers struggle between wanting to hate those above them on the social totem pole, and trying to suppress the feelings of wanting to fit in and be like them. Additionally, Mean Girls tackles various issues that are prominent in an everyday teenager’s life. Bullying and slutshaming are an obvious part of the plot of “Mean Girls,” and are unfortunately clearly still significant issues