Top 5 Underminded Topics in Mean Girls
It’s once again October 3rd, and you know what that means?
It’s Mean Girls Day!
As someone who grew up in the early ‘00, Mean Girls greatly impacted my teen years. Plus, I can’t help but quote it once in a while. I can watch it a million times and would still get a kick out of it. Despite some more popular scenes and quotes, watching as an adult made me realize there are many hidden topics intertwined in the movie, such as social status, body issues, history, and even the dynamics of leadership. In honor of this fabulous day, let’s dive right into some of my new finds of the movie.
The 1st cafeteria scene
I really like this iconic scene because it breaks down the so-called cliques of the school. It reminds me of a mini sociology experiment of our society. Most kids hang out with people of their own race or status within the high school hierarchy. Plus, it showed different diverse groups, so that’s a bonus.
Memorable Quote 1
“But you’re, like, really pretty… So you agree? You think you’re really pretty?”
— Regina George
Regina is the queen of backhanded comments, and this one is no exception. There are two issues mixed into one moment. Already within the 1st meet, Regina’s intents to test the new competition (Kady). It starts with Regina defending her from pervert loser, Jason. After that, Regina immediately becomes nice to Kady and invites her to have lunch with her. The plastics start asking questions about where she’s from and are fascinated by her being home-schooled.
That leads to Regina asking the question above as a way to test Kady. Luckily, Kady passed this mini-mental test and was officially initiated into the plastics. Thur, eliminating any potential threat towards her reign as Queen B.
Second, Body image and self-esteem is such a tricky topic. Most girls are influenced by the media and gender bias they’re taught at a young age. On the other hand, Kady is not. Kady grew up in a totally different environment, so Beauty Standards wasn’t an issue for her until she starts attending high school. To better fit in with her new peers, she adapted their culture and standards, aka their beauty ones.
Beauty standards weren’t always so inclusive so having Regina blankly point this out was so fitch.
The phone calls
Ok, nothing is more classic than the 4 way calls between the girls. This gave us a glance into the inner monologue of the group’s dynamic and how they truly felt about one another. Girl World can be pretty damn ruthless, and getting older doesn’t mean the rules still don’t apply. Years of watching girly sitcoms have taught me that the rules only intensify over time, especially in relationships and friendships. #GirlCode
Memorable Quote 2
“There are two kinds of evil people in this world. Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don’t try to stop it.”
— Janis Ian
This quote was used by fav anti-plastic; Janis describes the difference between people like Regina and people like most other students. In a way, this represents the subject of bullying the psychology of the “bully“ and “bystander particularly.“ Not saying that everyone is evil in these scenarios, but actions speak louder than words.
The Psychology of Regina
Ahh, so this is not really a moment but a compilation of many iconic Regina moments. At the beginning of the movie, Janis talks about her weaknesses as if they are in an army against an evil dictator. Most students idolized her, almost like a goddess when we first are introduced to her character. Regina acts like a kind girl on the outside, but there’s nothing sweet about her.
She manipulates, blackmails, backstabs, and dictates everyone around her from the very start. I mean, throughout the movie, she was even compared to the historical figure, Julius Cseaer, a few times.
“Why should Caesar get to stomp around like a giant, while the rest of us try not to get smushed under his big feet? What’s so great about Caesar? Hm? Brutus is just as cute as Caesar. Brutus is just as smart as Caesar. People totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar. And when did it become okay for one person to be the boss of everybody, huh? Because that’s not what Rome is about. We should totally just stab Caesar!”
– Gretchen Wieners
Obviously, I know this is only a teen drama, but there’s more than what meets the eye. These underline themes are not a coincidence; this is America. Almost 20 years later, and these issues still intersect in today’s teen movies.
I hope this was a fun read and write soon!
