‘Mean Girls:’ Really Mean Business!

Choice Project #2: Teen Film & Analysis

Celebrate who you are! Polka dot shirts, long hair, blond hair, tattoos, blue eyes, short, tall, gay, straight, curly hair, single, questioning, or in a relationship…what makes you unique? Mean Girls (2004) is a film with a dominant ideology centralized on the development of its main character Cady Heron played by Lindsay Lohan. The viewer watches Cady transform from the new girl in town, genuine, smart, funny, an all around “good egg” to a downright Mean Girl when she joins “The Plastics” click. As John Fiske would say the films ‘dominant audience’ is teenagers today. The film allows its viewers to see the negative influences of peer pressure on their own identity production. The underlying implications of Mean Girls encourage teenagers to question, “how they perceive themselves as well as how they are perceived” (Boyd). Mean Girls displays a variety of unique ‘identities:’ the math geeks, the jocks, the musicians, the ‘Mean Girls’ and the genuine kids trying to make their way in the mix up world of high school jumble. Cady's metamorphosis throughout the film teaches teens how a positive self-validation and self-confidence can persevere the negative influences of mean clicks. The film teaches teens today that imitation is not a real representation of ones self, so clearly emphasized with Cady’s identity crisis as an unnatural “plastic” like the Mean Girls themselves.

Going along with the ideas of Danah Boyd and her article “Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace” the film offers a variety of “jockey moments” where Cady like the teenage viewer struggle to make sense of themselves and the networks around them. When Cady enters her new world of high school, she meets real friends Janis Ian (played by Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (played by Daniel Franzese). Unfortunately, Damian and Janice are considered outcasts to many of the other high school teens especially “The Plastics.” After a short while, Cady meets what girls might call a ‘hunk-a-saurous’ Aaron Samuels (played by Jonathan Bennett). There is only one big problem to this picture Regina George (played by Rachel McAdams) head of the “Plastics” click. Cady quickly befriends Damian and Janis who both want to get back at Regina who was the ‘Mean Girl’ that name-called, made fun of and mocked them in the past for being unlike her click. Cady decides to “waffle between identities” pretending to befriend Regina to bring down “The Plastics” for hurting her real friends Damian and Janis (Boyd). However, in the interim Cady takes a liking to ‘The Plastics’ trying on new identities and actually becomes a real ‘Mean Girl.’

This film pushes its audience to question the negative series of events that Cady experiences through her identity production within the film while siding with “The Plastics.” The negative reaction from her peers and superiors (teachers and family) illustrates the struggles that teens go though. As Cady begins to change, she sheds her old identities for new ones that do not truly express what makes her “pure seeking simple happiness” as in the meaning of her name. She looses her identity as a good student, a true friend, and a respectful daughter replacing her good values for more rebellious behavior that essentially costs her “her innocence” (Greenfield). Greenfield reminds us of the “dangers of wanting to grow up too fast” (Greenfield). Greenfield shares with us the phenomenon of “the media as a homogenizing force against the foil of obvious material and cultural differences. Young people from diverse backgrounds are similarly influenced by a popular culture they share.”

The film also reaches out to the adults in our society with the positive examples set by Cady’s math teacher Ms. Norbury (played by Tina Fey) and the gym teacher Mr. Duvall (played by Tim Meadows). Each adult demonstrates the positive influences of adults especially educators on teen development. When Cady’s math scores begin to plummet because she is deliberately slacking off in class to seek attention from the Aaron Samuels the hottie, Ms. Norbury tells Cady to shape up. Ms. Norbury like Mr. Duvall teaches the viewer as well as Cady never to sacrifice the positive qualities within ourselves for the attention from others. The intention of Cady’s struggle to form her identity reinforces the struggle “of the quest for notoriety [as] a right of passage” (Greenfield). Greenfield like Boyd and Christensen would agree that the negative influences of body image displayed by Cady’s physical metamorphosis in style illustrate how the media can attribute to poor self-concept, even eating disorders. The popularity contests and segregation within the high school with “the Plastics” vs. “the outcasts” shows how social divisions cause a negative self-perception. The heightened sexuality displayed by the rebellious behavior with Aaron shows the dangers of teens trying to move too fast. Cady’s family proves that good parents serve as a positive outlet during this critical time in self-development. We also see the opposite with Regina’s parents and the ill faded guidance of her childish “Plastic” looking mom. Lastly, the film stresses the importance of academics reinforcing how a well-rounded education and resourceful educators can have a developing teen.

In the end, Cady learns that as she role-plays within each segment of the film she learns about self-acceptance. She learns the lessons that writers like Boyd, Christensen, and Greenfield share. Like Cady’s name, life should “be simple seeking pure happiness.” Unfortunately, through her tough teenage self-development there are high points and low points. There is a false belief produced by the media that “ happiness means getting a man and transformation from wrenched conditions can be achieved through consumption—in [Cady’s] case through new clothes and a new hairstyle [to be like “The Plastics”] (Christensen). Fortunately, Christensen and the creators behind of Means Girls writers Tina Fey, Rosalind Wiseman and director Mark Waters teach us “it can be overwhelming and discouraging to find that our self images have been formed by others, but if we don’t dissect them, we will continue to be influenced by them” (Christensen). Going along with the dominant ideology of the film, Boyd shares with us her beliefs on identity production and teens today “Youth look to older teens and the media to get cues about what to wear, how to act, and what’s cool. Most teens are concerned with resolving how they perceive themselves with how they are perceived. To learn this requires trying out different performances, receiving feedback from peers and figuring out how to modify fashion, body posture and language to better give off the intended impression. These practices are critical to socialization, particularly youth beginning to engage with the broader social world” (Boyd). Cady’s development pushes against the dominant discourse “tapping on the glass ceiling of [teenager- hood]” and making a stand to say that teens need to be who they are (Bogad, class notes, 2/4/08). In the words of Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

As we continue our journey as maturing adults we must always remember “the Cady moments” we felt growing up, not focusing on the hurt they might have caused at times but the values and life lessons we can learn from them! After all, celebrate who you are as an individual and remember it “is not about the destination but the journey” of learning along the way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0JPZiGInbg Mean Girls (2004) Movie Trailer...enjoy!