Movies and television are filled with teen stereotypes. Shows such
as Pretty Little Liars and Teen Wolf seem to dominate the idea of
teen life in popular culture although usually real life does not include
werewolves. These shows present an idea of the perfect young person where high
schoolers are independent and attractive, all dressing and acting the same. They
give no sense of what high school life is actually like in today’s society.
Although it is now ten years old, a movie that influenced teenage girls in particular
and that has affected many young women’s ideas of teenage norms is Mean Girls. This movie not only gives insight into the accepted ideals of high
school students but it was also written and produced by Tina Fey with
appearances by Amy Poehler, two women who have become the modern face for
females in comedy.
Although Mean Girls does not stray from accepted idea of
the stereotypical teenager it unmasks these seemingly “plastic” people. Mean
Girls ends in a way that may not be completely accurate but captures the
inner desires and hopes of many teen girls in high school. In many ways the
movie contradicts itself. For example, it presents strong characters that are
refreshingly imperfect people and yet they are caricatures, such as the strong
artsy feminist and the flamboyant gay man. It also presents the popular girls as
the “plastics”. This group of three girls represents what most people perceive
popular people to be; manipulative, cruel, petty, and stupid. The best example
of this teen stereotyping is when Janis Ian, a friend of main character and new
girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), explains to Cady the layout of the cliques in
the school cafeteria by drawing her a diagram. “You got your preps, JV jocks, Asian
nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties…” and the list
continues and yet any actual high school student will tell you that these
accepted stereotypes are not so simple.
Cady comes to Evanston Illinois from Africa, and she seems to
represent the naive child who is corrupted by the superficiality of high
school. As the movie progresses Cady becomes more and more fixated on this idea
of popular and changes both her outward appearance and personality to impress
her peers and crush, Aaron Samuels. This is something that quite often happens
in society but at a much younger age. Children start to accept the idea of
status and popularity much earlier, usually in grammar school. Cady begins to
wear very flashy clothes and actually fakes stupidity in order to gain any sort
of attention. The idea of the nerdy girl taking off her glasses and becoming
popular is a cliché often perpetuated in young adult stories, most obviously in
Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” music video, but Mean Girls
completely contradicts this accepted truth and instead she loses the attractive
guy because she is too superficial and not true to herself. Although this movie
does have a happy resolution in which she realizes the faults of her ways and
gets the guy, in the end the “plastics” split up and become part of separate
cliques that accept them, and while this is a nice conclusion it is not
something that would tend to happen in the real world. This is a great example
of teen culture today and shows that the ideal high school is a place free of
social hierarchy where you are accepted by your peers while being honest to
yourself.
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