Ideas and Scene Analysis

Important Ideas:

• The idea that peer pressure can negatively affect our ability to make true friendships 

• The idea that seeking popularity can change the way you act and how you are perceived 

• The idea that judging people based on their appearance can be harmful. 

• The idea that physical beauty can give power and status in high school

In the film Mean Girls, the idea that giving into peer pressure can hurt you and the people around you is conveyed by the main character Cady Heron, who unknowingly gives into the peer pressure given to her by her classmates.

Cady begins the film as a naïve, kind new kid to North Shore High School, after getting home schooled her whole life in Africa, and she clearly spends her first few days trying to learn about and adjust to the new social dynamic she is thrown headfirst into. However, before she can even realise it, her high school life switches very suddenly as Regina George invites her to sit with the ‘Plastics’, the popular mean girl group at her school. We can see from the scene she is first invited in; Cady originally doesn’t even want to continue sitting with them, but gives in because she is pressured to by both Janis and Regina. This scene is the catalyst for the rest of the events in the movie.

Cady slowly continues to be pressured by her peers to change herself throughout the rest of the film, in order to fit in with this popular group. Her wardrobe changes to tighter silhouettes and pastel tones, her hair and makeup change, and her interests and behaviour change, all in an attempt to be liked by her peers. She loses her interest in maths, in exchange for an interest in boys, gossip and fashion. Cady becomes more self-absorbed and bitchier, even going as far as to start rumours about her favourite teacher. This is classic peer pressure, aka ‘influence from members of one's peer group.’ And throughout the film, Cady giving into this pressure negatively affects the people around her. It affects Ms Norbury, who is the target of rumours about drug dealing - rumours that were created by Cady. Janis’ pressuring affects Regina (who may debatably deserve it, but still), as she gains weight and loses both her boyfriend and friends. Also if affects her parents, who undergo the stress of watching their daughter become a worse person and struggles to do anything to fix it. This leads to a clear message that peer pressure does not end up benefiting anybody in the end and isn’t a healthy thing to give in to.

The idea that popularity can change the way you act and how you are perceived, this idea is conveyed through the protagonist Cady Heron and the way she has been influenced to change her whole personality to gain popularity. Her character starts off to be a very innocent and sweet individual, but toward the end we see her turn out to be a tremendously fake, untrustworthy friend as she starts to become one of the ‘plastics’ and mimicking their toxic behaviour. All the pressure and guidelines she has followed in order to stay in the group, keep her popularity and be plastic, came with a lot of other factors. With people starting to obsess over her, the popularity begins to get into her head, she begins to conform to the plastics terms and starts becoming a genuinely cruel girl, betraying her friends, dumbing herself down for a boy even though she is extremely intelligent, and additionally becoming very self-centred. This is shown when she says to Janis “It’s not my fault you’re like in love with me or something,” displaying her self-recognition that she thinks she’s ‘all that, and everyone loves and adores her. This is a major contrast to her character's personality at the beginning of the film. This portrays the concept that she has changed her personality just to be popular. 

In the film, it is shown that you should not judge someone by their appearance as it can be harmful. The burn book plays a rather important part in the movie as well as the idea that words can be harmful, it’s a scene of climactic tension between the girls of Northshore High, the scene includes a part where the pages were released to the students as a part of Regina’s revenge to Cady, the original creators of the book are the ‘plastics,’ (Gretchen, Karen and Regina) used the book to write rude and partially untrue comments on other females students appearances, either towards people, they do not like or people who they have heard rumours about. A single page in the book includes include a photograph of the person from the yearbook with a nasty comment/s underneath such as “Bethany Barnard has an amazing ability to suppress her gag reflex”. The burn book relates to the idiom don’t judge a book by its cover as the people that have been written about and featured in the book is being judged based on what other people have heard and they do not reflect who someone truly is. Once the girls had calmed down after being ‘wild’ in the halls, after reading pages in the book, they are brought into the gymnasium and are spoken to by Ms Norbury, all the girls admit to saying something bad about a friend and all the girls raise their hands to be offended by comments they’ve heard. Sometimes a kind gesture and simple compliment can mean a lot to someone.

The idea that physical attraction gives power and status in high school is embedded heavily into the movie. The film shows many stereotypical cliques, found in high school life. One being ‘the plastics’, the cliché means girls. This group has a defined leader and loyal followers, as well as the whole school’s respect. That respect however has been awarded because of desire and aspiration. Attractiveness is the social currency at North Shore high school. “You’re a regulation hottie” is quotes by Janice Ian, telling Cady she will have no problem socialising because of her looks. “Regina George is flawless”. Even though her peers see her as a “typical selfish back-stabbing sl*t faced h*e bag”, she is admired and beloved. Regina’s physical appeal has all others around her doing whatever she pleases, giving her power and status over everyone. “That is the ugliest F-ing skirt I have ever seen”, shows the judgment and hostility Regina and her friends show towards a student because of her outfit. What the student wears and how she looks defines her place in the school’s social hierarchy, giving her a low status, just because of a skirt. Another example is when Regina would not invite Janis Ian to a pool party, which started their rivalry, because of her image and look. “She’s not even that good looking if you really look at her”, says Cady about Regina as she has gained popularity and relevancy, because of her looks, once Regina has started ‘gaining weight’. This just shows not only the judgment based on attraction, but the ability to judge others once you are given the power.