Stereotypes In Mean Girls

Identity; Romance; Segregation; Beauty; Friendship; Within the film industry’s classic interpretation of female adolescents, these elements of teen culture are typically represented. A film’s demonstration of themes such as relationship tensions or social status struggles are that which attracts the popular viewership of female adolescents, for they are personally dealing with similar experiences. Furthermore, in continually representing the aforementioned traditional elements of teen culture, the film industry seems to make it so films’ story-lines and characterizations adapt to and directly reflect the era in which the film is set. This adaptation is significantly demonstrated in the popular teen films The Breakfast Club (1985), Clueless (1995), and Mean Girls (2004) as they each clearly and diversely characterize young women based on the distinct time period and the cultural attitude towards teen girls of that time. The Breakfast Club (1985) details five high school students in Illinois, a nerd, a jock, a bad boy, a weirdo, and a

This paper will provide a sociological analysis of Mean Girls broken down into two sections. Section one will explain why a sociologist would find the movie interesting, examining the movie from a functionalist perspective, providing an example of private troubles and public issues, and comparing the movie to North American culture. Section two will discuss the themes of socialization and culture by explaining terms related to each section and applying them to the movie.

In the film “Mean Girls” there were many types of peer relationships expressed. Friendships are described as a reciprocal liking, trust, and loyalty between all participating dyadic parties. An example in the film is the relationship that Damian and Janis hold because they are loyal to each other and the liking is mutual. Peer acceptance is to the degree one is liked by their peers. In the film Aaron Samuels is very much liked by his peers. Perceived popular is a child that is considered popular based on their peers’ perceptions. Regina George is a prime example of teenage girl perceived as popular. When students described Regina George in the film these type of comments were made, “Regina George is flawless”, “One time she punched me in the faced. It was awesome.”, and “she always looks fierce.” Cliques are polyadic social groups that are voluntary. A main clique in the movie is “The Plastics” which consists of Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. These forms of peer relationships are a lot more complex than just a group of friends, these relationships of dynamic in early adolescence.

It has not been too long ago that I still remember my adolescent years. I always remember the unintelligent things I did that I wish could change, but this Psychology class made me realize that all adolescents go through the same things I experienced. Adolescents are known to try to find their identity, go through peer pressure, make mistakes, and try new things. The move I picked that closely represented what adolescents go through was “Mean Girls”. Some of the scenes in the movie seem a little exaggerated, but it has happened in certain high schools even though I had not experienced it personally.

Jumping into a burning building is one of the things that the boys from the “Greaser Gang” would do for each other. When the main character, Ponyboy, jumps into a burning church to save children from the flames, his two gang members and family, Johnny and Dally, jump in after him to help get the children out and ensure that he can get out. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton shows two main themes. These themes show many examples of stereotyping could lead to misjudgment of people and to be loyal to the people around you, especially the ones close to you.

Tina Fey and Rosalind Wiseman wrote the 2004 cult classic film Mean Girls. The film is about Cady Heron (played by Lindsay Lohan) and her attempt to fit into her first ever school experience after having been homeschooled. In one scene, while trying to navigate through the cafeteria, she is stopped by the queen bee Regina George and is asked to sit. This act jumpstarts the familiar high school journey, and teenage quest of becoming popular. During this journey, many other teenage ideologies and values are highlighted.

An anonymous speaker once said," Young nonconformists often identify with a subculture--such as hipsters, Goths, skaters, or Trekkie--that has interests or beliefs that go against the mainstream. "This basically means that teenagers identify with groups that go against the community's norm, but not against their own norms. I agree with this statement because teens hang in groups that others think there beliefs and ideals are wrong, but the teens in the group think their belief and ideals are right. In the realistic fiction novel written by S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, there were groups of characters whose beliefs and ideals were against the norm of the community. Pony boy Curtis, the protagonist of the story, belonged to a gang that

The troublesome kid in the back, maybe the most mischievous yet everyone sensed more than what came to surface. Nine times out of ten, these are the people we least expect. The Outsiders proves the two teen rivals, the beat-down and misunderstood Greasers and the picket fence Socs. S.E Hinton’s, The Outsiders, proves that the Greasers aren’t the only victims.

The movie Mean Girls is rated PG-13. It was published in 2004 and is a teen and comedy film. Mean Girls is about a teenage girl named Cady who was homeschooled in Africa and recently moves to Illinois. She decides to go to highschool and becomes a part of a group of girls called the “mean girls”. They are a popular group who tend to fit their name.

“Mean girls, jocks, band nerds, geeks, and freaks” are all terms used to stereotype and group teens in the 2004 movie hit, Mean Girls. This film created controversies in the content that it delivered. The credibility of adolescents is questioned greatly in this film. Mean Girls taught us that popularity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, in fact, they taught us that it’s actually meaningless. Through extreme character development, this movie shows the viewer that at the end of the day, all of the teens are the same. They all struggle to fit in, and that’s really the moral of this hilarious, but raunchy story. Mean Girls captures the struggle that every teen seems to have at some point of where they belong and how they relate to everyone around them. The film takes those stereotypes and melds them into what all high schools should aspire to be: a community.

The director of Mean Girls, Mark Waters, has misinterpreted popular teenage girls to be “mean.” The movie has drawn people to believe that “nice” girls cannot be popular unless they completely change how they dress, act, and talk. “Nice” girls have to give up their moral values to become popular. Indeed, some popular girls are snobby and bullies, but not all.

Mean Girls is a must see teenage movie. If you haven’t seen it, you aren’t “fetch” (a.k.a. cool). I remember when I first saw the movie around age eight, and I believed girls and boys were exactly how they were portrayed in the movie. I was sitting around with my best friends in our sleeping bags giggling just like every other young girl would at a movie like this one. Though the acting is exaggerated, it is effective in portraying the stereotypes of cliques among high schools through its characters, actresses/actors, special effects, and costumes.

In the teen comedy Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters, the protagonist (Cady Heron) is welcomed into the stereotypical high school setting after being raised in Africa for all of her educational path. Cady, never being in a public-school setting, comes across the Plastics: Regina George (unspoken leader), Gretchen Wieners (gossip queen), and Karen Smith (the stupid, clueless one), who are at the top of the social pyramid. Befriended by the girls, Cady is left to decide whether or not she belongs in this clique or if her place exists in a different one. Throughout the film satirist and comedic scenes are used to show the different sexist lenses and stereotypes that women are viewed with.

“Radio, television, film, and the other products of media culture provide materials out of which we forge our very identities; our sense of selfhood; our notion of what it means to be male or female; our sense of class, of ethnicity and race, of nationality, of sexuality; and of “us” and “them””(Kellner 1). The media culture of today provides a script or map for how one ought to behave. It sets us up for either acceptance or rejection based on our ability to follow these norms. The movie Mean Girls follows the life of a teenage girl, Cady, who just moved to the U.S after living in Africa for her whole life. The movie follows her as she navigates through

When certain movies spread around and get popular, it can cause peer pressure to a person and make them want to encourage their friends to replicate what is going on in the wild scenes. Some people may say it is just a movie and not a big factor in someone’s life, but it actually does happen in college. For example, the movie Neighbors put an emphasis on fitting in and going to frat parties to enhance social life. In this movie, Teddy Sanders moves in a house next by some new neighbors and annoys them everyday by their constant loud music and breaking things. There’s also a scene where Shelby from Neighbors states “This is a sexist, restrictive system. We’re going to start our own sorority and we’re going to party the way that we want to!” There is a sense of dominance and a “we can do whatever we want” attitude that comes off from this scene. It does reflect real fraternities and the countless