Army of Skanks: Socioeconomic Breakdown
The film Mean Girls centers on its satire of high school “cliques.” Recognizable by all teenagers is the minefield of the high school cafeteria. One wrong step and you’ll be eating in the bathroom alone. On Cady’s first day at North Shore she meets Janis and Damien who’s “too gay to function.” Cady makes the fateful decision to skip class with her new friends and is rewarded with a map of the cafeteria, Janis’s rendition of the cliques of North Shore High School. The camera pans to the cafeteria with Janis’ voice over as she describes each group. Cool Asians. Sexually Active Band-Geeks. Burnouts. And of course, The Plastics, recognizable as the “popular girls” and “queen bees.” This one scene is indicative of the composition of a contemporary American high school. Janis highlights how groups of people are segregated; by race, sexuality, and social class.
In one scene Cady walks through the cafeteria clutching her tray. She likens the chaos in the cafeteria to wild animals fighting on the Serengeti. The next scene changes the entire course of the film. Regina George asks Cady to sit with her and her fellow Plastics, Karen and Gretchen Weiners. Described by Janis, The Plastics run North Shore with their good looks, rich parents and dirt on every girl. The Plastics draw their power from their appearance and their wealth. Regina interviews Cady and goes over the “rules” of sitting with The Plastics. The rules are arbitrary, wearing jeans once a week etc, but bespeak the culture of American high school. Appearance is everything. We can see that those less fortunate than Gretchen Weiners for example, whose father is the inventor of toaster strudel, are not able to “compete” with their more privileged classmates and are relegated to the fringes. Cady is accepted by Regina because she’s a novelty, she is unaware of the finer points of the high school social scene. Cady accepts Regina’s invitation to go shopping. It is then that Janis and Damien hatch a plan for Cady to infiltrate The Plastics to extract revenge on Regina George. Cady begins to lead a double life.
This concept of a social semblance one plays up with “friends” resonates with the teenage audience. For Cady the line between the two selves begin to blur. When Regina steals her ex-boyfriend (and Cady’s crush) Aaron Samuels back in a vindictive move at a Halloween party, Cady becomes obsessed with ruining Regina. Keeping up with the importance of physical appearance, the audience can more clearly see the transformation of Cady through her clothes, hair and makeup. Initially she wears jeans and t-shirts but as she becomes more involved as a member of The Plastics, she wears low-cut tops and heels, her hair is curled and she wears lip gloss. It is at Cady’s house party that the two selves collide with disastrous consequences. She lies to her parents and Janis, the people who know the “real” Cady, and throws a house party. Cady has become the new “Regina,” Karen and Gretchen follow her every move and when she finally gets Aaron alone in her room she speaks like Regina. Aaron sees her room filled with memorabilia from Africa, pictures of Cady’s family and cannot reconcile this authentic, wholesome image with the “queen bee” he’s sitting next to. This scene shows both the separation of the self teenagers in high school experience, there’s an authentic self known at home and by close friends, and then the public persona one must cultivate to be a successful player in the social scene.
The climax of the film occurs at North Shore with Regina George releasing contents of her “Burn Book” to the school in an attempt to frame Cady, Karen and Gretchen. This causes a riot. Girls from different social cliques read personal critiques including, “Amber D’Alessio made out with a hotdog” or “Dawn Schweitzer is a fat virgin.” These comments cause disintegration of the cliques as the girls begin to fight each other. The Burn Book also reveals the social currency of the high school. The comments all have to do with appearance and sexuality and are almost all about girls, excluding Damien who makes it into the book with the comment, “Too gay to function.” Principal Duvall and Ms. Norbury succeed in breaking up the riot and call for an assembly of all junior girls. The assembly centers on the inherently toxic way teenage girls relate to one another, through competition, gossiping, and put-downs. The girls confront each other and verbalize their issues in a healthy form of communication, apologizing for who they have hurt before “trust falling.” When Janis is about to apologize to the crowd, Regina makes a comment about her sexuality, upon which Janis reveals her plan to destroy The Plastics with Cady’s help. Regina is livid and storms out of the assembly, she and Cady argue in the road and Regina suddenly hit by a bus.
This is a violent and cathartic end to Regina’s reign, but not her life. As the school returns to normal Cady reverts back to her fundamental challenge--being accepted at school and finding friends. Cady begins to attempt to heal her fractured sense of self. She admits to writing in the Burn Book and re-joins Mathletes, despite it being, “social suicide.” The film is book ended by a Spring Fling dance where surprisingly, Cady is elected Spring Fling Queen. Upon being given the crown she makes a heartfelt speech apologizing for her part in the Burn Book and breaks up the crown to give a piece to all the girls at school, because they all deserve to be Spring Fling Queen. Cady makes up with Janis and Damien and kisses Aaron, and she declares everything good in “girl world.” Despite showcasing the extremely harsh realities of the high school social scene, the film’s conclusion signifies a hopeful future. Karen has become a weather girl showcasing her talent about her breasts predicating rain, Gretchen is friends with the “Cool Asians” and Regina joins the lacrosse team helping her work out her aggression. However, the final scene is a shot of the junior high Plastics, showing the ingrained nature of high school social prejudice.
In one scene Cady walks through the cafeteria clutching her tray. She likens the chaos in the cafeteria to wild animals fighting on the Serengeti. The next scene changes the entire course of the film. Regina George asks Cady to sit with her and her fellow Plastics, Karen and Gretchen Weiners. Described by Janis, The Plastics run North Shore with their good looks, rich parents and dirt on every girl. The Plastics draw their power from their appearance and their wealth. Regina interviews Cady and goes over the “rules” of sitting with The Plastics. The rules are arbitrary, wearing jeans once a week etc, but bespeak the culture of American high school. Appearance is everything. We can see that those less fortunate than Gretchen Weiners for example, whose father is the inventor of toaster strudel, are not able to “compete” with their more privileged classmates and are relegated to the fringes. Cady is accepted by Regina because she’s a novelty, she is unaware of the finer points of the high school social scene. Cady accepts Regina’s invitation to go shopping. It is then that Janis and Damien hatch a plan for Cady to infiltrate The Plastics to extract revenge on Regina George. Cady begins to lead a double life.
This concept of a social semblance one plays up with “friends” resonates with the teenage audience. For Cady the line between the two selves begin to blur. When Regina steals her ex-boyfriend (and Cady’s crush) Aaron Samuels back in a vindictive move at a Halloween party, Cady becomes obsessed with ruining Regina. Keeping up with the importance of physical appearance, the audience can more clearly see the transformation of Cady through her clothes, hair and makeup. Initially she wears jeans and t-shirts but as she becomes more involved as a member of The Plastics, she wears low-cut tops and heels, her hair is curled and she wears lip gloss. It is at Cady’s house party that the two selves collide with disastrous consequences. She lies to her parents and Janis, the people who know the “real” Cady, and throws a house party. Cady has become the new “Regina,” Karen and Gretchen follow her every move and when she finally gets Aaron alone in her room she speaks like Regina. Aaron sees her room filled with memorabilia from Africa, pictures of Cady’s family and cannot reconcile this authentic, wholesome image with the “queen bee” he’s sitting next to. This scene shows both the separation of the self teenagers in high school experience, there’s an authentic self known at home and by close friends, and then the public persona one must cultivate to be a successful player in the social scene.
The climax of the film occurs at North Shore with Regina George releasing contents of her “Burn Book” to the school in an attempt to frame Cady, Karen and Gretchen. This causes a riot. Girls from different social cliques read personal critiques including, “Amber D’Alessio made out with a hotdog” or “Dawn Schweitzer is a fat virgin.” These comments cause disintegration of the cliques as the girls begin to fight each other. The Burn Book also reveals the social currency of the high school. The comments all have to do with appearance and sexuality and are almost all about girls, excluding Damien who makes it into the book with the comment, “Too gay to function.” Principal Duvall and Ms. Norbury succeed in breaking up the riot and call for an assembly of all junior girls. The assembly centers on the inherently toxic way teenage girls relate to one another, through competition, gossiping, and put-downs. The girls confront each other and verbalize their issues in a healthy form of communication, apologizing for who they have hurt before “trust falling.” When Janis is about to apologize to the crowd, Regina makes a comment about her sexuality, upon which Janis reveals her plan to destroy The Plastics with Cady’s help. Regina is livid and storms out of the assembly, she and Cady argue in the road and Regina suddenly hit by a bus.
This is a violent and cathartic end to Regina’s reign, but not her life. As the school returns to normal Cady reverts back to her fundamental challenge--being accepted at school and finding friends. Cady begins to attempt to heal her fractured sense of self. She admits to writing in the Burn Book and re-joins Mathletes, despite it being, “social suicide.” The film is book ended by a Spring Fling dance where surprisingly, Cady is elected Spring Fling Queen. Upon being given the crown she makes a heartfelt speech apologizing for her part in the Burn Book and breaks up the crown to give a piece to all the girls at school, because they all deserve to be Spring Fling Queen. Cady makes up with Janis and Damien and kisses Aaron, and she declares everything good in “girl world.” Despite showcasing the extremely harsh realities of the high school social scene, the film’s conclusion signifies a hopeful future. Karen has become a weather girl showcasing her talent about her breasts predicating rain, Gretchen is friends with the “Cool Asians” and Regina joins the lacrosse team helping her work out her aggression. However, the final scene is a shot of the junior high Plastics, showing the ingrained nature of high school social prejudice.