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Hot Body: The Crisis of Self Image
Mean Girls is a comedic, yet accurate portrayal of the body image issues that high school girl’s face today. Even the most popular girls in school find it necessary to degrade themselves, and encourage other members of the group to do so. Cady, the protagonist, befriends the group of materialistic, judgmental young women commonly referred to as “The Plastics.” The name “Plastics” is meant to reflect the girls drive for perfection.
This fascination with their self image is a common motif throughout the movie. Especially, the group’s leader, Regina George who frequently says “I have to lose three pounds.” The obsession with their body image gives the girls the power, the skinnier they are, the more they can judge others who aren’t like them. Throughout the film, Regina George is tricked into eating Caltine bars which cause her to gain weight. She gains more weight and slowly loses the power to judge others until she is no longer idolized within the school. When Cady goes to Regina’s house with The Plastics she finds out that even the prettiest girls find things wrong with their bodies. The girls are clearly beautiful women, but while standing in front of a mirror, bash their bodies. Regina thinks her pores are huge, Gretchen thinks she has a weird hairline, and Karen thinks her nail beds suck. Sheltered Cady says “I thought there was only fat and skinny, but apparently there are a lot of things that can be wrong with your body.” This one scene is a common representation of the blemishes girls (and boys) focus on everyday, especially in high school. Teenagers focus on the tiniest things to try to make themselves perfect. Even Regina's mother is insecure about her body- shown through the character's frequent references to her "hard as rocks" breast implants.
Cady, who has lived in Africa for fifteen years, isn’t aware of all the things that can be “wrong” with your body. Obviously, these faults teenagers find aren’t imbedded into our human nature, but must be created and taught to us by outside influences. This is why The Plastics find faults with themselves. Finding blemishes with themselves fuels their obsession to be perfect. This obsession then gives them their power, so inadvertently, finding flaws with yourself and your social status in high school are tied together.
We can also see this with Cady’s rise of power. When she enters high school, she knows no one, but when she starts conforming and acting like The Plastics she then gains more power and eventually reaches the top of the social totem pole. First Cady starts paying more attention to her face in mirrors and dressing herself differently. At her house party, Cady is seen wearing a significant amount of makeup then she did at the beginning of the movie and this is when she is at her peak and the “new” Regina George. At this moment, Cady has evolved into a Plastic and holds the power as “Queen Bee.” Regina’s old friends now follow Cady around. If Cady looked and acted like she did on the first day of school, she wouldn’t have this power over the school and these girls. Through changing her image, Cady has gained power and Regina loses it due to her fall from perfection. A central theme the audience sees in Mean Girls, is as a teenager's social status in high school all depends on their self-image and drive to be perfect.
This fascination with their self image is a common motif throughout the movie. Especially, the group’s leader, Regina George who frequently says “I have to lose three pounds.” The obsession with their body image gives the girls the power, the skinnier they are, the more they can judge others who aren’t like them. Throughout the film, Regina George is tricked into eating Caltine bars which cause her to gain weight. She gains more weight and slowly loses the power to judge others until she is no longer idolized within the school. When Cady goes to Regina’s house with The Plastics she finds out that even the prettiest girls find things wrong with their bodies. The girls are clearly beautiful women, but while standing in front of a mirror, bash their bodies. Regina thinks her pores are huge, Gretchen thinks she has a weird hairline, and Karen thinks her nail beds suck. Sheltered Cady says “I thought there was only fat and skinny, but apparently there are a lot of things that can be wrong with your body.” This one scene is a common representation of the blemishes girls (and boys) focus on everyday, especially in high school. Teenagers focus on the tiniest things to try to make themselves perfect. Even Regina's mother is insecure about her body- shown through the character's frequent references to her "hard as rocks" breast implants.
Cady, who has lived in Africa for fifteen years, isn’t aware of all the things that can be “wrong” with your body. Obviously, these faults teenagers find aren’t imbedded into our human nature, but must be created and taught to us by outside influences. This is why The Plastics find faults with themselves. Finding blemishes with themselves fuels their obsession to be perfect. This obsession then gives them their power, so inadvertently, finding flaws with yourself and your social status in high school are tied together.
We can also see this with Cady’s rise of power. When she enters high school, she knows no one, but when she starts conforming and acting like The Plastics she then gains more power and eventually reaches the top of the social totem pole. First Cady starts paying more attention to her face in mirrors and dressing herself differently. At her house party, Cady is seen wearing a significant amount of makeup then she did at the beginning of the movie and this is when she is at her peak and the “new” Regina George. At this moment, Cady has evolved into a Plastic and holds the power as “Queen Bee.” Regina’s old friends now follow Cady around. If Cady looked and acted like she did on the first day of school, she wouldn’t have this power over the school and these girls. Through changing her image, Cady has gained power and Regina loses it due to her fall from perfection. A central theme the audience sees in Mean Girls, is as a teenager's social status in high school all depends on their self-image and drive to be perfect.