Mean Girls

High School cliques stereotypically included various groups labeled ROTC, preps, jocks, nerds, intellectuals, hotties, rich kids, poor kids, special needs, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don't eat anything, desperate wannabes, burnouts, trend setters, eccentrics, artists, toughies, cheerleaders, farm kids, shop or band geeks.

Most of us gravitated towards a group of gals or guys who were similar to us in label and personality. Within each of these individual groups was a pecking order – a place where you fit into your pack – be it leader, follower, counselor, oddball etc.. If you had your spot that made high school a good place to be – you had “like-minded” people to run with……except when your pack turned on you.

Let’s face it… there is nothing meaner on the face of the earth than a pack of females (young or old) when they get it in their head to ostracize someone. The main weapons of choice – the cold shoulder, disdain, and the biggest soul bruiser of all……gossip.

For those of you, who had a hard time in high school, let me share something….do yourself a big favor and go to your 30 year class reunion and observe. As you look about the room, you will realize that life is a great equalizer and those people, the ones that hurt you….have no power anymore. You have lost the need for their or anyone’s approval…except the person who looks back at you in the mirror every morning. I hope you have learned to love and respect that good and gracious person.

This movie is not a guy flick and would appeal more to woman – ages 10 -30s, but I am in my 50s and I enjoyed it because the message is timeless. It is a “high school comedy,” but if you like the humor and writing of Tina Fey of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live fame, you are going to want to see this – Fey acts in this one too. If you like this movie, you might consider reading the non-fiction book it is loosely based on, Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.

Quotes

Chip Heron: Hey, how was school?
Cady: Fine.
Betsy Heron: Were people nice?
Cady: No.
Chip Heron: Did you make any friends?
Cady: Yes.


Cady: I think I'm joining the Mathletes.
Regina, Gretchen, Karen: No! No, no!
Regina: You cannot do that. That is social suicide. Damn! You are so lucky you have us to guide you.


Cady: (voiceover) The weird thing about hanging out with Regina was that I could hate her, and at the same time, I still wanted her to like me.
Regina: (to Cody) Okay... you have really good eyebrows.
Cady: Thanks.
Regina: (pushing Gretchen) Move.
Gretchen: Ooh.
Cady: (voiceover) Same with Gretchen: the meaner Regina was to her, the more Gretchen tried to win Regina back. She knew it was better to be in the Plastics, hating life, than to not be in at all. Because being with the Plastics was like being famous... people looked at you all the time and everybody just knew stuff about you.

Plot Summary

Previously home-schooled in Africa by her zoologist parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn), new kid Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) attends her first day of public high school in Illinois. She is befriended by Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese), two “walk to their own beat” classmates, who accept Cady into their fold and share high school survival secrets. Cady is warned about a group of three popular girls called the Plastics led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams), a former friend of Janis.

Janis wants revenge against Regina because she started a rumor about her in junior high so she comes up with a plan for Cady to “infiltrate” the Plastics. The battle plan against Regina, who is a stinker and the stereotypical snotty girl, is to alienate her from her boyfriend, turn her two best friends Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried) against her, and to “ugly her up” through various methods such as a bogus diet plan. Wanting to fit in a pack and to please Janis and Damien, Cady agrees and the adventure begins.

Life Lessons

Irony - The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.

“Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter acquired a reputation as a wit, noted for her barbs and repartee. She often said that she cared nothing for social convention or what other people thought of her. She liked being outrageous and spoke her mind. One of her best friends gave her an embroidered pillow which Alice proudly showed off. It said: "If you haven’t got anything good to say about anyone come and sit by me."

Excerpt from a Jo Freeman review of: Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker

Remember now, you didn’t hear this from me….

Gossip is fun.

Who cares about the person being targeted? Their life struggles, losses, health issues, or background history, all of which have contributed to making them the person they are today. Empathy, what does that mean? Oh yeah, sensing the feelings of others by imaging ourselves in others’ lives or others’ situations. What a waste of time when we all know walking a mile in someone else’s shoes doesn’t get a person anything, but a case of aching feet and a pair of worn out shoes.

Gossip is fun.

Learning the truth before you speak? Why, when everyone knows the truth is no where near as interesting as the embellishments added as this tantalizing tidbit gets passed from person to person, each person adding their own personal take on the matter. Besides a person’s busy and how fair is it to expect a body to waste their precious time listening to “both” sides of the story before they form an opinion. Nope, the secret is not to spend precious time thinking for yourself, but to let other people’s opinions of someone be yours so you’ll never have to worry about fitting in. While a person is at it, they should always make sure to form an instant opinion about someone they’ve never spent any quality time with based on the gossip they have heard and then share that opinion with others, especially their children so they can learn to gossip and not think for themselves too.

Gossip is fun.

When you hear gossip, do not take the time to reflect why the “gossiper” is sharing information about the “gossipee.” Revenge? Jealousy? Anger? Boredom? Attention? Mean-spiritedness? Just because they’re talking about that person behind their back doesn’t mean it’s a pattern with them and they would do it to you? Or does it?

Gossip is fun.

Don’t forget to snicker, make snide remarks, talk behind your hand, or roll your eyes when the victim walks by. All of these are effective tools to make you feel superior and put the person in their place, showing everyone around you just the type of person you are capable of being. For goodness sake before you share your juicy bit of news, never take a moment to reflect on how you would feel if what you are about to say about someone was said about you.

Gossip is fun, loads and loads of fun… until we or someone we love are the targets of gossip, then it’s not so fun anymore, it just hurts.

“We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.”
George Bernard Shaw

Mean Girls Movie Cast

Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron
Rachel McAdams as Regina George
Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Weiners
Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith
Tina Fey as Ms. Sharon Norbury
Tim Meadows as Principal Ron Duvall
Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels
Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian.
Daniel Franzese as Damien
Amy Poehler as Mrs. George
Ana Gasteyer as Betsy Heron
Neil Flynn as Chip Heron