Movie Review: "Mean Girls" By Robin Apelado
Many movies have tried to capture the “catty” ways of high school females, but few have captured it in its essence the way that the film “Mean Girls” does. This movie is based on the non-fiction book, “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” buy Rosalind Wiseman. It was screen written by Tina Fey as a comedy that portrays a home schooled girl, Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) going to public high school for the first time in her life. On her first day her eyes are opened to the difficulties of fitting in and dealing with the in and out crowds that permeate high school life. The movie theme revolves around, who belongs to the different cliques, the bullying that goes on between the cliques and between their own members, and how one becomes associated with certain cliques, especially those that are considered popular.
Cliques are a part of all high schools in America and pose a great problem for those on the wrong side of their favor. Rosalind Wiseman recognizes the injustice that happens in the secondary school level between girls and the detrimental effects that being on the outside of a clique can have. In her book, “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” she focuses on how a few select girls can establish themselves as a trend setter and “high school royalty” and how this behavior affects their school peers. “Queen Bees and Wannabes” and “Mean Girls” are about bullying, gossip, slander, backstabbing, and jealousy, and both open dialog to help girls and parents to understand the complicated social maze that these girl groups exist in. Wiseman directly challenges the reader to open their eyes and take an active role in intervention with girl bullying rather than pass it off as a normal high school experience. Another author, 15 year old Kali Moriarty who is featured in the book, “Red,” by Amy Goldwasser, addresses the issue of bullying, how it effects her personally, and asks the question of what steps can be taken to address it.
“Red,” is a collection of short essays about teenage girl’s experiences ranging from family to boys to gender identity. Kali Moriarty is one of the girls who wrote on the issues of cliques and bullying in her short essay, “Appeal from an Angry Not So Emo.” Moriarty is on the out crowd, in the same way as one of the main characters, Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplin) is in the movie, “Mean Girls.” Moriarty writes about how she and her non- in crowd friends are viewed by the popular jock and cheerleader cliques of her high school, “we’re just “the emos” or some other mean name like “the mutants.” Janis from the movie dealt with similar bullying by the in crowd
‘Queen bee,” Regina (Rachel McAdams). There is a clear defined segregation among high school teens that is based on dress, gender identity, race, and looks. It is pervasive everywhere and Wiseman speaks out against this behavior and rises a call to action. She discusses the impact “Queen Bees” have on those who are targeted and gives guidance on how to deal with the issue and urges intervention by adults.
The issue of intervention of bulling is brought up by Moriarty, “The ultimate worst part about the whole harassment thing, though- in the halls, on the Internet- is that the school does close to nothing about it.” She goes on to say, “My sociology teacher told us that there was a philosopher who said something like this: ‘The only thing necessary of the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.” In the movie it is the lead character, Cady, who is the individual that steps up and does something to fix the mess that is the movie’s plot line completely changing the schools social make up so that there are no more “Queen Bee” cliques. In the real life high school there are no heroes or “good men” that can accomplish such a feat.
Elline Lipkin is another author that discusses the issue of “mean girls” in her book, “Girl’s Studies. Lipkin discusses the assumptions regarding the part cliques and high school girl bullying play in a teenage girl’s life. One is that the ritual of cliques and being picked on is simply part of American society and has no lasting effects after the girls move on in their lives. These types of assumptions, Lipkin quotes Rachel Simmons saying, “stunts the development of antibullying strategies.” If the adults rationalize and make such excuses to avoid directly having to address the issue, then how will the situations that Moriarty discusses be addressed? The answer lies in programs that directly address teens, teachers, and parents. That is where authors such as Elline Lipkin, Rosalind Wiseman, and Tina Fey come in.
Through their efforts though books, seminars, web sites, movies and workshops they take the issue of “mean girls” and bring it to the open where it cannot be rationalized or simplified. They present solutions to stopping girl bullying, call girls to rise up be responsible for their behavior, and to recognize that bullying does hurt the individuals that are targeted. The ending is strong and solution orientated and for those who what the extra features on the DVD the motivation behind the film is discussed in-depth. The film “Mean Girls” is a comedy and presents the issue of girl bullying and cliques in a humorous way, but it opens up the door for discussion.
Robin Apelado
Cliques are a part of all high schools in America and pose a great problem for those on the wrong side of their favor. Rosalind Wiseman recognizes the injustice that happens in the secondary school level between girls and the detrimental effects that being on the outside of a clique can have. In her book, “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” she focuses on how a few select girls can establish themselves as a trend setter and “high school royalty” and how this behavior affects their school peers. “Queen Bees and Wannabes” and “Mean Girls” are about bullying, gossip, slander, backstabbing, and jealousy, and both open dialog to help girls and parents to understand the complicated social maze that these girl groups exist in. Wiseman directly challenges the reader to open their eyes and take an active role in intervention with girl bullying rather than pass it off as a normal high school experience. Another author, 15 year old Kali Moriarty who is featured in the book, “Red,” by Amy Goldwasser, addresses the issue of bullying, how it effects her personally, and asks the question of what steps can be taken to address it.
“Red,” is a collection of short essays about teenage girl’s experiences ranging from family to boys to gender identity. Kali Moriarty is one of the girls who wrote on the issues of cliques and bullying in her short essay, “Appeal from an Angry Not So Emo.” Moriarty is on the out crowd, in the same way as one of the main characters, Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplin) is in the movie, “Mean Girls.” Moriarty writes about how she and her non- in crowd friends are viewed by the popular jock and cheerleader cliques of her high school, “we’re just “the emos” or some other mean name like “the mutants.” Janis from the movie dealt with similar bullying by the in crowd
‘Queen bee,” Regina (Rachel McAdams). There is a clear defined segregation among high school teens that is based on dress, gender identity, race, and looks. It is pervasive everywhere and Wiseman speaks out against this behavior and rises a call to action. She discusses the impact “Queen Bees” have on those who are targeted and gives guidance on how to deal with the issue and urges intervention by adults.
The issue of intervention of bulling is brought up by Moriarty, “The ultimate worst part about the whole harassment thing, though- in the halls, on the Internet- is that the school does close to nothing about it.” She goes on to say, “My sociology teacher told us that there was a philosopher who said something like this: ‘The only thing necessary of the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.” In the movie it is the lead character, Cady, who is the individual that steps up and does something to fix the mess that is the movie’s plot line completely changing the schools social make up so that there are no more “Queen Bee” cliques. In the real life high school there are no heroes or “good men” that can accomplish such a feat.
Elline Lipkin is another author that discusses the issue of “mean girls” in her book, “Girl’s Studies. Lipkin discusses the assumptions regarding the part cliques and high school girl bullying play in a teenage girl’s life. One is that the ritual of cliques and being picked on is simply part of American society and has no lasting effects after the girls move on in their lives. These types of assumptions, Lipkin quotes Rachel Simmons saying, “stunts the development of antibullying strategies.” If the adults rationalize and make such excuses to avoid directly having to address the issue, then how will the situations that Moriarty discusses be addressed? The answer lies in programs that directly address teens, teachers, and parents. That is where authors such as Elline Lipkin, Rosalind Wiseman, and Tina Fey come in.
Through their efforts though books, seminars, web sites, movies and workshops they take the issue of “mean girls” and bring it to the open where it cannot be rationalized or simplified. They present solutions to stopping girl bullying, call girls to rise up be responsible for their behavior, and to recognize that bullying does hurt the individuals that are targeted. The ending is strong and solution orientated and for those who what the extra features on the DVD the motivation behind the film is discussed in-depth. The film “Mean Girls” is a comedy and presents the issue of girl bullying and cliques in a humorous way, but it opens up the door for discussion.
Robin Apelado
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