Mean Girl : The Tragic Hero In Mean Girls

The movie “mean girls” is about a sixteen-year old homeschooled girl named Cady Heron who lived in Africa for the last 12 years of her life. After 12 years she returns to the United States and is now going to High school. Attending public school for the first time in her life. The homeschooled girl entered girl world that is full of lies, drama, gossip, boys and rules. She started hanging out with the “Plastics” and become friends with. The movie showed many example of conflict management styles, it reflects on the American culture values and beliefs, and power style.

The movie Mean Girls is filled with characters that are easy to relate with, quotable lines, and a hilarious but realistic plot line. One other major thing that the movie has is concepts of the development that occurs during late adolescences including social, emotional, and cognitive development. Mean Girls is about a girl named Cady that is attending a public high school for the first time after being home schooled in Africa for all of her life. She knows nothing of the American teenage culture or customs or about the public school system. During her first week of school Cady becomes friends with two people in one of her classes named Janis and Damien, who unbeknownst to her are a part of the

Jessie had left his parked car to go back into the mall after Puck's second text. He knew he was acting like a fool, but somehow he didn't care. Part of him needed to see her again, while the other part simply didn't want the day to end, afraid that he would wake up in his bed in the morning to discover that it was just a dream.

The teen comedy Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters, welcomes the protagonist (Cady Heron) 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. The use of satirist and comedic scenes throughout the film show the different sexist lenses and stereotypes that women are viewed with.

The movie Mean Girls shows examples of many social-psychological principals. Three of the major social-psychological principals depicted in Mean Girls are prejudice, discrimination, and conformity. According to Social Psychology and Human Nature textbook, written by Baumeister and Bushman, prejudice is a negative feeling toward an individual bases solely on his or her membership in a particular group. Discrimination is unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong. Lastly, conformity is defined as getting along with the crowd.

The movie Mean Girls follows Cady Heron as she experiences high school for the first time in her life. As she is thrown into a new society, this film provides the opportunity to socially analyze high school. From figuring out her new culture and society that she is engrossed in to realizing how social status can both negatively and positively affect her values and beliefs, there are many concepts that Cady learns and is taught as she makes her way through her first year of public school.

The characters in Mean Girls can be compared to the characters in Julius Caesar. For instance, Regina can be Caesar because she thinks she rules everyone and everything, Cady can be Brutus because she goes behind Regina’s back and tries to ruin her life but acts like her friend to her face, and Janis can be Cassius because she convinces Cady to plot against Regina just like Cassius convinces Brutus to do to Caesar. These similarities are important because they bring the two stories together and help someone with little knowledge better understand the play. Julius Caesar plays a big role in today’s society and is a very good story to read because there are many “Caesars” in the world. A “Caesar” is just someone that thinks he/she can control other people and can’t be told what to do or even take other people’s suggestions.

Commonly referred to as a classic by millennials, Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters in 2004, allows an interesting critique of racism when viewed through a sociological lens. The story follows Cady Herron, a normal teenager- except for the fact that she grew up in Africa, homeschooled by her scientist parents- as she is forced to integrate into the public-school system in Illinois. Never having been in an institution like a public school, Cady quickly learns what not to do and who to hang out with. Through trial and error, Cady assimilates and becomes a ‘normal’ American teenager who is part of the ‘popular’ crowd, befriending “The Plastics”; Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners, and their leader, Regina George. The story of Mean Girls is not as superficial as it seems. This film illustrates the perils of not only teenage life, but current life in America, and accurately depicts the struggles that minorities face. Looking at this movie through Functionalist theory, the racial aggressions present are part of a larger institution of the public school system; insinuating that the micro and macro-aggressions directed towards minorities are part of developing the future generation and teaching them to perpetuate racial inequality in America, allowing white people to remain the majority race and to reap the benefits that come with it. The complexity of the movie lies within an interesting discourse that examines the effects and functions behind the racist

Mean Girls is about a young teen girl Cady Heron who just moved from Africa to attend a public high school in America for the first time. This is very different for Cady because the high school setting in America will be extremely different from how it was when she was living in Africa. It’s not easy for her because she is not used to the American customs or “norms”. Within the first couple of days of school she becomes really good friends with two people named Janis and Damien. In the school there are many many cliques, and Janis

An adolescent is a young person who is the in the process of forming from a child into an adult. The formation can result in physical changes, sexuality, a sense of self-direction, and more. During the movie “Mean Girls” a female adolescent by the name of Cady Heron who recently just relocated to a new school and is put in a position where she must change her behavior, physical features, and self-direction to fit in with a popular group in school. Although Cady made friends quite fast, it is her new friends that are persuading her to make these changes all to sabotage the popular girls in school. Just like most adolescents do, Cady gets too far in over her head and catches herself turning into one of the ‘popular’ girls and quickly begins to act out.

The need to create an identity for oneself is a strong human desire with an intensity that is equaled only by the craving to become part of a community. With such strong yearnings for individuality as well as a sense of attachment within a group, the most familiar consequence is conflicting emotions that are all too easily persuaded. The 2004 film Mean Girls exhibits various examples of identification and social influence as well as the level of persuasion they hold over the decision making process of the main character, Cady. After arriving at a new school, Cady is immediately accepted by two unpopular students, but then attempts to become noticed by the most popular group of girls, The Plastics. Once Cady is accepted by The Plastics, her moral compass, belief systems, and actions change in order to more closely reflect those around her and solidify her status

The last psychological perspective of psychology to compare “Mean Girls” to is the behaviorist approach. This approach emphasizes the importance of environmental and situational determinants of behavior. Simply because of the new environment that Cady is thrust into her entire behavior is changed. She acts completely unlike her normal self, adapting and becoming an expert at backstabbing and manipulating. Through her manipulation she learns to control everyone around her, because according to this theory people and situations influence each other

The story that Bully shares are about five youths who get heavily perpetrated by cruel acts, that end them up in unhealthy situations. The characters possess different qualities: racial backgrounds, sexual identities or medical challenges. Furthermore discussing the problem of the ongoing need to belong somewhere, yet not being truthful to oneself. This brings into consideration of the parents and school administration. School is tough as it is, yet a handful of people make it worse by unfairly treating someone based on superficial reasoning. Mean Girls tells a story of Cady Heron, who moves to North Shore high school after a twelve-year research trip in Africa, she is forced to assimilate into the American culture, one she is unfamiliar with. In the process of making friends, she gets involved with the problematic clique, The Plastics.

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.

At first glance, the theatrical trailer for Mean Girls fulfills all clichés the ‘high school’ or ‘teen girl’ genre. Our protagonist, Cady, is the new girl school, who’s been homeschool her entire life. Her new nerdy friends explain all the cliques of the school to her, including an introduction to each member of the most popular group. It even sets up the stereotypical main