MEAN GIRLS
US, 2004, 97 minutes, Colour.
Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Mc Adams, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese.
Directed by Mark Waters.
For a lot of the running time of Mean Girls, one might feel that one was eaves-dropping on adolescent chat and gossip in a girls’ locker room! But, there is more to the film than that. It is the age-old story of the nice but naïve outsider who is finally welcomed by the peer group, succumbs to their moral (or less than moral) pressure and becomes as bad as they are, ruining people’s lives. Even though all is well at the end, there is a final gulp as we see the next group of freshers arriving and know that the cycle will begin again.
What a school they all go to! A tour of the cafeteria reveals all kinds of groupings, nerds, snobs, racial groups, the critical outsiders – and the Plastics who are everything that teenage magazines (and their leader, Regina,) dictate. Director, Mark S. Waters, scored a hit with Freaky Friday, starring Lindsay Lohan as the brash teenager who suddenly found herself in her career woman mother’s body and who had to play both parts, which she did very well. This one is not too much of a stretch. She is the home-schooled daughter of anthropologists who work in Africa but she is now attending school for the first time. She pals up with the critics who enlist her in their upsetting of the Plastics. It’s all classes, mean tricks, vying for Prom Queen, parties and invitations (and not) and stealing dates, all that kind of stuff. Lindsay is caught up in plotting and manoeuvres and almost ruins her own life as well as everybody else’s.
The vitality of the film comes from Rachel Mc Adams (so effective in The Notebook) as the unscrupulous leader of The Plastics. She is the personification of conscienceless glamour.
Is this is what is meant by a Girls’ Own Story? Only joking – like the film!
1.The popularity of the film? For a youth audience? Girls? For parents? The popularity of the film?
2.The Illinois setting, the school, the homes, the parties? The musical score?
3.The title, the focus on The Plastics, especially Regina? Janis as mean? Cady and her becoming mean?
4.The voice-over, Cady’s past, the background in Africa, her first day at school after being home-educated, her experience and lack of experience? Her comment on the school, the characters? The groups, her being trapped? Her own malice? Her repenting? The final humour?
5.Cady’s parents, Africa, the photos, their work in Africa, their home-schooling, their decision to ground Cady and their shock at her behaviour? Their pride at the end, the dance?
6.Cady, sixteen, the African experience, her love for her parents, going to school, the buses, the classroom seats, the cafeteria, meeting Janis and Damian? Their explanation of the various groups, the satire on the groups, the visuals?
7.The introduction to The Plastics: Regina, Gretchen, Karen? Their smiling, their clothes, their rules? Regina as the boss? The visit to Regina’s home, her domination of her mother? Karen, Gretchen and the phone calls (and the split-screen style)? The gossip, the rules, relationships, exercise of power, influence? Cady and her becoming part of the group? The commission by Janis and Damian to spy and get feedback? Her gradually being absorbed into The Plastics?
8.Janis and Damian, on the outer, their appearance, style, characteristics? Meeting Cady, explaining things to her? Their plan, the stories? Damian and the gay issues? Janis, the past relationship with Aaron? The final shock, honesty, hurt?
9.Cady, her character, her friends? With the interview, mixing with the group, the discovery of the truth about Regina? Her fondness for Aaron, pretending to be slow at maths? The plans against Regina, the foot powder, the fattening material? Catching the pair in the projection room? The phone call? Regina, going as a witch to the party, having her own party, becoming sick? The interaction with the teacher, the importance of Regina’s book? Writing in the book against Miss Norbury? The issue of the Mathletes? The calling of the teacher a pusher? The build-up to the consequences?
10.Regina, her character, domination, betrayal, Aaron, flirting? Her talking, the book, the principal getting the book, the pages? The bus?
11.Miss Norbury, the principal, her being hurt? Miss Norbury and the attentions of Mr Duvall? In class? The discussions about pushing drugs? Her music at the club? The two jobs? The reaction, her setting up the therapy issue? The effects on the students? Their avoiding Cady? Her pushing Cady on? The Mathletes and the achievement?
12.The Spring Queen dance, her being grounded, going to the Mathletes competition, the presentation of the king, of the queen? Cady and her speech? The crown in pieces and giving parts to everyone?
13.Cady, her change, the party, her friends, the gatecrashing, her parents’ reaction? Their grounding her? Her going off to the Mathletes competition, to the Queen dance? Their following, their satisfaction?
14.The therapy sequence, Miss Norbury and the principal, the exercise for trust, the confession of hurts, falling? Regina and her being let fall? The therapy for the students? For the teachers?
15.The reconciliation, Gretchen and Karen and their changing their attitude? Regina and her change – or not?
16.The arrival of the new group, the future Plastics? The insights into high school? Into teenage girls and their issues?
