Mean Girls

Story

Cady Heron is a homeschooled sixteen-year-old who joins an all-American high school and soon finds there are many rules to be learned. The school is made up of various cliques and Cady is befriended by two outcasts who warn her about the infamous ‘Plastics’, a group of three popular girls who rule the school. Cady is persuaded to try and bring down the Plastics by pretending to be their friend and working from the inside. However, things don’t go as smoothly as planned as Cady faces contested loyalties and the choice between popularity and friendship.

Why we chose it

Means Girls was a huge hit when it first aired, particularly with teenagers. Watching it became a kind of rite of passage and much of the language has made its way into popular culture. It continues to have a strong cultural impact and is frequently referenced in contemporary media

Where it came from

Mean Girls is based on Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman (2002) which is a self-help book for teenage girls who are struggling at high school. Tina Fey, who wrote the screenplay and also starred in Mean Girls, contacted Wiseman with the idea of creating a film. Fey also drew on her own school experiences.

Where it went next

The film won and was nominated for several awards, namely the Teen Choice Awards and the MTV Film Awards in 2004 and 2005. There continue to be events and film-screenings and plenty of the audience will be wearing pink – because on Wednesdays the Plastics wear pink.

Associated stories

Mean Girls 2 was released on DVD in 2011. It acts as a stand-alone story with new characters but did not receive the same critical acclaim as its predecessor.