In October, there are two sacred days to commemorate young adult women: the International Day of the Girl on October 11 and–perhaps even more important—Mean Girls Day on October 3. In order to celebrate these two crucial holidays at once, Her Campus Clark is analyzing how the archetype of the “mean girl” has evolved in cinema and television and how we can learn from these characters.
In earlier cinema, the“mean girl” archetype was arguably more of a plot device than a complete characterization. The “mean girl” was created to invert the positive characteristics of a female protagonist. This contrast between the female protagonist’s inherit decency and passivity with the mean girl’s aggression would emphasize the female protagonist’s desirability to the audience. The utilization of the “mean girl” archetype for comparison is exemplified in the 1950s Disney animated film, Cinderella. In Cinderella, the titular protagonist is cruelly abused by her mean girl stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella. The sisters are only portrayed in the movie from Cinderella’s perspective and this limited scope forces the audience to understand the cartoonishly unflattering aspects of their character; they are unattractive, abusive, and haughty. They dress in garrish clothing and have a codependent relationship with their mother. More importantly, the movie’s ending emphasizes that the sisters are unworthy of love. Consequently, the stepsisters are denied any real autonomy or justified incentive in their quest to squander Cinderella’s chances at a “happily ever after.” The blatant dichotomization between the stepsister’s ugly appearance and abrasive personality and Cinderella’s beauty and passivity enforces the idea for young girls everywhere that there is no moral nuance between Cinderella’s passivity and the sisters’ objective cruelty. Henceforth, Cinderella is worthy of a happy ending and the sisters are not.
As cinema has evolved, the mean girl archetype has evolved in turn. By the early 2000s, the mean girl has changed from the female protagonist’s ugly stepsister to her unattainably cool older sister figure. In the 2004 movie, Mean Girls, the queen bee character Regina George is the gold standard on the updated mean girl archetype. In contrast to the evil stepsisters from Cinderella, Regina George is undeniably stunning—a human barbie doll that will inevitably bite you if you play with her too long. However unlike the ugly stepsisters, Regina’s “bite” is one of her most enthralling attributes. In a patriarchal society where women are often pressured to act gracious and reticent at all times, the new mean girl archetype gleefully defies these unspoken rules. Regina is unabashed of her sexuality without being perceived as less desirable than the comparatively modest protagonist, Cady. Regina is confident and brash in asserting her opinions without appearing overpowering. Perhaps, in the context of recent backlash of the #MeToo movement, the most empowering aspect of Regina is that she has the agency and respect from her classmates to immediately ward off a male student’s sexually crude advances by dismissing him as a “skeeze” and telling him to “go shave his back”.
The appeal of Regina’s queen bee mean girl qualities is best summarized by Heather, another character that codified the modern mean girl archetype in the 1989 cult classic, Heathers. In the midst of an argument with protagonist Veronica, Heather angrily proclaims that her influence elevated Veronica from a girlish “bluebird, a [girl scout] brownie” to someone who could “spread [her] wings” and “fuck with the eagles.”
Heather’s comments are further affirmed in the 2018 comedic thriller, A Simple Favor. A Simple Favor centers around the friendship between Emily, an elegant and emotionally aloof fashionista and Stephanie, an endearingly eager “mommy vlogger” before and in the aftermath of Emily’s mysterious disappearance. Throughout the movie, Emily is cruel, snarky, and proudly unfeeling in her exploitation of her loved ones to further her own ambitions. However, the movie also emphasizes that Emily unintentionally changed Stephanie for the better. Under Emily’s influence, Stephanie emerges as a more adventurous, unapologetically confident and ambitious woman.
Through the protagonists’ transformations in Mean Girls, Heathers, and A Simple Favor, into more self aware and assertive people, it is clear that we could all learn something valuable about self conduct from these “mean girls” archetypes.