Mean Girls (2004)

Director: Mark Waters

Cast: Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, Rachel McAdams as Regina George, Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury, Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall, Amy Poehler as Mrs. George, Ana Gasteyer as Cady's Mom, Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners, Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian, Daniel Franzese as Damian, Neil Flynn as Cady's Dad, Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels, Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith, Rajiv Surendra as Kevin Gnapoor, Elana Shilling as Spelling Girl, Graham Kartna as Homeschooled Boy

Had I seen the film a year, a month, a week or even a day earlier, I
wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I did today when I was sitting
in a small university auditorium, relating what I saw to the issues
discussed by the professor prior to the projection, trying arduously to
control the flow of thoughts and emotions in my brain.

Mean Girls is what a large number of people would consider a silly teen
comedy. It tells the story of a previously home-schooled, brought up in
Africa, adolescent who enters a cliquish high school environment.
Essentially the film focuses our attention on a number of psychological
issues touched in almost every similar teen movie. In the beginning the
issue is adaptation to a new environment, and as the movie unfolds it
centers on social cliques, female friend relationships, social
prejudice, social influence, rivalry, or as the professor I heard put
it - relational aggression.

What is especially interesting about the movie, in my opinion, is that
it illustrates an unbelievably highly stratified societal group, and
thus helps the viewer unequivocally identify with and easily take a
stand on the issues discussed. Metaphorically it serves as a microscope
for us to observe social interactions with. Moreover the actions of the
protagonists are so blatantly right or wrong that they eliminate any
ambiguity that might arise of considering the things happening in
another environment or under other circumstances. That way the viewer
simply focuses on the darkest characteristics of female interactions in
society. In this sense the film is not about adolescent girls and their
experiences in high school but rather about the most negative features
of female friend relations in adolescence.

The very same genuineness of the film makes it so hilarious at many
points. What prevents us from laughing at the ridiculous social trends,
prejudices, and many people's beliefs, most possibly including ours, in
reality is that our actual emotions and thoughts rarely come up to the
surface. Even our actions in most situations are covert. Yet,
paradoxically, our way of thinking is shaped by society which
constitutes of other people who are also as secretive in this sense as
we are. And this covert way of feeling and thinking contributes greatly
to the growth of prejudice, misunderstanding, and ... meanness.

Revealing a prejudice I hold, I have always believed that the single
most important objective of a film is to provide food for thought. That
is why I think this teen comedy ranks among the best ones I have seen
recently.