Mean Girls
Written by Tina Fey
Directed by Mark Waters
2004, M.G. Films
Movie, Fiction
Interest Age: 13-17+
Annotation: When Cady starts public school for the first time, she soon becomes part of the Plastics, the group of popular mean girls.
Plot Summary: 16-year-old Cady and her family return to the United States after her parents’ 12-year research trip in Africa. Cady is attending an American public school for the first time. She quickly becomes friends with Janis and Damian, who are outcasts but immediately accept her. Soon, the group of popular girls, known as the Plastics, take interest in Cady. She is not initially interested in hanging out with them, but Janis and Damian encourage her to spend time with them in order to spy on them and get revenge on the leader, Regina. Cady gets sucked into the world of the Plastics and starts to act like them without even trying to, and her friendship with Janis and Damian, as well as her grades, start to suffer.
Critical Evaluation: I think this movie is a great look at an extreme version of high school clique culture. It is almost satire, but I’m not sure if it quite achieves that—it’s more like caricature. Still, it’s important that the viewers understand this is not meant to be a literal representation. It is obvious to me, but it might not be to some. I think this movie could be effectively used in a classroom curriculum, with discussions about how it is exaggerated. One great thing about this movie is that no one is entirely good or entirely evil. Everyone has flaws, but everyone also has elements that you can feel sympathetic about. The adults in this movie are mostly useless, so the teens are forced to solve their problems with minimal help. I think that is inspiring to teens, because no matter how helpful adults are, I think they prefer to solve their own problems when they can. In general this movie has a great message, especially since the cliques are largely dissolved by the end of the movie.
Author Biographical Information: Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer born on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She broke through in 1995 on Saturday Night Live as a writer and actress. Since leaving the show, Fey has written hit movies, written and starred in the Emmy Award-winning television series 30 Rock, and is the creator of the Netflix hit, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. (source: https://www.biography.com/people/tina-fey-365284)
Ties to Curriculum Units: Bullying awareness
Booktalking Ideas:
- Discuss how Cady gets sucked into the “Plastic” way of thinking
- Compare the cliques at the beginning of the movie to how they are at the end
Challenge Issues: LGBTQ characters, profanity, sexual themes, underage drinking, violence
Challenge Defenses:
- Mention awards the item has won or been nominated for
- State the library’s collection development policy
- Reference the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights
- Provide rationale for the item being in the collection
- As a last resort, offer the patron a “Request for Reconsideration” form
Katey's YA Collection 