When teen Candy Heron moved to a small suburban town in Illinois from Africa, where she was homeschooled, she could now experience an actual public school experience. When she finally starts learning the social skills she will need to navigate high school, she ends up in “The Plastic” group. Shortly after she starts belonging to the group, she realizes why they’re called “The Plastics” and that they can ruin her high school career very quickly. The title of this movie is Mean Girls.

        Even though Mean Girls was released on April 30, 2004, in 2022, it is still ranked as one of the greatest comedies of the 21st century. One of the actresses in the movie claimed the title of America’s best comedy writer for her screenplay of the film. The Director, Mark Waters, tried hard to embed meaningful lessons in the movie. One of the biggest lessons taught by the main characters, Cady Heron, Regina George, Gretchen Weiners, Karen Smith, Aaron Samuels, Janis Ian, and Damien, is how useless high school popularity is. This movie shows that becoming popular and trying to fit in is overrated and can cause people to do things outside of their character. It shows that being popular comes with a cost that is not worth sacrificing yourself for in the long run.

        In this movie, there are seven characters that are important to know. The main character is Cady Heron who is played by Lindsey Lohen. Cady’s story starts with her moving from Africa, where she was sheltered and homeschooled. She moved with her parents to a small suburb town in Illinois where she began public schools for the first time. Towards the movie's beginning, Cady was introduced to “The Plastics,” a group of popular rich girls who rule the school. To be accepted, she decided to change herself to fit, only to realize that she may have made the wrong decision. The next character is Regina George played by Rachel McAdams. Regina is the most popular girl in school, the leader of “The Plastics,” and is very toxic. She is the definition of a mean girl. In the movie, she only cares about herself and how others can serve a purpose in her life.  The follower in the group is the character Gretchen Wieners, played by Lacey Chabert. She is also part of “The Plastics” but is powerless because she does everything Regina says. When Cady joined “The Plastics,” Gretchen was the nicest to her. A big part of her character is being the daughter of the inventor of Toaster Strudels. The movie's most light-hearted and comedic character is Karen Smith, played by Amanda Seyfried. She was the third original plastic who was not only powerless but also very clueless. Aaron Samuels, who Jonathan Bennett plays, is Regina’s ex-boyfriend and Cady’s love interest in the movie. Outside of the plastics, Cady had two new best friends, Janis Ian played by Lizzy Caplan, and Damien who Daniel Franzese plays. Though Janis is one of Cady’s best friends, she influenced Cady to be friends with “The Plastics” for her own selfish reasons. Damien had hatred against Regina George for things she did to his past and also pushed Cady to become a plastic. 

        The ideas within Mean Girls are to show how school bullying and trying to fit in can cause so much damage in a teenager’s life. This movie uses comedy to bring to light teen’s struggles in high school. This movie dives deep into the different groups and shows how each person could have a different experience in one high school. Another idea from this movie that stuck with me is the impact verbal, emotional, and psychological bullying can have on a teen and the lengths a teen would go to fit in. Each social group was represented and the movie stayed true to how each group is valued and respected by other groups and teachers. I like the idea of this movie showing the darker side of high school, unlike the other movies that came out over the years like High School Musical.         

I recommend this movie to teens 14 years or older.  This movie would be highly entertaining for teens in high school and adults who want to reflect on their high school experiences. Though I found many elements of the movie entertaining and relatable, the sarcasm throughout the movie made me want more after each scene.  The sarcasm added a level of comedy to that movie, which kept it uplifting and funny and did not turn it into a dark high school movie about teen relationships.  Another reason I recommend this movie is because it allows the viewers to reflect on their experiences and learn lessons about how their behaviors toward others in high school significantly impacted how others viewed them.