Summary ‘Mean Girls’ Film Analysis

‘Mean Girls’ Film Analysis The film ‘Mean Girls’ is one of the most well-known teen movies of the 2000s. While it may seem like a run of the mill chick flick about teenagers antagonizing each other and making up on the surface, a deeper analysis from a psychological point of view shows that there is more depth to the characters than meets the eye. The premise of the film is social cliques in high school, especially among girls, and the effects that these cliques can have on them. The clique in this movie is the Plastics, which is comprised of three girls. As individuals and as a group, their behaviors and actions towards others are incredibly rude and condescending because they think that they are better than the other students. Their theory of mind can be analyzed using the social identity theory. The social identity theory is “concerned with the consequences of perceiving the self as a member of a social group and identifying with it” (Social Psychology The Breakfast Club PowerPoint). In other words, people tend to “divide the social world into us (the in-group) versus them (the out- group)” (Social Psychology The Breakfast Club PowerPoint). In ‘Mean Girls’, in order to be a member of the ingroup the Plastics, you would have to be beautiful, popular, and extraverted. Although many students don’t fit into all 2 categories, it is the social standard and people tend to follow the nature of conformity in order to fit into that group better. Regina is the leader of the Plastics, and as such, she is the one who sets the rules for the other two girls (and the rest of the