Examples Of Paralanguage In Mean Girls

In the movie Mean Girls, and in life, individuals run into nonverbal communications, whether they desire to or not. As said in Communicate! The Fifteenth Edition, “Nonverbal communication is inevitable,” (Verderber, Sellnow, & Verderber, 2017) and the audience can see that clearly in the movie. One way to convey nonverbal messages is through the use of paralanguage. This is when an individual uses vocal effects to communicate underlying meanings (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). These effects range from pitch, to volume, to rate, and many others. Regina George takes control of these forms of paralanguage while interacting with the principal after “finding” the Burn Book. Regina uses her high pitch and soft volume to demonstrate she is sad and hurt when in reality

she is the one who created the cruel book.

Another example of paralanguage in Mean Girls is when Gretchen recites a paper on Caesar and Brutus to the class. As she speaks her rate of speech begins to accelerate, followed by heightened pitch, and lastly increase in volume. These cues show her becoming physically angry at Caesar and Brutus, even though this is just a research report. These unusual paralanguage cues show the audience there is more to the story Gretchen is telling. Paralanguage, however, is not the only nonverbal used throughout the movie.

The audience can see the other nonverbal right on the cover of the movie. Three primed young girls with attractive features all dressed in pink. The three girls are all using the concept of physical appearance to create a nonverbal message of power and popularity. Physical appearance is how an individual looks and that leads to the judgments made upon that individual. Judgment is a heavy theme in Mean Girls, and where there is judgment, physical characteristics are not far behind. Regina George judges physical appearance when she talks about Janis Ian, “All of her hair was cut off

and she was totally weird, now I guess she’s on crack,” (Water, “Mean Girls”). This demonstrates the negative judgments made based on a physical appearance different from the norm. While the audience is aware that Janis does not sell crack, Regina assumes Janis does. This is due to the fact Ragina does not take time in analyzing the true nonverbals behind why Janis presents her physical appearance the way she does. However, the judgment of physical appearance is not always bad. During a scene of flashing faces giving us the information on Cady Heron one girl says, “I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip-flops. So I bought army pants and flip-flops,” (Waters, “Mean Girls”). The girl is giving a positive judgment while expressing her desire to emulate Cady. The girl is so moved by Cady Heron’s physical appearance she is willing to change her own physical appearance in the hope of being viewed like Cady. While these two previous instances have been focused on person to person nonverbal communication with physical appearance, it can also be done to one’s self. The “Plastics” demonstrate the self judgement based on their individual physical appearance when they tear apart their every flaw in the mirror. The girls do this because they’re appearance doesn’t represent the message they want to send, perfection.