In the film Mean Girls, teenager Cady Heron was home-schooled in Africa by her zoologist parents. When her family moves to the U.S., Cady finally gets a taste of public school and learns a vital lesson about the cruelty involved in the tightly knit cliques of high school. She eventually finds herself being drug into a group of “the worst people you will ever meet”, The Plastics; and soon realizes how they came to get their name. This movie is full of social psychology topics, such as, self presentation, agression, group behaviors, stereotypes, and conformity. To begin, when Cady tells the girls that she is from Africa, Karen blurts out something very stereotypical by saying, “If you’re from Africa, why are you white?” Here, she is representing
the idea that all people from Africa are of color, where lighter skin is the minority. I believe one of the most extreme psychological factors used in the movie is their need for conformity. This is illustrated upon when Cady is at lunch with The Plastics and learns that in order to remain a member of their clique, she cannot wear a tank top two days in a row, she can’t wear her hair in a ponytail more than once a week, and she must wear pink on Wednesdays. To conclude, I consider the turning point to be when Cady finally learns a valuable lesson; and that is, to not lower your standards to the conformities of any social group. Cady realized that when everyone in the school began to hate her, she had to become a better person again and “suck all the poison out of her life” by apologizing to everyone she hurt. One of my favorite parts of this movie is when Cady breaks apart her homecoming crown and shares it with the crowd. Lastly, one thing I’ve never liked about Mean Girls is how ridiculous all of the social stereotypes are and how they don’t really illustrate high school at all.
The film “A League of Their Own,” depicts a fictionalized tale of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league was started during World War II when many of the Major Leagues Biggest stars were drafted to the war. MLB owners decided to start this league with hopes of making money while the men were overseas fighting. Traditional stereotypes of women in sports were already in force before the league even begins. One of the scouts letts Dottie, one of the films main characters she is the perfect combination of looks as well as talent. The scout even rejects one potential player because she is not as pretty as the league is looking for even though she is a great baseball player. The player, Marla’s father said if she was a boy she would be playing for the Yankee’s. Eventually Mara’s father is able to convince the scout to take Marla to try outs because he raised her on his own after her mother died. Her father says it is his fault his daughter is a tomboy. In this case the film reinforces the traditional stereotype that mothers are in charge of raising their daughters and teaching them to be a lady, where fathers are incapable of raising girls to be anything other than a tomboy. The focus on beauty also reinforces the traditional stereotype that men will only be interested in women’s sports when the females participating in
The film Mean Girls is about a young girl, Cady Heron, born and raised in Africa by her zoologist parents, who were also her homeschool teachers for sixteen years. When Cady moves to the United States, she enrolls in a public school for the first time. Here she realizes that high school students have the same hierarchy as the animals she observed in Africa. The lowest ranking group in this high school hierarchy is the outcasts, who also happen to be Cady’s first friends in the U.S. The highest on the high school food chain are the “plastics”. The “plastics”, are the most popular girls in school. The plastic’s notice Cady’s charming personality and stunning good looks and invite her to join their clique. In order to avenge her first friends,
It is often the case that media and more specifically, film, perpetuates the stereotypes of black men. These stereotypes include not showing emotion, being physically aggressive, embrace violence, supposed criminality, associated with drug use, lack a father figure, sexually exploit women, and others. In the film, Boyz n the Hood, Tre’s father, Furious Styles, encourages Tre to demonstrate loyalty to other people in relationships, resist aggressive behavior, and foster and exhibit sexual responsibility. Thus, throughout the film, Tre challenges the society’s stereotyped norms of black masculinity and what it means to be a black man.
In the movie Mean Girls the role of conformity is important to the central plot. The plot of the movie is focused on new girl Caty, who moved from Africa to start a new life, and is forced to attend America’s high schools. She at first has two friends, Damien and Janis, two kids who consider being in the “outside” group. However, the popular girls, called the “Plastics” try to take Caty into their group, because of her she looks. The leader of the group is the most popular girl in school named Regina, who is really hated by a lot of people, but is still considered extremely popular. Caty falls for their deceptive kindness, not realizing that really it’s all just a show. She begins to become more like them, she starts to talk to boys and dress
In this film we see many typical high school behaviors such as cliques, cattiness, and popularity (or lack there of) issues. Many scenes in this movie have an array of stereotypes. Sometimes they are clearly stated and others just seen through attitudes of the actors/actresses character. Also through out we follow the main clique “the plastics” and they have this image they have to uphold. Be perfect, skinny, the best at everything, and in sync with everything they do; or they wont uphold their status. I chose this film because I think it shows a lot of what we have learned in this course and how it is in real life. Clearly the film is exaggerated but much of
The film 12 Angry Men depicts the challenge faced by a jury as they deliberate the charges brought against an 18-year-old boy for the first-degree murder of his father. Their task is to come to an impartial verdict, based on the testimony that was heard in court. The group went through the case over and over while personal prejudices, personality differences, and tension mounted as the process evolved. While the scorching hot weather conditions and personal affairs to tend to led the juror to make quick and rash decisions, one juror convinced them the fate of the 18 year old was more important than everyone’s problems an convinced them that they could not be sure he was guilty. Juror three took the most convincing. After fighting till he
"Cold, shiny, hard, PLASTIC," said by Janice referring to a group of girls in the movie Mean Girls. Mean Girls is about an innocent, home-schooled girl, Cady who moves from Africa to the United States. Cady thinks she knows all about survival of the fittest. But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when she enters public high school and encounters psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teen girls deal with today. Cady goes from a great friend of two "outcasts", Janice and Damien to a superficial friend of the "plastics", a group of girls that talks about everyone behind their back and thinks everyone loves them. Adolescent egocentrism and relationships with peers are obviously present throughout the film. I also noticed self worth in relationships, parenting styles, and juvenile delinquency throughout Mean Girls.
In the movie, 16 year old Cady Heron was the daughter of zoologist parents. They had been on a 12 year research trip in Africa before returning to the states so Cady was homeschooled most of all her life. While attending public school for the first time, Cady is swept away by who she thought she was to the new person she had become. A “plastic” is what she had become. The Plastics were the most popular girls in school, but also the messiest and most insecure. Downing others to make themselves feel better was what The Plastics lived for. It took for chaos, confusion, and betrayal for them to get to the gist of who they really are as individuals. The adolescence period in one’s life is a very tough and exciting time. A teen is constantly going through changes daily; physically, mentally and emotionally. Those with a strong sense of self make a smooth transition during this period, while others still looking for a sense of belonging seem to struggle. During the middle school years, they begin to develop more interpersonal relationships and peer acceptance be...
When I watched this movie it was easy for me to see that the Plastics greatly affected how Cady and others at the school acted, talked, and dressed. In one scene Regina George, the ultimate mean girl and leader of the Plastics, returned to the locker room to find that her tank top had been cut in two places. She shrugged her shoulders and put it on, knowing
‘Mean Girls’ tells the story of a home schooled girl whose parents are zoologists living in Africa. Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is totally unprepared for her first ever day at a public high school but with a little bit of help from school misfits Janis and Damien, Cady learns about the many different cliques of the school including the Plastics, a group of girls led by Queen Bee Regina George who once believe it or not was once Janis’ best friend. Janis uses Cady to her revenge on Regina by cutting off Regina’s resources, which include Regina’s two best friends Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith. During the film Cady is used as a messenger and is forced to hang out with the Plastics and gradually loses her individual personality and remakes herself in the image of Regina. The film was directed by Mark Waters, produced by Lourne Michaels and written by Tina Fey who also stars as Ms. Norbury who is Cady’s Maths teacher. ‘Mean Girls’ was based on the New York Times best-selling book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman.
Lifetime’s new drama, Devious Maids, is a major hit which focuses and revolves around the complex and tangled relationships between rich Beverly Hills families and their maids. The pilot episode starts dramatically, when the maid, Flora Hernandez was mysteriously killed by an unknown person.
Mean Girls is a comedy film aired in 2004 this film captures the influences on lifespan development during adolescence. The main character Cady Heron was home schooled in Africa and now she must transition into high school where she is tested in different areas of her development. Throughout the film she becomes known as the new girl who is trying to figure out her self-identity. Cady integrates herself into a clique of girls known as the Plastics, soon enough Cady understands why they are known for their name. The Plastics run the school by the norms they have created and must always be followed otherwise it will lead into exclusion from the group. In order to be socially accepted social norms determining attitude, behavior, and status must
The movie that I chose to do my analysis on, is Mean Girls because it is my all-time favorite movie. I watched it a million times, it never gets old and plus I know every single line in the movie. The main character Cady, played by Lindsay Lohan, exhibits how to go from being a nerd, popular, hated and rehabilitated all in one school year. It’s hilarious movie about high school but, it also covers many interpersonal concepts that we learned in class like: verbal communication, conflict and relationship dynamics. Before I provide my analysis, I’ll present my brief summary on the movie Mean Girls.
Since she was also homeschooled during the time she lived in Africa, she might have seen the importance of education. Cady was good at mathematics and enjoyed mathematics, this may stem from seeing people her age in Africa not having the ability to attend school. In the public high school, academics and education are not seen as the main worries, rather popularity and relationships are the main focus for students. In the movie, Ms. Norbury tells Cady “I know that having a boyfriend may seem like the most important thing in the world, but you don't have to dumb yourself down to get guys to like you,” when Cady was influenced by American culture and stopped caring about academics and more about Aaron Samuels. Living in Africa, Cady learned the importance of family and valued her relationship with her parents. Since she was homeschooled and probably did not interact with so many different people, she may have a stronger relationship with her parents then regular teenagers in the United States. In the movie “Mean Girls” it seemed that the opinions of Regina mother did not really matter to Regina however, the opinions of Cady’s parents mattered to
Growing up, I was told that beauty and brains do not go together and that I could only have one or the other. The idea of being both beautiful and smart was something unheard of. To me, this notion stems from stereotypes brought to life by the age-old misogynistic philosophy that women are very simple creatures and cannot possibly be more than just a pretty face or a bookworm. However as I got into the later parts of my childhood and the early pre-teen years, I began to see a shift. Suddenly I had all of these complex female role models who were beautiful, smart, witty, kind, and many more things all at once; girls like Rory Gilmore, Hermione Granger (and the actress who brought her to life, Emma Watson), Dr. Christina Yang, and Holly J. Sinclair. That's just the