15 'Mean Girls' Lessons That Are Terrible Advice IRL
Make no mistake: Mean Girls holds up pretty well even more than 10 years after its debut. Tina Fey’s comedy about the cutthroat world of high school girls delighted audiences, who are still quoting its many witty lines years later. (Seriously, how many times can one person read, “On Wednesdays we wear pink?”) The movie was based on an anthropological book about high school girls, *Queen Bees and Wannabes *, and after its release, teens — and their teachers and parents — were left thinking about their place in the system and how things could possibly change for the better.
The true message of *Mean Girls * is to be more thoughtful and caring to your peers. Cady, her friends, and her “friends” (AKA, the Plastics) all learn this lesson by the end of the movie, and their lives become all the better for it. “Girl World” finally finds peace, and everyone is happy and chill.
But even though it has become a cult classic for the ages, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. In fact, there are a *lot * of things about the 2004 film that wouldn’t fly today, and that give us pause during our 100th rewatch. Obviously it’s a movie, not a guide to life, so you shouldn’t take it seriously, but it can be pretty easy to unconsciously absorb what you’re seeing, especially when you’re young.
Of course, the movie is in part a satirical sendup of teen culture and high school power and politics, but the truth is that these things happen in almost every school. High school teachers have even pointed out that the “mean girls” phenomenon is very, very real, and think some fans of the movie have taken to using it as a field guide to classroom domination So while *Mean Girls * does attempt to make a point about empathy and kindness, it ultimately sends some seriously mixed messages. These plot points are *so * not OK, so let’s debunk them!
1/15THE "LESSON": It’s OK to manipulate your friends into doing your bidding.
THE TRUTH: We see this with both Janis and Cady and Regina and the Plastics, and of course it backfires every time. Friends are supposed to be a support system of people you enjoy hanging out with and care for, not toy soldiers meant to carry out your every whim.
2/15THE “LESSON”: You have to play dumb to make a boy like you, because boys are apparently afraid of intelligent women who are great at math.
THE TRUTH: C’mon, Cady, was Aaron Samuels really worth pretending you were bad at Calculus? No! He was totally boring. (His hair *did * look sexy pushed back, though.) If someone’s interested in you, they’ll like you for who you are — and they're not worth it if they don't.
3/15THE “LESSON”: All girls do is trash talk their bodies when they’re together.
THE TRUTH: Thankfully, we’re in a more body positive place than we were in 2004, and we’re way more willing to celebrate our bodies (and focus on being happy and healthy, rather than hating our thighs) than the Plastics were. No one should feel entitled to criticize your appearance — and given how beneficial self-love is, you'll be happier if you don't, either.
4/15THE “LESSON”: You can solve all the issues between young women in an afternoon session of trust falls.
THE TRUTH: Or … not. Ms. Norbury’s idea was great in theory and it did open up lines of communication between different cliques, but such dramatic change is a product of time, trust, and patience, not trust falls. It was a good start, anyway.
5/15THE “LESSON”: You can do horrible things to people and they’ll forgive you as long as you just say you’re sorry.
THE TRUTH: Cady lucks out in the movie. She isn’t very nice to her friends once she gets a taste of popularity, and she does some pretty messed up things to Regina, too. However, she learns her lesson at the end of the movie, though we can’t help but think that everyone forgave her a little too easily.
6/15THE “LESSON”: Teen girls do nothing but bicker with each other.
THE TRUTH: There were few strong friendships depicted in *Mean Girls. * At all. While there will probably always be “mean girls” stalking the halls of school, it’s much cooler these days to be friends with people you care about, and minimize your time with the people who drag you down if you can help it.
7/15THE “LESSON”: You should totally change everything about yourself just to fit in with the cool kids.
THE TRUTH: Janis and Cady's plan for sabotage totally backfires when Cady is actually sucked into the world of the Plastics. She realizes that she’s not really happy playing the role of a Plastic, and neither are the Plastics themselves. Everyone seems way happier at the end of the movie when they’re doing their own thing.
8/15THE “LESSON”: No matter how mean she is, the Queen Bee of high school should be worshipped and imitated.
THE TRUTH: This is terrible advice, even if John Stamos *did * tell Regina she was pretty. Queen Bees can foster some pretty toxic environments at school. Nobody is better than anyone else, even if they have two Fendi purses and a silver Lexus.
9/15THE “LESSON”: “Girl World” is a scary place.
THE TRUTH: Girl world is amazing — especially if you have a good support system, know your worth, and choose to be accepting, kind, and communicative to others.
10/15THE “LESSON”: It’s OK to stereotype and be nasty to those around you.
THE TRUTH: The contents of the Burn Book still make our heads spin. As the girls in the movie discover, gossiping doesn’t make you feel any better to say something mean about someone else. It usually makes you feel much worse.
11/15THE “LESSON”: Being popular is the be-all and end-all in high school.
THE TRUTH: Sure, it’s fun, but looking back, the best part of high school is figuring out who you are, making friends, and thinking about what your future may hold.
12/15THE “LESSON”: Everything will be mended if you just break a cheap tiara and give a speech about how you wish you could share it with the other nominees.
THE TRUTH: Cady does do a fine job of apologizing to the people she hurt and complimenting her competitors, but splitting the crown into pieces isn’t going to soothe everyone’s hurt feelings. Cady, you should’ve just given it to Damian.
13/15THE “LESSON”: You can treat your friends terribly, and they’ll come back to you no matter what.
THE TRUTH: Janis and Damian would have totally been in the right if they had given Cady *way * more grief for what she did — and vice versa, honestly, considering they basically set her up to fail. Karen and Gretchen deserve crowns for putting up with Regina.
14/15THE “LESSON”: “Slut” is the ultimate insult.
THE TRUTH: Any word meant to slut-shame another person is pretty bad. As Ms. Norbury says, “It just makes it OK for guys to call you sluts and whores.” Harmful language is degrading and hurtful in so many ways, and the words you say carry a big weight. (Also, why are you insulting someone to begin with? Please stop.)
15/15THE “LESSON”: Releasing a sequel to a mega-popular teen movie is a great idea!
THE TRUTH: Sorry, Mean Girls 2. Who gave that project the green light?
