



They dress fabulous, albeit at times they wear very little, abide by a strict weekly dress code, drink Perrier with their cafeteria lunches, drive fancy cars, live in upscale homes, and date only the most popular boys in school. All through the movie, Regina, Gretchen, Karen, and eventually Cady are revered for their appearances. One of the dominant social cues seen throughout the film is in the portrayal of the main characters, the Plastics. This is an example of symbolic interactionism or the idea that “social roles and many other aspects of culture are learned through interaction” (Baran & Davis, 2012, p.
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Still, Cady struggles to free her mind of her innate jungle thoughts, and when faced with a flight-or-flight situation Cady’s native culture always wins out. In attempting to understand American teen culture, Cady relies on observation and interaction to make meaning of her new experiences. Once more, Cady is referencing a memory from her days in Africa while the director plays on the irony that the school’s mascot is a lion. At the movie’s end, Cady explains to her dad that she feels like a hog surrounded by lions. While at the mall, Cady equates the fountain with a watering hole, as it is the central gathering place for animals, much like the mall is for people.Īfter Regina distributes the Burn Book pages, all the girls in school “go wild,” reaffirming Cady’s impression of high school as a jungle. For example, on her first day of school, Cady sees the other students as apes. Often, Cady perceives people to be wild animals. In order to understand her new surroundings, Cady relates her new experiences in “girl world” to the African jungle. Furthermore, the cultivation of cultural differences between Cady and the stereotypical American teenager are key to meaning making for the viewer.ĭuring the film, Cady finds herself immersed in new experiences that are very different from those of her previous life in Africa. Still, there are several key symbols presented in the film that resonate with the audience and as such, are representative of reality. Although candid, it is more or less an exaggerated version of the truth. Mean Girls is a parody of the American high school experience.
