Lex
For years since its release, high school girls everywhere have worshiped Mean Girls as though Jesus himself brought it down from above and handed it to us on a silver platter. The film, which focuses on the female high school experience, is supposed to be the “unedited” version of how high schools really are–but, in reality, it’s not.
The only way that Mean Girls should ever be viewed is as a joke. The movie gets everything wrong about high school and should not be worshiped as a cult classic. The movie is filled with plot holes, false representations of the high school experience, and horrible lessons for young girls to follow.
10. There is more to high school than being popular/following the popular crowd.
Mean Girls focuses on The Plastics as the end-all, be-all of their school. Everyone knows them, talks about them, and wants to be them (or be friends with them). No matter what happens with them, everyone knows and follows. High school is simply just not like this. Sure, there are those who may “feel” more popular than others, but the entire school doesn’t revolve around them and most people who aren’t friends with them just don’t give a f**k about them outside of class. People have lives outside of high school and not everyone cares to be known/have their business be known by everyone.
9. Transitioning into a school from being homeschooled is not that easy, Cady.
Being homeschooled your entire life is definitely a different experience than going to a public school. Sure, Cady seemed to struggle–as in she ate her lunch twice in a bathroom stall. But, in reality, a new student coming into a brand new school would definitely feel a bit more “off” than Cady did. And, she probably would have been lost a whole lot more, too. To top it off, most kids wouldn’t even notice a “new girl” in their school at all, let alone nominate her to be the “Spring Fling” queen.
8. Making teacher-student relationships look normal is completely wrong.
We all know that the movie finds the gym teacher/coach sleeping with two of his students (and they fight over him). In reality, student-teacher relationships hardly ever happen because every teacher knows it’s a deathtrap. Most high school students are underage, which makes the relationship illegal. On top of it, if you get caught sleeping with a student, you’ll lose your license and most likely end up banned from teaching ever again. Professionals know that a hook up is not worth losing your entire career. Also, if they did decide to sleep with a student, they know better than to do anything on school grounds (like getting caught kissing in a closet).
7. Students do not control the school.
No matter where you live or where you go to school, students do not run anything. The administration and the teachers are the ones who are in charge and more often than not, nothing that happens in Mean Girls will ever be allowed in a real school. Students do not make the rules, and they definitely don’t have the ability to cause an entire chaotic episode the way in which it happens in the movie–especially from a few small rumors.
6. Brawls like that would never happen.
I went to a New York City public school with 4,000+ students and even there, no brawls ever took place like that. In high schools everywhere, there are security guards, deans, and other administrators who handle all of these types of situations. There would never, I mean never, be a brawl where students are fighting, throwing each other down staircases, and all of the “dramatic” things that happen during that fight scene.
5. You can’t just skip class and get away with it.
The first day Cady goes to school, Janis gets her to skip class and they just hang out on the grass like nothing ever happened. No one finds out, no one calls Cady’s parents, and she isn’t even marked cutting in health class. Not realistic at all. If you cut class, teachers find out usually by the end of the day, if not the next day. Your parents get called or notified, and most likely you’ll end up grounded.
4. People who aren’t students at school can’t just show up to assemblies.
Remember the famous “she doesn’t even go here” quote? Well–in all honesty, the girl didn’t go to that school, but somehow managed to break into a school assembly to join in because “she likes discussing her feelings?” Never would happen. Schools have ID scanning processes and checks at the entrances to ensure there are no randoms walking in–especially with the dangers that occur across the country today. Additionally, I’m sure the school administration wouldn’t just tell a random girl to “go home,” when she’s broken into their school–tresspassing, essentially.
3. Parents don’t let you walk all over them.
We see that not only does Regina run things at school, but she also runs things at home. The minute Cady comes over to her house, Regina shows her the “master bedroom” that she “made her parents give her.” In what world would any parent ever allow their teenage daughter to walk all over them in that way? Not this one. Aside from the bossiness of Regina towards her mother, we know that no mother is going to walk in on their teenage daughter mounting a boy and offer a condom–ever.
2. No one goes to school wearing a mini-skirt and high heels.
Aside from the multiple dress code violations present in the movie, the attire of students is completely unrealistic. What teenager is going to wear stilettos to class? None that I know. The outfits are outrageously unrealistic, as no teacher would let any student into their classroom wearing a skirt short enough to show their asscheeks–and, that’s not being sexist, it’s just being responsible. No parent would ever let their child show up to school in some of the outfits The Plastics rocked.
1. “Girl World” is not always a jungle.
The entire movie is surrounded by the idea that girls are nothing but nasty, petty, caddy individuals who live to and thrive on taking other women down. Sure, there are some girls out there who are like this–but the majority of women are not so cruel. High school can for sure be filled with drama and petty nonsense, but in all reality, you usually don’t have a traumatic, fighting-filled, life-changing experience in high school. Most people are still trying to grow up, figure themselves out, and get into a good college–not try to sleep with as many guys as they can/tear down the “Queen B.” Girl world can actually be a supportive, strengthening, and inspirational place, not a cut-throat jungle. I find that more often today, high school girls are more likely to lift each other up than tear each other down.