WHENEVER we think about ‘The Mean Girls,” we often associate them with a pop culture reference such Blair Wardolf from Gossip Girls, Cheryl Blossom from Riverdale, and of course, our beloved Mean Girl icon, Regina George.   

We come to know them as the Queen Bee or the IT girl of our favorite teen movies; oftentimes competing in the popularity contest within her high school or/while overall dominating her clique. 

The Mean Girl trope is one of the well-known storylines that we’ve come to encounter in most of our chick flick movies growing up. From how they were introduced in the story, they are often the type of girl who is “rotten on the core,” or from how they would famously describe her, as “evil in human form.” 

If the Mean Girl is someone who shouldn’t be seen as an example of a girl who is blooming into womanhood, why such characters that exhibit the stereotypical mean girl is well-beloved and is considered an icon by the younger generation? Why is she considered important despite the lingering wickedness that is displayed in the storyline? 

What is a mean girl? 

The Mean Girl, If there is one word to describe this person, that would be mean. But if you were to describe her in a broader definition, you’d see her as the type of person who is cold, manipulative, and just overall a bully. 

In the movies, the mean girl is often the one who carries out the bullying within her school, and if we were to mention the OG mean girl before the Queen Bee–Regina George, the throne is set for none other than Heather Chandler from Heathers. 

Just like the Queen Bee of Mean Girls, Heather Chandler is not afraid to put people down in their places. She would often be cruel and a bully to her friend Heather Duke; talking her down and treating her like an idiot in the film.

In the movie Princess Diaries, another perfect example of a mean girl is Mia Thermopolis’s high school classmate, Lana Thomas. In the film, she would often publicly humiliate the Genovian princess–gaining fun and entertainment in the cruelest way possible. 

In 2008’s comedy film Wild Child, the popular girl Harriet is your typical mean girl who not only loves belittling others but overall ruining her classmate’s reputation through a series of rumors. 

And just like every other mean girl in most teen movies, she too—is considered one of the popular girls in her school and she will do everything to protect that hierarchy status of her. 

Are they always bad? 

If you were to follow the storylines of these characters, we come to see them as this ruthless women do nothing but torture those they see to be below them. 

However, the majority of them aren’t rotten to the core as they were introduced but rather most of them are just acting out of insecurity or as a form of trauma response. 

A perfect example of this Riverdale’s Cheryl Blossom. On one episode of the series, we’ve come to witness her in a vulnerable state; caling herself as this heartless monster. With her mean girl persona going through a facade, we’ve come to see that she isn’t as bad from how she introduced in the series. 

Just like everyone, there will always be a reason on why a person acts the way they do and with the cause of this, this turns them into a mean girl that we come to meet. 

Whenever we watch a mean girl from the perspective of our screens, we see a girl who is cunning, manipulative, and overall a meany. 

These traits of a mean girl are the ones that are intended to be shown in the series; highlighting her as the bad guy on the film. After all, they are the antagonist of the film but if you were to look at it from a different angle, you’ll come to realize that they are more than just the main character’s enemy.   

By having to follow their storyline on the show, you’ll come see the more human side of them that makes you symphatize with them in someway. You’ll learn why they are like that and what caused them to be like that. 

One of the main mean girl that we come to love is Sharpay Evans from Disney’s 2000s hit High School Musical.

In the movies, she was introduced as this high-achiever who will do everything to get what the best that she deserves and in the franchise, she is aiming to be the star of the show with Troy Bolton. 

However, as the movie progress, viewers began to see the hostile behavior of Sharpay toward Gabriella who is also competing for the same lead role. 

In order to land into the lead role, Sharpay Evans–along with her brother Ryan Evans auditioned for the role. Upon the audition, both Sharpay and Ryan successfully conducted a perfect performance for the audition with the song that Kelsi Nielson. 

Later on, when Troy and Gabriella went to the audition late; Ms. Darbus ended up hearing them hearing the original version of Kelsi’s song. Ms. Darbus ended up liking it and decided to give them a callback. 

While the frustration of Sharpay towards the opportunity being handed to them after putting effort on the audition, it doesn’t justify her hatred towards Troy and Gabriella especially that didn’t really have an experience being in a show. 

Why is she so loved and what can we learn from her? 

Admit it or not, mean girls in movies tend to have a beautiful taste when it comes to fashion. Oftentimes, you’ll see them wearing something stylish that not only makes them look iconic but also unforgettable by most audiences.

These mean girlies tend to create a trend that extends not only within the fandom but also contributes to the types of aesthetics that most teen girls and young adults would get inspired from. 

Aside from their incredibly great taste in fashion, these girls also have some positive traits that they come to portray in the film. 

If there is a role model that we can look up to when it comes to working hard in order to achieve our dreams; one can look at Sharpay Evans especially when it comes to how hard she works in order to achieve her dream. 

While her efforts in the High School Musical franchise are often downplayed and overshadowed by her “mean behaviors,” it didn’t stop her from doing what she loves even if she was painted to be a villain.   

When it coms to being a hard-worker and ambitious, Gossip Girl’s Blair also perfectly fits in this category. She may be the type of character that vain and domineering, one cannot deny the fact that her strategic mind and dermination comes to be an inspiration on those who loves her.  

Aside from being ambitious and a high-achiever, a trait that comes to redeem the mean girl from her antagonistic persona is her confidence and that is something that our most iconic mean girl Regina George comes to teach us. 

She may be the evil queen of her school, but her confidence will always be her shield. Remember that one scene on where her fellow classmate Janis Ian tries to humiliate her by cutting holes on her shirt? 

Instead of mopping around and being frustrated over it, she instead turned it to (a literal) head-turning fad that most people in her school comes to follow.

In the end of the day, the mean girl will always embody her mean trait in the movies as after all, she was called a mean girl for a reason. While we can all agree that her negative traits aren’t something to justify, we can still take her as a role model on the positive traits she embodies.