Mean Girls is arguably one of the biggest movies of our generation—not for record breaking sales or ground-breaking special effects, but for its humor, relatability, and the sheer prowess of Tina Fey’s writing. As with most great movies, there are some takeaways. From watching the movie you probably know that the three big take-aways are: Being a mean girl hurts other people so don’t do it, making fun of someone won’t help you be better than them, and if the limit does not approach anything, the limit does not exist. However, there are a lot of really great life lessons that are big in this movie.
It’s Just Plastic
There are a lot of times in life when things are going to seem like a much bigger deal than they really are. At those times it is important to step back and think about what it is you’re freaking out about. What can seem like a huge deal, sometimes isn’t as big as you’ve been making it out to be. Spring Fling Queen seemed like a huge honor and life dream for some of the girls at that dance—but it is just a title given out in high school and a plastic tiara. When things are weighing down on you, or scaring you, or seem like the biggest make-or-break decision in your life, remember that that big shiny crown—was just plastic.
Suck the Poison Out
“When you get bit by a snake, you are supposed to suck out the poison. Well, that’s what I had to do. I had to suck all of the poison out of my life.”
Fact – You will make mistakes. You will probably hurt people and it’s not going to be a pleasant experience. When that happens, you need to do the right thing—you need to suck the poison out. Cady realized in the movie that she needed to make amends for the things that she had done to hurt the people around her. Everyone hated her and she hated herself, but everything began turning around when she owned up to what she had done and sucked the poison out. No matter how terrible a thing you have done, things will start getting better when you suck the poison out.
Don’t Dumb Yourself Down For A Guy
Cady tried to get Aaron to like her by dumbing herself down, and almost failing one of her classes, just to have an excuse to spend time with him. Honey, first of all, you don’t want a guy to take you on as a charity case. Second of all, if he is not prepared to deal with the real you, then he’s not worth you trying to pretend like you’re someone you’re not. And thirdly, if a guy is intimidated by a smart girl like you because of your intelligence and needs you to be dumb in order to consider you—well then he’s not the kind of person that will support you in chasing your dreams and goals. Cady seriously hurt her grades and her reputation as a smart girl by failing things on purpose for a guy.
Live everyday like you’re Glen Coco.
Who is Glen Coco? We don’t know. No, seriously, I have no clue who Glen Coco is—but guess what? Glen Coco got four Candy Cane Grams. You don’t have to be in the spotlight to be considered awesome. Maybe you’re not team captain or the lead soloist or the president of your club—but guess what? You can still be awesome, and you still are awesome. Never forget that! We can’t all be Regina Georges or Cady Herons, especially not all the time—but we can always be a Glen Coco. Maybe you’re not the best or the prettiest, and maybe most people don’t even know who you are, but you can do your best and do right by others—You go Glen Coco!
Mean Girls Belong Somewhere Too
Sometimes we feel like Mean Girls (or Boys or Bosses or Relatives) are that and only that—after all, it’s only after so many times that someone backstabs you that you can think of them as anything but a bitch. But it’s important to remember that the story didn’t end with the trio of Mean Girls humiliated and vanquished—no, the story ended with each girl happy and contributing to the school in a positive way—maybe not on the grand scale, but with Regina working through her aggression and rage in sports, Gretchen finding a new, less evil queen to serve, and Karen doing weather reports with the help of her boobs. Every person, no matter how mean, how needy, or how dumb, can contribute something, and it’s not fair to see people as the sum of their flaws. Everyone can bring something to the table—even Mean Girls.
Of course there are other nuggets of gold in Mean Girls—for example, bad things can happen to good people, like Mrs. Norberry; Sex ed is in need of some serious help if we want people to take it seriously; Don’t hide your mom’s fertility vase in a cupboard during your party; Geeks are cool too—even if a little over the top; and three-way call attacks are insidious. Although the movie is a fun time and pretty much a modern classic, sometimes it’s kind of fun to pull out more from the movie than a couple of laughs.