This past wednesday [April 30th, 2014] was the Mean Girls 10th anniversary, and as such, a lot of the social media were posting tributes to the icon that this movie has now become - and I should have jumped in the bandwagon at set date, but part of me couldn't bother. Regardless, I decided to review this movie for what it is; Mean Girls is a movie that defines the first decade after the year 2000.
If I was to pick a movie that would define the 1980s, that movie would be Robocop (1987). You watch that movie, and it just screams 80s. It is just not the fashion style of the time, but also how people back in those days used to think of how the future was going to be like. See, back in that decade, people were afraid that the world would become this violent rape-filled wasteland, and this movie covers that with some social satire in a way that no other movie that I've seen covers. And also, the great moments of violence that were tastefully done. My favorite scene is the one with the two-legged robot, the ED-209, is shown to give a demo in the OCP headquarters office, when a bug causes it to shoot an innocent assistant non-stop. The movie shows the ED-209 shoot the victim for ten seconds with a heavy caliber machine gun at close range.
If I were to pick a movie that would represent the 90s, that one would be 'You've Got Mail' (1998). When I saw that movie recently; that is how I remember how I used to think in the 90s. The plot itself was just like any other chick flick out there - the most remarkable point for this movie is that it has the most disposable previous/current love relationship in Greg Kinnear's character; the way he is just tossed away... wow. You also have Meg Ryan in the movie, the queen of romantic movies at the time. You know a movie is anchored to its time when the central part of the story involves using the current technology of the time; oh yeah, you get modem connection internet with all its charms. This movie even alerts the public about the future inevitable rise of Starbucks, but what makes this movie an ambassador of the 90s is how businesses were run - almost carelessly when you're the boss.
As for Mean Girls; well, it depicts the image on how modern schools in America were like at the time. But the magic of this movie for me is in its humour. It isn't the cleanest since it goes into making fun of the different cliques that would make up a high school, but it doesnt go into all out slapstick like the American Pie series. No, the humour in Mean Girl is rather smart, and my biggest laughs when watching this movie come out from the small details. And it is the tone of this movie what makes it the perfect representative for its decade. See, this movie came out after 9/11, and when you watch this movie, you don't see the damage that day caused. Instead, it is a message about moving forward. It is about looking at the self -make fun of who you are- and then work for a brighter future. I think that was the general mentality of that decade in the US despite the wars and the global recession.
Mean Girls is one of those movies that are perfect for what they are. I am not saying that every scene shot by shot is perfect; I am sure there are flaws. Not all of the jokes in the movie resonates with me. I never understood why "You go Glen Coco" became such a big deal. I am certain most people can't relate to being in upper middle class white America. At times, the movie can feel shallow by constantly making fun of (mostly girls) characters who don't fit the idea of what being pretty is. But maybe that's where the audience gets tricked - like a social call for stopping discrimination and judgement based on attractiveness.
Take the scenes where girls are worshipping the queen of the mean girls, Regina (Rachel McAdams) like "One time Regina punched me in the face, it was awesome". Actually, throughout the entire movie, in almost all the scenes the mean girls are the only ones that are set to be the attractive ones; therefore increasing the perception of their importance compared to their schoolmates - which is what we as humans do, place those that are more attractive at a higher level... Or maybe I am looking too deeply into it.
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