GrrrlVicious Reviews

Mean Girls (2004)

Comments on the film:

[8 May 2004]

Mean Girls is a newly released movie (2004) which seeks to explore the 'girl world' of high school. Despite the seemingly juvenile trailers for this film, the movie actually comments on female interrelationships on a grander scale. To begin with, the movie, which stars Lindsey Lohan as Cady, assumes the stereotype of girl on girl as an almost universal truth. `Girl World' is made up of females who are subversive and manipulative to each other, fighting mainly over boys, popularity and establishment as the `Queen Bee' or head female. The Plastics, elite popular school girls Regina (Rachel McAdams), Karen (Amanda Seyfried) and Gretchen (Lacey Chabert), are presented as life-sized Barbie dolls, complete with accessories of Ken dolls, cars, clothes, etc.. They assimilate Caddy into their group because of her `hot body', and Cady sinks deeper into the world of The Plastics. Cady's involvement in The Plastics was encouraged by her less popular friends Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese), who sought to exploit The Plastics. As a Plastic, Cady begins to experience a notion of Panopticon. She shies away more and more from her initial innocent and naïve self. Cady becomes manipulative and bitchy constantly in order to keep up her alter ego; it assumes more of her self every day.

Cady begins to act the same way in all facets of her life in order to keep up her Plastics persona. She never knows when she's being watched/surveyed. The male gaze begins to creep into Caddy's life internally and externally. Ever aspect of her life is judged by others, from the dates she chooses to the clothes she wears. Throughout the movie, this war in `Girl World' is exposed, the main weapon of which is the `Burn Book', which is filled with insults and pictures of almost every girl in the high school with labels and captions such as `slut', `whore', `bitch' and `dyke'. As the movie progresses and the war turns from subversive into full blown violence, the women realize with the help of a teacher (Tina Fey) that fighting against each other is pointless and the film concludes with a newly allied group of women who refuse to revert into their original raw and animalistic, manipulative selves. This movie is very effective in exposing `Girl World' and all the backstabbing and shame that exists there. However, the complete changing of their entire social construct in such a small amount of time is slightly unbelievable, which could be considered in itself an extraordinarily optimistic, if not unrealistic, goal. The movie's goal is noble, and perhaps if it is viewed and consumed by the majority of the masses, some true to life social changes could be made to help improve this `Girl World' that exists not only in high school, but in college, business, social and economic circles, etc..

Real Women Have Curves (2002)

Comments on the Film

[8 May 2004]

A coming of age story in which Ana (America Ferrera) deals with the effects of tradition, gender, social class and race on her future and on her family. The cinematic gaze on Ana is that she is a healthy sized Latin woman with curves and intelligence coming from a lower class family. Certain stereotypes of Latin people and women are reinforced in this movie in the form of Ana's mother, Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) and sister, Estela (Ingrid Oliu), which are then in turn critiqued by Ana. For example, Ana's sister owns a clothing sweat-shop which relies on the upper class white people for everything. Estela fears the upper/dominant/powerful class, while Ana confronts them and makes her demands perfectly clear without compromising herself. Ana's mother has revolved her life around getting married and raising a family, while Ana refuses to compromise her future and dreams by taking a husband and household on before she really wants to.

The movie revolves primarily around Ana's college application. This is the plot device whose effects progress the film. The scholarship to the University is dependent upon the fact that Ana is a minority, and without the scholarship, Ana and her family make it clear that they could not financially afford to send Ana to college, which would then reproduce stereotypes of women and minorities of being less financially stable.

Eventually, both despite and with the help of her gender, race and social and economic class, Ana is able to advance herself and develop a sense of confidence in herself and her identity.