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6[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mean_girls_poster.jpg]]
7
8->''"Where you sit in the cafeteria is crucial because you got everybody there. You got your Freshmen, ROTC Guys, Preps, JV Jocks, Asian Nerds, Cool Asians, Varsity Jocks, Unfriendly Black Hotties, Girls Who Eat Their Feelings, Girls Who Don't Eat Anything, Desperate Wannabes, Burnouts, Sexually Active Band Geeks, The Greatest People You Will Ever Meet, and The Worst. Beware of The Plastics."''
9-->-- '''Janis Ian'''
10
11''[[JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere "Mean Girls... how do we even begin to describe Mean Girls?"]]''
12
13''Mean Girls'' is a fairly [[{{Troperiffic}} trope-heavy]] 2004 teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters, written by Creator/TinaFey (who also has a supporting role), and starring Creator/LindsayLohan and Creator/RachelMcAdams. It was loosely adapted from Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 book ''Queen Bees and Wannabees: How to Help Your Daughter Survive Gossip, Cliques, Boyfriends and the New Reality of Girl World''. [[PragmaticAdaptation Very loosely]] adapted -- as implied by the subtitle, it's actually [[BasedOnAnAdviceBook a non-fiction self-help book]] aimed at parents. The story goes that Fey didn't even realize this and just bought the story rights from the title alone.
14
15The plot centers around NewTransferStudent Cady Heron (Lohan), who comes to a {{high school}} that is socially dominated by "The Plastics", a clique of [[AlphaBitch popular-but-cruel]] girls led by Regina George ([=McAdams=]). Cady's friends Janis and Damian persuade her to [[TheInfiltration infiltrate]] Regina's GirlPosse for the purpose of spying on her. The plan works too well; before long, Cady ends up [[BecomingTheMask identifying with Regina's whole value system]]. There's lots of bitchy backstabbing, [[AnAesop lessons learned]], and [[HilarityEnsues funny situations]] along the way. Overall, it's something of a LighterAndSofter SpiritualSuccessor to the {{black comedy}} ''{{Film/Heathers}}'', especially given that the writer of that film and the director of this one are brothers.
16
17Has a Platform/NintendoDS game adaptation and a [[DirectToVideo direct-to-DVD]] sequel, ''Film/MeanGirls2'' (in which only Creator/TimMeadows reprised his role as Principal Duvall). A [[Theatre/MeanGirls stage musical]] premiered at the National Theatre, Washington, D.C. in October 2017 and opened on Broadway in April 2018, with a book by Fey. In January 2020, it was announced that a [[RecursiveAdaptation film adaptation of the musical]] had entered development. [[Film/MeanGirls2024 The new film]] released in theaters on January 12, 2024.
18
19Now has a [[Characters/MeanGirls Character Sheet]] under construction.
20
21----
22!!These tropes are so fetch!
23* FiveFiveFive: The business card that mathlete captain Kevin Gnapoor hands to Cady has 555 as part of his phone number.
24* AbhorrentAdmirer:
25** Kevin towards Cady. Although it turns out he's not interested romantically.
26** Regina tries to convince Aaron that Cady is one to keep him away from her.
27* AbsurdlyDividedSchool: The school is aggressively split into cliques. These cliques, we are told, dictate your whole social life and capital; there is ''no'' overlap between them. In other words, the possibility that Cady would even be friends with Janis is akin to social suicide. [[spoiler:Subverted in the ending where Gretchen joins the Cool Asians and Regina becomes a jock.]]
28* AccidentalMisnaming: A {{Running Gag}} is the characters mispronouncing Cady's name and thinking it's "Catty". This foreshadows Cady's transformation into the {{Alpha Bitch}}.
29* AdaptationTitleChange: The film is very loosely based on the non-fiction novel ''Queen Bees and Wannabes''.
30* AdultsAreUseless:
31** Averted with Ms. Norbury, who proves to be very understanding of what Cady and the other girls are going through.
32** Played straight with Regina's mother, [[PushoverParents who is completely under her daughter's thumb.]]
33** Cady's parents are borderline. They're very trusting of their daughter -- which is justified since she was a well-behaved girl before starting high school. But her father still lets her go out when she's supposed to be grounded.
34** Played straight at other times -- when a student throws a sneaker at Damian during the talent show, no teachers step in.
35** Principal Duvall zig zags this trope. He manages to successfully quell the riot by setting off the sprinklers, but is hopelessly out of his depth when trying to solve the root cause, as the issues are feminine ones.
36* AfricaIsACountry: Cady is said to be from Africa, but no specific African countries are thus mentioned in relation to it. She's only ever nicknamed "Africa" by Kevin G. The musical clarifies that it was Kenya.
37* AllWomenHateEachOther: Deconstructed. All of the girls in the school are revealed to have said cruel things about each other, and all of them have felt victimized by the same sort of comments because teenage girls are so insecure and vulnerable. The protagonist realizes in the middle of a math contest that mocking her opponent's homely appearance won't help her win the tournament. While discussing the reaction to the Burn Book, Ms Norbury tells the girls that calling each other horrible names just makes it okay for guys to do the same to them.
38* AlphaBitch: Regina and, [[BecomingTheMask later]], Cady. The whole movie is a DeconstructiveParody of this trope, demonstrating how a girl can be so simultaneously loved, feared, and hated by the rest of the student body. It also shows the mindset of such a character, and how the quickly fleeting affections of a student body can shape someone's life. Regina, in particular, [[spoiler:ends up getting shunned by the very people she thought were her friends, and it weighs heavily on her]].
39* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: Janis' anger upon being told that she isn't mentioned in the Burn Book. Is it funny because [[EnemiesEqualsGreatness she wants to be acknowledged, however insultingly, by the Plastics]]? Or because she realizes the truth- that something ''was'' written, and it was so bad that Cady is lying about it to spare Janis' feelings?
40* AmbiguouslyBi:
41** Damian appears to be a CampGay, but he does go in for an AlmostKiss with Janis at the Spring Fling. So you never know. They both agree it's a bad idea, though.
42** Regina claims Janis is a lesbian. Her outfits reinforce the stereotype, as does her close friendship with the openly gay Damian -- they wear matching suits to the Spring Fling. However, by the end of the film, she is dating [[spoiler:Kevin]], so she's probably at most bisexual, since it's not indicated explicitly if she's also into girls.
43* AnAesop:
44** Judging and antagonizing each other doesn't really benefit anyone.
45** Just say if you have a problem with someone rather than letting it fester into resentment and hate.
46** "You have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores."
47* AnswerCut:
48-->'''Janis:''' Regina George. How do I even begin to explain Regina George? ''(cue montage of people throughout the school describing her)''
49* AntagonistTitle: The title refers to Regina and her lackeys; Regina is the antagonist of the film. By the end of the film, [[spoiler:it refers to [[FaceHeelTurn the protagonist as well]].]]
50* AppleOfDiscord: The [[spoiler:released Burn Book]]. All of the gossip, half-truths, and secrets it catalogues turns every girl in school against each other, destroying friend groups in the process.
51* ArchEnemy: Janis Ian has Regina George, the AlphaBitch who made her an outcast.
52* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When Janis announces to the entire school that she and Cady conspired to ruin Regina's life, she recounts tricking Regina into making herself fat, convincing her boyfriend to dump her, turning her friends against her, and replacing her face creme with foot creme.
53* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In one scene, the characters go to Old Orchard Mall (technically "Westfield Old Orchard"), a Chicago-area mall known for being a large, ''outdoor'' mall. Its stand-in was Sherway Gardens in Etobicoke, Ontario, a more conventional ''indoor'' mall.
54* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: There is little chance someone who was hit by a bus and injured badly enough to need a halo (meaning that she damaged part of her neck) would ever be cleared to play a sport as physical as lacrosse, let alone in just a few months.
55* ArtisticLicenseSports: In the lacrosse scene, one of the players is shown running over every opposing player on her way to the goal. Every single contact would be a foul in girls' lacrosse. Even in boys' lacrosse, it would draw at least a couple of fouls.
56* AsianAndNerdy:
57** [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Asian Nerds]] in the cafeteria, another clique.
58** Mathlete Tim Pak, Trang Pak's brother.
59* AtLeastIAdmitIt:
60** Janis uses this defense when Cady accuses her of manipulating Cady for revenge against Regina, saying that Cady has become just as cruel as the two of them...although Janis never actually ''did'' admit it before that point.
61** Aaron claims this about Regina, saying that everyone has good and bad in them and that Regina is just "more upfront about it." He doesn't realize that Regina isn't above [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretending to be nice to lure people in]].
62* AwkwardSilenceEntrance: Happens to Cady when she walks into the gym after [[spoiler:the Burn Book incident]].
63* BackhandedApology:
64** When choosing a fault to apologize for before falling backward and letting others catch you, it is not a good idea to apologize for being so popular it makes everyone else jealous.
65** Janis also does this with Regina when she "apologizes" for helping Cady in sabotaging her and says she did it because "I guess I've got a BIG, ''LEZZZBIAN'' CRUSH ON YOU!"
66** The two unnamed girls who apologize first also fall under this -- "it's not your fault you're so gap-toothed," and "I don't hate you because you're fat. You're fat because I hate you".
67* BadassTeacher: Principal Duvall. Doesn't do anything typically badass during the film, but sometimes sheer presence is enough: looking at the man, especially when he's giving a stern lecture [[BatterUp whilst wielding a baseball bat]], just tell me you wouldn't a) hang on to his every word or b) not want to take him on in a fight.
68* BaitAndSwitch: When Regina realizes Cady tricked her into eating weight-gain bars for months, she heads home, cuts a picture of them in half, writes into the Burn Book "This girl is the nastiest skank bitch I've ever met. Do not trust her! She is a ''fugly slut''!", and pastes in her ''own'' half of the picture.
69* BareMidriffsAreFeminine: The cool GirlPosse of the Plastics all wear cropped tops from time to time, usually in [[PinkMeansFeminine pink]] or white. Cady's transformation from outsider is marked when she starts wearing more fitted, cropped shirts (which she then trades again for more hyper-feminine clothes like dresses and skirt sets). They are contrasted against the "uncool" artist Janis, who wears baggy, layered clothes.
70* BasedOnAnAdviceBook:
71** ''Queen Bees & Wannabes'' by Rosalind Wiseman, written as a guide for parents with teenage daughters to help them understand the social structures and viciousness of high school life.
72** All of the Plastics' rules about how they dress, act, etc. come almost word-for-word from one girl's actual testimonial about her clique in the book. [[FridgeHorror Think about that for a second]]. [[invoked]]
73* BathroomControl: One of the oddities of the American high school system is that one can't use the restroom without the restroom pass, and when Cady asks for the pass, the teacher simply responds, "Nice try."
74* BeYourself: Aaron is obviously mad upon discovering Cady's transformation from being [[NerdsAreSexy a humble nerd]] to [[BecomingTheMask become]] [[AlphaBitch the next-Regina]] ''just'' to get his attention. Even before, he seems annoyed when looking at Cady's photo with the Plastics, instead he's more interested in taking a look at Cady's childhood photo that she puts behind. When Cady eventually turns back into her original-self in the end, he seems genuinely glad and accepts her as his new girlfriend.
75* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Subverted. Regina is the most beautiful girl in the school and turns out to be a BitchInSheepsClothing.
76* BecomingTheMask: Cady's transformation into the AlphaBitch.
77-->'''Cady:''' ''(narrating)'' I know it might ''look'' like I'd become a bitch, but that's only because I was acting like a bitch.
78* BetaBitch: Gretchen is a sniveling lap dog who craves Regina's approval and gossips to her relentlessly. This makes her distinct from Karen.
79%%* BettyAndVeronica: Aaron (Archie), Cady (Betty), and Regina (Veronica).
80* BigBad: Regina George, queen AlphaBitch of North Shore High.
81* BigFancyHouse: Regina's house. Cady is impressed by it.
82-->'''Cady:''' ''(looking at Regina's house)'' Wow, your house is really nice.\
83'''Regina:''' I know, right?
84* BigThinShortTrio: Damien, Cady and Janis respectively.
85* BilingualBonus:
86** Trang Pak and Sun Jin Dinh's dialogue becomes [[FunWithSubtitles a lot funnier if you speak Vietnamese]]. Also, at the end of the movie, when [[spoiler:Gretchen is talking to the Cool Asians in Vietnamese-sounding gibberish]], one of them says (in confused and unsubtitled Vietnamese), "What?"
87** Another one of sorts: 'Regina' is the Latin word for "Queen". Makes sense, no?
88* BitchInSheepsClothing:
89** Regina initially seemed friendly towards Cady, but things go downhill when she insults a girl's skirt recalling her comment towards Cady's bracelet in the cafeteria.
90** Cady later becomes one of these. A case of PayEvilUntoEvil, but Cady's actions (giving Regina "diet" bars that make her gain weight, turning her friends and on-and-off boyfriend against her, and attempting to publicly humiliate her) are very bitchy, especially because she does all of these under a pretense of friendship.
91* BlatantLies:
92** This line:
93--->'''Karen:''' I can't go out. ''(pathetic fake coughing)'' I'm sick.
94** Most of Regina's dialogue fits this trope.
95** Gretchen promising Cady not to tell Regina about her crushing on Regina's on-again/off-again ex-boyfriend Aaron. A phone call later with Regina reveals she didn't keep her secret after all.
96** Cady assuring Regina has a lot of water weight from eating the kaltein bars and not fat.
97--->'''Regina:''' You know Swedish?\
98'''Cady:''' Yeah. Everyone in Africa can read Swedish.
99* BlackComedyBurst: Cady's monologue after [[spoiler:Regina got hit by the bus]].
100-->'''Cady:''' ''(narrating)'' And that's how Regina George died. No, I'm totally kidding!
101* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The Plastics after Cady enters, [[spoiler:and especially after Regina leaves.]]
102* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Cady's Halloween costume.
103* BoobBasedGag:
104** Karen's can tell when it's raining. [[DumbBlonde Much more effective than looking out the window]].
105** Regina's mother's implants get a scare chord as she tries to hug Cady, who gets warned about them being "hard as rocks".
106* {{Bowdleri|se}}zation: Creator/TinaFey's [[http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/mean_girls.pdf original script]] was a raunchy, R-rated SexComedy in the vein of ''Film/{{Porkys}}'' and ''Film/AmericanPie'' (she later described it as involving "wall-to-wall titties"). It featured much stronger sexual references -- one of the characters admits to masturbating with a hot dog[[note]]In the final version, "masturbated" was dubbed over with "made out" -- and anyone who knows how to lip-read can tell what the original line was supposed to be[[/note]], and the scene where Gretchen is caught kissing Jason in the bathroom was supposed to be her performing oral sex on him. In the scene where Cady was asked if her "muffin was buttered," the line was originally going to be, "Is your cherry popped?". Regina and Karen were to have topless scenes, and their Halloween costumes were also supposed to be skimpier than what was shown in the final film, amounting to what Cady describes: lingerie plus animal ears. There was also a subplot involving an ecstasy-popping ClubKid named Barry. These were changed when Creator/LindsayLohan was cast to play the lead, as she was trying to keep a squeaky-clean image at the time. This trope is taken even further whenever the movie is aired on a "family" channel such as ABC Family. Any remotely objectionable content is censored in various strange clumsy ways.
107** Special mention to cutting out the part where Regina's mom offers her a condom. "Oh hey, my daughter is about to have unprotected sex, better get her a snack" sure is a family-friendly message.
108** As well as Regina's line on the phone to Karen, "boo, you whore" being changed to "boo, you peasant".
109* BollywoodNerd: Mathlete team captain Kevin Gnapoor fits this trope.
110* BothSidesHaveAPoint: During the fight between Cady and Janis, both sides bring up valid arguments. Cady points out none of this would've started if Janis didn't ask her to infiltrate the Plastic to get her (admittedly well-deserved) payback on Regina. Janis is also right to point out that by this point Cady has all but abandoned her real friends in her effort to go out with Aaron and get back at Regina, something Janis herself never did.
111* TheBrainlessBeauty: Karen is one of the most beautiful girls in school, but she's also one of the dumbest.
112* BreadEggsMilkSquick: During the bit where we see students praising everything they've heard about [[AlphaBitch Regina George]]:
113---> '''Emma Gerber''': Regina George is flawless.
114--->'''Black girl''': She has two Fendi purses and a silver Lexus.
115--->'''Tim Park''': I hear her hair is insured for ten thousand dollars.
116--->'''Amber D'Alessio''': I hear she does car commercials. ''In Japan.''
117--->'''Kristen Hadley''': Her favorite movie is ''Film/VarsityBlues''.
118--->'''Short Girl''': One time she met Creator/JohnStamos on a plane....
119--->'''Jessica Lopez''':.... and he told her she was pretty.
120--->'''Bethany Byrd''': One time she punched me in the face. It was awesome.
121* BreakTheHaughty: Regina during the first half of the movie, and Cady during the second half.
122* BumblingDad: Mr. Heron, who doesn't know that kids aren't allowed to go out when they're grounded.
123* ButIDigress: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the Spring Fling scene.
124-->'''Mr. Duvall:''' You know, you're not really required to make a speech...
125* ButNotTooGay: The "almost too gay to function" Damien is never seen being affectionate with other boys, and is never mentioned to have had a relationship with or a crush on any particular boy. The only person he is ever seen kissing is Janis at the dance (although they both immediately agree that it's not a good idea).
126* ButtMonkey: Regina George, the butt of all of Cady's (technically Janis') tricks and pranks. [[{{Jerkass}} She probably deserves it, though.]]
127* CampGay: Damian is "almost too gay to function".
128* CampStraight: GenderInvertedTrope. Despite dressing in goth and sometimes tomboyish masculine clothing, [[spoiler:Janis]] is revealed to be straight.
129* CantBelieveISaidThat: Invoked by Gretchen a couple of times when insulting Regina. It's pretense, of course.
130* CatFight: Cady pictures how she'd settle things with Regina in "the animal world".
131* ChekhovsGun:
132** Chekhov's [[spoiler:big yellow school bus]], rather.
133** [[spoiler:The Burn Book]].
134** Before the talent show scene, Janis tells Cady that "everybody in the English speaking world" knows the words to the song "Jingle Bell Rock". Cady presumably used this information to save the act.
135* CliqueTour: Janis points out the high school's social groups to new girl Cady in the cafeteria.
136* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Karen.
137-->'''Karen:''' My breasts can always tell when it's going to rain. Well, they can always tell when it's ''raining''.\
138''(later; standing in the rain, feeling her breasts)'' There's a... 30% chance it's already raining!
139* CompletelyOffTopicReport: Gretchen reads a report in class about ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', specifically about the murder scene, which is a very thinly veiled attack against Regina's tyrannous behavior and has fairly little to do with the actual plot.
140-->'''Gretchen:''' Why should Caesar just get to stomp around like a giant while the rest of us try not to get smushed under his big feet? What's so great about Caesar, huh? [[UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus Brutus]] is just as cute as [[UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar Caesar]]. Brutus is just as smart as Caesar, people totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar, and when did it become okay for one person to be the boss of everybody because that's not what Rome is about! We should totally just [[SuddenlyShouting STAB CAESAR]]!
141** Though ironically, while more by accident than design and obviously filtered through the jealousies and insecurities of a teenage high-school student, she's actually nailed the motivations behind Caesar's assassination in the play fairly accurately.
142* CoincidentalAccidentalDisguise: Cady walks in on Janis and Damian while wearing her Halloween costume which in her own words describes an "ex-wife", but Janis and Damian were watching ''Film/FridayThe13thPart2'' and Jason Voorhees crashes through a window just as Cady walks in resulting in this trope.
143* TheComedyDrop: After the big brawl, the principal organizes a "Circle of Trust" where girls fall backwards and other girls catch them before they hit the ground. When it is BetaBitch Gretchen's turn only BrainlessBeauty Karen is there to catch her and Gretchen ends up flattening her.
144* ComicBookAdaptation: A sequel comic called ''Mean Girls: Senior Year'', was written by Arianna Irwin and released by Insight Comics in 2020.
145* ConspicuousInTheCrowd: After Regina releases the pages of the Burn Book, all the other girls begin viciously fighting each other over the book's contents while Regina simply stands in the crowd watching the chaos, nobody aware that she wrote it all to begin with.
146* CorruptTheCutie: As Cady becomes sucked into the cattiness and back-stabbing of 'girl world', she is corrupted to become just as bad as the AlphaBitch herself.
147* CrazyPrepared: Principal Duvall has a baseball bat in his office, a holdover from his South Side days. It comes in handy during the riot.
148* CreepyGymCoach: Coach Carr is revealed to have made out with two students. He ends up fleeing school grounds when this is revealed by the Burn Book.
149* CurseCutShort: Regina, twice.
150** When Shane tells Regina the truth about the Kalteen bars she has been eating, Regina says "Motherf--!" in anger before spitting it out and screaming her head off.
151** And then...
152--->'''Regina:''' You can take that fake apology, and shove it right up your hairy --''([[spoiler:Regina gets hit by a school bus]])''
153* CutASliceTakeTheRest: During the time when Regina is unknowingly being manipulated into gaining weight, she can be seen cutting off the end of a loaf of French bread and biting the loaf. Tina Fey notices this for the first time during the {{DVD Commentary}} and actually remarks that WesternAnimation/BugsBunny [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation used to]] [[ZanyCartoon do that]].
154* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Gretchen is forced to change her usual place in "Jingle Bell Rock". As a result, [[EpicFail she stumbles into Regina, then into the stereo that starts skipping, and kicks the thing into her boyfriend’s face.]]
155* DanceOfRomance: Subverted with Damian, then almost immediately played straight with Kevin.
156* DeadpanSnarker: Damian.
157* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Janis gets a good one; "She's a life ruiner. She ruins people's lives".
158* DesignatedGirlFight: [[spoiler:In the Mathletes sudden death round, Cady vs. Kraft.]]
159-->"We pick the girl too."
160* DidntThinkThisThrough: One of Cady and Janis's pranks on Regina involves giving her foot cream instead of face wash. Neither of them cop that, since foot cream would be designed to make the foot smell nice, Regina would just end up with a face smelling like peppermint.
161%%* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Cady's 'word vomit'.
162* TheDitz: Karen's defining trait. The first thing we hear of her is her asking Damian how to spell 'orange'.
163* DirtyCoward:
164** Janis used Cady for her revenge to Regina and in the end she makes Cady look bad.
165** Coach Carr is happy to sexually manipulate Trang-Pak and Sun Jin Dihn but looks like he's about to piss himself when Mr. Duvall is about to beat him upside the head with a baseball bat.
166* DownToTheLastPlay: The Mathletics championship comes down to a sudden-death, one-on-one DesignatedGirlFight.
167* DudeNotFunny: An InUniverse example happens between Cady and Aaron. Cady thinks that admitting to Aaron about failing math on purpose to get him to notice her would be funny to him. This confession just gets an opposite reaction from him. Aaron condemns Cady and calls her idea of failing math to get him to notice her "stupid" and tells Cady that she is "[[BecomingTheMask just like a clone of Regina]]".
168* DumbBlonde: Karen again. But averted with Regina, who is the evil type of blonde.
169* DumbIsGood: Karen is the nicest Plastic because she's too dumb to be truly malicious.
170* EarnYourHappyEnding: Cady finally gets together with the guy she's been crushing on the whole film, and not only becomes comfortable with who she is but in general helps her school become a less judgmental environment.
171* EatingLunchAlone: Occurs with Cady twice: on her first day of school, when she hasn't made any friends, and [[spoiler:after she's been kicked out of the Plastics and rejected by Janis and Damian.]]
172* {{Ephebophile}}: [[spoiler:The coach]] is sleeping with several of the students.
173* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first appearance of the Plastics, (apart from Damian's commentary) down to their clothes, nicely encapsulates their characters and positions. Karen tries to catch a ball but [[DumbBlonde fails with the ball bouncing off her breasts,]] she happens to be the Plastic with the [[ReallyGetsAround shortest shorts.]] Gretchen, while on the phone [[ExtremeDoormat gets hit by a ball]] and [[AttentionWhore bares her midriff]] while Regina is [[AlphaBitch carried on the shoulders of a group of guys.]] Enough said.
174* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Regina. Cady is also shown to have this kind of appeal later on as well.
175* EveryoneHasStandards: When Principal Duvall questions [[spoiler:the girls about the Burn Book, Karen says no one was supposed to ''read'' the mean stuff about them, and it was supposed to be private. Noticeably, all of the girls are horrified that the Burn Book caused a riot]].
176* EvilIsPetty: Regina's whole "No one can date my exes" rule seems extremely petty, and reeks of a "dog in a manger" kind of attitude i.e if she can't be in a relationship with him, none of them can either.
177* EvilVersusEvil: Honestly, Janis is hardly any better than Regina, and is just as manipulative towards Cady.
178* FaceHeelTurn: Over the course of the film, the friendly and good-hearted Cady usurps Regina's position and becomes the mean-spirited AlphaBitch of the school. She goes through a subsequent HeelFaceTurn when she's confronted with her actions.
179* FaintInShock: To punish Taylor for going out with Jason (who was "supposed" to be Gretchen's), Regina makes a prank call to her mother, pretending to be a Planned Parenthood doctor who has her test results ready. Taylor's mother promptly does this.
180* {{Fanservice}}: [[BunnyGirl The Halloween party]], [[SexySantaDress the Christmas pageant]], Creator/AmandaSeyfried [[SexySoakedShirt in a wet T-shirt]], Lacey Chabert in a nightie while talking on the phone, Creator/LindsayLohan constantly wearing low-cut tops, Creator/TinaFey [[LingerieScene stripping down to a bra]]... this movie is in love with this trope. Even [[http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/mean-girls-mean-girls-200481_640_657.jpg the]] [[http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/gwss3307_summer2008/mean_girls.jpg publicity]] [[http://youngpost.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/meangirls11.jpg shots]] show about ten square feet of leg.
181* FanserviceExtra: The two girls making out at the Halloween party while some male classmates watch and cheer.
182* FailedASpotCheck: For the prom [[TheDitz Karen]] puts a decoration shaped like a K on her breastbone. The problem? She does so while looking in a mirror, meaning it's on ''backward''!
183* FallenPrincess: Janis used to be popular, but her reputation was destroyed by a rumor and she now willingly embraces outsiderdom. [[spoiler:Regina becomes this at the end, and Cady sort of as well]].
184* FeeFiFauxPas: Cady decides to greet a bunch of African-American students with an African greeting. They look at her like she's grown a second head.
185* FisherKingdom: Staying too long amongst the Plastics result in Cady forgetting her mission to take down Regina and become just as mean and jerky like her; she even steals her position as the group's leader and adapts her style of wardrobe as well.
186* FreezeFrameBonus: At the start of the CliqueTour, you can see a few extra cliques on the diagram not mentioned in Janis' speech, including the Cheerleaders, JV Cheer, and "Asexual Band Geeks" who [[{{Foil}} sit right next to]] "Sexually Active Band Geeks".
187* ForcedMeme: Gretchen tries to make "Fetch" happen. Repeatedly.
188* ForcefulKiss: Regina forces a kiss on Aaron during a Halloween party in order and steals him back in front of Cady who runs off heartbroken. Aaron breaks the kiss and reminds Regina that she broke up with him, but Regina firmly denies it and kisses him again.
189* {{Foreshadowing}}:
190** A narrating Cady, with regards to her immediate crush on Aaron:
191--->'''Cady:''' [[spoiler:But this one hit me like a big yellow school bus.]]
192** Another one, foreshadowing the exact same event, comes at the very beginning, when Cady [[spoiler:is almost hit by a big yellow school bus]].
193** When Janis is trying to introduce herself to Cady, a classmate walks past her desk and says, "Nice wig, Janis, what's it made of?" [[spoiler:We later find out that Janis had [[ImportantHaircut shaved her head]] the summer before freshman year after Regina ended their friendship.]]
194** [[spoiler:Regina wears an "R" necklace, and Cady starts wearing a "C" one, showing how Cady is emulating Regina and will become the new AlphaBitch. Another sign of this is people mispronouncing Cady's name as "catty".]]
195** Janis suggests to Cady to steal The Burn Book from Regina so they can publish it. [[spoiler: Regina ends up doing that]].
196* FormerFriendOfAlphaBitch: Janis to Regina. They were best friends in middle school but Regina eventually turned on her for social status.
197* FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The Mean Girls. Regina is the cynic (ruthless Machiavellian), Karen is the optimist (KindheartedSimpleton), Gretchen is the realist (knows somewhat that how the Plastics behave is wrong, but chooses to overlook them in order to retain her popularity and friendship with Regina) and Cady, a textbook conflicted.
198* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Regina is an unhealthy case of your choleric "typical [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish,]] back-stabbing slut faced ho-bag", Karen is a [[GenkiGirl bubbly]] [[ThePollyanna Sanguine,]] Gretchen is the [[NervousWreck anxious]] Melancholic and [[ExtremeDoormat Cady]] the calm, [[NiceGirl sweet]], but [[BeneathTheMask passive-agressive]] [[TheMole Phlegmatic.]] Janis is eclectic because she [[AnarchyIsChaos hates categorizing and does not want to fit into any system.]]
199* FrameUp: Regina puts in her own picture in the Burn Book in order to make it seem like it belongs to Cady.
200* FreakOut: Regina does this when she finds out that Cady had tricked her into eating weight-gain Kalteen bars.
201* FriendshipMoment: Played straight with Janis' art, and played for laughs (though also rather sweetly) with Karen catching Gretchen in the circle of trust.
202* FullCircleRevolution: Janis frames their smearing of Regina as "bringing down a dictator", and sure enough all they do is replace one Queen Bee with [[BecomingTheMask another one]].
203* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
204** During Cady's phone call with Regina, you can see Regina's little sister watching ''Girls Gone Wild'' and lifting up her shirt while cheering.
205** The two girls making out at the Halloween party. Tina Fey points this out in the commentary and says she has no idea how they got away with it.
206** Watch everyone else's expressions while Gretchen gives her "we should totally just STAB CAESAR!" speech. They're about as confused as you'd expect.
207* {{Gasshole}}: The unnamed student Cady is advised not to sit by because he farts a lot (and who she later has the misfortune of sitting behind).
208* GenerationXerox: By the end of the movie, [[spoiler:the Plastics have gone their separate ways, but a new clique of younger "Junior Plastics"]] seem poised to fill the spot.
209* GeniusDitz: Cady is one of the top math students in the whole school but is also not generally savvy. Her defining character trait is not being able to think for herself (until her epiphany in the third act) and she doesn’t think her own scams through (e.g., intentionally flunking math tests but doing all of the equation work right before giving a wrong answer).
210* GirlOnGirlIsHot:
211** Two girls are making out at the Halloween party, much to the enjoyment of the football players and other boys watching.
212** When a massive catfight breaks out between the high school girls and one pair falls and breaks down a voting table from fighting, the first thing onlooker Jason says is "Cool! Take your top off!".
213* GirlPosse: The "Plastics" (Regina, Karen, Gretchen, and later Cady) are unusually well-developed examples. There's also Trang Pak and her "Cool Asians". By the end, there's a new one in the [[spoiler:Junior Plastics]].
214* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Played straight only to be [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] afterward. Aaron seems to be Cady's perfect match. Regina gets with him to mess with her. Yet she is cheating on him anyway. When Aaron kisses Cady, Cady uses this a justification. However, it is also shown that Cady is becoming the AlphaBitch. The whole PayEvilUntoEvil message throughout the film is entirely pointless as Cady is just as bad as Regina. Aaron walks away from Cady after this and doesn't give her a chance until she pulls a HeelFaceTurn.
215* GoodParents: Cady's parents have shown to be loving and caring towards her.
216* HeterosexualLifePartners:
217** Karen and Gretchen seem to have genuine affection for each other. Rather than trying to embarrass Karen for not knowing the cousin thing, Gretchen instead quietly explains it to her -- and immediately lets her know when Regina calls her a slut. Karen's also the only one who catches Gretchen after her BackhandedApology.
218** Mixed-Sexuality Life Partners: Janis and Damian. Though Janis's exact sexuality is ambiguous, she has a boyfriend by the end of the film, and Damian is openly gay. The two actually kiss at the Spring Fling, only to immediately reel back in disgust.
219* HeWhoFightsMonsters:
220-->'''Cady:''' You know I couldn't invite you! I had to pretend to be plastic!\
221'''Janis:''' ''(laughs)'' Buddy, you're not pretending anymore! You're plastic! Cold, shiny, hard plastic!
222** Of course, [[YouAreWhatYouHate Janis qualifies just as much]], and even caused Cady's example to start with.
223* HeelFaceTurn:
224** Cady at Spring Fling, and all the Plastics at the end.
225** Arguably before that, when [[spoiler:Cady takes the blame for the Burn Book]].
226* HeelRealization:
227** Cady's response when Janis points out that she's become just as bad as the Plastics is to cry.
228** Happens a second time when she squares off against the remarkably unstylish girl in the rival math club. Cady realizes that making fun of her appearance and horrendous fashion sense would not win the competition, that calling someone else ugly won't make you more beautiful, etc.
229* HenpeckedHusband: Regina's father only appears once. He looks ''very'' unhappy to see his daughter in a slinky Playboy Bunny outfit on Halloween. It's obvious though that he'd never dare say anything to his wife who is ''desperate'' to be the "cool mom" and will let Regina get away with anything to achieve that goal.
230* HelplessKicking: PlayedForLaughs, non-fatal example. When Cady is walking the halls with The Plastics she stumbles into a trash can, falling in head-first and starts screaming and kicking her legs trying to get out.
231* HeroicSacrifice: A non-fatal example: When Regina claims Cady wrote the Burn Book, Cady decides to take full responsibility for it even if it means she gets in major trouble. This is likely due to her realizing she's [[BecomingTheMask become the very thing she was fighting against.]]
232* HiddenDepths: Gretchen [[spoiler:confesses to Cady that she's secretly miserable as Regina's friend and has to pretend to like and not like certain things to get Regina's approval.]]
233* HighSchool: The story takes place largely at North Shore High School, and features many of the typical student archetypes (the popular clique, goth girl, geeks, etc.)
234* HighSchoolDance: Spring Fling at the end.
235* HomeschooledKids: Cady is one. The opening scene also parodies the stereotype of homeschooled kids being either ultra-nerds or [[TheFundamentalist religious whackos]].
236-->'''Homeschooled boy:''' [[AsTheGoodBookSays And on the third day]], {{God}} created the Remington bolt-action rifle so that [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Man could fight the dinosaurs]]. ''({{beat}})'' [[HeteronormativeCrusader And the homosexuals]]. ''Amen!''
237%%* HormoneAddledTeenager: Most of them, but since the movie's a comedy it's mostly PlayedForLaughs.
238%%** Sexually Active Band Geeks.
239* HugeGirlTinyGuy: Kristen Hadley and her boyfriend.
240* HypocriticalHeartwarming:
241-->'''Janis:''' This is Damian. He's almost too gay to function.
242** Cady accidentally recommends this comment to be added in the Burn Book.
243--->'''Cady:''' ''(narrating)'' Oh no! Maybe it's only okay when Janis said it!
244** This becomes a BrickJoke when everyone finds the pages of the Burn Book.
245--->'''Damian:''' ''(outraged)'' "Too gay to function"!\
246'''Janis:''' That's only okay when ''I'' say it!
247* HypocriticalHumor:
248** Regina ([[HollywoodPudgy who has gained weight]]) bumps into an extremely obese girl who tells her "Watch where you're going, fatass!"
249** Coach Carr telling his students how dangerous sex is just to hand them out condoms. [[spoiler:He's also sleeping with multiple students.]]
250* IAmNotPretty: Parodied. Cady is baffled when the Plastics nitpick their own appearances, despite being beautiful girls; Gretchen frets about her hairline, Regina says she has "man shoulders" and Karen complains that her hips are "huge". They then look at Cady expectantly, and she can only say she sometimes has bad breath in the morning.
251* IfItsYouItsOkay: At the dance, Janis and Damien almost consider this when they have no one else left to dance with and are paired with each other. They even kiss only to pull back in disgust and stay friends.
252* ImportantHaircut: Off-screen. After Regina spread the rumor in middle school that Janis was a lesbian, Janis dropped out of school for the rest of the year; when she returned in the fall, "all her hair was cut off, and she was totally weird".
253* IndulgentFantasySegue:
254** Cady fantasizes about beating the crap out of Regina over a boy that they both like.
255** At the end, Cady fantasizes the Junior Plastics [[LookBothWays getting their comeuppance]].
256* TheInfiltration: Janis initially convinces Cady to join the Plastics to get back at Regina for everything she's done. Though Cady goes through with it at first (especially when Regina hooks back up with Aaron despite telling Cady she wouldn't), Cady eventually adopts the Plastics' mindset.
257* InformedJudaism: Gretchen mentions receiving Hanukkah gifts. Given the Plastic's extensive rules, it's possible Gretchen might have to [[InvokedTrope downplay her Judaism]].
258* InnocentBigot: Karen's famous line frames her as this. In actuality, she assumes Cady was born in Africa, as opposed to being the child of Caucasian American zoologists who was just ''raised'' there.
259-->'''Karen:''' So if you are from Africa, why are you white? \
260'''Gretchen:''' Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!
261* InsidiousRumorMill:
262** What Cady and Janis do to Regina in order to dethrone her as AlphaBitch. While Cady doesn't really lie to Regina's friends and boyfriend about her awful behavior, Cady and Janis explicitly manipulate them using similar tactics that Regina uses to wrap the entire school around her finger and effectively [[BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch Backstab The Alpha Bitch]]. Fittingly she [[spoiler:[[BecomingTheMask replaces]] [[FaceHeelTurn Regina]] as the new AlphaBitch]].
263** In order to get back at Cady, Karen, and Gretchen, Regina inverts the trope when [[spoiler:she places her own photo in the Burn Book and releases the entire book of rumors to the school]]. Not only does it act as an AppleOfDiscord to every social group in school, it allows Regina to [[PlayingTheVictimCard play the victim]] and [[FrameUp put the blame]] on Cady and the other Plastics, as they are the only ones not mentioned in it.
264* IntentionalMessMaking: Regina, the AlphaBitch of the cliquish Plastics, takes the pages of their "Burn Book" of snide insults, and makes photocopies. These pages then are scattered liberally around the corridors of her high school. When the students examine this mess, they read the nasty vitriol written thereon, which creates crippling animosity among the student body.
265* InventorOfTheMundane: Gretchen's father invented toaster strudel.
266* InWithTheInCrowd: Cady gets invited to sit with the Plastics and is accepted into their clique. Over the course of the movie, she's corrupted into a shallow AlphaBitch like them.
267* ItsACostumePartyISwear: Played with (ironically given the plot of the film), although it was a misunderstanding on Cady's part. Halloween is an excuse for the teens to wear the skimpiest outfits and not be accused of degeneracy, only for Cady to show up wearing a ''really'' scary zombie costume and calling herself an 'ex-wife'.
268* InnocentlyInsensitive: Karen's apology to Gretchen in front of the group of girls in the gym comes off like this, as she has no idea how embarrassing it sounds.
269-->'''Karen:''' Gretchen, I'm sorry I laughed at you [[NoodleIncident that time]] [[TooMuchInformation you got diarrhea at Barnes & Noble]] ''(crowd giggles; Gretchen and Cady cower in embarrassment)'' And I'm sorry for telling everyone. And I'm sorry for repeating it now.
270* InterchangeableAsianCultures: In the scene at the end where [[spoiler:Gretchen]] has become friends with the Vietnamese girls, they're actually speaking Mandarin, not Vietnamese. Also, the 'Pak' in Trang Pak's name is Korean, not Vietnamese.
271* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Regina George seems most offended when Janis confesses to her that she used foot cream instead of acne cleanser on her face, rather than at the revelations that Cady made out with Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron as well as turned Karen and Gretchen against her.
272* JealousRomanticWitness: Regina fawns over Aaron and can't keep her hands off him whenever Cady's around, because she knows Cady likes him and is jealous that they're dating (and in fact only got back with him in the first place to hurt her). Cady knows ''exactly'' what she's doing, but has to sit there and put up with it because of her role in Janis' BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch plan.
273-->'''Regina:''' ''[running her hands through Aaron's hair]'' Why do you wear your hair like that? You hair looks so sexy pushed back. Cady, will you please tell him his hair looks sexy pushed back? \
274'''Cady:''' ''[narrating]'' Regina was dangling Aaron in front of me on purpose. I knew how this would be settled in the animal world. \
275''[Cue ImagineSpot of Cady tackling Regina and clawing at her face.]'' \
276'''Cady:''' But this was Girl World. ''[out loud]'' ...Your hair looks sexy pushed back.
277* {{Jerkass}}: Regina George is the meanest of the girls, followed by Janis most likely.
278* KarmaHoudini:
279** Janis, who, despite influencing and encouraging Cady to join the Plastics specifically to damage Regina, gets zero comeuppance when she reveals it to the entire crowd of girls following the revelation of the Burn Book. In fact, she gets ''applauded'' for it! Cady, in the meantime, is treated like a bitch by everyone because of what she's done, even though Janis admitted that she was the mastermind behind all of it.
280** Coach Carr, the CreepyGymCoach is revealed in the climax to be sleeping with several of the underage female students. However, during the school-wide riot and the principal learns of his crimes and tries to confront him about it, he flees the school, never to be seen again (and is implied to be a fugitive afterwards).
281* KissingCousins: At the Halloween party, Karen talks about how hot her cousin is. When confronted, she says, "Yeah, but he's my ''first'' cousin", apparently believing this to be a more distant relation than a "cousin".
282* LandlineEavesdropping: In one scene, all four of the titular [[GirlPosse mean girls]] are on various landline calls with each other. Cady invokes this by calling Regina and secretly having Gretchen listen in on another line to find out what Regina's been saying about her behind her back. [[WithFriendsLikeThese It's nothing good]]. Since Regina also insulted Gretchen's [[VillainousFriendship best friend]] Karen, she calls her to let her know... and then Regina calls her, too, which leads to this trope happening again ''by accident''.
283-->'''Karen:''' It's Regina. She wants to go out but she told me not to tell you.\
284'''Gretchen:''' Do not hang out with her!\
285'''Karen:''' Why?\
286'''Gretchen:''' [[YouDoNotWantToKnow You don't want me to tell you]].\
287'''Karen:''' You can tell me! Hold on. ''(she tries to click the button to switch lines)'' Oh my God, she's so annoying.\
288'''Gretchen:''' Who is?\
289'''Karen:''' Who's this?\
290'''Gretchen:''' Gretchen.\
291'''Karen:''' ...Right, hold on. ''(she clicks the button again, this time successfully switching back to Regina's line)'' Oh my God, she's so annoying.\
292'''Regina:''' I know, just get rid of her.
293* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When at the Spring Fling, Cady says, "I know this song," referring to "Built This Way", which plays in multiple scenes throughout the movie.
294* LikeGoesWithLike: Parodied. Kevin G hears a rumour that Cady fancies him and says "I only date women of colour". When he hooks up [[spoiler:with Janis, he first asks if she's Puerto Rican, but her saying she's Lebanese is good enough for him]].
295* LookBothWays:
296** [[spoiler:Regina]] gets hit by a bus for not doing this. [[spoiler:(She gets better.)]] {{Foreshadowed}} with Cady narrowly missing one on her first day.
297** Again at the end, in Cady's IndulgentFantasySegue about the Junior Plastics.
298* LoveAtFirstSight: Cady develops a crush on Aaron upon meeting him in math class.
299-->'''Aaron:''' Hey, do you have a pencil I can borrow?\
300'''Cady:''' ''(romantic music swells, narrating)'' I only had one other crush when I was little. His name was Nefume and we were 5. It didn't work out. But this one hit me like a big yellow school bus.
301* LoveForgivesAllButLust: Aaron willingly dates Regina, who is spoiled, shallow, selfish, rude, and sometimes downright cruel, even to the people she calls her friends. He doesn't seem to mind any of this, and when asked why he likes her, he defends her by saying "everyone has good and bad in them, she's just more upfront about it than most." But when it turns out she's ''cheating'' on him, that apparently is too far, and he immediately breaks up with her.
302* LoveMartyr: Gretchen spends some parts of the movie pining for Jason who treats her like crap and cheats on her with numerous girls.
303* MakeOutKids: Four words: Sexually Active Band Geeks.
304* MakeWayForThePrincess: Parodied. Cady stumbles into a trash can while doing this.
305* TheMall: Janis works here. Cady also compares the kids hanging out here to the wild animals she grew up in Africa.
306* MarketBasedTitle: Released in Germany as ''Girls Club''.
307* MeaningfulEcho: Regina compliments a girl's skirt by saying 'I love your skirt, where did you get it?' before turning to Cady and saying 'that's the ugliest effing skirt I've ever seen' when she walks off. This makes Cady remember her compliment of Cady's bracelet with the same words in their first meeting and she realizes it was probably more of a StealthInsult.
308* MeaningfulName:
309** The name "Regina" is Latin for "queen". (Her last name is "George," bringing to mind [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush a certain President]], or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom a certain king]].)
310** And in the same vein, it's surely no accident that on many different occasions, a character will mispronounce Cady's name, thinking it's pronounced "catty".
311** Janis Ian shares her name with the singer of "At Seventeen," a song about discovering that the "pretty girls" get the love. The real Janis Ian is a lesbian and was the musical guest on the first episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', [[ShoutOut the show screenwriter Tina Fey first became famous for]].
312** Janus is the name of a Roman god with two faces.
313* MisplacedWildlife: During Cady's party, Aaron sees a picture of little Cady back in Africa riding an elephant. An ''Asian'' elephant.
314* MistakenForGay: Deconstructed with the demise of Janis and Regina's friendship.
315%%* TheMole: Cady plays this straight into the film.
316* MustMakeAmends: This is what the [[ThreeActStructure third act]] of the movie is about.
317* MyCard: [[AC: Kevin Gnapoor: Math Enthusiast[=/=]Badass MC]]
318* MyNaymeIs: It's spelled "Cady," not "Katie".
319-->"...Yeah, I'm gonna call you 'Caddy.'"
320* NWordPrivileges: Janis calls Damian "too gay to function" and they all have a good laugh. When she reads it in the Burn Book later, they are both irate as "it's only funny when ''I'' say it!"
321* NaiveNewcomer: Cady, having been homeschooled up to high school, and thus having very little in the way of social skills or knowledge of high school politics.
322%%* {{Nerdcore}}: Kevin's rap.
323* NerdsAreSexy: Miss Norbury, Kevin, and Cady. Part of Cady's conflict is that she dumbs herself down to get a cute boy to tutor her.
324* NewKidStigma: Cady struggles on her first day in an American high school, since she doesn't know a lot of proper high school etiquette and the students other than outcasts Janis and Ian shun her. She is forced to eat lunch in the bathroom alone when no one lets her sit with them. Later subverted when the Plastics take an interest in her because of her natural beauty.
325* NeverSayThatAgain: Regina gets tired of Gretchen using "fetch" and snaps at her: "Gretchen, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen! It's not going to happen"
326* NeverTrustATrailer: Averted for the most part; the trailer generally gives an accurate description of the movie, but it notably switches Janis and Damian's descriptions of Gretchen and Regina.
327* NiceGirl: Surprisingly, despite the film name there are a few examples:
328** Cady ''starts out'' like this. She eventually [[BecomingTheMask becomes little different than the person she's working against]], though her original kindly nature still shines through at times (namely the scene where she comforts Karen) [[spoiler:She [[HeelFaceTurn gets better by the end of the movie.]]]]
329** Karen, who isn't really mean at all despite being one of the plastics, just ''really'' dumb.
330** [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Mrs. Norbury]] She manages to break up the huge fight at the school and get the girls to stop fighting and is remarkably forgiving towards Cady after she apologizes for spreading a mean rumor that gets her in trouble.
331* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Among the Burn Book's false allegations is a true one about Coach Carr's sexual predation on underage students. Regina's vengeful publicizing of the Burn Book causes this behavior to be exposed and Carr to flee the school.
332* NiceMeanAndInBetween:
333** The Plastics -- there's the sweet, if InnocentlyInsensitive Karen (nice), Regina the catty and manipulative AlphaBitch (mean), and gossiping yet sympathetically insecure Gretchen (in-between).
334** There's also Damien as the OnlySaneMan in the other trio (nice), Janis as the one who uses Cady for her revenge (mean), and Cady herself who becomes corrupted by the politics of girl world and ultimately has a HeelRealization (in-between).
335* NoBisexuals:
336** Janis dating [[spoiler:Kevin]] could be an example of this. As a preteen, Janis was victim to homophobic bullying from Regina who spread rumors that Janis was a lesbian. Janis is believed to be a lesbian due to her close friendships with girls (as well as her best gay friend Damien), his disliking of guys hitting on her, and her dressing in emo androgynous fashion. However, in the end, she starts dating [[spoiler:Kevin]]. Not once is the word "bisexual" uttered in-universe nor considered a thing.
337** Also [[spoiler:Damien]] who is CampGay but almost considered kissing his [[spoiler:straight]] friend Janis to see if they should be paired together at the dance as a test. However, they both pull away in disgust after the kiss.
338* NoDressCode: The Plastics get away with performing in a school pageant wearing sexy Santa outfits that are closer to lingerie than costumes. It also applies when Regina accidentally starts the trend of wearing shirts with holes cut over the breasts. Given that the principal himself raises his hand when asked "How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by Regina George?", this may be an example of how just ''strong'' Regina's influence could be.
339* NoSocialSkills: Up until she came to the school, Cady lived in Africa and was homeschooled, thus winding up with absolutely no clue about how things worked in "Girl World". Her parents appear to be clueless every time they appear:
340-->'''Mom:''' Where's Cady?\
341'''Dad:''' She went out.\
342'''Mom:''' She's ''grounded''.\
343'''Dad:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Are they not allowed out when they're grounded?]]
344* NotSoDifferentRemark: Though Janis wants revenge on Regina, she's as spiteful and manipulative as she is when it comes to Cady. Janis even admits it, stating that she knows she's as mean as Regina, while Cady pretends that she isn't. Regina admits it too, although she probably didn't notice before she got hit by the bus. She accused Cady of being a "less hot version" of Regina herself.
345* {{Novelization}}: Micol Ostow novelized it in 2017.
346* ObfuscatingStupidity:
347** Despite being very good at math, Cady pretends it's hard so that she can spend time studying with Aaron.
348** Karen is clearly no genius, but it is apparent she plays up her cluelessness to seem cute. She actually comprehends social stuff very well.
349* OhCrap: Regina's mother has a shocked reaction when [[spoiler:her daughter gets hit by a school bus]].
350* OffendingTheFool: Karen, the Token Idiot of the Plastics, is clearly pissed after Regina calls her a "whore" over the phone.
351* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: "Made out with a hotdog?! Oh my god, that was one time!"
352* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Karen's reaction to Regina calling her a slut is definitely this.
353* PaedoHunt: During the [[spoiler:massive girl fight at school]] Principal Duvall looks ready to pummel Coach Carr upon seeing him try to act like a hero between Trang Pak and Sun Jin Dinh (two girls he made out with)
354-->'''Principal Duvall:''' ''(wielding a baseball bat)'' Coach Carr, step away from the underage girls!
355* PairTheSpares:
356** Mocked. Janis and Damian kiss at the dance for a second, then quickly separate from each other in disgust. But then played straight when [[spoiler:she hooks up with Kevin at the end.]]
357** Principal Duvall gets to share a dance with his crush, Ms. Norbury.
358* ParentsWalkInAtTheWorstTime:
359-->'''[[Creator/AmyPoehler Mrs. George]]:''' You kids need anything? Snack? [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Condom?]] Ah, God love ya!
360* PeerPressureMakesYouEvil: At first Cady is in it for a laugh and to help Janis get revenge. But as she gets deeper into the Plastics clique, she finds herself ''caring'' what Regina thinks of her and desperate for her approval and friendship.
361* PetTheDog:
362** Regina has her moments, such as when she gives Cady a makeover and compliments her on her eyebrows. Also in a twisted way, she gets revenge on Jason for dating Taylor instead of Gretchen.
363** Cady comforting Karen after Regina calls her a stupid and a slut. [[BrutalHonesty Even considering Regina is completely right]], Karen is still really hurt. This leads to a cute scene where Karen says she has some power where her breasts can somehow tell if it's raining.
364* PinkMeansFeminine: The Plastics' wardrobes have a lot of pinks, and one of the rules of the clique is that on Wednesdays they ''have'' to wear pink.
365* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Regina started a rumor that Janis was a lesbian and bullies her for it. This is very much a case of ValuesDissonance as nowadays bullying someone for such a reason would probably be considered hate speech and definitely against the rules. Also, most high school students in modern times would react to the knowledge that a girl was a lesbian with a "Yeah, so?"
366* PopularIsDumb: Karen obviously, and arguably Gretchen and Regina who seem somewhat not as astute. Regina, despite being able to manipulate most of the female half of the school into becoming her pawns, frequently shows herself to be rather BookDumb.
367-->'''Regina:''' Is butter a carb?
368* PopularIsEvil: The whole point of the movie. Regina George is said to be “evil in human form”, with Gretchen and Karen as her minions helping her in her dirty work. They spread lies about other girls, seduce crushes, and smear reputations all to maintain their spots at the top of the [[PopularityFoodChain social hierarchy]]. Funnily enough, the film also subverts it by having Janis be just as mean as Regina.
369* ThePratfall: Gretchen in the "[[TrustBuildingBlunder circle of trust]]".
370* ProfessionalButtKisser: Gretchen. At the end of the film, Gretchen [[spoiler:joins the Cool Asians now that the Plastics have broken up, and attaches herself to Trang Pak the way she did Regina. Her last scene has her brown-nosing--or at least trying to, seeing as she can't actually speak Vietnamese -- in gibberish, with her hair straightened to look more like her Asian friends.]]
371* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Cady starts out as a plucky newcomer out to bring down the AlphaBitch Regina, but in the course of doing so, she becomes Regina's replacement. Fortunately, [[HeelFaceTurn she eventually realizes this]].
372* RaceFetish:
373** As Kevin Gnapoor tells Cady at a party after hearing one of Gretchen's lies. Later, he dates [[spoiler:Janis who's Lebanese.]]
374--->'''Kevin:''' Not to hurt your feelings, but I only date women of color.\
375'''Cady:''' I have to pee.
376%%** Disturbingly enough, [[spoiler:the Coach]] also seems to have a type.
377* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Tim Meadows suffered an injury to his hand and required a cast. This was explained as Mr. Duvall getting carpal tunnel.
378* RealityHasNoSubtitles: Parodied and PlayedForLaughs in the climax; when two Vietnamese girls both learn that they're each having an affair with Coach Carr, they begin yelling at each other in initially subtitled English that eventually transforms into untranslated Vietnamese symbols.
379* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
380** Janis gives Cady one at her party, though Cady does [[ShutUpHannibal fire back]].
381--->'''Janis:''' See? That's the thing with you Plastics. You think everybody is in love with you when actually, everybody HATES you! Like, Aaron Samuels, for example, he broke up with Regina and guess what? He still doesn't want you! So why are you still messing with Regina, Cady? I'll tell you why, because you are a mean girl! You're a bitch! Here. You can have this. It won a prize.
382** Janis delivers an good one to Regina in the school's gymnasium.
383--->'''Janis:''' ''(to the entire female student body and to Regina)'' Okay, yeah. I've got an apology. So, I have this friend who is a new student this year. And I convinced her that it would be fun to mess up Regina George's life. So I had her pretend to be friends with Regina, and then she would come to my house after and we would just laugh about all the dumb stuff Regina said. And we gave these candy bar things that would make her gain weight, and then we turned her best friends against her. And then... Oh yeah, Cady - you know my friend Cady? She made out with her boyfriend, and we convinced him to break up with her. Oh, God, and we gave her foot cream instead of face wash. God! I am so sorry Regina. Really, I don't know why I did this. I guess it's probably because I've got a big ''“lesbian”'' crush on you! Suck on ''that''! AY-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI!
384** Regina in turn delivers one to Cady after running out of the gym. [[spoiler:Right before getting hit by a big school bus]].
385--->'''Cady:''' Regina, please! Just listen--!\
386'''Regina:''' NO! Do you know what everyone says about you behind your back? Hmm? They say that you're a homeschooled jungle freak, that's a less hot version of me! Yeah, so don't try to act so innocent! You can take that fake apology, and shove it right up your [[CurseCutShort hairy c]]...! ''(gets hit by a passing yellow school bus)''
387* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Regina in a specific example. She could rattle off several mostly-illegal weight loss drugs (most of which either were expensive before being banned or would be expensive to ship from countries where they're still legal). Yet, she didn't know enough about health and nutrition to know whether or not butter is a carb. Possibly just a commentary on how American teenage girls obsess over getting thin the fast and unhealthy way rather than via actual healthy living.
388* RunningGag:
389** Damian uses one PaperThinDisguise after another (robber, Santa, and a hoodie and sunglasses combo), yet nobody except Cady seems to recognize him.
390** Cady's "[[DiggingYourselfDeeper word vomit]]". In one scene, [[VomitDiscretionShot it becomes actual vomit]].
391** [[spoiler:[[LookBothWays Big yellow school buses]].]]
392** In the original script, the SoundEffectBleep was this, used whenever a character dropped an F-bomb.
393** Nobody can pronounce Cady's name correctly.
394* SatelliteLoveInterest: Aaron. All we know about him is that he's cute, sucks at math, used to date Regina, and "all he cares about is school and his mom and his friends". He gets fleshed out a little more in the original screenplay, which has a scene with him and Cady where he does the laundry, and explains that he helps out because it's [[DisappearedDad just him and his mom.]]
395* SecondLove: Despite it being unclear whether or not Regina is Aaron's ''very'' first love, given how Aaron was affected upon discovering that she's cheating on him (again), it's obvious that Cady becomes his second love after he manages to get over Regina.
396* SexMiseducationClass: The health/sex ed class shown consists of the gym teacher yelling at the girls to not have sex at all lest they get knocked up.
397* ScrewTheRulesTheyreNotReal: Regina tries to use this reason when the other plastics wouldn't let her sit with them in the cafeteria for wearing sweatpants on a Monday. It doesn't work.
398* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: When Regina finds out Cady had tricked her into gaining weight and starts screaming her head off, Shane quietly exits the scene with a look that says "''Nope''".
399* SequelHook: Averted. The sequel has no recurring characters aside from Principal Duvall. It might appear that the "Junior Plastics" seen at the end is this, but the sequel focuses on a completely different cast of characters.
400* SexySantaDress: The skimpy dresses that the girls wear for a Christmas pageant.
401* SexySoakedShirt: How Karen "predicts" when it's going to rain.
402* ShipTease: A brief one showing [[spoiler:Kevin checking out Janis at the high school Christmas Pageant]].
403* ShoutOut:
404** As noted [[MeaningfulName above]], [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous Janis Ian is named after the singer of the same name]], who was a musical guest on the first episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', Creator/TinaFey's former show. Ian's hit song "At Seventeen" even plays in a scene.
405** One girl apparently made out with a hot dog. This might be a reference to a throwaway line in ''Literature/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower''.
406** The bit about "sexually active band geeks" is pretty obviously referring to that one from Michelle in ''Film/AmericanPie''.
407** Gretchen wearing a plaid skirt is possibly one to ''Film/{{Clueless}}''.
408* ShadowArchetype: Regina and Janis for each other. Regina is manipulative, two-faced, and cunning, but maintains an outwardly friendly and affable demeanor. Janis, on the other hand, is apparently less attractive than Regina and claims not to care about any of that and poses as being above all Regina's petty high school business. However, Regina's high school manipulations and plotting is also reflected in Janis's plot for revenge. Regina, like Janis, has a lot of anger that she refuses to acknowledge, while Janis is relatively comfortable with her own anger and bitterness.
409* SlowMotionPassBy: The introductions of the Plastics present and future.
410* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The two Mathlete teams we see each have a single female member, presumably because of the double-funding incentive Kevin mentions.
411* SoBeautifulItsACurse: At times, the Plastics complain about how difficult it is to be as pretty as they are. This doesn't stop them from bragging about it at every opportunity.
412* SplitScreenPhoneCall: When the Plastics are scheming.
413* StepfordSmiler: Gretchen (the "one small step from a complete nervous breakdown" version, rather than the "empty inside" version).
414* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Both the Plastics and Damian think joining the Mathletes is social suicide.
415* {{Stripperiffic}}: Lampshaded at the Halloween party, where Cady comments on how in Girl World, Halloween is the one night of the year a girl can dress like a total slut and no one can say anything. Gretchen wears a cat costume made of [[HellBentForLeather skintight leather]], Karen wears a skimpy, cleavage-revealing teddy (only the ears give it away as a costume -- "I'm a mouse. Duh."), while Regina wears a "rabbit" costume that's nothing more than a PlayboyBunny suit. Cady, not knowing this and thinking that Halloween costumes are meant to be scary, wears pale makeup, novelty rubber teeth, and a BloodSplatteredWeddingDress ("an ex-wife").
416* SuddenlySober: Cady, after vomiting from drinking shots at her house party.
417* SuckOutThePoison: In a voiceover, Cady claims this is the correct response to being bitten by a snake. It's a metaphor, but she should still know better, with zoologists as parents.
418* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Regina gives a PsychoticSmirk when she starts the riot. It's at first played for comedy, as several boys egg on the catfights and the secretary runs before she's decked in the face. Then Principal Duvall steps in, turns on the fire sprinklers to stop the fight, and orders the girls to the gym. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGGBbxXgFug He reveals that their fighting is suspension-worthy, and they'll be lucky if he doesn't cancel Spring Fling]]. Regina is among those giving a BigNo, realizing belatedly that she DidntThinkThisThrough that ''she'' would have to face consequences as well even if she weren't caught as the perpetrator.
419* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPDt6cMYvoM Oh, Gretchen]].
420* SweetAndSourGrapes: Cady on being named the Spring Fling Queen.
421-->'''Cady:''' Why is everybody stressing over this thing? I mean, [[ItsAllJunk it's just plastic]]. Could really just... Share it.
422* SympathyForTheDevil: Subverted. Regina becomes a strong contender to win Spring Fling Queen because people feel so sorry that she got hit by the bus. Cady beats her because people think she pushed her in front of it.
423* TeachersOutOfSchool: Cady, Janis, and Damian run into Ms. Norbury in the mall.
424-->'''Janis:''' I love seeing teachers outside of school. It's like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs.
425* TestKiss: After seeing everyone around them is paired up during the prom dance, Janis and Damien are dancing together and decide to kiss to see if anything's there. However, they are both grossed out by the kiss and Damien leaves while Kevin steps in to dance with Janis.
426* TitleDrop: During Janis' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Cady, she says "You are a mean girl! You're a bitch!"
427* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: When Janis convinces Cady to partake in her revenge plan, she tells Cady:
428-->'''Janis:''' There are two kinds of evil people in this world. Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don't try to stop it.
429* ToiletHumor:
430-->'''Karen:''' Gretchen, I'm sorry for laughing at you that time you got [[EpicFail diarrhea at Barnes and Noble]]. And I'm sorry for telling everyone about it.[[AesopAmnesia And I'm sorry for repeating it now]].
431* TomboyishPonytail: Ponytails are usually used in the film to signify a character being less concerned with their appearance. Cady arrives at school sporting a ponytail but starts wearing her hair down as she falls in with the Plastics, and then goes back to the occasional ponytail after her HeelRealization. The Plastics actually say that they have a rule about only using a ponytail once a week. Janis, an outcast, always wears her hair back. All the Plastics wear their hair down throughout the film, but Regina starts sporting a ponytail as she gains weight and is forced to wear less glamorous clothing. She is also wearing a ponytail at the end of the film, where she is an athlete and has a more down-to-earth wardrobe.
432* TooMuchInformation:
433** "Somebody wrote in that book that I'm lying about being a virgin, 'cuz I use super-jumbo tampons, but I can't help if I've got a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina!"
434--->'''Principal Duvall:''' Yeah, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere I can't do this]]. Miss Norbury?
435** Karen's apology to Gretchen for [[ToiletHumor what happened at Barnes & Noble]].
436* ToughLove: Janis' speech to Cady about her BecomingTheMask is arguably this. While it was pretty harsh for Janis to call Cady a bitch, Janis telling Cady about herself is what helped Cady see the errors of her ways and revert back to her old self.
437* TownGirls:
438** The [[GirlPosse Plastics as a whole]] (Femme), edgy DeadpanSnarker Janice (Butch), and (initially) wholesome NaiveEverygirl Cady (Neither). Cady drifting towards the Femme end of the spectrum becomes one of the major plot points.
439** The Plastics are all {{Alpha Bitch}}es who love hair, make-up, shopping, etc. -- but even they fit this trope. There's dominant, aggressive, snarky Regina as the Butch (who uses her aggressiveness to become a PassionateSportsGirl at the end), utterly sweet-natured and submissive Karen as the Femme, and in-between Gretchen as the Neither.
440* TrustBuildingBlunder: Miss Norbury's trust-fall exercise, involving a girl in a wheelchair wheeling herself backward off the podium, and Gretchen {{pratfall}}ing after everyone is disgusted by her BackhandedApology.
441* TruthTellingSession: Regina escalates the battle to such an extreme level that it can best be described as "going nuclear".
442* TwistingTheWords: Regina uses this to undermine people's confidence.
443-->'''Regina:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex51QJfN1d8 "So you agree? You think you're really pretty?"]]
444* UnconventionalFoodUsage: Overheard from a background character: "'Made out with a hot dog'? Oh my God, that was one time!"
445* UnbuiltTrope: The movie predates the 'elite high school girls' subgenre of teen fiction -- such as ''Literature/TheClique'', ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' and ''Literature/GossipGirl'' -- all of which were clearly inspired by it. But the movie deconstructs the GirlPosse by showing the bitchy backstabbing as shallow, pointless, and dealing psychological damage to everybody involved, and how the characters, even the AlphaBitch, would all be better off without it -- in such a fashion that it almost looks like a response to those works.
446* UncannyValley: InUniverse. Cady finds Mrs. George to fall deep into the Valley, thanks to her plastic surgery. The sight of her fake breasts approaching Cady is met with PsychoStrings, and Cady is clearly unnerved by her lack of reaction to her little chihuahua gnawing on her tit.
447* TheUnfairSex: Female variety. Regina punishes Taylor for dating Jason -- who is supposed to be Gretchen's 'property' -- instead of Jason for moving from Gretchen to Karen.
448* UnlimitedWardrobe: The Plastics ''never'' wear the same outfit twice. Or even one same article of clothing. According to the costume designer of ''Mean Girls'', each Plastic had over 30 costume changes over the course of the production. Cady had 59 total outfits (to reflect her change from "FishOutOfWater" to full-blown Plastic to a more happy medium)!
449* VerbalBackspace: Principal Duvall, [[RunningGag repeatedly]].
450-->'''Principal Duvall:''' I don't care how long it takes. I will keep you here all night.\
451'''Joan the Secretary:''' We can't keep them past four.\
452'''Principal Duvall:''' I will you keep here until four.
453* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Cady comes to this conclusion after realizing that ruining Regina's life didn't solve anything for her or make her happy in any way.
454* VomitDiscretionShot: Cady’s “word vomit” becomes actual vomit at her party after she drinks too much, vomiting at Aaron’s feet when Regina walks in on them.
455* VoxPops: Used twice in the movie as students of North Shore High School are given testimonies of a certain character. Used the first time when Regina is introduced and then later when Cady is immersed within the Plastics clique.
456* WardrobeWound:
457** Janis cuts holes in the chest of Regina's tank-top while she's in gym class. It backfires when Regina puts it on over her bright purple bra, looks at the damage, shrugs, and goes on her way. The next day, half the girls in school are [[YouAreTheNewTrend wearing their shirts the same way]].
458** In a deleted scene, Cady tries to give Regina one by having Damien rig her cafeteria table so that it tips and spills food into her lap when she sits down. However, Karen sits where Regina was supposed to, thus becoming the prank's victim.
459* WeightWoe: Regina's "killer bod" is one of the items that comes under attack in Janis' plot. The means? Protein-heavy granola bars that are supposed to help athletes and malnourished children gain weight, passed to Regina as if they're diet bars. It's subtle since Rachel [=McAdams=] is so skinny naturally, but the crew actually stuffed her sweat pants and hoodie with padding to make her look HollywoodPudgy.
460* WhamShot: After Regina learns that Cady made her gain weight, she takes her Burn Book, cuts a picture of them in two, and writes "This girl is the nastiest skank bitch I've ever met. Do not trust her. She is a fugly slut". It looks like she's going to add Cady in her book in rage... but she pastes in the Regina half of the photo, making herself look like another target to frame Cady, Gretchen, and Karen.
461* WhiteAndGreyMorality: This turns out to be the case in the film, as even the worst of the mean girls ultimately turns out to be more of an AntiVillain than an outright bad person. However, the film does have [[VileVillainSaccharineShow one unambiguously evil minor character]] in Coach Carr, who sexually preys on underage female students.
462* WholePlotReference: While the film's setting and depiction of high school society are based on a non-fiction self-help book, the narrative elements added by the writers can be interpreted as an inversion of Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' told from the female perspective.
463* WildTeenParty: Cady gets invited to a Halloween costume party by Aaron, then (semi-accidentally) throws a wild party herself later in the year. Her social evolution between these two parties is evident. At the first party, she's awkward, uncomfortable, and sticks out like a sore thumb. At the second party, she's the queen bee, sexy, center of attention, and (mostly) in control of everything going on (that is until it all blows up in her face). However, as a [[SubvertedTrope subversion for the trope]], her parents never find out.
464* WithFriendsLikeThese: Regina to Karen, Cady, and (especially) Gretchen. "Frenemies" indeed!
465* WomensMysteries: Principal Duvall attempts to get the girls talking about any "[[TemptingFate ladies' problems]]" they might have (referring to disagreements with each other). When the first one he singles out predictably starts going into TooMuchInformation territory he swiftly subs in Miss Norbury, saying "OK, I can't do this".
466* WoundedGazelleGambit: Regina's plan towards the end. She sticks her picture into the Burn Book to make it look like she'd gotten slandered along with dozens of other girls by Cady.
467* YouAreTheNewTrend: One scene has Janis cutting nipple holes in Regina's shirt in the locker room to try and sabotage her wardrobe. Regina wears the top anyway and the next day, every girl has the exact same nipple holes in her shirt.
468* YouAreWhatYouHate: Janis is just as manipulative (especially when it comes to Cady) as her nemesis Regina.
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