Mean Girls Essay Questions

If Janis is using Cady to exact her revenge on Regina, doesn't that also make her a "mean girl"?

The film is careful to convey that context and intent matter. For example, Janis calling Damian "too gay to function" is ultimately good-natured, whereas Cady repeating it later to The Plastics is not. Janis is single-minded about deposing Regina as "Queen Bee" because she knows first-hand how abusive and destructive Regina's behavior is. Outwardly, however, Regina does not resemble a "mean girl" at all—and even denies being at all to blame in the assembly scene, in front of Ms. Norbury, Mr. Duvall, and the rest of the junior class of girls. The film demonstrates that being "mean" can come in many forms.

Why does Cady like Regina?

Cady seeks Regina's approval, because of the amount of power and influence that Regina has over The Plastics and the rest of the school. Because of her innocence and naivete, Cady originally finds Regina "sweet," not realizing that she has not witnessed the full extent of what Regina is capable of. Cady also is indebted to Regina after Regina manages to successfully ward off Jason's sleazy attempts to flirt with Cady in the cafeteria. Even as she grows to dislike Regina, Cady remains friends with her so that she can imitate Regina's strategies for manipulating others.

Why does Cady pretend not to like math?

Almost every character in the film (besides Kevin and Ms. Norbury) discourages Cady from pursuing math because they think it will be "social suicide." Even Damian, who finds Cady's reasons for liking math "beautiful," scares her away from joining the Mathletes. Cady soon finds that pretending not to understand math gives her an easy excuse to talk to Aaron Samuels, and she soon deludes herself into believing that dumbing herself down will make her a more attractive, likable person. Once Cady accepts blame for the Burn Book and relinquishes her efforts to remain popular, she is no longer afraid of flexing her math skills in public.

Why does Aaron Samuels turn Cady down at her house party?

Aaron seems most attracted to Cady when she is being her awkward, normal self, such as when she wears an elaborate "zombie bride" outfit to the Halloween party, or when she blurts out "grool" in class. Cady, on the other hand, is desperate to portrayal herself as a flawless icon of femininity in the style of Regina, and attempts to iron out all of the quirks in her personality and replace them with Regina-isms like "Shut up!" and "Bi-otch." When Aaron realizes at her house party that Cady has remodeled herself after Regina, whom he just broke up with for cheating on him, Aaron becomes upset and decides to leave.

What is the significance of Janis and Regina's backstory?

At the beginning of the film, Cady knows that Janis hates Regina but does not know why. Cady learns, according to Regina, that Regina and Janis were friends in middle school until Regina began to suspect that Janis had a crush on her. Regina then disinvited Janis from her birthday party, setting off an inter-family dispute that led to Janis dropping out of school. The story reveals that Regina is homophobic, and that Janis has been dealing with the emotional fallout of events from middle school ever since. The story also makes Cady's accusation that Janis is obsessed with her especially offensive, causing Damian to slam on the brakes of his car and yell out, "Oh no, she did not!" Regina finally learns that Janis has been trying to get revenge on her during the apology session orchestrated by Ms. Norbury.