Disobedience In Mean Girls

The cohesion of societal structure is contingent on the cooperation of authority and obedience, yet equally reliant on the power that disobedience has to generate change. In the 2004 film Mean Girls, director Mark Waters showcases both the damaging potential of blind obedience to social structure and decision-making and the transformational power of disobedience through the character Gretchen Wieners. While obedience and authority are pervasive concepts, they are particularly potent in the formation and preservation of social structure in high school. At the beginning of the film, Cady Heron, a previously homeschooled, somewhat introverted new student, is challenged not only in assimilating to the dynamic of public school, but in making friends.

In a similar vein, Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett’s analysis in “The Power of Situations” offers the perspective that individuals who act in morally compromising ways are likely under the influence of a variety of contextual factors that weigh more heavily on individuals on a circumstantial basis, rather than an expression of their authentic personality (Ross and Nisbett 85). In Mean Girls, Gretchen frequently observes and participates in acts of bullying, remaining complicit in Regina’s irrational despotism, which is characteristic of the clique she belongs to, but not her character individually. For example, at the beginning of the movie the Plastics take a trip to the mall where they see Jason (a boy that Gretchen notably had a crush on) with another girl. In an attempt to disrupt Jason’s date and defend her friend, Regina takes Gretchen’s phone and calls the girl’s mother, stating, “This is Susan from Planned Parenthood. I have her test results,” and then quickly hangs up