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Mean Girls Conflict Theory

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Over the weekend I was watching Mean Girls for another class actually, I realized that it is a perfect example of conflict theory and how it works. Within conflict theory the elite, bourgeoisie has all the power and takes advantage over the lower class people, there always creating conflict between the two classes with each other over jobs, money, resources and more. because of this ongoing conflict, social change is really needed. Karl Marx, his theory of conflict contributed to the central workings of society. He said that there was an inequality between the higher class such as factory owner who were possibly taking advantage of the workers; and the poor who were the workers, that would take home little money compared. The workers did not …show more content…

When Regina finds out, she seeks revenge of Cady by taking Aaron back. When Cady finds out, what began as a game to discover secrets of the plastics turns into a plan to destroy Regina. Now Cady, Janis, and Damian plot together to bring Regina's status down. However as Cady spends more time with the Plastics she too begins to become one. Mean Girls is a classic, your typical high school movie having the popular kids everyone looks up to and your average student who kinda fall unnoticed. Within Conflict theory, there is tension between groups of people because there is one wanting to run and rule over the other. In the movie we can see this happen with the Plastics, which could compare to the bourgeoisie. They believe the universe revolves around them and the other “lower” students need to care to their every command. The plastics also humiliate other students in any way possible and refuse to socialize with anyone who is not in their elite class. They are perfectly content with the status quo of their lives and don't want a thing to change in the world at the moment. The other range of the theory includes the proletariat, this is the group of people would like an instant social …show more content…

They all felt personally victimized by Regina George, who is a major symbol for the high class in the conflict theory. It’s common sense to want to be treated with equality, because in the end they are all human. Another thing with conflict theory is lower class felt they were getting an unfair treatment from the plastics, and it ultimately leads to chaos and a gigantic disturbance in the nice life of a bourgeoisie. This is an ongoing cycle of consisting battle between the ones with all the power and those without a say in the world. Overall while watching conflict theory helped me better understand how and why events in this movie happened. The way it structured people into groups, and that there is always one small group with money and that end up being the ones have the most power over a large number of people. It's a persistent theme within history, and shows in the smallest of social settings such as a high school full of bullies and weirdos and even with large countries. The thing is anyone being helpless or tormented will gain the strength at some point to fight back against those bringing them down, this is kinda how Karl Marx explained society and the structure of it through the Conflict

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Due to this they rebel in little ways such as growing out their hair longer than it is supposed to be. Throughout the film they talk about the dreams and what they want but are constantly bombarded with pushback and criticism for their wants while the people stand upon a self-entitled moral high ground. This eventually leads to one of them going into his term in the army and the other killing himself by riding his bike off a cliff at the beach. These occurrences while focusing specifically on those outside the system are to show how utility might seem good on the outside, but create a lot of pressure/struggles for others and cannot be ignored. The film also shows how morality is intertwined through utilitarianism as the characters in the movie that conform to the ideal displays a sense of moral superiority; which in fact shows demoralization in society.

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The theory displays the idea that society isn’t an issue of race but more of the upper class having more power in ppolitics. Therefore, this theory has been used to imply that race doesn’t have a bearing on class. This is a false taking even though some blacks, Latinos, Southeast Asians have moved up to higher economic classes. In the class conflict theory, the dominant ruling class oppresses the lower class but it is all determined on class not race. Therefore, this model asserts that the capitalist should encourage racism.

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The movie Mean Girls is about a sixteen year old girl, Cady Heron, who has recently moved from Africa to the United States, and is attending public school for the first time. Her first day of school was not the best, but on her second day of school she meets Janis Ian and Damian Leigh who start to guide Cady into high school by telling her about different groups (cliques/discourse communities) in the school, including the Plastics, which is made up of Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners, and Regina George. The Plastics soon take interest in Cady ask her to sit with them at lunch. Thanks to that we learn all about the discourse community of The Plastics. According to John Swales, there are six characteristics of a discourse community which I will discuss and use The Plastics as an example.

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The film is based around Cady, she is the new student at the school who ends up meeting Janet and Damian. They become her first friends, however, the Plastics (Regina, Karen, and Gretchen) get her to become part of their group. The Plastics are the popular mean girls, who everyone is afraid to stand up to. Janet and Cady come up with this plan to ruin Regina’s popularity and reputation through several different ideas. Cady ends up crushing on Aaron, who is Regina’s ex causing a secret anger in Cady.

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Conformity is present in every group situation with adolescents. Adolescents are always looking to be a part of a group, usually conforming to the standards of the group. Adolescents often conform because they want to have the approval of the peers that are well liked or “popular”. A great example of adolescents and conformity is in the chick flick ‘Mean Girls’ through the different cliques in high school and how it affects the peers themselves. Caty, the main character, is faced with several difficult situations where she decides to conform with her high school peers getting her in trouble that becomes hard for her to escape.

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The movie Mean Girls is a perfect example of many social-psychological principles. Three of the major principles that are seen in the film include: conformity, in-groups and out-groups and prejudice. Cady Herron, a naïve sixteen-year-old who has been homeschooled her entire life, is forced to start as a junior at North Shore High School because of her family’s job relocation. Throughout the movie, you see Cady struggling to maintain acceptance in the school’s in-group known as The Plastics. The Plastics, who represent popularity, high economic status and the acclaimed standard of beauty, are one of the meanest cliques at North Shore.

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Middle class would be Cady before she became a “Plastic” and low class would be Damian and Janis and the rest of the school. In the eyes of “The Plastics” everyone is low class and they are the only upper class. According to Jeff Manza, author of The Sociology Pproject 2.0: introducing the sociological imagination conflict theory is “a type of social theory that emerged out of dissatisfaction with structural functionalism and held that all societies are characterized by conflicts that arise from the uneven distribution of power and wealth between groups” (Manza, 2016). Bullies are not always at the top of the class chain but they often feel the need to put other lower them. Bullies often feel stronger and tougher when they are on top

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The two compiled a map of North Shore High and how Cady will survive it. A big part of the map was the cafeteria and where all the different cliques sat. Cady was warned about a certain clique called “the Plastics”, she was told they are the worst people she would ever meet. The Plastics are the popular clique at Cady’s new

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Marx and Engel focused on class conflict as the driving force for their argument. Throughout history, there is a common theme of a caste society lasting for so long until the mistreated lower class attempt to break the cycle; but that system is only replaced with a new

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There is no doubt that the film Mean Girls is full of conflict. Director Mark Waters did an excellent job at presenting how conflict can transpire and spread between females. The conflict that occurs in Mean Girls can easily be seen through the main characters Cady and Regina, however, conflict does not only takes place between the two of them but the entire school as well. Conflicts that arise throughout this film can be explained through power and power currencies, conflict styles and tactics, assumptions and triggering events, and forgiveness and reconciliation. Each conflict allows there to be understanding as to why the conflict took place and how it got as destructive as it did.

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Marxism is the idea of social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. Social processes are the way individuals and groups interact, adjust and reject and start relationships based on behavior which is modified through social interactions. Overall marxism analyzes how societies progress and how and society ceases to progress, or regress because of their local or regional economy , or global economy. In this case, Marxism’s theory applies to the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, where a society where mass satisfaction is the instrument utilized by places of power known as the Alphas in order to control the oppressed by keeping the Epsilons numb, at the cost of their opportunity to choose their own way of life. Marx thinks that an individual had a specific job to do in order to contribute to their community and that is the only way to do so; There is no escaping your contribution either.

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Marx believed that the class struggle forced social change. Marx’s theory is based on a class system

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In the movie Mean Girls, the writers use Regina George as the tyrant character archetype to show that we as humans become attached to the thought of being superior to others because we are afraid of what others will think about us. Regina was the most “popular” girl in school, and her friends were controlled by her and did everything she said. Their clique has the entire school looking up to them because everyone wants to be them. In the beginning of the movie of Mean Girls, Regina is known as the leader of the school and all the girls want to be her.

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Class conflict, Marx believed, was what encouraged the evolution of society. To quote Marx himself, The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one

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