Heathers and Mean Girls: two movies which fictionalize the social hierarchy of highschool and effects of popularity. Each movie, known for its comedic and memorable moments, have the same take on highschool and plotline. Three girls, part of a notorious clique, are running the highschool with their amassed popularity, but when an outsider joins their group, everything takes a turn for the worse. Both movies are quite similar, though their differences are what cause each movie to produce a strong message on its audience. Its messages impact the audience heavily, and are an essential factor of teenage culture. While the character roles of the main cast are quite similar, each character has a completely distinct and unique personality which …show more content…
Just as stated before, an outsider manages to intermingle themselves into the clique of popular girls in order to bring down the social hierarchy. Mean Girls relies on social sabotage in order to further the plot. The main protagonist constantly ruins the antagonist’s reputation with each and every move. Heathers, on the other hand, relies on violence and grotesque acts. Many murders occur throughout the film, which help drive the plot forward. Due to the contrast of plot progression, the movie has different endings. Mean Girls certainly has a happy ending with the social hierarchy ending and all of the characters moving on with their lives without any consequences, while Heathers concludes with the explosion of the entire school with the main protagonist nonchalantly walking down the steps. Although both movies have the same beginning and establish the same ending, where the social hierarchy has collapsed, the genre creates a shift in plot and …show more content…
The main theme of Heathers and Mean Girls both revolve around social hierarchy and the concept of popularity, but are completely different. The themes in Heathers commentate on the teenage lifestyle in highschool. Heathers shows how highschool is simply a microcosm of life, and that it’s full of hypocrisy and selfishness. It wants to point out the flaws in society, and allows for teenagers to better understand them. The topics discussed in Heathers are darker, and involve issues such as eating disorders, sexual assault, and so on. These messages are important to the teenage audience, since it speaks of topics some teenagers are going through today, and the overall message enlightens teenagers of the many flaws of highschool society. In Mean Girls though, the main themes are about judgment and maturity. All the characters in the movie are harsh to each other, even the protagonist and her friends. Everybody is judgmental, catty, and out for revenge. Though by the end of the movie, everybody takes accountability and apologizes for their actions. The characters demonstrate character growth and maturity throughout the film, which has a great impact on the teenage culture. This movie teaches numerous lessons that are essential to the teenage audience. It shows that putting others down doesn’t make you feel any better, or that being kinder to others would