In Defense of: Mean Girls' Regina George
Get in loser! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re taking the stand to defend one of cinema’s fetchest villains, Regina George.
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00:00God, Karen, you are so stupid!"
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're taking the stand
00:06to defend one of cinema's fetchest villains, Regina George.
00:10Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen.
00:13As a skilled manipulator, Regina rules the school with an iron fist
00:17and wields her power dangerously.
00:19She's even been called straight up evil.
00:22Evil takes a human form in Regina George.
00:25But this claim doesn't quite pan out by the end of the story.
00:28Although Regina may be set up as a hateable antagonist,
00:31the way the world shapes her and others like her
00:34actually explains a lot about her character.
00:36Some of us shouldn't have to take this workshop
00:38because some of us are just victims in this situation.
00:41Without further ado, here's why Regina George
00:44is actually, like, not totally the worst.
00:46Regina, you seem to really hate her.
00:49Yes, what's your question?
00:50Well, my question is, why?
00:53A character we love to hate.
00:55With enviable confidence and a venomous bite,
00:58Regina checks every baddie box.
01:00She's the mean girl of all mean girls.
01:03She's the queen bee.
01:04When we're introduced to her,
01:06she's being carried by a crew of lackeys,
01:08instantly signaling her place as the monarch of North Shore High.
01:12But she's not the first to reign, and she won't be the last.
01:16Outside of the story's world,
01:17Regina actually fits nicely into a long line of mean girl archetypes,
01:22which all share very intentional markers
01:24that make us subconsciously despise them
01:26before they even show their fangs.
01:28In countless other teen movies,
01:30the head mean girl is an uber-glamorous beacon of femininity,
01:34symbolizing pink, glittery girlhood to the nth degree.
01:37She has it all, from the nicest clothes
01:40to the hottest boyfriend to a posse of followers.
01:43Her lifestyle feels out of reach,
01:45and her hyper-feminine traits feed into a historical disdain
01:48of over-the-top girlishness.
01:50She's almost always pitted against a bumbling black sheep
01:53that threatens her legacy,
01:55someone who's not like other girls because she's awkward and nice,
01:59which makes her rootable.
02:00You're, like, really pretty.
02:02Thank you.
02:03So you agree?
02:04What?
02:05You think you're really pretty.
02:07Oh, I don't know.
02:08Meanwhile, the mean girl is so polarizing because she's neither.
02:12So you can go shave your back now.
02:14Despite her vicious attitude,
02:16there's something infectious about the Queen Bee
02:18as we see with Katie and countless others in the school
02:21attempting to emulate her in their bid for social status.
02:24As a dictator, Regina commands a combination of fear
02:27and adoration from her classmates,
02:29who gush over every detail of her life.
02:31She has two Fendi purses and a silver Lexus.
02:34I hear her hair is insured for $10,000.
02:36One time she punched me in the face.
02:38It was awesome.
02:40So if Regina is that mean,
02:42why does almost everyone want to be her?
02:45Janice actually lays it out perfectly in her plot to take Regina down.
02:49How do you overthrow a dictator?
02:51You cut off her resources.
02:53Each part of her mission means compromising
02:56one of the superficial traits Regina is revered for.
02:59Her jock boyfriend,
03:00a physique widely regarded as attractive,
03:03and her army of followers who, really,
03:05are only yearning for proximity to power.
03:08Beyond this list, there's the wealth she was born into
03:11and all the beauty she can afford to upkeep.
03:13It's clear she was primed to be the alpha girl from the start,
03:16and by perfecting the art of knocking others down,
03:19her rise to the top seems inevitable.
03:21So are you gonna send any candy canes?
03:23No.
03:24I don't send them, I just get them.
03:26While the movie begins with the school
03:28already under the rule of the leading plastic,
03:30we do see how Katie's social ascension
03:33could reflect Regina's original climb
03:35from regular girl to mean girl.
03:37By the same token,
03:39a lot of the subtle clues about Regina's backstory
03:41actually paint a far more complex picture of her personality,
03:45one that sheds light on her tough exterior.
03:48The Mean Girl Mold
03:49Even though Regina plays the part of the mean girl oh-so-well,
03:53it's pretty obvious this temperament is just a facade.
03:56Even if she initially appears perfectly composed,
03:59she's actually dealing with a lot of turmoil in her home life.
04:02Beyond alluded to marital issues between her parents,
04:05I mean, her parents totally don't sleep in the same bed anymore.
04:08it's clear no boundaries were ever set in the George household,
04:11never mind discipline.
04:13There are no rules in this house.
04:15We even get a glimpse of what young Regina's life
04:17might have looked like through her little sister.
04:20A lack of structure at home can do a lot of harm
04:22to a still-developing mind,
04:24and we see it all play out right in front of us.
04:27While it's not fruitful to demonize wealth,
04:29Regina was obviously never told no a day in her life.
04:33Instead of showing up for her in ways that count,
04:35her parents bought her love
04:37or otherwise strived for it by pushing leniency to the max.
04:40Not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom.
04:43Right, Regina?
04:44Please stop talking.
04:45Knowing this, Regina's bratty behavior
04:48starts to look like a cry for help.
04:50She has no healthy emotional outlets,
04:52evident by the way she sobs to her friends
04:54and later snaps in a rage-fueled meltdown.
05:02It's also difficult to have a true sense of self
05:05when you've entirely built your confidence
05:06upon incredibly fragile traits
05:08that require tireless maintenance.
05:11I really want to lose three pounds.
05:12Is butter a carb?
05:14The odds are stacked against her
05:15as she tries to manage the unfair cult of personality
05:18her peers have constructed for her.
05:20She's not even that good-looking
05:21if you really look at her.
05:22I don't know.
05:23Now that she's getting fatter,
05:24she's got pretty big jugs.
05:26And she knows that her position at the top is shaky,
05:29which is why she immediately takes her biggest threat,
05:32Katie, under her wing.
05:33Though, as we know, this eventually backfires.
05:36Katie arrives as a total outcast,
05:38then molts into Regina 2.0 by stealing her personality,
05:42friends, boyfriend, and wardrobe,
05:44at first in a plot to foil her,
05:46but then because she finds the power intoxicating.
05:50Buddy, you're not pretending anymore.
05:52You're plastic.
05:53Cold, shiny, hard plastic.
05:55The way in which all of these mean girl traits
05:57are so easily transferable to Katie
06:00proves that this alpha persona is just a placeholder,
06:03a mere template that can be copy-pasted to another
06:05within a single school year.
06:07Like all the film and TV mean girls who came before,
06:10adopting this facade is really a matter of climbing
06:12to the top of the social pyramid,
06:14and really, who doesn't want to sit at the top?
06:18Get in, loser.
06:19We're going shopping.
06:20It's important to consider that Mean Girls focuses
06:23on a group of high schoolers.
06:24At this point in their lives,
06:26being well-liked by peers is one major way
06:28they measure their self-worth,
06:30and you have to play to win.
06:31I want you to raise your hand
06:32if you have ever had a girl say something bad
06:35about you behind your back.
06:37And this time, I want you to raise your hand
06:39if you have ever said anything
06:41about a friend behind her back.
06:44The writers make it a point to show
06:45how the title of Mean Girl can be applied
06:47to most of the characters at some point,
06:50even the lovable losers we initially root for.
06:53Janice and Damien behave like mean girls
06:55when they enact a plot to sabotage Regina.
06:58I can't spy on her anymore.
06:59It's weird.
07:00Come on.
07:01She's never going to find out.
07:02It's just, it'll be like our little secret.
07:04Katie later perpetuates the same cycle of mistreatment
07:07on her own friends during her rise.
07:09How come you didn't call me back?
07:11Oh, I got busy, sorry.
07:13So you need a ride to my art show this weekend?
07:15Oh, no, I have to go to Madison with my parents.
07:18Ultimately, it's hard to really place
07:20the title of villain on Regina,
07:22or any of these characters,
07:23when they're all just adolescents
07:25with a lot of growing to do.
07:27Fortunately, Regina does grow a lot
07:29by the end of the film.
07:30Once Katie kicks her out of the plastics
07:32and her social stock plummets,
07:34she becomes a victim herself.
07:37That's where you're going, fat ass.
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07:58By seeing this plastic clone of herself
08:00reflect back all the toxic traits
08:02that come with popularity,
08:03Regina gets to see herself
08:05in a brand new light.
08:06She receives some much needed therapy,
08:08and it takes the advice to channel
08:10her anger into sports.
08:12As it turns out,
08:13Regina actually makes a stellar athlete,
08:15and in the process,
08:16she finds a new set of friends
08:18who celebrate her for the right reasons.
08:20As Katie comes to the realization
08:22that conquering the girl world
08:23means hurting everyone around her,
08:25she breaks the Spring Fling tiara into pieces,
08:28along with what is hopefully
08:29a symbolic representation
08:31of the oppressive system
08:32they've all been embroiled in.
08:33When I think about how many people wanted this,
08:37and how many people cried over it and stuff,
08:39I think everybody looks like royalty tonight.
08:41Why is everybody stressing over this thing?
08:43It took things reaching a terrible peak
08:45for the students at North Shore High
08:47to find peace,
08:48and for us, the viewers,
08:49to understand Regina is ultimately
08:51just as much a victim
08:52as she is a perpetrator.
08:54There's good and bad everybody, right?
08:55Regina's just...
08:57She's just more upfront about it.
08:59Just before the credits roll,
09:00we're introduced to a new group
09:02of underclassmen plastics.
09:03Showing that, despite all this work,
09:05the cycle continues.
09:07We all learn the lesson at some point, right?
09:09As for Regina,
09:10she's still figuring herself out by the end.
09:12And when we look past
09:14the hard, perfectly sculpted exterior,
09:16we find a teenager who lacks support,
09:18and who has been taught
09:19she will only ever be valued
09:21for trivial things.
09:22Luckily, she emerges as someone new,
09:25who still has a lot to learn,
09:26but who's definitely on a better path
09:28than she once was.
09:30You go, Regina George.
09:31Love ya!
09:32So, do you agree with our defense of Regina?
09:35Even if you didn't like her,
09:36you can't deny that she's
09:37so effortlessly quotable.
09:39Let us know your favorite Regina quips
09:41in the comments below.
09:42Check out this other recent clip
09:44from MsMojo,
09:45and be sure to subscribe
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09:47about our latest videos.