Project 1 Tropes

                                                                  The Mean Girl Trope

    Confident, entitled, glamorous, rude, and a bit crazy. Does anyone come to mind? In pop culture, my first thought would be the classic mean girl. Typically occurring in a high school setting because that is where they seem to thrive. Characters like Blair Waldorf, Regina George, and Sharpay Evans are the girls everyone seems to love but hates them all the same.

    The mean girl trope has many defining characteristics.  Confidence is key to this trope. They have a strong desire for everyone to worship the ground they walk on and one extreme superiority complex. These girls are usually very intelligent which comes in handy with the manipulation of others. Being glamorous is usually another defining characteristic and only adds to their power. They are typically attractive girls with good figures which also aids with their power, especially when it comes to interacting with males. You can hate this girl as much as you please, but still value her opinion about you. She is driven by rage which most likely comes from her upbringing that had no boundaries. This enables the mean girl to go through life as she pleases. Not worried about stepping on anyone's toes because she was never told what to do. These girls are the  “queen B’s” of their high schools are driven solely by exterior validation such as being popular and being pretty.

     The girl I am analyzing is Tess from the film “Camp Rock.” She is the main antagonist in this movie. This character Tess has always attended Camp Rock and is specifically known as the camp's diva. She is extremely arrogant and entitled. She even has an entourage that follows her around like mean girls usually do. One of the songs Tess performs is called "Too Cool," if that says anything. Her only dream is to become a singer like her mother and her entire life revolves around this. She takes singing very seriously and has a large drive for perfection. Of course, like most mean girls she has a target. Someone who she is either in competition with, sees as a threat, or just a weakling. For Tess, this competition is Mitchie. Mitchie is the main character in the film played by Demi Lovato. Tess is very manipulative, that's how she cast Mitchie as a backup singer so her spotlight would not be stolen. Throughout the film, it is clear that Tess is extremely jealous of  Mitchie due to the fact that Mitchie is a very talented singer. Mitchie also develops a sort of relationship with Shane Gray, who is played by Joe Jonas. Tess is threatened by this because of her crush on Shane. Tess then tells the entire camp that Mitchie's mom is the camp cook in hopes of embarrassing her. This is just another one of the many manipulative acts Tess comes up with. During a rehearsal, Tess becomes very aggressive with her entourage for their inability to follow a dance, and they rush off in a storm very frustrated with Tess's behavior. While she is on stage about to perform, she sees her mother appear in the crowd and the pressure is on. With no backup singers and dancers, she is left to perform alone. She notices her mother become distracted by a phone call and immediately becomes disappointed. This causes her to fall off the stage and lose the contest due to nervousness. Tess quickly runs backstage sobbing. Following this, a girl in her group of followers wins the contest, and Mitchie and Shane perform together. These tow things would obviously be very upsetting to her but she reluctantly apologizes to her group and congratulates Mitchie. This is the fall of Tess. 

    As stated in "The Mean Girl Trope Explained" there is typically a downfall. The girl actually is miserable deep down, and maybe this is why she enjoys making others so miserable. I mean, misery loves company, right? This girl loves the toxic cycle she has created because her main focus is to be on top. The idea behind the downfall of the mean girl is that power corrupts. These girls are not concerned with really anything besides the idea of ruling others around them. The mean girl may not initially be recognized by others. It is masked with a superficial layer of niceness. Unlike boys, girls are not always comfortable with faceing confrontation straight on. This causes unnecessary cattiness and a great deal of under-the-table manipulation. There are many reasons why this girl chooses to be the way she is. Although there are many redeeming qualities in the girl, she uses her power for the worst. Mean girls get entertainment out of bullying others. That's why Tess is such a good example of this trope. She thrives off of putting Mitchie down and will do anything to do so. The mean girl has potential, and as her equivalent (male jock) is perceived as dumb, the mean girl is charming and cunning. She may be good at manipulation because she has the ability to read people and her surroundings. It takes brains to be able to slyly belittle and bully other girls so often. Girls are extremely good at this because as a girl themselves, they know where to hit where it will hurt. They have an understanding of other girls' feelings which gives them the ability to do what they do. Mean girls know to attack relationships because this is something females value the most. 

    The mean girl is an important trope in many medias of pop culture. She is essential to the storyline and has a contrasting role with the nice girl or the underdog. The mean girl makes scripts more interesting because she is usually looked at as evil or as the villain. She is intelligent and knows what she is doing which makes her successful at what she does.