Mean Girls

***Mean Girls*** is a 2004 American teen comedy film.

## Synopsis

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

## Plot

Sixteen-year-old homeschooled Cady Heron and her zoologist parents return to the United States after a 12-year research trip in Africa, settling down in Evanston, Illinois. Attending a public school for the first time, Cady meets new classmates Janis Ian and Damian Leigh. The two educate Cady on the school's various cliques and warn her to avoid the most popular and infamous one, the "Plastics", who are led by queen bee Regina George and include rich but insecure Gretchen Wieners and airhead Karen Smith. The Plastics take an interest in Cady, and invite her to sit with them at lunch. Seeing that Cady is getting along with the Plastics, Janis hatches a plan of revenge against Regina for some past slight, using Cady as the infiltrator.

Cady soon learns about Regina's "Burn Book", a journal filled with rumors, secrets, gossip, and insults about the other girls and some teachers at school. Despite this discovery, Cady decides to forgo Janis's scheme for ethical reasons. Meanwhile, Cady becomes attracted to Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels, whom a jealous Regina proceeds to steal back at a Halloween party in front of Cady. This spurs Cady to fully commit to Janis's plan to cut off Regina's "resources", which involve breaking Regina and Aaron up, tricking her into eating nutrition bars that actually make her gain weight, and turning Regina's fellow Plastics against her. In the process, Cady unwittingly remakes herself in Regina's image, becoming spiteful and superficial, and abandons Janis and Damian.

When Regina is finally made aware of Cady's treachery, she retaliates by spreading the contents of her Burn Book all over the school, quickly inciting a massive brawl. To avoid suspicion, Regina inserts a fake libel of herself in the book in order to blame Cady, Gretchen, and Karen, the only female students not mentioned in the book. Karen convinces Principal Duvall that they did not spread the book. Duvall soon quells the fighting, and gathers all the girls in the school in the gymnasium. Math teacher Ms. Norbury, whom the Burn Book defamed as a drug dealer, makes the girls face the ways they all treat each other, confess their transgressions, and apologize to each other and the teachers. When Janis's turn comes, she defies Norbury and confesses her plan to destroy Regina with Cady's help, and openly mocks Regina with the support of the entire school. Pursued by an apologetic Cady, Regina storms out and is struck by a school bus, breaking her spine.

Without any friends, shunned by Aaron, and despised by the school, Cady takes full blame for the Burn Book and becomes an outcast. After she makes amends with Regina, Cady's guilt soon dissolves and she returns to her old personality. As part of her punishment for lying and failing Ms. Norbury's class, she joins the Mathletes in the state championship finals, and ends up winning the competition for her team after her opponent answers incorrectly. At the Spring Fling dance, Regina's new boyfriend, Shane Oman, is elected King, while Cady is elected Queen. Onstage, Cady declares that all her classmates are wonderful in their own way, breaks her plastic tiara, and distributes the pieces to some other girls. She then reconciles with Janis, Damian, and Aaron, and reaches a truce with the Plastics.

By the start of the new school year, the Plastics have disbanded. Regina has joined the lacrosse team to deal with her anger, Karen has become the school weather reporter (claiming earlier that her breasts can tell when it is raining), and Gretchen joins the "Cool Asians". Aaron graduates from high school and attends Northwestern University, Janis begins dating Mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, whom she initially despised, and Cady declares that she is now normal. A group of new "Junior Plastics" has arisen, and Cady imagines them being hit by a bus.