8 Mean Girls Who Made High School a Nightmare
17th May, 2022
Sony Pictures Releasing
High school is a challenge and Hollywood’s portrayal of these perfectly played mean girls seem to have made it infinitely worse for everyone in reel life.
High school indeed can be a nightmare! There are no self-help books, no amount of friends, or popularity that can make one immune to the constant peer pressure and academic challenges it brings. However, add rich, manipulative, seemingly perfect mean girls to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for pain. (Does the name Regina George ring a bell?) We took a trip down memory lane in Tinseltown to spot the meanest traits of these high schoolers who made the journey scarier than it already is.
Kathryn Merteuil, Cruel Intentions
Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a student of an exclusive private school who wore a mask of perfection with ease but was indeed the wicked witch of the Upper East Side. This manipulative high school teenager is responsible for initiating wars among her peers, while she herself comes out of it as the good, innocent girl who can do no wrong. In addition to her terrible habits, she takes toxicity to a whole new level with the trash talk, devious schemes, and blatant disregard for the sanctity of others’ relationships.
Jennifer Check, Jennifer’s Body
Played by often-in-the-news Megan Fox, Jennifer Check is an iconic high school mean girl character that 100% deserves a mention on this list. She’s shown to be an attractive, fairly popular girl who gets asked out often, which only fans her growing disdain for most people, including her “best” friend Anita, “Needy” Lesnicki. The bad attitude just gets worse after she’s possessed by a demon (Can’t really blame her there). Jennifer gets superpowers like speed, invisibility, and eternal youth, with a tiny tiny caveat—she needs to feed on men to retain the powers.
Nancy Downs, The Craft
This American supernatural horror film was not only a hit but has gained a cult following its release in 1998. The iconic Hollywood character played a high school witch, one with actual black magic know-how, who gets power-hungry and unleashes a veritable hell. Picked on by her abusive father, people at school, and dealing with an unfortunate set of circumstances, Nancy bonds with the other outcasts, and they form a cult of their own. Her goth outfits, dark aura, and scathing dialogues are just some of the reasons why Nancy Downs’ character has stuck with the 90’s kids.
Dedee Truitt, The Opposite of Sex
Dedee Truitt, portrayed by Christina Ricci, is a raging 16-year old high school girl who’s shockingly wicked and twisted. Not only is Dedee the typical, self-centered, reckless teen, but her sarcastic comments and dark humor can also pierce any armor within seconds. A dialogue from the movie that perfectly encapsulates her vibe is this: “My mother was the kind of mother who always said she was her daughter's best friend. I thought, "Great! Not only do I have a shitty mother, but my best friend's a loser bitch!." Trust us, we couldn’t stop our shocked gasps either.
Marianne Bryant, Easy A
Quite contrary to her bubbly, cute appearance Marianne Bryant from Easy A is shown to be extremely judgemental, pushing her conservative beliefs onto her schoolmates. Her prejudice shows clearly in the way she judges other girls’ clothes, behavior, and anything that doesn’t match her convictions. The main antagonist in this teen comedy, Marianne, spreads nasty rumors about our heroine Olive (played by Emma Stone) based on an overheard conversation that wasn’t even true. Not only that, she’s the perpetrator behind a whole host of rumors and actively tries to get Olive expelled from school!
Tania Degano, Muriel’s Wedding
This offbeat, dark comedy was one of the biggest hits of 1994 in Australian cinema and remains one of its best-loved hits. Muriel’s Wedding depicted the atypical terrifying mean girl in high school who treats all the other kids like dirt. Tania Degano, the main antagonist, is airheaded, full of herself, and vindictive, all the while having her gal-pals backing her up for decidedly trashy behavior. But as we all know, good (mostly) wins over evil, and even though it takes quite a few years, Tania’s world comes crumbling down in a pretty satisfactory manner.
Tamsin, My Summer of Love
This movie throws light on two teenagers who come from starkly different backgrounds and happen to cross paths at a vulnerable time in their lives. Mona, who comes from a humble background, has a religious-minded brother, and Tamsin, an upper-class girl, has absentee parents. The latter is very clearly in control in this dynamic, leading a wide-eyed Mona into her opulent life, encouraging her to read Nietzsche, or at least Freud, in a blasé manner. Tamsin’s character is unlike other obviously spiteful antagonists, but her manipulation, lies, and disdain slot her very neatly into a mean girl box.
Regina George, Mean Girls
Regina George, meanest of the mean high school girls, has had a growing fan following ever since the movie was released. Her sardonic compliments, conniving nature, and pleasure at publicly humiliating her classmates is something that probably gave nightmares to high school students for years to come. Regina, played by Rachel McAdams, was the self-appointed queen bee of her high school, and she and her clique earned the title of The Plastics. Besides all the bitching, the clique actually kept a burn book on dirty secrets about their peers. Now that’s a scrapbook nobody wants to sign!
