The things that were surprising to me were things I said sort of off the cuff, walking around. Was there anything that was in your work that you were surprised to see make it into the movie? It gave archetypes of people’s behavior, and it sort of started off as stereotypes, but it got into the bigger and more complicated and more nuanced dynamics between all of the characters. So what I thought the movie got right was that interplay of how girls are processing that, and how they are being co-opted by it, fight against it, talk about it, get jealous of each other about it, compare each other. What’s pathological and horrible about it is how we shame or codify young people’s sexuality. There’s nothing pathological or horrible about that. I certainly want young people to come into their sexuality in positive ways. The second thing it got right is the play of sexuality and how girls are constantly sort of struggling with their sexuality. So what I think it got right is the little tiny ways that girls go after each other, that if you actually said something about it you would feel totally stupid. I go to schools and I work in schools and I'm talking to kids day in and day out. I’m not sitting around in a dark room talking to kids, tell me your deepest darkest secrets and your conflicts. My research is about working with girls and boys and what they are saying to me and what they are talking about-what we talk about together. What do you think think the movie got right in terms of your research on Girl World? I just remember when I saw it the first time being like, “Tina, I do not do that.” Trust falls probably have too much liability associated with them. I do not do trust falls, I have never done trust falls, I will never do trust falls. Norbury does in the movie is very similar to what you do… I guess I was thinking, did you think it lived up to Heathers legacy?ĭo I think that I did? Yeah, it absolutely did. I guess in retrospect that is compared to that kind of thing is really cool. For me Heathers was the smart comedy that didn’t feel like I was being pandered to or patronized. When I was talking to Tina about it, I certainly didn’t think: and now we are going to do this version of Heathers. I was hoping it would in that it would be a smart ensemble movie that would reflect the kind of cynicism, the kind of social dynamics that were going on. Did Mean Girls followed in those footsteps for you? In a New York Times article from 2002, you mentioned Heathers as a movie that portrays Girl World well. In honor of the movie's anniversary The Wire asked Wiseman to reflect on Mean Girls and discuss how "Girl World" has changed. Wiseman, maybe this happens at other schools you work at, but at this school we don’t have exclusive cliques like that." This girl is generally your Regina George. At one point she describes how she goes to classrooms and ask girls to close their eyes and raise their hands if they "have had a friend gossip about them, talk behind their back, force them to stop being friends with someone, or be exclusive." She explains that one girl will say, " Ms. She discusses girls' tendency to dress up in slutty costumes for Halloween. For as much credit is due to Tina Fey for writing the film script, Fey was operating from source material by Rosalind Wiseman, whose nonfiction book Queen Bees & Wannabes served as inspiration and source material for the movie.įor those only familiar with the movie, parts of Wiseman's book, which culls anecdotes from teens and parents to dole out advice, will feel very familiar. Part of the reason why Mean Girls remains at the forefront of our pop-culture lexicon here on its 10th anniversary is, beyond its humor and its quotability, is because it rings so true about the high school experience. This article is from the archive of our partner.
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