Online Response #4

In our class discussions it has become blatantly clear that a common problem with many activist media, with all their wonderful intentions, merely defeat themselves by showing the content they are fighting against. Mean Girls, I feel, falls into this category of great intensions but in the end only perpetuating the problem.

I felt the main message was easily understood, (spreading rumors, back-biting, and seeking popularity by hurting others is wrong) yet the use of gorgeous actresses and glamourizing them, even in this comedic and satirical fashion, ends up leaving its mark on impressionable young people. In Mulvey’s article, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, she introduces the “male gaze.” She talks about this need for the male audience to be sexually satisfied in their movie going experience and thus film makers will add scenes that in no way further the plot or even character development but simply showcase a female’s body. I saw many scenes in Mean Girls that could have very well been done without. When the girls are all hanging out together they begin examining their bodies in the mirror and finding faults with themselves. This was meant to show how silly they are for thinking that way. They obviously have gorgeous bodies, but I wonder how a young and insecure pre-teen girl would react to this scene. Will she now compare herself to these superstar actresses when she looks in the mirror?

This brings us to another point brought up in McRobbie’s article Postfeminism and Popular Culture. She makes a valid argument when she discusses the dismantling of feminism. In her article she give a perfect example of how media is being used against woman in a very subtle way. She explains on old billboard for Wonderbra that was seen in the UK years ago. It featured a woman admiring her own cleavage. For men traveling down the highway that glance up at the board they might think (using McRobbie’s words) “Thank goodness it is permissible, once again, to enjoy looking at the bodies of beautiful women.” I feel that mirror scene and many others in Mean Girls have the same effect. Not only do the men viewers get there “male gaze” moment, but the woman who find it offensive can be shrugged off saying that the movies motives were the opposite. In the Wonderbra billboard’s case, the advertising company honestly wanted feminist ridicule. Why? Because in fame was good fame in their line of work. The same rules apply in the film business. I highly controversial film will make just as much, if not more, income as an uplifting and well-loved film. Birth of a Nation is a perfect case in point.

                I know that this movie had good motives and an excellent message, but in the end it is still trying to make business. The moral may have made it to the audience, I certainly understood what it was trying to say, but the question is which message was stronger; the main moral or the underlying messages about woman? There is no definite answer, it will vary with the viewer and their ability it analyze the movie, but I feel it is a problem when the movie’s moral message has an equally damaging underlying message accompanying it. In this way Mean Girls both shows girls how to be more model citizens and perpetuates the enticing nature of being under the “male gaze.” Two contradictory and confusing messages.