In order to build the ultimate mean girl for my teen comedy, I watched other teen movies and listed the main features that made the mean girl popular. I have done lots of character buiding into my mean girl and have decided I would want her to have all these features. All the popular girls tend to have similar hobbys, attitudes and terminology. I have picked out some of the main ones.
The Slow Motion Walk
The popular girls usually have a moment near the beginning of the film where they walk in slow motion to make them look glamarous and of high importance. From the clip you can also see how different people react to her. Most boys seem to have a crush on her, putting them in a trance when she looks at them. Most girls look at her with hatred which might also be jealousy. Very few girls seem to idolize her. That is what I wanted to bring to the character of Sydney, she walks around as if everyone loves her when in fact there are many different perspectives of her. Yet she seems to be blind to that fact.
I wanted Sydney to gave a personality similar to Regina George from mean girls. Sly, manipulative, nice to your face but a bitch behind your back. I thought that by making Sydney have these personality traits, it would make the climax of the film even more dramatic, especially with all the 'lies' and 'behind your back' talk she would be doing. As an audience, I also feel that people find Regina funny and cruel at the same time, this makes the audience feel slightly confused about her character and thats the reaction I want from my audience.
From the clip you can see that Regina has a serious yet funny personality that people can't help but laugh at. Regina creates a storm in a teacup about any situation and I think thats what makes her character so complex and quite confusing at times. On the other hand its amusing to watch and her baffling personality makes the film enjoyable. That is the feel I wanted to bring to Sydney's character. She doent realise she is being over dramatic about things which makes her character even more sympathetic which is the feeling the audience should be feeling by the climax.
Most popular girls tend to have an interest in singing or dancing or another form of art. They do tend to be good at it though, they are rarely not talented. The idea of being able to sing or act is commonly assosiated with fame. This is suggesting that they are like the local celebrities in the area or of the school. This makes people look up to them more and make them seem more powerful, popular and sometimes wealthy.
In the clip above you can see that Meradith from Bratz The Movie, is talented and can put on a show yet her song choice makes it obvious to the audience that she is shallow, self centered and spoiled.
Annotations
"Don't you be jealous"- This indicated that she thinks people are jealous of her and teases them by saying this.
"You know Madonna ain't got nothing on me"- She is comparing herself to celebrities, indicating to the audience that she thinks she is in fact a celebrity herself as she has put herself on their level. They are preferably singers, "Madonna, Mariah, Christina, Beyonce",trying to prove to people that she can sing better than them. She is also aiming to be more beautiful and have more star quality than them too.
"(Don't blame her), I'm so beautiful"- She clearly thinks that she is gods gift and the most perfect person on the planet.
I want my character Sydney to have these traits, however not so exaggerated. But I defiantly want Sydney to be shallow for her alter ego side and I want the audience to see that she thinks she is better than everyone. I think that illustrating this through a catchy song would be an interesting way to go for a teen comedy.
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