Mean Girls Exercise 1 – Warrior Archetype
To start with, “When most of us think of the hero, we think of the Warrior.” (Pearson, 1991)
So at the heart of Mean Girls (2004), we have a hero: Cady. At the heart of Mean Girls is a story about the pitfalls of cliques and stereotypes in American high schools, so naturally we are going to have a central character that is going to have to deal with these problems, and who could deal with problems that arise better than a Warrior? Most films have some form of a Warrior in the central role, and Mean Girls is not an exception to this.
“On the journey, [The Warrior] is called upon to face and slay many dragons. Such heroes have courage and subscribe to high ideals, and they are willing to risk their very lives to defend their kingdoms and their honor or to protect the weak from harm.” (Pearson, 1991) Cady is not born a Warrior, she becomes a warrior – this is a process that happens as she falls prey to popularity and gaining a spot in the group of The Plastics. Her pride overwhelms her and she plays up to a role that she is given by the group. Both Regina and The Plastics, and the concept of popularity are metaphorical dragons in the film – they are the obstacles for the Warrior to overcome. Not all battles are physical; this one, primarily, is a spiritual and mental one, and is also a battle within the Warrior.
The Warrior wants to win. Whether they defeat or convert the dragon, they need their goals completed. This is very obvious in Cady: she reconciles the problems in her life in multiple ways, including belittling Regina and ultimately reaching a truce with The Plastics; she both defeats and in some ways converts them in this. The Warrior is known for his or her courage: Cady takes the Burn Book on her shoulders and accepts blame for it even if this means everyone hating her. The Warrior is also known for his or her skill: Cady not only successfully navigates multiple areas of the social side of the school but is also a talented student, something she displays in her prowess in maths.
Cady as the Warrior is an obvious choice, and that’s how it was intended: she is the central figure, so if she weren’t fighting for something, why would the audience invest time in watching her? If she gave up at the first hurdle, it would be a rather boring and pointless film. Having the Warrior at the centre of the story keeps the plot flowing and we know we will be investing time in watching a character gaining strength and resolving problems and slaying the dragons at the heart of the story, or at least trying to. At the end of the story, Cady has grown into a Level 3 Warrior: she fights for things beyond her own personal gain, she does not exercise a use of violence (even if she may occasionally wish it upon people), she creates as close to a win-win situations as she can and uses honesty and communication to create a social harmony.