Mean Girls: Social Judgment Theory

Mean Girls highlights the relatable social and power dynamics in high school through the two opposite personalities of Regina George and Cady Heron, while revealing the cruel world that girls can bring upon students using persuasion and coercion. I will be analyzing the movie through story characteristics in narrative transportation theory and social judgement theory. Narrative transportation theory can be applied to movies to persuade its viewers through identifiable characters, imaginable plot, and verisimilitude. Social judgement theory elaborates on how we are influenced in our attitudes and behaviors from the ones around us. First, I will explain how and why the theories that were used and if their use was justified. Then, I will discuss …show more content…
Identifiable characters are the ones we can relate to, or empathize with. Identifiable characters effect narrative transportation theory because the reader vicariously experiences and interprets from the characters point of view. The identifiable character in the movie is Cady Heron. Viewers can easily relate to her because she is a fish out of water in her new high school, compared to her previous home schooling experience in Africa. As Cady isn’t aware of the rules that revolve around high school cliques and the dynamics of American teenage society, viewers are able to relate to her because people know what its like to feel like they don’t belong. This applies especially when a child is first entering high school, even if they have a friend group young students might not yet understand the interworking of high school. In every environment there are different norms and standards that we have to learn and thus adapt to. Having this connection with Cady allows viewers to better immerse themselves into the movie and see things through her …show more content…
Verisimilitude is believability, having the appearance of truth, and of depicting reality. Verisimilitude is important for narrative transportation theory because it is making the movie believable even though it is fiction. Mean Girls has high verisimilitude; whether it is in depicting the harsh realities of high school, the mistakes and lessons we have to learn during our time there, and even through progression of learning about oneself. The burn book is great example of this phenomena. While many teenagers might not write down cruel comments and rumors about students in a burn book; teenagers definitely gossip and start rumors that can hurt people’s feelings and cause mayhem within friend groups. Viewers relate to this part of the plot by showing how they can see themselves in dramatized situation and having to sort through the bad friends to find the good ones. Through the trials and tribulations we end up learning about what is important for ourselves and how we can influence