Mean Girls: Tonal and Talent Ingredients

Mean Girls is a 2004 comedy that follows Cady Heron navigating high school in America after moving from South Africa, where she was homeschooled by her parents. After infiltrating the popular clique, “The Plastics,” Cady realizes that high school is not all fun and games, as she encounters the unbelievable drama and betrayal that North Shore High offers.

Tonally, the film’s soundtrack, comprised of early 2000s hits, matches the setting and provides continuity by attracting the film’s original target audience: teenagers in 2004. A scene where sound and talent intertwine is when “Pass That Dutch” by Missy Elliot is playing while the members of The Plastics are introduced to Cady and the viewers. The build-up of the song is playing when Regina, leader of The Plastics and antagonist of the film, enters the frame, foreshadowing that the journey to the film’s climax will involve her. An added sound effect of Karen, “the dumbest girl you will ever meet,” getting hit with a football contributes to the sound’s aptness of task success, as it adds comedy and exemplifies Karen’s “dumbness.”

While The Plastics are onscreen, characters Janis and Damian narrate offscreen. Commitment to their craft is evident, using technical vocal variations to paint understandable emotion without needing a visual. For example, Janis, portrayed by Lizzy Caplan, becomes more intense and fast-paced with every insulting name she calls Regina, which implies strong opinions. In Orlik’s terms, this scene was executed efficiently as with visual mediums, executional focus is less on the music versus how well that music becomes interwoven with camera shots and visuals.

Although the actors in the film were mostly in their late teens or twenties, they appeared the age they were portraying, contributing believability. Additionally, Lindsay Lohan portraying protagonist Cady offered a sense of fundamental likability, as she was a household name in 2004 and trusted by viewers.

Overall, the individual ingredients of sound and talent contribute to the whole effectively. As seen in the example above, the collaboration of tones and talent conjoin to piece the story together, successfully and equally creating this classic, award-winning film.