Representation- Stereotypes

In most romantic/ coming of age films there are particular stereotypes that make up these movies, such as the representation of the characters. For example, in the film Mean Girls 2, the girls are being presented as being these really materialistic, stereotypical girls who wear excessive amount of pink, have the 'perfect hair' and the latest designer clothes. In this film, they are referred to as the 'plastics' because they obsess about being an ideal and 'perfect' image which constitutes to their Barbie-like image. They are presented as having really shallow, personalities, adding to their 'mean' character and therefore makes the viewers watching feel less sympathy for them. However, the other girls around them, who are less popular than them, stereotypically wear less trendy clothes which appear dull; this is effective because it makes these 'plastic' girls stand out the most as they draw the most attention. Normally, as these popular girls stand out so much and differ from everyone else, this is an effective way of giving them more power and individuality than others, making them appear as these really confident girls who frequently boast about their fortunate lifestyles. 

Below are the outfits worn by the major characters of this movie: 

The three girls on the far right hand side are refered to as the 'plastics' because everything about them is made to perfection, creating this stereotypical girly role. Their fashion style mainly consists of purple and pink which again adds to the femininity of their characters and the floral detailing on their dresses could be a way of making them appear more prettier than everyone else, like a flower.  Through the use of accessories and high heeled shoes, this again creates these stereotypical female characters and so the viewers can immediately distinguish them from the other characters. However, we can see that the girls on the left hand side are 'less popular' because their outfits are less girly and much duller than the materialistic girls. As they wear boots, this shows that they are ordinary school girls which make the audience appeal to them more as they appear realistic than the others, who are far too made up.  As these type of girls are usually less powerful than girls like the plastics, we are able to sympathise with them more because they deal with issues probably many teenage girls watching are able to relate to them. Stereotypically  these characters also endure many hardships and there is usually competition between the popular and unpopular characters, because although the plastics have trendiest clothes, not many people like them because of their unkind behaviour towards others. Therefore, by the end of these type of movies there is a drastic change in character, where the unpopular girls rise in their status or become more well-known, whereas the popular plastics are despised by many of the characters, causing them to become less powerful.