Direct Characterization

As a narrator, Cady gives it to us straight. Her voice-over takes the guesswork out of what she's thinking and feeling, as well as what the other characters are like. She tells us directly that Regina's so glamorous that she's like the Barbie doll she never had, for example.

Similarly, she tells us directly that she knows her obsession with Regina is annoying other people. One of Cady's most defining traits is her self-awareness, and we see it—okay, we hear it—firsthand through her direct characterization of the herself, her friends, and her enemies.

Janis and Damian also use direct characterization as they introduce Cady to North Shore and, most notably, The Plastics. Check it out:

CADY: Who are The Plastics?

DAMIAN: They're teen royalty. If North Shore was US Weekly, they would always be on the cover.

Everything Cady and the audience needs to get a solid grip on what these girls are all about is right there. Regina is also characterized further in a hilarious montage of talking heads featuring her classmates:

JANIS: Regina George. How do I ever begin to explain Regina George?

EMMA: Regina George is flawless.

LEA: She has two Fendi purses and a silver Lexus.

TIM: I hear her hair's insured for $10,000.

AMBER: I hear she does car commercials in Japan.

KRISTEN: Her favorite movie is Varsity Blues.

GISELLE: One time, she met John Stamos on a plane.

JESSICA: And he told her she was pretty.

BETHANY: One time, she punched me in the face. It was awesome.

Sure, most of what her classmates rattle off is either a rumor or about the material possessions that Regina has, but reading between the lines of their direct characterization informs the audience about Regina as a character, too.

We know she's popular, she's aloof, she's attractive, and occasionally she punches women in the face.

Social Status

Given its high school setting—especially in the tony near north suburbs of Chicago—it's little surprise that the main players in Mean Girls are characterized by their social status. The most popular kids are also the ones with the most money. Regina house is an actual mansion, for example. Gretchen's livin' that toaster strudel life. And Karen—well, Karen seems like she financially secure. Don't worry about Karen.

There's a well-defined social order at North Shore that's populated by a variety of cliques. What clique you're in says a lot about you, and some cliques grant more status than others. The Plastics know that they're at the top of the popularity food chain; that's why, when they ask Cady to eat lunch with them (after carefully vetting her, of course), they act like it's such a big deal. Chowing down on cheese fries with them is going to do wonders for Cady's social status.

Clothing

There's an old song that says you're never fully dressed without a smile. If you're a girl at North Shore High, you're never fully dressed without an expensive, form-fitting top and impractical shoes. For these high schoolers (like many high schoolers, sadly), clothing is everything and it's used to characterize the story's principal players. The Plastics' even have extensive rules about what to wear and when, like how you can't wear a tank-top two days in a row and how on Wednesday they wear pink.

As Cady becomes more and more Plastic, her gradually wardrobe changes. By the second half of the film, her henleys, jeans, and ponytails are MIA. Instead, she dresses exactly like Regina, Gretchen, and Karen: lots of short skirts and high heels. She starts to obsess over her appearance and style herself like them, too, with bigger hair and more makeup. After all, if she's going to play the part, she needs to look the part.

The Plastics are trendsetters. Case in point: Bethany giddily tells us that when Cady wore army pants and flip-flops to school one day, Bethany bought army pants and flip-flops. We know we already dropped an old song reference, but now we're going to double down with an old saying, the one that says you should dress for the job you want. The same goes for the social class. Bethany thinks that if she dresses like Cady, she'll be as popular as Cady.