The Mean Girl is cruel and, with the exception of Cordelia (and until Regina came along), had always been presented as irredeemable. She’s evil, rotten to the core, and if allowed to progress, she’ll surely end up hurting more people. She’s rarely allowed an inner life and is usually painted as such a black-and-white villain that we are meant to relish her pain. Perhaps burdened by my own inability to escape the real-life Mean Girls of my life, I always saw them as sadistic creatures. Growing older, and rewatching these films, there are always hints at a brewing frustration that had nowhere to
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