Tag Archives: Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars Summer Finale & Mean Girls Throughout the Decades

I hate mean girls just as much as the next former geek, but I have to admit that in the movies at least, they have style.  While shopping with a friend over the weekend, I came across this cute dress at Forever 21.  When I went to take it off the rack my friend immediately stopped me saying that it looked like something a 15-year-old would wear.  She was right.  This got me thinking about a question that has long been on my mind.  Was high school so traumatic that it stunted my fashion sense?

It’s not like I’m running around in Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle 24/7, but once in a while I’ll pick out an outfit that I think is adorable and wear it to a New York City bar only to feel not underdressed, but dressed too young.  No wonder the bouncers always think I’m 12.  Anyway, having had many friends like Alison Dilaurentis and the mysterious “A” on Pretty Little Liars, this former Spencer Hastings (without the Country Club membership), couldn’t be more excited for tonight’s Summer Finale on ABC Family at 8/7c.  My crazy excitement for the finale got me into thinking about mean girls on the silver screen throughout the ages.

Every decade had a “mean girls” flick that defined an era and here they are:

1980s: Heathers

In the 80s, three girls named Heather ruled Westerburg High School armed with big hair and shoulder pads.  Heathers tells the story about a girl named Veronica who tries to be part of the “in crowd,” but finds that murder is a better way to play social politics.  She kills her “friends” with the new kid, J.D., in the most dramatic ways making the murders look like suicides.

1990s: Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker is one of my favorite movies.  I even have it on iTunes.  This is by far the scariest of the “mean girls” films.  When a popular clique known as the “Flawless Four” mistakenly kill their high school’s sweetheart, Elizabeth Purr, described as the Princess Di of Reagan High, while playing a prank on her for her 17th birthday, they’re in for a big surprise when someone from the bottom tier finds out.

2000s: Mean Girls

No one ever died in Mean Girls, but Regina did get hit by a bus after months of unknowingly eating 8,000 calories a day so I think that qualifies as an attack. Did you know that this movie was actually based on the nonfiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman?  Since it came out when I was in high school, it’s the one I relate to the most because I’ve memorized all the quotes. Like Gretchen Weiners, my hair is so big because it’s full of secrets.

A Fall of Primetime Secrets and Lies

If the season finale and marathon of Pretty Little Liars tonight isn’t enough to get your dark television drama fix, secrets, lies, and stolen identities will be taking over primetime this fall.  Here is the scoop on four fall shows that will keep you on the edge of your seat:

Revenge: (Premieres Wed. Sept. 21st 10/9c on ABC) Is a modern version of The Count of Monte Cristo with a female protagonist. It tells the story of Emily Thorne, a newcomer to the Hamptons who isn’t new to the area at all. Something horrible happened long ago that ruined her family and she is back for revenge.  Socialites never forgive and forget.

The Secret Circle: (Premieres Thurs. Sept. 15th 9/8c on The CW) Vampires and werewolves are out and witches are in. To my delight, Halloween is coming early this year with The Secret Circle.  Cassie Blake is a seemingly normal teenage girl who finds herself orphaned after a fire.  After moving in with her grandmother, she discovers she was meant to complete a mysterious circle of powerful witches. But, dark magic may be at play when she begins to speculate that the fire may not have been an accident.

Ringer: (Premieres Tues. Sept. 13th 9/8c on The CW) Taking place in New York, this seems a lot like an adult Gossip Girl. Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as a woman on the run who after briefly reuniting with her identical twin sister assumes her identity when her seemingly perfect sister disappears overboard on a boat trip. However, with all of the secrets and lies the deceptively flawless Siobhan was hiding she is no safer as her sister.

The Lying Game: (Premiered Mon. Aug. 15th 9/8c on ABC Family) Twins and deception seem be a theme this television season. Emma and Sutton are two twins separated at birth that switch lives in order of pursue the mysterious identity of their birth mother, but there are many other secrets along the way. With Pretty Little Liars coming to an end it’s great that there is another Sara Shepard novel coming to the small screen.