Psychology Essay Sample: Mean Girls Movie Analysis

Sigmund Freud made a model of the psyche. This model of the psyche was split into three different parts: Id, Ego, and Superego. According to Freud, these three parts work together to contribute to a person's behavior (Vinney). All these parts stay with the person and continue to develop (other than the id). But in the movie Mean Girls, shows how each character develops from three different parts of the psyche. Especially the Plastics, Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners, Regina George along with Cady and Janis throughout the movie to deal with their dilemmas. 

The first and simple personality is the Id, which is driven by the strive for immediate satisfaction for wants, needs, and desires. The Id is also unconscious, and primitive compared to the rest of the part. When the needs are not met, this causes tension until these needs are met (Cherry). The id is also childlike along with sexualized due to its primitive behavior. This describes Karen Smith, the third member of the Plastics. During the scene where Gretchen is telling Cady to stay away from Aaron, Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Karen proclaims that Regina “dump him for Shane Oma” (Fey). This demonstrates how Karen has no filter and just says the first thing that comes to her mind, just like the Id, which would act unconsciously. Next, during the scene at the Halloween party when Karen sees her cousin, Seth, she proclaims to Gretchen how he looks fine, which Gretchen responds with how that is her cousin. This indicates that Karen is not focused on what is wrong from right and bases it on the desires that she wants to fulfill, similar to how the id wants to immediately satisfy desires with any means to get it. Lastly, when Karen and Gretchen are comforting Regina after her breakup with Aaron, Karen proclaims her idea of being if they “wanna go to Taco Bell?”. This describes again how Karen is drawn by desires.

The next personality is the Ego, which develops from the Id and is conscious. The ego is quite similar to the id in how it wants, needs, and desires need to be satisfied (Cherry). But the Ego works out ways to satisfy the id’s demand realistically. The Ego is quite strict on rules in deciding how to behave and avoid judgment from society. This describes Gretchen Wieners, the second member of the Plastics. Firstly, Gretchen lists off the rules for sitting with the Plastics and how if any of the rules are disobeyed then she cannot sit with them. This shows that Gretchen cares about the rules and how to act to satisfy herself, like the ego in the sense of following rules. Secondly, when Regina wears sweatpants on Monday, Gretchen immediately scolds her for breaking a rule even though Regina does not care. This again shows that Gretchen truly is strict about when a rule is broken and that when broken, needs to be punished accordingly. Finally, when Cady invites students to her house party, she goes looking for Aaron and bumps into Gretchen and Jason making out, once Gretchen is caught, she slaps Jason in the face (57:54). It shows how Gretchen sees Cady as a queen bee making the rules, and since she is breaking a rule, she tries to condemn herself by slapping him.

The final personality is the Superego. The superego makes the judgment between ego and id. The superego deals with morality-based decisions, deciding from right to wrong. It has 2 parts, the ideal self, which are the rules and standards that ego inspires us to be. While the conscience regulates the moral decisions that are proven as bad in society. The superego also functions to strive for perfection unlike the ego with simply realistic ones (McLeod) This describes multiple characters in the story, but Regina George shows most traits of the superego. First, during the Halloween party, Aaron talks to Regina, then Regina kisses him when Cady is looking at them talking to each other. This shows how Regina, despite telling Cady that she could date him, that she kisses him anyway to make Cady upset and jealous. This describes how the superego reacts to moral choices. Last, Regina throws a fit in her room and takes out the burn book to put herself in the book and give to the principal. This shows how Regina decides that putting herself down in exchange for the downfall of Cady will bring her the most revenge. The superego (Regina) is listening to both the id and ego and picking one, in this case, id, and using herself as a way to satisfy this desire the id wants. 

Other characters like Janis and Cady also show the superego. For Janis, she helps Cady and convinces her to become one of the Plastic to find their secrets. Janis seems to want the downfall of Regina, but by satisfying this desire she uses Cady to achieve this goal. For Cady, after she sees Regina and Aaron kissing, she feels a sense of betrayal from her and agrees to get revenge on her. This shows how Cady wants to satisfy how she was betrayed but feels that she cannot but goes along with Janis’s plan to get revenge.

In conclusion, throughout the movie, the Plastics show the three parts of the psyche. With Karen Smith being the id, with her primitive actions along with her wanting to satisfy her needs, wants, and desires in the fastest way possible. Gretchen Wieners being an ego, with her intense focus on rules and following the rules to be deemed normal in society. Finally, Regina George being superego due to her being able to make a moral choice by both accept the id and the ego and making a choice based on it. Along with Janis and Cady being superego by makes a choice that satisfies both the id and ego with their choices.