what's up wisecrack jared here when you
think of the 2004 film Mean Girls you
likely picture Tina Fey as a sassy math
teacher Rachel McAdams being hit by a
bus or golden arrow Lindsay Lohan
throwing up in a dude's lap but I'm
willing to bet that you probably don't
remember it as a hard-hitting critique
on our modern definition of happiness
but if you're really paying attention
and I mean really close attention Mean
Girls is a masterclass in how to live a
happy life and how not to it also
teaches you that mathletes probably
shouldn't moonlight as rappers I don't
like shake you'll note with me because
the next time you see her she'd be like
and unlike the happiness methods
available on goop calm this route to
happiness doesn't involve putting Jade
eggs in any of your orifices though we
won't judge you if that's your thing
so welcome this wise crack addition on
Mean Girls and as always spoilers ahead
but before we get into it a quick recap
Cady heron is uprooted from her life in
Africa when her zoologist parents decide
to move to suburban Chicago a childhood
spent in the bush has done little to
prepare her for the culture shock of
American high school after too artsy
outcasts show her the ropes she finds
herself adopted into the plastics the
undisputed it girls of Evanston who
lived by a militant code you can't wear
a tank top two days in a row and you can
only wear your hair in a ponytail once a
week after Katy is betrayed by their
leader Regina George how could she and
his hate Regina she was such a good
she attempts to use her new status to
take them down from the inside along the
way she becomes that which she sought to
destroy a manipulative person driven by
her own selfish desires eventually she
redeems herself via a clutch
contribution to the math team does not
exist
the limit does not exist our new state
champions the North Shore mathletes and
uses her crown as queen of the Spring
Fling to bring balance to the North
Shore universe her moral arc is
basically the Anakin Skywalker story
told in 90 minutes and with no murder or
podracing on its surface Mean Girls is
the story of how a normal person tries
to find happiness with money status and
instant gratification and fails and her
initially innocent pursuit of acceptance
Katy is absorbed into a world where
backstabbing Regina says everyone hates
you because you're such a [ __ ] she said
that and lying I can try and get ahead
of it
because I told my friend Janice I'd go
to her art show our common place where
status symbols like boyfriend's and
earrings are the best currency and where
school is a playground for social
gymnastics rather than a place of
learning all in the pursuit of
highschool happiness but this very
modern story might best be understood
with the help of a certain ancient
philosopher who never once had sex in a
projection booth Aristotle long before
happiness was a multi-billion dollar
industry Aristotle wrote Nicomachean
ethics where he methodically explains
that everything we thought we knew about
happiness is dumb and wrong
Aristotle's things that don't actually
make you happy are vigorously pursued by
the students of North Shore pleasure
money honor or translated for The Times
popularity pleasure for Aristotle is
only a fleeting happiness while
Aristotle isn't trying to harsh anyone's
mellow don't have sex he doesn't think
that sex drugs and late-night binge
watching sessions can build true
happiness sex ends highs fade and scrubs
only had nine seasons
then there's the emotional high of being
praised by others honor in the context
of North Shore high this would be that
special teenage joy derived from pop
since its completely dependent on others
and not something we can do for
ourselves Aristotle thinks honor does
not offer real happiness
Regina's exceptional popularity might
bring her temporary joy but said joy
evaporates when her peers turn against
her she soon left with only her Swedish
weight gain bars for company and we see
Katie get figuratively and literally
drunk on honor when she uses her
popularity to undermine Regina and throw
a rager but as most people know
popularity doesn't last forever and the
high school quarterback usually ends up
with a Kid Rock tattoo and a loveless
marriage
finally we have wealth which Aristotle
also finds inadequate because we only
really wanted the sake of acquiring
something else for example if you want
money to buy a signed blu-ray of the
2002 surf drama Blue Crush it's not the
money you desire but the Sun so drama of
Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez's
surf dreams the plastics bask and their
family money
Regina rocks a stylish convertible and
drinks virgin cocktails in the master
bedroom of her massive home while
Gretchen is the proud heiress of the
toaster strudel fortune I don't think my
father the inventor of toaster strudel
would be too pleased to hear about this
clearly in the ecosystem of North Shore
wealth equates to a certain type of
perceived happiness but the biggest
downside to these three bootleg versions
of happiness isn't they hangover or an
unattractive obsession with your
father's pastry legacy rather it's that
over time pursuing a false happiness
ends up changing who you are for
Aristotle character and Happiness are
not some innate quality but are
developed through our actions acting
like a garbage person makes you a
garbage person Katie initially only
starts acting like a plastic and valuing
popularity as a means of infiltrating
Regina's inner circle but instead of
just superficially fitting in to
accomplish her mission she develops
their habits and moral outlook in the
process she transforms herself into the
very thing she hated and that is not
fetch Gretchen stop trying to make fetch
happen it's not going to happen so what
is real happiness for Aristotle
happiness is the aim of all moral
philosophy the Greek word he used for
happiness was eudaimonia which means
something closer to
flourishing than any feelings you might
associate with Costco's $1 50 cent
hotdogs soda combo instead happiness as
the result of actively doing things that
reflect who you really want to be rather
than a simple feeling or emotional state
to pursue happiness according to
Aristotle means to pursue the good in
everything you do so let's say you start
learning to play the bass at first you
suck your fingers hurt all your notes
are off and your instructor can barely
hide her disdain but after months and
months of hard work it all starts to
come together and soon your rendition of
the Seinfeld theme song is an extension
of your very soul and it feels awesome
by doing the hard work and pursuing the
good that is musical mastery you have
achieved real Aristotelian happiness at
least for now and this is how we can
read Mean Girls
a story about Katy's journey to achieve
this type of happiness through a series
of trials and failures like you a
fledgling bass guitarist very soon to be
discovered Seinfeld themed grindcore
band Katy is also learning in this case
the art of healthy high school
socializing in the process she
eventually lands on something close to a
wrist Italian happiness this is
happiness that involves activity
intentionally aiming at a particularly
good in this case being a kind
contributing member of her community
and it's a goal that can never be
completed as it's not like you can ever
finish the process of becoming a good
bass guitarist a good friend or a good
mathlete it's not just practicing to be
good or happy that makes one happy
however true happiness also involves
incessantly examining your past actions
and motivations to better inform your
future actions it's precisely when Katy
starts reflecting on her past mistakes
and flawed value system in that classic
Hollywood form of an internal monologue
calling somebody else fat won't make you
any skinnier calling someone stupid
doesn't make you any smarter and ruining
Regina George's life definitely didn't
make me any happier all you can do in
life is try to solve the problem in
front of you that she gets back on the
path towards real happiness and in the
final act of the film we finally see
Katy and to various extents the other
characters giving up on the desire for
individual pleasure honor or material
gain and embrace a different more
to taylean type of happiness it's
telling that Katie's redemption requires
some hard decisions and involves doing
things that might not immediately bring
pleasure and honor things like taking
the fall for the burn book mr. Duvall I
wrote it
joining the mathletes for an important
competition and then using a moment of
honor and praise to make others feel
good you know I've never been to one of
these things before and when I think
about how many people wanted this and
how many people cried over it and stuff
I mean I think everybody looks like
royalty tonight it's not easy or fun to
jump into being good but with work it
becomes more natural still no matter how
fickle Katie behaves while eating lunch
alone in the bathroom she's not going to
be truly happy for that she'll need
other people in particular Katie needs
other human beings as Aristotle thought
you could only be so happy on your own
for Aristotle it's impossible to be
virtuous by yourself because if you do
something super nice or kind or loving
to yourself well that's just selfish and
that's why it's no surprise that Katie's
redemptive Ark involves her acting
morally towards others and that she
finds happiness through these
relationships in the film we see her
engaging with all types of friendships
first with Janice and Damien and then
with the plastics then with no one and
eventually with everyone and just like
with happiness Aristotle and Mean Girls
first shows us what bad friendships look
like Mean Girls is full of friendships
that range from slightly unhealthy to
actively sadistic and these types of
failed friendships build directly upon
the failed types of happiness previously
discussed failed friendships are those
in which one person is gaining some type
of advantage or pleasure from the other
basically the entire dynamic of the
plastics in which popularity and being
seen in fancy cars is the end goal and
even Katie's initial friendship with
Damien and Janice isn't good as they're
using her as the means to joyfully watch
the destruction of another human instead
Aristotle thinks we should pursue
friendships with people who we think are
good and that the dynamic of these
friendships should be helping each other
continue to do good things even though
it's weird to be friends with your
teachers miss Norbury is a good friend
to Katie when she encourages her to live
up to her full
tential Katie I know that having a
boyfriend may seem like the most
important thing in the world right now
but you don't have to dumb yourself down
to get guys to like you
Aristotle puts it like this those who
wish good things to their friends for
the sake of the latter are friends most
of all because they do so because of
their friends themselves and not
coincidentally it's not until the final
moments of the film that we see Katie
participating in a virtuous form of
friendship in which she seems to be
focused on the good of others and it's
only after this that Katie and the
film's other characters seem genuinely
happy instead of uniting around the
quest for popularity people are finally
forming friendships revolving around
shared aims and activities whether it's
showing us the failures of seeking
happiness and make-out sessions and
popularity contests or teaching us about
the dynamics of virtuous friendships
Mean Girls packs a few hundred pages of
Aristotle's writings on happiness into a
90-minute movie so what do you think
does Mean Girls offer a model for how we
can pursue happiness in our own lives or
is it just mildly suggesting that you
push the meanest girl at school in front
of the bus let us know what you think in
the comments thanks again to our
incredible patrons for supporting our
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click that subscribe button and as
always thanks for watching guys peace
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]