Lens Driven Analysis: The Heteronomous Obedience of Cady Heron High School Culture encourages individuals to pick a group to be a part of. These cliques that develop have an important impact on teenagers' identity, creating an environment with a stark social hierarchy. Thus, the social capital that an individual gains impacts how others think and act around them. In the case of Mean Girls, Regina George is at the top of the social hierarchy, and is a representative of the authority that presides over the other students, and who remains an alluring figure for many, especially Cady Heron. Through an examination of Fromm’s heteronomous obedience and autonomous obedience, one can see the character of Cady Heron’s heteronomous obedience towards Regina …show more content…
Fromm presents the two kinds of obedience as a binary to reveal the division between the two ideas: while autonomous obedience requires that an individual remains loyal to their convictions, heteronomous obedience stipulates that an individual relinquishes those convictions to listen to the higher power. Fromm’s distinction between the two kinds of obedience can be applied to the character of Cady Heron in Mean Girls during her interactions with Regina George and the rest of the “Plastics”. For instance, when Cady is first invited to sit down at Regina’s table, Cady hesitates, immediately looking to her friend Janice, who had previously warned Cady that the “Plastics” are the “worst people you will ever meet.” However, after repeatedly being told to sit down by Regina, Cady eventually does. When she is invited by the other girls to sit at their table for the rest of the week, Cady begins to say “oh it’s okay” attempting to turn them down; However, Cady is immediately interrupted by Regina who says “so we will see you tomorrow”, to which Cady does not argue (Mean