Top 10 Movie Mean Girls Turned Good

After getting humiliated at her 13th birthday party, Jenna just wants to be “thirty, and flirty, and thriving”. Her wish comes true when she wakes up in the year 2004 as a successful magazine editor, but she slowly comes to realize that, in the past 17 years, she has transformed into a fully fledged mean girl. This revelation is shocking to Jenna’s 13-year-old mind, and she focuses on undoing all the hurt she has caused, culminating in a tearful speech to her former best friend as he’s about to marry another woman. In the end, Jenna gets a do-over when she finds herself at 13 again, now armed with the knowledge that being a good person is far more important than pursuing popularity.

In a film all about finding the good in everyone, it’s no wonder this not-so-sweet video game character got her own moment of redemption. As a popular character in a candy-themed racing arcade game called Sugar Rush, Taffyta is used to winning races and talking down to her opponents, especially underdog racer Vanellope. She constantly teases Vanellope by calling her a “glitch” that could cause their game to be unplugged, and does everything in her power to prevent Vanellope from racing. When it is later revealed that Vanellope was not a programming error, but in fact a princess and the true leader of Sugar Rush, Taffyta apologizes right away, owning up to her past mistakes and begging for Vanellope’s forgiveness.

After a yachting incident leaves this spoiled heiress with amnesia, local carpenter Dean Proffitt convinces her she is his wife and the mother of his four sons, as revenge for her refusal to pay him for work he completed on her yacht. Joanna believes him, and eventually falls in love with Dean and his family. After learning the truth about her past, Joanna returns to her life of luxury, but is shocked by the stuck-up and pompous behavior of those around her - despite having once acted exactly like them. She tells her butler she’s sorry for being rude to him in the past and reunites with Dean and his sons to finally be part of a truly loving and happy family.

This high-powered executive with a fearsome reputation isn’t going to let anything get in her way, including a denied visa application. Tate blackmails her assistant Andrew into marrying her so she can avoid getting deported back to Canada, but must first convince immigration services that their relationship is legit. The two travel to Andrew’s hometown so she can get to know his family, and Maragaret finds herself immersed in a loving and supportive family for the first time in her life. Moved by the kindness she’s been shown, she does something truly selfless and reveals the truth about the circumstances of their wedding at the ceremony - even at the likely risk of her deportation.

This enigmatic femme fatale was integral to supervillain Syndrome’s plot to get rid of all the superheroes in the world, working as his righthand woman to lure Mr. Incredible directly into Syndrome’s trap. Though we may not know her real name, we do know that she is a complex character who, although sympathizing with the villain initially, realizes she may not know him as well as she thought. She is made visibly uncomfortable by Syndrome’s threats to hurt Mr. Incredible’s family as well as his apparent indifference when her own life is in danger. Renouncing her loyalty to Syndrome, Mirage helps the Incredibles escape his island hideout so they can return home to foil Syndrome’s plan once and for all.

As the leader of the Pink Ladies with a quick wit and a judgemental attitude, Rizzo is undoubtedly the mean girl to many students at Rydell High. She makes fun of Sandy’s innocent personality and is quick to verbally lash out at others whenever she feels insecure or threatened. When rumors of her possible pregnancy spread rapidly around school, Rizzo gets a taste of her own medicine as she’s now the target of stares and whispers behind her back. She sings a heartfelt song about the effects of the judgemental things people are saying about her, and is beyond relieved when she finds out she’s not really pregnant. She then feels free to sing and dance with all her friends in the movie’s finale.

When the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine walks into a room, everyone looks on with fear. She is particularly hard on her newest assistant, Andy, who cares little for the world of fashion but wants to someday be a journalist. As Andy continues to prove herself at her job, Miranda gives her more responsibilities but still doesn’t falter in her cold and demanding demeanor. Later, revelations about Miranda’s struggles in her personal life and the love she has for her children make her into a more sympathetic and relatable character. But her most surprising moment of kindness comes when Andy learns Miranda has written her a recommendation letter that shows just how much she respects and values all of Andy’s hard work and determination.

Protagonist Annie Walker is asked to be the maid of honor in her best friend Lillian’s wedding. When she meets the rest of her bridal party, she instantly forms a bitter rivalry with the beautiful and charismatic Helen as they compete for Lillian’s attention and friendship. We, the audience, sympathize with Annie and her fears that Helen is trying to steal her closest friend, especially knowing all the other problems Annie is facing in her personal life. When Lillian is nowhere to be found on her wedding day, Helen and Annie must work together to find her. This leads to Helen apologizing for her previous actions that were brought on by her own insecurities, proving that Helen is much more vulnerable and flawed than she seems.

After a devastating breakup leads sorority girl Elle Woods to follow her ex-boyfriend Warner all the way to Harvard Law School, Elle finds him already engaged to her snobby and condescending classmate Vivian. Seeing Elle as nothing but a ditsy blonde, Vivian constantly tries to tear her down and refuses to take her seriously. However, the more she gets to know Elle, the more she comes to respect her integrity and determination, and the more she realizes that Warner is a serious scumbag. Vivian dumps Warner, and she and Elle become close friends instead of continuing to fight over a boy who doesn’t deserve that kind of attention in the slightest. Talk about girl power!

Before we unveil our top mean girl redemption story, here are a few honorable mentions.

Elizabeth Halsey
“Bad Teacher” (2011)

Anastasia Tremaine
“Cinderella” franchise (1950-)

Sharpay Evans
“High School Musical” franchise (2006-)

Heather Mooney
“Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” (1997)

You won’t find a more iconic queen bee than this vicious teen. Beautiful and manipulative, Regina is the leader of the “plastics”: an elite group of girls who terrorize their high school by exploiting their classmates’ insecurities and weaknesses to ensure their popularity remains unchallenged. It ultimately took getting hit by a school bus to finally knock some sense into Regina, who, in the end, learns to channel her anger into sports and becomes a more likeable and levelheaded character. Regina’s redemption is even more impressive than good-girl-turned-mean-turned-good-again Cady’s because for Regina it meant giving up everything she had ever known and learning how to be vulnerable and genuine to others for the first time in her life.