Whit Stillman’s recent release of Damsels in Distress got me thinking about the new girl. You know the one: the new addition to the local high-school who looks sickly sweet and innocent upon her entrance but by the end of the film usually has her cemented co-stars in a tailspin (apt expression courtesy of Damsel in Distress’s Greta Gerwig).
The new girl to this day remains a classic and popular character of choice for filmmakers of Hollywood teen movies. In Damsels in Distress, it comes in the form of Lily (played by Analeigh Tipton), whose independence and lack of vocal fear rocks the boat of her new friendship clique, led by the narcissistic and elitist Violet (Greta Gerwig) and her devoted minions, Rose and Heather.
One of my favourite trouble-causing, cinematic new girls (although, she wasn’t actually new to the school, but to the clique) is Winona Ryder as the sassy and self-possessed Veronica Sawyer embedded in a trio of popular, but backstabbing girls in 1988’s cult-classic, Heathers. Ryder’s self-assured wit and reluctance to believe the school hype of the clique she has just joined placed next to her manufactured and nasty female peers is refreshing and alarmingly funny to watch, producing cult one-liners that remain implanted into my favourite film vocabulary lists of all time.
Ryder’s disapproval with the three Heather’s malicious acts of course, drastically shapes the filmic direction and results in radical new-girl consequences, being the murder of her ‘frenemies’ with the help from her rebel boyfriend Christian Slater, which they mask as suicides. Heathers is the model example of the extensive lengths that the new girl will go to and the dangerous effects of her burgeoning popularity.
Although Damsels in Distress’s new girl doesn’t even touch Ryder’s antics in Heathers, it offers us a glimpse of the still existing attractiveness of the new girl character, and why she is such an essential ingredient to many of teen movies’ success stories.
So why do find ourselves attracted to the new girl? Maybe it’s the well-used use of her non-conventional attractiveness which is a welcome change to the excessively groomed blondes that she joins (think: a pre-plastic Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls) or maybe its the refreshing lack of self-awareness and confidence next to her confident sassy peers that makes us sit up (think: Brittany Murphy in Clueless).
Another revealing example of the new girl and her perilous effects is Robin Tunney as the San Franciscan Sarah in teen-witchy cult film, The Craft. Looking like the walking example of a Californian, innocent girl-next-door, Sarah arrives in a Los Angeles Catholic school and is sharply snapped up by a trio of self-styled outsiders (Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk and Rachel True), who have been eagerly awaiting a suitable fourth corner to join their supernatural coven.
But as Sarah joins the paranormal clique and the strength of their witchcraft summits, all naturally goes unwell. People are hurt. Friendships are tested. And it all comes back to Sarah, who having recognised the consequences of their revengeful spells, threatens to leave the circle when it’s at its strongest – a threat that doesn’t sit well with the original members, sending the plot into an irreversible turmoil.
The new girl is always an interesting character in teen movies. She’s the cause of laughter, excitement, jealousy, backstabbing and general problematic chaos. She might let you date her attractive older brother (Bring It On) but she might also steal your boyfriend (Mean Girls). Future cliques of teen movies: think twice before inviting the new girl into your circle. She might just land you in a tailspin.
By Jennifer Tate
Twitter: @JennieTate
Damsels in Distress is released in UK cinemas on April 27th 2012.
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