What makes a good teen movie? Tina Fey? The 2004 version of Lindsay Lohan? Glen Coco? “Mean Girls” has become the definitive high school comedy and “The DUFF” may be the classic for the next generation.
“The DUFF” hits all of the teen movie requirements: there’s the vaguely sociopathic popular girl, the trying-on-lots-of-outfits scene and, as Vulture writer Bilge Ebiri notes, “the boy our heroine likes, who eventually turns out to be Mr. Wrong.” But the movie moves beyond the genre’s checklist and is more innovative than its beloved predecessor. “Mean Girls” is about the pain of adolescence and ever elusive feeling of fitting in. “The DUFF” takes on one specific part of that idea — putting people in boxes, usually based on how they look — and deconstructs it.
In terms of tone, “Mean Girls” makes “The DUFF” look like an ABC Original Series turned feature length film. It’s starchy, corny and over-the-top. It would feel like a parody if it wasn’t trying to be so earnest. But, the overarching message makes up for what the film lacks in quality.
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Whitman has experienced the form of labeling we see in “The DUFF,” both while growing up and in her career. If she wants anything out of her performance, it’s that it will help make high school a slightly less hellish environment. “I was bullied a lot,” Whitman said. “And still there is such a tendency to judge yourself even now … It was important for me to have something that young girls could watch and feel less alone in that struggle.”
“The DUFF” is now out in wide release.
