Ghost World and the problem with nerd culture

The minute I saw Thora Birch in Ghost World, I thought she looked familiar. Not because I remembered American Beauty, or because she resembles Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games. I recognised her because I saw myself at that age – belligerently “different”, sneeringly aloof.

Later on, I realised that she was nothing like me at all – just like in Mean Girls, there isn’t much difference between the cruelty of the alternative kids and the snooty jock set, except that here almost everyone is trying desperately to please her and she throws it all back in their faces. 

Missing Logic: Mean Girls

THE FILM

Tina Fey’s ridiculously quotable comedy sees Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) adapt to life in an American high school after being homeschooled in Africa. There she meets outsider Janis (Lizzy Caplan), who enlists her in a scheme to bring down bitchy Regina (Rachel McAdams). It is, effectively, Heathers meets She’s All That. 

The Lindsay Lohan Appreciation Post

Oh, LiLo, where did it all go wrong? TMZ reports that Lindsay “lied to cops Friday by telling them she was NOT driving the Porsche that slammed into a truck on the Pacific Coast Highway, and as a result she could be prosecuted and her probation could be revoked.”

This is another frustrating setback for someone who is an extraordinarily talented actress who really ought to be tearing up Hollywood in a good way right now. Let’s remind ourselves of happier times, eh?