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"Mean Girls" did an excellent job of depicting this. Instead of being openly catty, they simply use emotionally manipulation to prey on your doubts and insecurities. Regina is a master at this power play, and Cady even states "In girl world, all of the fighting had to be sneaky."

Also the opposite trope is rarely shown. But I‘ve found that it’s very common for men to hide their shitty personality traits (like sexism) if they aren’t in a power position where they can fully get away with it or aren’t around other guys. So many women don’t know they’re getting into a relationship with a raging misogynist until they’re deep in. And guys do a really good job at hiding it, it’s impressive. I‘m wondering just now why we were only ever told to watch out for manipulation from women.

It always really pissed me off that Sebastian was portrayed as the misunderstood bad boy with the heart of gold, when he was just as bad as Kathrine. And only had the luck of finding someone that saw the good in him and falling in love. and Kathrine just judged and tossed aside for innocent little Cecile. She really never had the chance tho grow.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was so entertaining to watch as Kathryn. She should definitely play more antagonistic roles in her career, since she mostly plays protagonists.

I don’t think Alicent from HotD fits this trope. She genuinely IS feminine. She isn’t putting up an act. Margaery from GOT is a better fit.

Openly hostile mean girls don't seem very "incognito" to me, so I'm thinking more about the ones you don't expect, and these tend to be spoilers, usually: Disney, ever the lovers of the twist reveal, had the villain in The Incredibles 2 and Mother Grothel from Tangled both as bitches incognito. Zootopia even literally went with the "in sheep's clothing" metaphor for theirs. It's a trope that works great in animation. Avatar The Last Airbender utilized this with a sweet old lady, who turned out to be a dangerous blood-bender!

Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello seems like a male version of this trope given how he pretends to be Othello’s friend while secretly plotting against him.

“Focus your rage on the structural problems within society that make women feel like they can only behave in one way if they want success or influence.” Wow, that one quote is what I needed. Being a woman is a blessing yet so complex. It’s hard to even explain as a driven woman how difficult it is in this society to be heard. We have to be constantly aware of everything we do or possibly project. It’s exhausting and sometimes we do take it out on undeserving people. What if we took the “rage” to change the game entirely? I like this!

Not seeing women as capable of horrible acts goes even further if the woman is a mother. The death penalty is rarely given to women who are mothers.

I think you guys need to do a video ONLY about Quinn Fabray and how wrong they did her in Glee

Thank you SO MUCH for including the clip of Mandy Moore whipping the bible and screaming like a banshee, 'I am FILLED WITH CHRIST'S LOVE!' 😂😂😂😂 IMO, Saved is a very underrated film!

I love that this trope is being discussed.

Idk why they used allicent from house of dragon, they should've used cersei. That would've made more sense

Small thing, but choosing Knives Chau as a visual example of a terrible girlfriend? 0:40

The male version of this trope is "the nice guy".

Perhaps I’m biased in that I’m a big Alicent fan, but I don’t see how Alicent fits this trope at all. Other than that, great video!

I'll have to agree with the comments on this but I think it's really a surface-level analyzation to easily shelve Alicent Hightower's duplicity into a Mean Girl Fake Nice Trope. That's pretty disappointing from you guys because while I agree there are aspects here that are applicable to her, it's these types of quick characterizations made solely by one character to another that have us quickly chalking up everything about her morally grey situation. If Alicent is a mean girl so is Rhaenyra? The show takes more than enough time showing how an anxiety-riddled teenager becomes the jaded, resentful Queen she is by experiencing being a cipher in a violent patriarchy. Even then, she's not that mean. Even when she grows angry and cynical over her damaged friendship with Rhaenyra and her marriage to Viserys, Alicent is depicted as being fairly friendly or at the very least courteous to her servants. Apologizing for mistaking names of knights, believing and empathizing with Dyana (this is a very complex moment that the actress and directors have talked about in depth, I suggest people look into those interviews!), telling the bard who was stuck singing the same song over and over for Rhaenyra that he is relieved of his duties. Even to the King the man who is thrice her age and martially raped her (Because, yes, that's what it is) she takes care of him, washes him and clothes, feeds him the mediaeval version of a painkiller when he's at his weakest and is the _only_ character to mourn his death when he passes. Her fake niceties are almost wholly reserved for Rhaenyra, who we know the relationship is very tense with that by the second to last episode is resolved for a brief hopeful moment. Perhaps, if the nice girl is nice or courteous to _everyone_ but fake nice to one person in particular that characterization is enough to throw her right next to Blair Waldorf, Regina George, or Kathryn Merteuil? This isn't even a rhetorical question maybe that really is all it takes??? Yes, Alicent is self-righteous but she, like the many other characters, believe in the feudal patriarchy and doesn't twist or use the patriarchy to her advantage because none of these medieval character are progressive or radical enough to conceptualize a society outside of fiefdom. In fact, the show almost operates using her as a cautionary tragic tale of the thousands of real life women before us who were born and raised in these society that raised them to believe their only value is their womb, a societal conception we are still trying to outbattle today. We have a literal scene of a child telling the King that she will give him great heirs when she is to be bed at 14, the age Alicent was when she was told by her father to _reach out_ to the King, and we don't think that doesn't affect how these female characters view themselves? This is why when characters like Rhaenyra have even the sliver chance of going against the Westrosi values, they try and use it to their full advantage. Of course, the characters who don't feel lucky enough to be in that position show resentment, they're not woke enough to try and mitigate their selfish and myopic feelings. Heck, even in society right now as progressive as we are-- with a whole Barbie Feminist movie making billions-- people are still incredibly reactive and don't consider to think on the bigger picture of things. Look at how people reacted to Amber Heard, and how it takes a year later for people to sit back and retract and think about what they said wrong. We're so eager to punish and box others yet we ourselves are not immune to our own hypocrisy and decide people should know better when they don't. Which is ironically, what they expect from a mediaeval woman who was a child bride. However, I think the most disappointing part of this video is that Alicent Hightower isn't even mentioned at all. It's just clips of Alicent being OWNED™ with no mention of the gaslighting, backstory of graphic child rape teen pregnancies or the abusive manipulative father who put her in this situation in the first place. So if you never watched the show and only know this character from the clips this channel showed you, you'd think she was just another run of the mill Bitch Woman with no reason to behave how she does and not a more complex representation of interrogating victimhood through the emblems of women in our past society who were defined and discarded by men. *Anyway!* If you made it this far to the end of my comment here are a list of tropes (that the Take have done before) that I think fit Alicent Hightower way better: The Neurotic Type A Woman The Wicked Stepmother but subverted. The Nag Trope The Housewife Onscreen The Angry Woman The Pick Me

I've noticed that at times in my life where I've achieved some level of success or power, it suddenly feels like a balancing act of how I express myself because of a deep fear that anything could be interpreted as me being a bitch. But even when I've then overcompensated and tried SO hard to be as nice and lovely and sweet as possible, someone claims to see through it and assumes there's an evil motive. If a women is overly sweet but also in a position of power, it can only be because she's a covert bitch and they'll look for any evidence they can that you're secretly horrible. It is impossible to be a woman.

this video came out at the right time! I just found out I make part of this trope and it feels terrible

Karen Jackson from shameless is the most extreme example if this thrope

media shown: cruel intentions mean girls saved! jennifer’s body scream 4 sky high get out the parent trap legally blonde 2 riverdale scott pilgrim (???) glee scream queens gossip girl rise of the dragon wandavision o brother where art thou knives out Buffy the vampire slayer nanny mcphee harry potter & the order of the phoenix

Carrie Bradshaw post season one SATC ❤

y'all put a medieval childbride there along with mean girls from the ’90s and 2000s and thought you did something 🤦‍♀️

Yes Some women are good at hiding there cruel horrible side to others indeed like Agatha and professor umbridge

I think this is my favourite trope. So so so interesting and so realistic. You could really find this type in person not just a made up fictional character.

Alicent is not a mean girl, but a queen

In my experience, it's not a troupe, I've witnessed it, and was a victim of it many a time. I won't go into the gory details, but I will say this, Hollywood exaggerates it a lot. At times to an offensive degree, but looking back it could depend on region, the kids/people who use it, or societal norms. It wasn't just girls doing this, guys did this a lot too. It wasn't always a defensive mechanism, just someone wanting to be "cool", this often depends on the ones doing this.

Great video

Umbridge (older pink-dress lady from Harry Potter) does not hide her --inner-- sorry, outer, Big Time Beyotch at all. She barely puts up a show of social nicities, and only does this much to show how superior (mannerly and correct and upper-class) she is. She knows no one buys it, and she isn't concerned with them doing so. She's just using the unspoken social rules to force others into politeness and/or compliance. But she knows that you know that she knows that you know she doesn't mean anything even approaching actual kindness or decency by it.

I'm surprise Stepford Wives wasn't mentioned at all in this

Alicent Hightower doesn't fit this trope. She doesn't fake being a nice person, she *IS* a nice person.

Sarah Michelle gellar killed it as a bunny boiler in Cruel Intentions.

Perfect!

Can you make a video about men written by women and how it maybe damages the way women look at relationships?

Talk about the tortured artist trope

Naomi from 90210 ❤️ this series should have its own video on the Take.

How u gonna put rotten to the core and not reference descendants

It’s called Nice-Nasty

Where do all these tropes for various types of women come from? Why do people simply accept them as reflective of reality? Do 'mean girls' and their ilk - which seem to be constant characters even in movies and shows aimed at little girls - actually exist in the real world, or are they figments of Hollywood's imagination? Isn't there a danger of stereotyping and demonizing girls and women by assigning labels to what might be just the normal range of human interaction?

Audrey from descendants here

You used Alicent Hightower as an example, but she did nothing wrong

It would be interesting to see a movie do a play on this with reverse gender roles.

putting alicent hightower on this list is an odd choice. we see her have agency consistently stripped from her since childhood and none of her kindness is false except somewhat towards rhaenyra after things have boiled over, so to compare her to regina george or kathryn merteuil seems unfair. cersei lannister or maybe maegery tyrell, sure, but what was alicent’s most devious scene? when her father has her unknowingly court her best friends father at 14/15 or the marital r*pe scene ? or the scene where her son loses an eye and she sees her and her children mean nothing to the man she was forced to marry? or where she insisted rhaenyra and her sons be protected after aegon’s coronation even though she spent half her life believing no such favor would be granted her or her children? even when the murder of lyonel and harwin strong is done in her name she does not have a choice or any agency in the matter. i don’t see the argument for her at all

She’s fabulous but evil

Sarah Michelle gellar was brilliant in cruel intentions 😎💯

I don't think alicent should be on the thumbnail

Nice nasty is life.

Regina George the character is iconic 💗

Serena van der woodsen and people are jealous of her

That is literally the same descriptions you used in your The Mean girl video. Please elaborate the difference between “The Mean Girl” and “the Bitch Incognito”

I bet Wendy Byrde started off as the incognito bish

EXCELLENT 🎉

What the hell is Knives Chau doing in this video?!?!

Shepherd's Chapel Network !!!!!!! Stay Humble / It's Never Luck !!!!!!! Amen

All of us have a mean girl inside of us. Most of us are just too cowardice to use it. These women are enviable. Call a thing a thing! 😅

It's basically toxic femininity. The other thing that makes this character horrible is that, just like with certain reactionaries, they have reasons to be angry, but instead of lashing out on the people/system that put them in the situation they hate, they lash out at "acceptable targets" (AKA other women who "perform their gender wrong"). THAT is where the "not like other girls" thing came from, as a backlash to THAT toxic femininity and the bitches who use it to bully neuroatypical (especially those of us who can't mask well for long periods of time), fat, ugly, disabled, gender non conforming/butch, non-white, or/and obviously non-straight girls. I kind of hate that it's turned into a critique when many of the "not like other girls" really aren't like the mainstream girls and get punished for it. Especially since the lashing out at femininity doesn't last long, even if feminine pursuits/looks/hobbies are just not their thing. Meanwhile, toxic femininity is still going strong among adults and the women who started shit with me all used those same bullshit tactics. It takes a lot of soul searching or happenings for someone who uses toxic femininity to to just stop with that nonsense.

Question though, wouldn't this just showcase simi sexism through dismissing women as passive aggressive behavior?

I think in Chinese drama the archetype is called a white lotus bitch?

For me Regina George it's just a bored untreated narcisistas woman like canonically all my narcissist ex girl friends fav people (cause I have BPD) fall in that archetype also, Janis is the other side of the coin yes a mean girl too and soft shell narcisist but functional 😊

The Take first L alicent isnt even evil thats the blonde one

Love the range of examples presented here, and not just because they were from of some of my favorite franchises.

Why in the world does this video use Knives Chau as an example of "the terrible original girlfriend who treats him terribly?" Knives isn't bad in any way. She's not a mean girl, not a bitch. Plus, Scott Pilgrim isn't even a rom com.

regina kathryn jill are my future gfs

Interesting trope

I prefer the reverse of this trope. The “mean” girl who is only mean as a defense mechanism to protect herself from being hurt/taken advantage of. That’s who I had to become, growing up as an introverted and soft-hearted Black girl wasn’t easy.

I don't think the right way is to targeg rage tonsystematic issues. That's not how civilized people should behave. Politics needs to be approached with cold head and strong arguments. Rage should be transferred tonsafe outlets that will help to transfer distructive force into something good. Sports would be a great way to do that. I don't think that males or females should express rage in everyday setting if they feel like it. And passion that is often a drive behind femenine rage needs to be channeled to the benefit of the person and not to please or object to society.

Can ya'll do the Mother In Law?

a.k.a selena gomez

here is a trope that the take will never take becouse its too close to a real life problem that its better to pretend like it doesnt exists: the depressed men, a story of a man that did everything in his power to get better and still fails, someome who is required to be empathic to everyone around them but nevergets empathy for himself because in some cases they are brilliant professionals, make money, did all the effort but noone really gives a shit of a REAL illness that its depression because people think that a white man that has a professional career, its smart and succesful and makes money couldnt possibly want to jump off a window, until he does. in tv series this trope ends up surviving, in real life not so much. depressed men are also portrayed as poor men, so this (real life) trope is men wanted to end their suffering regardless of their wealth, another common characteristic of this trope is that these men are often portrayed as a machine, or a monster often as a character that doesnt even have a name. here some examples: bojack horseman, dr house, rick sanchez, edward quintero, officer K from blade runner, arthur fleck from the joker, joel from eternal sunshine.... Michael Dorman, elliot from mr robot, frankensteins monster, thbe stone monster in the neverending story...

Imagine watching these movies 😂

the people in the comments saying Alicent doesn’t fit here it’s funny but she definitely does. She is a woman who portrays herself as morally superior than others(she isn’t) and spends her time resenting her ex best friend bc she didnt suffer as much as she did

Social justice movement

This is basically the female version of “the nice guy” trope. The misandry is all too obvious when it comes to the naming of some of these tropes. They should be called “the two faced bitch/douchebag” trope. It’s a hell of a lot more honest.