Over the years, we have watched countless fictional teenage characters go through life, and high school, on our screens. We watch them fall in love, get rejected, have moments of weakness and cultivate friendships. It is hard to pick a favorite, because we can see a bit of ourselves in many different characters. However, these four teenage movie and TV characters are the most relatable.
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Mia Thermopolis is easily the most relatable character in movies and TV. Although many of us will never find out that we are a princess at 16, Thermopolis' personality traits, growth and reactions make her a relatable character for us.
First, her personality is relatable to many teens. Between her social anxiety, headstrong nature and authenticity, Thermopolis is the perfect portrayal of a teenager. I mean, who does not have a combination of these three things? We can all relate to her high school experience of wanting to not be seen as an outsider.
Throughout 'The Princess Diaries,' Thermopolis is initially avoidant of her status as a princess, deals with mean girls and struggles with her feelings for different boys. While the princess storyline is far from reality, her avoidance is something that we can all relate to. Let's face it: we have all gotten uncomfortable news and avoided the topic for a little while. Also, mean girls and relationship problems seem to be a rite of passage in high school.
Finally, her growth is what truly makes us relate to her. Thermopolis began the movie as an insecure and immature girl. By the end of it, she had grown up to be a confident young woman. This parallels our experiences throughout high school - we all begin high school as childish and over the years we mature to be more self-assured.
Image Credit: Jordyn St. John from Unsplash.
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2. Cady Heron
Cady Heron from 'Mean Girls' is such a relatable teen character because of her character growth (and regression). She was nervous about starting a new school, switched friends groups and changed herself to fit in. She experienced many events that we all have been through: liking a person that your friends say you cannot date, skipping homework for the mall and even being forced into a club for extra credit.
As a teenager, especially in high school, it is so easy to change who you are to fit in. Whether it is the way you dress, talk or act, we can all understand the pressure that Heron was under to fit in at school.
We can also understand her need for popularity. In high school, it seems like your experience revolves around how popular you are. While we can eventually realize that this is not the case, just like Heron did, it is easy to get swept up in the idea of popularity.
Heron ranks second on this list because of how mean she was towards the plastics. Do not get me wrong, the plastics were horrible towards their entire school. However, it is not normal or super relatable to become as mean as Heron did throughout the movie. I mean, how did she even think of giving her friend protein bars to make her gain weight?
Image Credit: Mathias Arlund from Unsplash.
3. Devi Vishwakumar
Devi Vishwakumar from 'Never Have I Ever' is the perfect embodiment of a teenager. She is quirky, loves her friends, focuses on academics and goes through a few break ups. Her experiences always match our universal experiences, whether it is trying hard to get a significant other, fighting with that one annoying boy in your class or being stressed about college.
Vishwakumar also experiences a ton of growth throughout the show. In the beginning, she is immature and just trying to get through the day (by the way, this is an accurate representation of sophomore year). However, by the time she graduates, she has grown as a friend, daughter and person. All of her chaos caused her to mature and end the show on a positive note.
She is third on this list because of the overall chaos of her character. She exhibited a ton of poor decision making, between lying to her friends, constant self-serving behavior and basing her entire life around boys. She consistently takes support from her friends and family for granted. In return, she lies to them and sabotages their goals if they overlap with hers. Also, her hyper-fixation on guys is not normal - you do not need a romantic partner to be happy!
Image Credit: Netflix from Wikimedia Commons.
4. Paris Geller
Paris Geller from 'Gilmore Girls' is a bit intense, but she is a redeemable character with a lot of relatable reasoning behind her actions. While she is excessively intense about school and college, her expectations for her high standards are really normal. She wants to prove to her family and peers that she is good enough, so she overcompensates and tries her hardest. Let's face it: we all try our best to live up to our parents and friends expectations.
Geller is also a great friend. When Logan wanted to see Rory after they broke up, she berated him and slammed the door on his face. This is something that we can relate to because we would all stand up for our friends when they need it. Her loyalty is one of her most endearing and empathetic qualities.
Additionally, Geller is constantly trying to just be ok. She has breakdowns and moments where she is super vulnerable, but at the end of the day, she is trying to hold herself together. This is the most relatable aspect of her character because through all of the changes and chaos that go on in our lives, we are all simply trying to be fine. Geller's character presents our everyday struggle in a slightly dramaticized way, but she still goes through the same internal conflicts that we do.
Geller is fourth on this list because of her unreasonable expectations for herself and relentless nature. While we can relate to having high standards, Geller's standards are simply excessive. Most of us cannot relate to having an all-consuming need to get into an ivy league. Also, her dedication to school was extreme.
Image Credit: Robert Bye from Unsplash.
Conclusion
These four strong female characters are relatable to teens because of their experiences, personalities and growth. All of them exhibit struggles that we face as teenagers, even if they might be unrealistic because they are fictional characters. Nevertheless, we can see our everyday conflicts represented in their different challenges, which is one of the reasons why we love these movies and TV shows so much.
