The History of Prep Culture, As Seen Through Epic ’90s Movies

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Preppiness runs deep in the film Metropolitan. It's the directorial debut from prep-expert Whit Stillman, who was raised in D.C. and New York, and graduated from Harvard. He was also the son of an assistant secretary of commerce to the "prep godfather," President John F. Kennedy. It was a great way to introduce this culture to the people of the ’90s. They could dress, they had money, they had class, and drama was second nature to them.

The film is set in Manhattan and Long Island and focuses on the lives of beautiful and smart upper-class New Yorkers who are home for the first break in college for debutante season. Which, coincidentally, is also the preppiest sentence ever written. It’s a wonderful movie based on stuff that doesn’t make much sense if you grew up poor, like balls, the Hamptons, the first year of college, etc.

Sue Ellen (played by Christina Applegate) is young, hot, and blond—a perfect recipe for prep girls. However, she doesn’t have cash nor the right kind of wardrobe. After she and her siblings’ evil babysitter dies (of natural causes, so don’t call the police), she learns the value of the dollar by working at a fast food joint. Realizing how much it sucks to be poor, she quits and fakes her resume to become a fashion designer. By the end of the movie, Sue Ellen has proven herself to be a self-made badass, and after supporting her siblings and rocking her career, she attends Vassar.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead proves that as long as you have killer fashion sense (that can save a company), you don’t have to be born rich.

Preps have long been the “bad guys” of movies. The outcasts are always the winners, and the jocks are always beaten by the geeks. It’s probably because a bunch of nerdy writers are trying to make themselves feel better through their movies.

Enter Buffy, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was a prep, she was a cheerleader, but she also sent a bunch of the undead who were trying to suck people’s blood. Where does that go on your college application? Extracurriculars, right?

During the ’90s, there were plenty of examples of “prep hate.” With the death of Kurt Cobain, the alternative scene took over. Rock, flannel shirts, long hair, and the many attempts to “stick it to the man” dominated pop culture.

In Reality Bites, Michael Grates (Ben Stiller) has a solid job, a convertible, and a car phone. He wears button-up shirts and styles his hair. He’s everything the ’90s teenager hates. He’s not even a jerk; he’s actually pretty nice. But he doesn’t agree with the rest of the cast in Reality Bites—you know, the whole “Why should we hold down a steady job that’s in conflict with who we are as a person?” It’s called paying your bills, okay?

Reality Bites destroyed preppy Michael Grates types, but if you watch it now, he’s obviously the only one of those people who has his life together.

Finally, a movie that doesn’t make a prep seem completely shallow. Cher (Alicia Silverstone) may be superficial, obsessed with clothes, attractive, and rich, but she also cares about her fellow man. Cher isn’t just a bimbo blonde—she speaks with an eloquence far greater than any high school student. She may skip stop signs, but she’ll stop to help her fellow man.

Cher and her best friend, Dionne (Stacey Dash), played a pivotal part in ending the stigma that comes along with being a prep. They weren’t bullies—they were just given the gift of fashion and money. Their power spread across nations and infiltrated classrooms. “Valley Girl” language was used by the upper and lower classes. They gave the gift of Beverly Hills to all of America—or, whatever.

The Craft confirmed something many had suspected for a long time—the beautiful girls, those who dress preppy in their school uniforms, and who wear dark eye shadow and eyeliner, and who don’t quite fit into the typical “prep” definition, are witches. It offered a whole new take on the prep subculture, one that wasn’t based on cheerleading and jocks, but a more gothic twist on an old classic.

Groups of friends always bicker in high school, but in-fighting never went so far as for the whole group to have such a big falling out that they try to destroy and curse each other. Well, most ly everyone's time in high school is spent trying to socially destroy each other and cursing each other out. But invoking swarms of insects and snakes is guaranteed to get you the “Most Dramatic” superlative.

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is always a lot of fun to watch when you're young because it’s about 28-year-olds who are obsessed with clothes and haven’t done much else besides work retail. Hilarious! They're so afraid of going to their 10-year high school reunion and looking like unsuccessful losers! It's a lot less funny when you realize you’re their age and your own reunions are creeping up on you. Maybe you’ll say you invented Post-its too.

Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) were pretty, but outcasted, during their school days. They didn’t know how to dress like the popular girls—Romy was slightly chubby and Michele sported a back brace. The magic of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is that the characters become preps without putting anyone else down except their own bullies. In turn, they give hope to little girls everywhere (and then, 17 years later, bum them out because they’re still losers who don’t know how to dress and their fearful reunion is coming up. Yikes).

The filmmakers of Can’t Hardly Wait observed that the best scenes of teen movies are the party scenes. So, naturally, they set 95% of Can’t Hardly Wait during a party. And who does a less-than-popular character meet at one of these parties? The beloved, the sought-after-since-pre-school prep, played here by Jennifer Love Hewitt. She's a different kind of prep: she's thrown into the culture of the school’s popular clique and she dresses like a prep, but she's deeper than that, you know? She's someone a dork could truly love.

Pop culture still uses this trope. The popular girl falling for a nerd/loser/kind-hearted-guy-best-friend—because, well, it works. There's always one girl at everyone’s high school who is untouchable. Movies like Can’t Hardly Wait let everyone fall in love with her.

Ah, yes. Akin to watching a butterfly spread its wings, She’s All That centers on the beautiful once-was-a-geek-but-now-I’m-hot prep. It ensures that she has it all. She starts off as a geek, one who got straight A’s, is artistic, wonderful to her family, and, with the eradication of her glasses and ponytail, a stone-cold fox. And the best part? She’ll always have low self-esteem because of all those years of being a peon, so she won’t leave her boyfriend for someone better. Through She's All That, the year 1999 introduced the pinnacle "Cinderella prep."

By 1999, the generation of the ’90s had just about seen every type of prep there is. The New England rich prep, the California prep, the Amazing Grace prep (I once was lost and nerdy, but now I am found)—they’ve all been covered. Jawbreaker, was inspired by the classic 1988 movie Heathers, and the new archetype of prep—the Killer.

The movie follows the “Flawless Four” as they rule the school, you know, since preps seem to travel in packs. They deal with popularity, clique problems, and how to cover up the murder of their best friend. You know, girly stuff!