Movies About Teen Makeovers & Popularity

Modern Classics

• Released in 1978, "Grease" stars John Travolta as the bad boy and Olivia Newton-John as the goody goody. After a summer fling, they are surprised to find they attend the same high school where their crowds don't mix. Hope seems lost until Danny reinvents himself as a jock and Sandy dons leather and lights a cigarette. In 1985, John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" was the perfect example of an '80s makeover -- meaning, Ally Sheedy looked better before Molly Ringwald's character tied a bow in her hair. Nonetheless, her new look finally gets the attention of the popular jock, and all the other characters have makeovers of the soul, as they realize each of them is more than just their stereotyped high school persona.

So Nineties

• "Clueless" made Alicia Silverstone a star in 1995 and was responsible for the largest run on plaid skirt suits by teenage girls of all time. When new girl Tai -- played by Brittany Murphy -- shows up looking "like a farmer in those clothes," Cher and Dionne decide to intervene. The plan backfires for Cher when Tai begins to eclipse her popularity and utters the infamous insult: "You're a virgin who can't drive." In 1999, "She's All That" opened in first place starring Rachel Leigh Cook as Laney -- an unpopular art student -- and Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Zack -- the class president. Having been recently dumped, Zack bets a friend he can turn any girl into the prom queen in six weeks. The makeover commences, and Laney finds herself battling for prom queen and falling for Zack. But drama ensues when she discovers the bet.

The 2000s

• In 2001, Anne Hathaway starred as Mia, an awkward and unpopular high schooler, in "The Princess Diaries." But when it turns out she's the heir to the throne of Genovia, she receives a major makeover and princess lessons. When her true identity leaks, her popularity soars and she finally gets the attention of her crush. "Mean Girls," released in 2004, stars Lindsay Lohan as Cady, a high school student who was being home-schooled in Africa. Her desire to fit in causes her to fall in with "The Plastics," popular girls that aren't very nice. Cady rides to the height of popularity, only to alienate the entire school.

Equal Opportunity

• If you are tired of watching girls get made over for popularity, watch 1987's "Can't Buy Me Love" and 1999's "Drive Me Crazy." The former stars Patrick Dempsey as nerdy Ronald. He pays the most popular girl in school to pretend to be his girlfriend. She enforces a strict makeover of his clothes, hair and activities, and he promptly shoots to the top of the high school hierarchy. In "Drive Me Crazy," Adrien Grenier goes from coffee-shop activist to prep with the help of pep-rally-loving Melissa Joan Hart. Both have recently been dumped and decide that making their exes jealous is the key to getting them back. Somewhere in the midst of his makeover and their fake relationship, they decide that maybe they are right for each other.