Amma Crellin and the "mean girls" in Sharp Objects
It's dangerous out there for you, people are killing little girls.
Not the cool ones.
Toward the end of the street, where a makeshift shrine to Natalie had sprung up, I could see Amma and her three friends. They were sifting through the balloons and drugstore gifts, three standing guard while my half-sister snatched up two candles, a bouquet of flowers, and a teddy bear. All but the bear went into her oversized purse. The teddy she held as the girls locked arms...
"I bet Adora wouldn't be happy to read that her daughter stole items from the tribute to one of her schoolmates," I said.
"Schoolmate isn't the same as friend," said the tall girl, glancing around for confirmation of my stupidity.
"Oh, Camille, we're just kidding," Amma said. "I feel horrible. They were nice girls, just weird."
"Definitely weird," one of them echoed.
"Ohhh guys, what if he's killing all the freaks?" Ammy giggled. "Wouldn't that be perfect?" ...
"He?" I asked.
"Everyone knows who did it," the [other girl] said.
"Natalie's brother. Freaks run in families," Amma proclaimed.
"He's got a little-girl thing," the girl called Jodes said sulkily.
"He's always finding excuses to talk to me," Amma said. "At least now I know he won't kill me. Too cool." She blew an air kiss and handed the teddy bear to Jodes, looped her arms around the other girls, and, with a cheeky "Scuse," bumped past me. Jodes trailed behind.
pp. 77-78, paperback edition of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
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In exchange for lighter sentences in a psychiatric hospital, the three blondes admitted to helping Amma kill Ann and Natalie… (They) held Ann down, while Amma strangled her with a clothesline she’d stolen from the neighbor’s tool shed. It took an hour to calm Jodes down and another hour for Amma to pull the teeth, Jodes crying the whole time… She spirited Natalie through the woods… the friends held her down while Amma strangled her. Again, she pulled the teeth herself.
pp. 247-248, paperback edition of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
I thought it was really interesting watching the show and reading the book. In the 2018 miniseries, Amma was a little more nuanced. She was definitely a mean girl, but she did tell Camille that they were taking flowers and gifts from the shrine to Ann Nash to have something to remember her by. I feel like the producers didn't want to clue viewers in too early that Amma and her friends were more than just "mean girls". In the book, Amma is much more cruel, and very devoid of empathy or compassion. I talked some more about psychopathy and anti-social behaviour in teenage girls here, To be honest, it still really scares me. The thought of children physically harming and even murdering other children. Children can be cruel, and sometimes, to an extent you can't fathom.