Mean Girls
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Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, and Fey. It is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 non-fiction self-help book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, which...
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Paramount Pictures Wiki
Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, and Fey.

It is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 non-fiction self-help book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, which describes female high school social cliques, school bullying, and the damaging effects they can have on students. Fey also drew from her own experience at Upper Darby High School as an inspiration for some of the concepts in the film. The plot centers on a naïve teenage girl navigating her way through the social hierarchy of a modern American high school after years of her parents homeschooling her while conducting research in Africa.

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels produced the film. Tina Fey, screenwriter and co-star of the film, was a long-term cast member and writer for SNL. Although set in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, the film was mostly shot in Toronto. Filming took place from September to November 2003. The film marks Lohan's second collaboration with director Waters, the first being Freaky Friday, released a year earlier. The film introduced Amanda Seyfried in her film debut.

Released on April 30, 2004, the film grossed $130 million worldwide and developed a cult following. It received largely positive reviews, with critics praising its direction, screenplay, humor, and performances. The made-for-television sequel Mean Girls 2 premiered on ABC Family on January 23, 2011. A musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in March 2018.

Plot[]

Sixteen-year-old homeschooled Cady Heron and her parents, Betsy and Chip Heron, return to the United States after a lengthy research trip in Africa, settling in Evanston, Illinois. On her first day at North Shore High School, Cady attempts to make new friends, but to no avail. The next day, she befriends outsiders Janis Ian and Damian Leigh. They tell Cady about the school's various cliques and warn her to avoid the "Plastics", composed of the wealthy but insecure Gretchen Wieners, the sweet but dimwitted Karen Smith, and led by "queen bee" Regina George. Janis holds a grudge against Regina after a previous incident in middle school but refuses to divulge details. The Plastics defend Cady against a perverted classmate, thereafter taking an interest in her, and inviting her to sit with them at lunch. After learning about the invitation, Janis persuades Cady to befriend the Plastics and spy on them for her, which Cady is reluctant to do.

Cady develops romantic feelings for Aaron Samuels, a senior in her math class. Later, she is told by Gretchen that Aaron is "off-limits", due to having been in a relationship with Regina until the summer prior. Cady later learns about the "Burn Book", a scrapbook made by the Plastics that is filled with cruel rumors and secrets about various students and faculty at school. Gretchen tells Regina about Cady's feelings for Aaron, prompting Regina to tell lies about Cady to Aaron, before kissing him in front of Cady.

Feeling betrayed, Cady fully commits to Janis' plan to damage Regina's reputation. Together, they break Regina and Aaron up and trick Regina into eating nutrition bars that cause her to gain weight. During a dance performance at a school Christmas show, Gretchen is made to switch places with Cady in the dance, resulting in humiliation for Gretchen. Later, Janis and Damian make it seem as though Regina had sent "Candy Cane Grams" to Cady and Karen while excluding Gretchen. Following a sharp drop in her reputation, Regina is replaced by Cady as the new "queen bee".

Cady throws a house party while her parents are away, but chooses not to invite Janis and Damian. The two confront Cady and declare that she has unwittingly remade herself in Regina's image. Cady accuses Janis of being in love with her, causing Janis to renounce their friendship.

Regina becomes aware of Cady's betrayal, and retaliates by distributing the contents of the Burn Book across the school, quickly inciting social chaos among the junior year. The blame for the Burn Book is placed on Cady, Gretchen, and Karen, as Regina had inserted insults about herself in the Burn Book to avoid suspicion. In an attempt to restore social order, Principal Duvall and Mathematics teacher Ms. Norbury gather the students in the school auditorium to apologize to each other. Regina publicly insults Janis' sexuality, in response to which Janis confesses her original plan to destroy Regina's reputation and mocks Regina to cheers from the other students. Regina storms out, pursued by an apologetic Cady, and is struck by a school bus, fracturing her spine. Following the incident, rumors circulate that Cady intentionally pushed Regina in front of the bus.

Cady decides to take full blame for the Burn Book. Although shunned by her peers and distrusted by her own parents, she gradually returns to her old self. She joins the school Mathletes team in the state championship finals, answering the tiebreaker correctly and winning the school the championship. At the following Spring Fling dance, Cady is elected Queen. Onstage, Cady declares that all her classmates are wonderful in their own way, snaps her plastic tiara, and distributes the pieces to other girls in the crowd. She then rekindles her friendship with Janis and Damian, makes up with Aaron, and reaches a truce with the Plastics.

The Plastics disband at the beginning of the new school year. Regina joins the lacrosse team to manage her anger positively, Karen becomes the school weather reporter, and Gretchen joins the "Cool Asians" clique. Aaron graduates from high school and attends Northwestern University while starting a relationship with Cady, who he visits on weekends. As Cady reflects on the relative social peace that has taken over North Shore High, she notices a group of new "Junior Plastics", and she imagines them being hit by a bus like Regina.

Cast[]

Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, a 16-year-old girl who transfers to a public high school after being homeschooled her whole life in Africa and Aaron Samuels' love interest.

Jessie Wright as 5-year-old Cady.

Rachel McAdams as Regina George, a rich, popular mean girl. Regina is Janis' ex-best friend, rival and the leader of The Plastics.

Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners, an insecure rich girl and a member of the Plastics who only wants Regina's acceptance.

Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith, the airhead, yet sweet member of The Plastics. Karen is Regina and Gretchen's best friend.

Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian, a goth artistic girl who befriends Cady and hatches a plan to take down Regina. Janis is Damian's best friend and Regina's ex-best friend and rival.

Daniel Franzese as Damian Leigh, Janis' gay best friend who is flamboyant and musical and also befriends Cady.

Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels, Regina's ex-boyfriend, and Cady's love interest.

Rajiv Surendra as Kevin Gnapoor, the "hormonal Mathletes president" who is attracted to Janis.

Tina Fey as Ms. Sharon Norbury, the school calculus teacher, whom the Burn Book defames as a drug dealer.

Tim Meadows as Principal Ron Duvall, the principal of North Shore High School.

Amy Poehler as June George, Regina and Kylie's irresponsible mother.

Ana Gasteyer as Betsy Heron, Cady's mother.

Neil Flynn as Chip Heron, Cady's father.

Daniel DeSanto as Jason, Gretchen's unfaithful boyfriend.

Diego Klattenhoff as Shane Oman, a football player who has an on-and-off relationship with Regina.

Alisha Morrison as Lea Edwards.

Julia Chantrey as Amber D'Alessio.

Molly Shanahan as Kristen Hadley.

Jan Caruana as Emma Gerber.

Olympia Lukis as Jessica Lopez.

Dwayne Hill as Coach Carr, the school's physical education teacher whom the Burn Book exposes as a sex offender.

Jonathan Malen as Kristen's boyfriend.

Nicole Crimi as Kylie George, Regina's younger sister.

Dan Willmott as Mr. George, Regina and Kylie's father.

Production[]

Development[]

Tina Fey read Rosalind Wiseman's Queen Bees and Wannabes and called Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels to suggest it could be turned into a film. Michaels contacted Paramount Pictures, who purchased the rights to the book. As the book is nonfiction, Fey wrote the plot from scratch, borrowing elements from her own high school experience and her impressions of Evanston Township High School, upon which the film's fictional "North Shore High School" is based.

Fey named many characters after real life friends. In a 2014 interview about the movie, she told Entertainment Weekly, "I tried to use real names in writing because it's just easier." Main character Cady Heron was named after Fey's college roommate Cady Garey. Damian was named after Fey's high school friend Damian Holbrook, who went on to become a writer for TV Guide. Minor character Glenn Coco is named after a friend of Fey's older brother; the real Glenn Coco works as a film editor in Los Angeles. Janis Ian was named after singer Janis Ian, who was one of the musical guests on the first Saturday Night Live episode, in which she sang the song "At Seventeen", which can be heard playing in the background when the girls are fighting at Regina's house.

Casting[]

Lindsay Lohan first read for Regina George, but the casting team felt she was closer to what they were looking for in the actress who played Cady, and since Lohan feared the "mean girl" role would harm her reputation, she agreed to play the lead. Rachel McAdams was cast as Regina because Fey felt McAdams being "kind and polite" made her perfect for such an evil-spirited character. Amanda Seyfried also read for Regina, and the producers instead suggested her for Karen due to Seyfried's "spacey and daffy sense of humor". Both Lacey Chabert and Daniel Franzese were the last actors tested for their roles. Lizzy Caplan was at first considered too pretty for the part of Janis, for which director Mark Waters felt a "Kelly Osbourne-like actress" was necessary, but Caplan was picked for being able to portray raw emotion. Fey wrote two roles based on fellow SNL alumni, Amy Poehler (whom Fey thought the producers would not accept because of being too young to portray a teenager's mother) and Tim Meadows, and the cast ended up with a fourth veteran of the show, Ana Gasteyer. Evan Rachel Wood was offered a role in the film, but turned it down. Blake Lively did final tests for the role of Karen Smith but the producers decided to keep looking. Ashley Tisdale also auditioned for Gretchen Wieners. Jonathan Bennett was a last-minute cast replacement after the actor originally slated to play Aaron Samuels got fired. James Franco had previously been considered for that role as well. Fey's decision to hire Bennett was due to his resemblance to her longtime SNL co-star Jimmy Fallon.

Filming[]

Although set in Evanston, Illinois, the film was mostly shot in Toronto, Ontario, at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and Malvern Collegiate Institute, as well as at Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey. Landmarks include the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall and Sherway Gardens. Principal photography commenced on September 27, and concluded on November 25, 2003.

Music/Soundtrack[]

Mean Girls: Music from the Motion Picture was released by Rykodisc and Bulletproof Records on September 21, 2004, the same day as the DVD release.

"Dancing with Myself" by The Donnas (Generation X cover)

"God Is a DJ" by Pink

"Milkshake" by Kelis

"Sorry (Don't Ask Me)" by All Too Much

"Built This Way" by Samantha Ronson

"Rip Her to Shreds" by Boomkat (Blondie cover)

"Overdrive" by Katy Rose

"One Way or Another" by Blondie

"Operate" by Peaches

"Misty Canyon" by Anjali Bhatia

"Mean Gurl" by Gina Rene and Gabriel Rene

"Hated" by Nikki Cleary

"Psyché Rock", by Pierre Henry (Fatboy Slim Malpaso mix)

"The Mathlete Rap" by Rajiv Surendra

"Jingle Bell Rock"

Songs heard in the film but not on the soundtrack include the single "Pass That Dutch" by Missy Elliott, "Naughty Girl" by Beyoncé, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, "Fire" by Joe Budden featuring Busta Rhymes, "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian, and "Halcyon + On + On" by Orbital, "Put 'Em Up" by N.O.R.E featuring Pharrell Williams, "Oh Yeah" / "Run" by Gabriel Rene and "Love's Theme" by The Love Unlimited Orchestra.

Rolfe Kent wrote the film's orchestral score, which was orchestrated by Tony Blondal. The score features taiko drums and a full orchestra.

Home media[]

Mean Girls was released on VHS and DVD in North America on September 21, 2004, five months after it opened in theaters. It was released in a widescreen special collector's edition and a fullscreen collector's edition, both including several deleted scenes, a blooper reel, three T.V. Spots, the theatrical trailer, previews, and three featurettes. A Blu-ray version of the film was released on April 14, 2009. The film was later re-released on a 15th anniversary Blu-Ray in 2019.

Cultural impact[]

The film has become a pop-culture phenomenon. Fans have made GIFs and memes of the film and posted them on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. It is considered one of the most quotable movies of all time. In an interview about the film, Fey noted, "Adults find it funny. They are the ones who are laughing. Young people watch it like a reality show. It's much too close to their real experiences so they are not exactly guffawing." Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "'Fetch' may never happen, but 2004's eminently quotable movie is still one of the sharpest high school satires ever. Which is pretty grool, if you ask me!" In 2006, Entertainment Weekly also named it the 12th-best high school film of all time: "While Mean Girls is technically a comedy, its depiction of girl-on-girl cattiness stings incredibly true." In 2021, Marie Claire ranked Mean Girls as the best 2000s movie, calling it "the '00s pop culture staple".

Some social media users have dubbed October 3 "Mean Girls Day", alluding to a line by Cady, the protagonist. People also celebrate by wearing pink based on a line by Karen, another character. Clothing designers have printed quotes and other iconic imagery from the movie onto clothing and other merchandise.

Members of the cast have reunited in video over the years on that day for various causes. In 2017, they created a GoFundMe to raise money for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and the National Compassion Fund. In 2019, they teamed up with the Thirst Project to raise money to fund a freshwater well in Uganda. In 2020, the cast was honored with the Pioneering Spirit Award for their #MeanGirlsDoGood campaign. On October 3, 2020, Katie Couric moderated a virtual cast reunion to reminisce about the film. Organized in collaboration with HeadCount to promote voting in the 2020 United States presidential election, it was the first time the entire cast gathered since the 2004 premiere.

Mariah Carey has said several times that she is a fan of the film, quoting the film in numerous interviews and TV appearances, including a 2013 episode of American Idol. Carey's 2009 single, "Obsessed", begins with an interlude quote where she says, "And I was like, 'Why are you so obsessed with me?'", a line of Regina George's. Carey's ex-husband, Nick Cannon, revealed that the song was inspired by the film. In September 2020, Fey quizzed Carey about the movie to prove how much of a "superfan" she is on Billboard's Quizzed video series.

In August 2013, the White House tweeted a photo of President Obama's dog, Bo, holding a tennis ball and captioning "Bo, stop trying to make fetch happen". Taco Bell made a reply to the White House, also using one of the quotes from the film. In June 2018, the official Twitter account of the Israeli Embassy in the U.S. made headlines when it responded to a tweet by Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, calling Israel "a malignant cancerous tumor", with an animated GIF of the "Why are you so obsessed with me?" quote from Mean Girls. In March 2019, Hillary Clinton tweeted a GIF of the same quote which went viral for being considered a response to Donald Trump. In June 2020, the Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar quoted Cady's "the limit does not exist" line during a COVID-19 pandemic briefing. At the 2013 People's Choice Awards, Jennifer Lawrence referenced the film in her speech when she won Favorite Movie Actress. Multiple scenes from the movie have been reenacted and parodied by various celebrities throughout the years following its release, including Ed Sheeran, Iggy Azalea, Amber Rose and Waka Flocka Flame during a 2014 skit for MTV.

The sixth episode of the third season of How to Get Away with Murder included several references to the film, including Aja Naomi King's character Michaela Pratt using the line "you can't sit with us", Viola Davis' character Annalise Keating eating her lunch in a toilet cubicle after feeling like an outcast, Karla Souza's character Laurel Castillo using sweatpants on a Monday and Behzad Dabu's character Simon Drake calling several other students "mean girls". In June 2021, actress Aimee Lou Wood mentioned the film scene where Cady broke her Spring Fling crown in pieces and shared it with girls around her. She said: "Now, I said that I’d break [this award] into pieces and share it with everyone, It’s solid, Daisy [Haggard], It’s solid! So I’ll give you a metaphorical piece to everyone in my category, especially Emma Mackey who’s the best scene partner and best friend…" The third novel by American author Karen M. McManus, 'Two Can Keep A Secret' includes a reference to a line in the film, where the character Ezra refers to his school's prom committee as looking like "they wear pink on Wednesdays".

Legacy[]

Works inspired by Mean Girls[]

A novel based on the film, by author Micol Ostow, was released in September 2017 by Scholastic. Jonathan Bennett, who portrayed Aaron Samuels, released a cookbook inspired by the movie in 2018 called "The Burn Cookbook: Real Recipes to Feed Your Inner Plastic." The following year, he teamed up with Nocking Point Wines to release a limited rosé wine edition inspired by the film. Ariana Grande parodied the film in the music video for her 2018 song "Thank U, Next". The actors Jonathan Bennett and Stefanie Drummond, who were originally part of the film's cast, appeared in the video. A clip of Cady Heron from the movie was featured in a 2020 Discover Card commercial which aired during the Super Bowl LIV.

A comic book sequel to the film, titled Mean Girls: Senior Year, was written by Arianna Irwin and released by Insight Comics in September 2020. A Mean Girls-themed pop-up restaurant in Santa Monica called Fetch was announced in 2020 as well. Primark launched a loungewear range inspired by the film in October 2019. On October 3, 2020, the Young Veterans Brewing Company released a Mean Girls-themed beer called "Army Pants & Flip Flops". Several Mean Girls-themed events, merchandising products and screenings have been often organized and produced in homage to the film.

In August 2020, Screen Junkies released a Honest Trailers episode on the film calling it "the best thing to come out of that era," with Screen Rant's Daniel Gillespie saying: "Mean Girls remains entertaining, funny, and, most importantly, accurate. [...] That relevance almost two decades later proves that Mean Girls is deserving of its classic status," and Slashfilm's Ethan Anderton writing that the "generation-defining high school movie" not only captures the teenage culture of the early 2000s perfectly, "but it's also hilariously clever for being adapted from a non-fiction parenting advice book [...] Mean Girls is great because it captures that cruel teen vibe perfectly, and it tries to deliver a nice wholesome message to fight it, which kids will laugh at, agree with, and then never do anything about." In September 2020, the Pillsbury Company released a limited edition of Toaster Strudel featuring pink icing and Mean Girls packaging to pay homage to its movie-claimed inventor's daughter, Gretchen Wieners.

Adaptations[]

Video games[]

A game for PC was released in 2009 featuring characters specifically created for the game. In 2010, a Mean Girls video game developed by Crush Digital Media and planned to be published by 505 Games for the Nintendo DS handheld game console was announced, but was cancelled before release. The DS game was nearly completed before cancellation and was found in 2021 by Youtuber Bobdunga, who got a file for the game in her email by an anoymous person. A full playthrough was uploaded on a her channel on July 15, 2021. In 2015, an iOS game based on the film was released. Since 2015, Pocket Gems' mobile app Episode also released various Mean Girls interactive stories following the characters from the film due to "overwhelming fan response".

Stage musical[]

On January 28, 2013, Fey confirmed that a musical adaption of Mean Girls was in the works. Fey wrote the book of the show, 30 Rock composer and Fey's husband Jeff Richmond worked on the music, and Casey Nicholaw directed. Paramount was also involved. The musical premiered at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. on October 31, 2017. Mean Girls opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre, with previews beginning March 12, 2018 and opening on April 8, 2018. On January 23, 2020, Tina Fey announced that a film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical was in active development. "I'm very excited to bring Mean Girls back to the big screen. It's been incredibly gratifying to see how much the movie and the musical have meant to audiences. I've spent sixteen years with these characters now. They are my Marvel Universe and I love them dearly," Fey said. During the film's cast reunion on October 3, 2020, Fey shared that fans could be involved in casting actors for the new adaptation by sharing their dream cast on the project's website and be featured in the musical film's "burn book".

Sequel[]

Main article: Mean Girls 2

A made-for-television sequel Mean Girls 2 premiered on ABC Family (now Freeform) on January 23, 2011, then subsequently released on DVD February 1. The plot takes place after the first movie and it has entirely different cast members, with the exception of Tim Meadows, who reprises his role as Principal Ron Duvall. Mean Girls 2 is directed by Melanie Mayron and stars Meaghan Martin and Jennifer Stone.

Future[]

Mean Moms[]

In early 2014, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced a planned release date of May 8, 2015, for a proposed spin-off of Mean Girls with Jennifer Aniston in talks to lead.

Adapted from another book penned by Rosalind Wiseman, Mean Moms would be written by Sean Anders and John Morris and would star Jennifer Aniston as a mother facing the cut-throat life of modern suburbia. However, in May 2014, New Line Cinema pulled the film from its proposed release date of May 2015; even though the film is still slated for development, there is not currently a release date for the spin-off. On October 7, it was announced that the film was added to the California Film Tax Credit program for the 2014–15 fiscal year, in which the production must start in California within 180 days of notification from the state to receive the $6.7 million production tax credit. In May 2015, it was confirmed the project was still happening and Sean Anders would direct the film; in late 2015 Anders told Cinema Blend the project had been placed on hold.

Potential sequel[]

In late September 2014, discussions arose that Lohan had pitched an idea to Fey for a sequel. Later that year, Lohan, along with other cast members of the original film, asked Fey to write a screenplay for it. The idea was brought up during a 10th anniversary for the film in Entertainment Weekly, with Fey declaring she regretted not doing a sequel closer to its original release: "At the time we did want to start the conversation about the sequel, and for whatever reason I was like, 'No!!! We shouldn't do that!' Now I look back and I'm like, 'Why?' But now, no—it's too late now." Seyfried had previously said she was "really willing to pursue" a sequel and was unsure why it had not happened. In December 2016, Lohan mentioned she was still trying to pitch a sequel, with the hopes of Jamie Lee Curtis and Jimmy Fallon appearing in the film. She said she knew Fey, Michaels and Paramount were busy, declaring: "I will keep forcing it and pushing it on them until we do it." In October 2018, Seyfried said people needed to start a campaign for it to finally come into fruition. In January 2019, Lohan was interviewed by Howard Stern who wondered whether the sequel would ever happen. Lohan repeated her interest in revisiting the role and confirmed she had spoken to Fey about it, also saying sequel plans were not currently in the works, "I think they can't do it right now. I've spoken to her [Tina], but it can't happen without her and all of the cast. [...] Sometimes you're like, 'It's just too soon to do it.' But it's been 15 years." In October 2019, Chabert was asked if a sequel would be happening to which she replied: "I don't know. I wish I had an answer for you, I feel like you need to start a petition," while saying she would "of course" revisit the character if given the chance as "it would be so much fun to revisit these women and see where they are now."

In April 2020, Lohan was once again asked about the sequel by David Spade and confessed she had been hanging on to the idea of coming back to doing movies with that project "for a really long time" but that it was out of her hands. "To work with Tina [Fey], and the whole crew again, and Mark Waters. That was really what I wanted. I was excited to do that. But that's all in their hands really," she concluded. A few days later, McAdams also expressed interest in reprising her role in a sequel, after having declared in previous years she would be up for it as long as Fey was on board, "She's our master-in-chief on this one. So, if she's into it, then I'm into it." Bennett then reacted to his co-stars by saying, "I was extremely excited when I heard Rachel [McAdams] say she'd love to play Regina George again because I've talked to over half the cast, including Lindsay [Lohan], and we all feel the same way", continuing, "We'd love to bring these beloved characters back to life at some point, whether it be sequel or a TV series. I think the world would love to see these characters again."