'Mean Girls' 10 Years On: Memes, Memories, And The Cult Of Mean
It's ten years since hit high school comedy Mean Girls was released. Yes, yes: we know it makes you feel old and all that jazz but what's more impressive than the simple passing of 3652.4 days is how a light-hearted look at the politics of high school life has become a phenomenon as popular and relevant now as it always was and will be forever.
'Mean Girls' Turns 10: Celebrating The Most Quotable Movie Ever Made.
To recap, Lindsay Lohan plays Cady Heron, a so-called "home-schooled jungle freak" who has spent her life sheltered from the regiment of mainstream school and its minefield of social rules. Cady is dropped in at the deep end when she catches the eye of the "plastics," a trio of vain and catty girls lead by Regina George (Rachel McAdams), the iron-fisted ruler of the school's in crowd.
More: 'Mean Girls' star Daniel Franzese, AKA Damian, comes out in heartfelt open letter.
Cady is mesmerised by the pink Wednesdays and Burn Book bitching but is torn by her loyalties towards two outcasts, Janice (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), who convince Cady to bring down the Plastics from the inside. A bitter catfight ensues as Regina pushes back, leading to cruel take-downs and heartfelt confessions as the girls of the school realise they all share the same issues.
Watch The 'Mean Girls' Trailer: ****
Aside from the relentless comedy, the movie's success can be attributed to its uncanny ability to chime with women all over the world who know all too well that "girl fighting is sneaky." Inspired by her own experiences at school, script writer Tina Fey put pen to paper and came up with a new cult. "I revisited high school behaviors of my own - futile, poisonous, bitter behaviors that served no purpose," she explained.
Next Page: the cult of the mean girl, and where are they now?
"That thing of someone saying "You're really pretty" and then, when the other person thanks them, saying, "Oh, so you agree? You think you're pretty?" That happened in my school. That was a bear trap," she told the NY Times. ____
Meanwhile Rosalind Wiseman, who wrote the self-help book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, that Mean Girls is based on, was shocked at how accurately Fey and the cast created the perfect tone: "I didn't know it was going to be a big movie. But the first time I saw Rachel in the rough cut, I could not believe how good she was. My mom was with me, and I remember turning to her and saying, 'I can't believe how perfectly she got every mean girl I've ever worked with,'" she said.
Tumblr, home of the meme, reports that in the last month alone, users have created more than 10,000 posts and 477,000 notes related to the film. And most of the users sharing in the jokes would have been too young to be culturally conscious to appreciate the film the first time round. The film took $121 million on opening in 2004 but could not have anticipated its revival on the internet.
More: Lindsay Lohan hints at 'Mean Girls' cast reunion to celebrate 10th anniversary.
Responding to the practically constant calls for an official Mean Girls sequel (not gonna happen, according to Fey), a sequel based on the movie is confirmed to be in production, with Fey's husband, Jeff Richmond, writing the score. Additonally, two projects based on Wiseman's subsequent books, about mothers and teenage boys, are in development. Sean Anders and John Morris ('We're the Millers") have apparently written a Mean Moms movie, which is due out next year and they're also working on the concept for a boy-centric film.
Of all the movie's core cast members, Lacey Chabert has been the quietest since her career defining role. McAdams, Lohan, Caplan and Amanda Seyfried have gone their separate ways yet have found considerable success in other Hollywood projects, so much so that they're unlikely to feature in any extension of the original film. Just like Cady notices a new generation of Plastics springing up at the end of the movie, a new wave of stars will help plant their mark on the story when Fey casts her Broadway show and we'll laugh, cry, quote, and try to "make fetch happen" all over again.
More: 'Mean Girls' helped launch the biggest women in comedy, says Neil Flynn.