Mean Girls is a 2004 film written by (and co-starring) Tina Fey. It stars Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert and Rachel McAdams and featured several Saturday Night Live cast members, including Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, and Amy Poehler.

Director, Mark Waters described the movie as "Clueless meets Heathers", the latter of which was written by his brother, Daniel Waters. It was based on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which describes how female high school social cliques operate, and the effect they can have on girls.

Mean Girls - Movie poster

Plot

The movie centers round 16 year-old Cady (pronounced Kay-Dee) Heron (played by Lindsay Lohan) who moves to Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, after being raised in Africa by her zoologist parents. Cady's family moved there after her mother received tenure at Northwestern University. She begins attending North Shore High School, where she meets Damian and Janis. Damian (Daniel Franzese) is "almost too gay to function," and Janis (Lizzy Caplan) is artistic and somewhat alternative; neither are very popular. She later encounters The Plastics (Regina George, the Queen Bee, played by Rachel McAdams; Gretchen Weiners, the gossiper, played by Lacey Chabert; and Karen Smith, the dumb blonde, played by Amanda Seyfried) - three beautiful and popular girls who invite Cady to become their friend.

Initially reluctant, Cady joins the group so she can learn their dark secrets at the behest of Damian and Janis. However, when Cady becomes infatuated with Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (played by Jonathan Bennett), Regina reinforces her Queen Bee status by reclaiming him. Cady, Damian, and Janis plot together to bring Regina down and remove her from her high social status. Janis refers to Regina as an "evil dictator" and asks Cady, "How do you overthrow a dictator? You cut off her resources." Janis defines these resources to be Regina's "technically good physique" (hot body), "high status man candy" (Aaron Samuels), and her "loyal band of ignorant followers" (Army of Skanks).

At first their attempts don't work, and in fact only make Regina more popular; but Janis, Cady, and Damian finally succeed. Much to Cady's surprise, Gretchen and Karen turn to her as their new Queen Bee. Her newfound popularity, with its attendant status and power, goes to Cady's head and she unwittingly emulates Regina's behavior. Events come to a climax at a party Cady throws while her parents are out of town. She tells her parents she wants to stay behind to go to Janis' art show, and tells Janis and Damian she is going out of town with her parents. Originally meant to be a small affair designed to bring her closer to Aaron, the party quickly grows out of control. Cady gets drunk at the party, admits to Aaron that she faked being bad at calculus to attract his attention, and then vomits on him. He leaves in disgust just as Janis and Damian pull up in a car, outraged that she lied to them. Janis screams at Cady that she has become Plastic, then drives off with Damian. Regina also arrives at the party and vows revenge.

The key to her plan is the Burn Book, originally created by The Plastics, which contains mean (sometimes accurate) observations and "burns" of most of the girls in their grade and some of their teachers. She plants a picture of herself in the book and tearfully turns it over to the school's principal, Mr. Duvall (played by Tim Meadows), noting that Cady, Gretchen, and Karen are the only girls not in it. The three are called to his office and asked to confess, but the meeting is interrupted when his assistant runs in, exclaiming, "The girls have gone wild!" It's shown that Regina has photocopied every page of the book and distributed the copies throughout the school so that they can be discovered by the people they lampoon. The girls begin rioting, fighting each other viciously until Mr. Duvall breaks a fire alarm to set off the sprinklers. He orders all junior girls to report to the gymnasium, where the entire class seems to have fallen for Regina's frame job. They shun Cady universally.

Mr. Duvall attempts to deal with the cliques that have formed and "girl" problems, but is derailed by a girl who misinterprets his invitation to discuss their problems and describes her menstrual period. Ms. Norbury (played by Tina Fey) begins a seminar to get the girls to confront their problems directly. Each of the cliques is plagued by infighting, unspoken feelings of resentment, and strong distrust. The girls then must write apologies to each other and read aloud them to the whole grade. Cady cannot do this without admitting that she wrote about Ms. Norbury in the Burn Book; she goes to the back of the line, prompting Janis to angrily get up in front of the grade and scrap her original apology in favor of a thinly-veiled tirade about Cady. She reveals all the tricks they played on Regina over the year; hearing this, Regina storms out of the gym. Cady follows her to apologize, but Regina cuts her off, angrily telling Cady that she is worse than herself because she attempts to maintain a facade of innocence despite her actions as Queen Bee. In the middle of her rant, Regina gets hit by a bus.

The revelation of the Burn Book and the accident convince Cady that she must "suck all the poison out of [her] life", comparing her situation to receiving a snake bite. She apologizes first to Regina, who has received a severe spinal injury and apologizes to Ms. Norbury for her false Burn Book entry. Ms. Norbury accepts her apology, but adds one last penance: Cady must participate in the Mathletes (the school's math team) state finals, which takes place the same day as the Spring Fling dance.

Cady ends up breaking a tie and winning the final for North Shore High. Ms. Norbury encourages her to go to the dance despite being grounded, and the Mathletes arrive at the Spring Fling in time for Mr. Duvall to announce Cady as Spring Fling Queen. Surprised, she takes the stage to apologize one last time to everyone. She discusses the Queen's crown, and says that it is only plastic and of no real worth. She asks for Janis and Damian's forgiveness in person, and they agree to forget about their fight. She breaks the queen's crown into pieces, throws it into the audience, and the dance resumes. Aaron asks her for a dance and they kiss.

At the beginning of Cady's senior year, the turmoil of her junior year has subsided. Regina has made a full recovery and her physical therapist has taught her to channel all her anger into sports; namely, lacrosse. The other Plastics have moved on. Gretchen has made friends with the 'cool Asians', Karen is a weather girl for the school's news channel, and Cady is content to be an average high school student. The film ends on a rather ominous note, hinting at a new generation of Plastics in the new freshman class.

Reactions

In an interview about the film, Fey noted, "Adults find it funny. They are the ones who are laughing. Young girls watch it like a reality show. It's much too close to their real experiences so they are not exactly guffawing" [2].

Though the movie was inspired by the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, another non-fiction book for teens, Mean Girls: Facing Your Beauty Turned Beast authored by Hayley DiMarco, was released at the same time as the movie. DiMarco had previously written Dateable: Are You? Are They? and is credited with creating the Biblezine concept while at Thomas Nelson Publishers. Characters and behaviors in the movie are based on Tina Fey's high school life at Upper Darby High School.

The "Mean Girls" - classic split screen telephone sequence

Characters

• Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) - The main character of the film. Cady has just moved to North Shore High School after spending her whole life being homeschooled in Africa. She first makes friends with Janis and Damian, but is invited to eat lunch (and thus be friends with) the Plastics. She also develops a crush on Aaron Samuels, who is Regina's ex-boyfriend. When Regina betrays Cady by taking Aaron back, she concocts a plan with her other friends to get even. Despite her anger at Regina, Cady eventually gets caught up in the world of the Plastics. She is also really good at math and joins Mathletes at the end of the film.

• Regina George (Rachel McAdams) - Regina is "Teen royalty" and the leader of the Plastics. She is both feared and desperately admired by the other female students, who gossip about her supposedly fabulous life and are pleased to be physically assaulted by Regina. She also has a tendency to compliment others and then insult them behind their backs. Regina is very rich and spoiled by her parents. Throughout the film she claims she wants to lose 3 lbs. Apparently she has had a nose job and was once best friends with Janis (before blowing her off for a boy and claiming she is a lesbian.) When she realizes Cady is stealing her life, she spreads the Burn Book around and is eventually hit by a bus. In senior year, she takes up sports to use up her rage. Regina dates Aaron Samuels and Shane Oman.

• Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) - Sarcastic and artistic, Janis is one of Cady's first friends at North Shore. She loathes the Plastics (especially Regina) and is best friends with Damian. In Middle School, she was best friends with Regina, who later claimed Janis was a lesbian when she became upset they were no longer spending time together (as a result of Regina's first boyfriend). Regina told everyone Janis was a lesbian, causing her to drop out of school for a period and coming back completely different. At the end of the film she begins dating Kevin Gnapoor.

• Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) - Gretchen is one of the Plastics, and possibly Regina's closest friend (or at least confidante). She is very wealthy because her father invented toaster strudel. Partially as a result of Cady, Janis and Damian's scheme, she begins to crack, spilling many of Regina's deepest secrets in anger at being treated badly by her friend. Throughout the film, she likes Jason, a flirtatious pervert. In senior year, she dyes her hair, learns Vietnamese and hangs out with the "cool asians" so she can continue her life as a "worker bee".

• Damian (Daniel Franzese) - Damian is described by Janis as "too gay to function". He is best friends with Janis and later good friends with Cady. He is in the student planning committee and enjoys singing. Damian has no qualms about using the woman's bathroom, and goes to the girl's workshop in disguise.

• Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried) - Damian claims Karen is the "dumbest girl you'll ever meet". She is failing almost everything and claims her breasts can predict the weather (although she usually predicts the current weather). Karen also mentions that she thinks her cousin is a good kisser, believing it to be okay as she thinks the order of relations is "cousin, first cousin, second cousin..." She turns against Regina when she discovers Regina thinks she is a slut and begins following Cady (along with Gretchen).

• Ms. Norbury (Tina Fey) - Ms. Norbury is Cady's calculus teacher. At the beginning of the film she reveals that she recently was divorced from her husband. When it is revealed Cady wrote that she was a drug pusher in the Burn Book, she has to be investigated by the police. She is also the supervisor for the Mathletes, and orchestrates the junior girl's workshop.

• Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) - Aaron is a senior and becomes Cady's crush. He used to date Regina before she broke up with him, but they get back together (later breaking up when he discovers she was cheating on him). Aaron plays soccer and likes Cady, but becomes angry when he learns she lied about being bad at calculus and saying he had been Regina's property. At the end of the movie, he forgives Cady and they begin dating.

• Mr. Duvall (Tim Meadows) - Mr. Duvall is the principal of North Shore. Throughout the film he has to wear a cast because he developed carpal tunnel. He attempts to make the girls understand each other when the Burn Book is revealed, but quickly passes it over to Ms Norbury when he realizes "girl problems" may be too much for him.

• Kevin Gnapoor (Rajiv Surendra) - The captain of the Mathletes and a wannabe MC. Throughout the film it is hinted that he is attracted to Janis, and they begin dating after Spring Fling.

• Coach Carr (Dwayne Hill) - He is generally shown teaching health class, expressly demanding his students not to have sex (as it will ultimately lead to them becoming pregnant and dying). He is also caught making out with Trang Pak, but has also been seen with Sun Jin Dinh.

Amanda Seyfried, Lindsay Lohan and 

Lacey Chabert (l-r) in Mean Girls (2004)

Cliques

In the film, the following cliques are mentioned:

• Freshmen

• ROTC Guys

• Preps

• J.V. (Junior Varsity) Jocks

• Asian Nerds (e.g. Tim Pak)

• Cool Asians (e.g. Trang Pak, Sun Jinh Dinh)

• Varsity Jocks (e.g. Jason)

• Unfriendly Black Hotties

• Girls Who Eat Their Feelings (Overweight/Obese)

• Girls Who Don't Eat Anything (Anorexic)

• Sexually Active Band Geeks (e.g. Kristen Hadley and, perhaps, an homage to the pervasive effects of that other Teen Movie Fave, American Pie)

• Desperate Wannabes (e.g. Bethany Byrd, Jessica Lopez)

• Burnouts (e.g. Amber D'Alessio)

• The Greatest People You'll Ever Meet (e.g. Janis, Damian, Cady Heron, among others) (Although this clique, minus Cady, is refered to as the Art Freaks by the Plastics)

• The Plastics (The Worst Of The Lot, according to Janis) (e.g. Regina George, Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners, and for a short time, Cady Heron)

Each clique has its own cafeteria fracture table, as seen in a montage narrated by Janis.

Box office

The movie was declared a moderate hit after its opening weekend made the film $24.4 million dollars and the #1 position at 2,839 theaters. Mean Girls had a long life at the box office and finished its run with $86,058,055. In its second weekend in theaters, the movie had a drop-off in ticket sales of 44% and 26% the following week.

Trivia

• Film grossed $86,058,055 in the United States, making it Lindsay Lohan's second highest-grossing film to date.

• This was Lohan's first non-Disney movie.

• Amy Poehler is only 5 years older than Rachel McAdams, who plays her daughter.

• A sequel is mentioned by Tina Fey very briefly in the special feature of the DVD, but it is likely it's only a joke.

• Lacey Chabert was the only choice for the role of Gretchen.

• Tina Fey admits that she was drawn to Jonathan Bennett to play Aaron Samuels because of his strong resemblance to her Saturday Night Live castmate Jimmy Fallon.

• Amanda Seyfried, who plays Karen in the film, originally auditioned for the role of Regina, but producer Lorne Michaels felt she may be better suited for "the dumb one."

• Ashley Tisdale, who is a good friend of Lindsay Lohan, tried out for the role of Karen but lost it to Amanda Seyried.

• Tim Meadows broke his wrist prior to shooting the movie, so Mr. Duvall's carpal tunnel syndrome had to be written into the script.

• During the gymnasium confessional, Tim Meadows says "Who has a lady problem that they'd like to talk about?", a reference to his character "Leon Phelps" on SNL.

• This movie is listed as Mariah Carey's favorite movie on her website.

• A poster of Mariah Carey's single "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" is on Damian's wall in a scene.

• The term "fetch" has caught on out of irony, as a sarcastic criticism of new trends 

• The high school in the film, North Shore High School, is fictional. The real high school is located in 353 N. Castlegory in Houston Texas. However, the Walker Brothers' Pancake House (which Cady wins coupons to in the movie) is a real pancake house in the Chicagoland area. Old Orchard Mall also exists, although it is an outdoor mall, not indoors as protrayed in the film.

• Regina means "Queen" in Latin and Regina is the "Queen Bee."

• The television program House makes an oblique reference to Mean Girls in the season 2 episode House vs. God:

House: "How many times can you hit pause at the part where Lindsay Lohan wins the spelling bee? What is it about girls who can spell?"

Wilson: "It's a math contest."

House: "What is it about girls who can count?"

• The leader of the Asian Nerds (Tim Pak) is the brother of the Cool Asians leader (Trang Pak).

• Trang Pak has a Korean lastname and speaks Vietnamese.

• On the DVD case, Cady is said to be 15, but she says that she is 16 in the movie.

• On the UK reality TV show, Big Brother 7, Canadian Richard Newman labelled fellow housemates "The Plastics." When confronted by returning housemates Grace Adams-Short and Nikki Grahame about the label, he revealed it to be a reference to the film, which he considered to be his favorite. This was later confirmed during the final day of the show ten days later, when presenter Davina McCall asked him about the name. He referred each contestant who was labelled "plastic" to the characters of the film.

• In the US, the film was originally given an R rating, due to its sexual material. Director Mark Waters edited down content, so the MPAA would give the film a PG-13 rating.

• Ranked #12 on Entertainment Weekly's list of 50 Best High School Movies.

• The film takes place in Evanston, Illinois, but was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; in Malvern Collegiate Institute's auditorium, Etobicoke Collegiate Institute as the rest of the school, and the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall for the math contest.

• The mall scene was filmed in Sherway Gardens located in Etobicoke, Ontario.

• The fountain featured in Sherway Gardens (where Cady depicts teenagers acting like animals) was actually a set prop as that area is normally vacant with no fountain. Otherwise that space would be used to showcase fashion shows, art displays or any special event the mall would hold (i.e. Christmas décor and a North Pole where children can meet Santa Claus.)

• Tim Meadows states in an interview that he doesn't know his character, Mr. Duvall's first name. However, a nameplate on his desk shows the name 'Ron Duvall'. Also, when Joan the secretary finds all the girls fighting over comments in the burn book, she exclaims "Ron, they've gone wild, the girls have gone wild!"

• The bus that hit or nearly hit the girls multiple times was a supposed spin off from one of the death scenes in Final Destination.

Memorable quotes

• Regina: Get in loser, we're going shopping!

• Gretchen: I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me...but I can't help it that I'm so popular.

• Mrs. George: [serving the plastics fruit drinks]
  Hey, you guys! Happy hour is from four to six!
  Cady: Um, is there alcohol in this?
  Mrs. George: Oh, god, honey no! What kind of mother do you think I am? Why, do you want a little bit? Because if you're going to drink, I'd rather you do it in the house.

• Chip Heron:"Hey, how was school?"
  Cady:"Fine."
  Betsy Heron:"Were people nice?"
  Cady:"No."
  Chip Heron:"Did you make any friends?"
  Cady:"Yes."

• Regina:[after learning Cady is home-schooled] "But you're, like, really pretty."
  Cady:"Thank you."
  Regina:"So you agree?"
  Cady:"What?"
  Regina:"You think you're really pretty?"
  Cady:"Oh... I don't know"

• Cady:"Half the people in this room are mad at me, and the other half only like me because they think I pushed somebody in front of a bus, so that's not good"

• Karen:"If you're from Africa, why are you white?"
  Gretchen:"Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white."

• Regina:"I gave him everything! I was half a virgin when I met him."

• Cady:"You're not stupid, Karen."
  Karen:"No, I am actually. I'm failing almost everything!"
  Cady:"Well... there must be something you're good at."
  Karen:"I can stick my whole fist in my mouth! Wanna see?"
  Cady:"No no no... Anything else?"
  Karen:"Well... I'm kinda psychic. I have a fifth sense."
  Cady:"What do you mean?"
  Karen:"It's like I have ESPN or something. My breasts can always tell when it's going to rain."
  Cady:"Really? That's amazing."
  Karen:"Well... they can tell when it's raining."

• Karen:"God. My hips are huge!"
  Gretchen:"Oh please. I hate my calves."
  Regina:"At least you guys can wear halters. I've got man shoulders."
  Cady: [voiceover] "I used to think there was just fat and skinny. But apparently there's lots of things that can be wrong on your body."
  Gretchen:"My hairline is so weird."
  Regina:"My pores are huge."
  Karen:"My nail beds suck."

[Pause. The other girls look at Cady, expecting her to join in complaining about herself, too].

Cady:"...I have really bad breath in the morning..."
Gretchen:"Ew!"

• Mr. Duvall:"Now what the young ladies in this grade need is an attitude makeover. And you're gonna get it, right now. I don't care how long it takes. I will keep you here all night."
  Joan (the secretary):"We can't keep 'em past four."
  Mr. Duvall: [without skipping a beat]"I will keep you here until four."

• Kevin Gnapoor:Damn, Africa!

• Mr. Duvall: "Oh hell nah, I did NOT leave Southside for this!"

• [Regina just got ran over by the bus]Cady: "And that was the day Regina George died.

LINKS and REFERENCE

• Official website

• Mean Girls at the Internet Movie Database

• Mean Girls at Rotten Tomatoes

• Mean Girls at Box Office Mojo

• Dialogue transcript at Script-O-Rama

• June 3, 2004 revised draft screenplay at Dailyscript

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