Mean Girls Review
Mean Girls was everywhere when I was coming of age to the extent that, even though I never made the decision to watch Mean Girls, I had seen the entire movie by pure osmosis, in bits and pieces, mostly out of order.
Recently, though, I made the conscious decision to watch the film, and putting all the pieces together, it’s not surprising why it became such a pop-culture darling. Tina Fey knows how to write a script, and the jokes come pretty fast furious, just like my favorite creation by Tina Fey, 30 Rock. The movie’s super quotable, and even if you’ve never seen it, you’ve seen the memes: “Get in loser, we’re going shopping,” “On Wednesdays we wear pink,” “you go, Glen Coco,” and of course, my personal favorite line in the movie: “I don’t hate you because you’re fat, you’re fat because I hate you.” It’s vicious, ridiculous, and weirdly Zen.
And then you’ve got the Plastics, Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith, and of course, the meanest girl of all… toxic insecurity. The movie does an interesting balancing act of really digging down on the idea of how monstrous the girls at school can be to each other before softening towards the end of the film as Ms. Norbury, played by Tina Fey, steps in to point out that more than any one girl in school, the characters are all trapped in a culture that pits them against each other and makes it easier for boys at school to tear them down.
It’s a thoughtful point, and true, although it also lets some of the worst offenders off without any direct punishment (though the universe sometimes has other plans). In a positive light, it’s a Breakfast Club moment of commiseration and rage against the expectations placed on all of us. In a less generous light, it leads to a conclusion that borders on sappy, and while I get I’m not the target demographic, in my experience people never talk about the end of the film, mostly because it’s just not as entertaining or relatable as the rest.
Even though I had to pay actual money to rent this one, it was worth the experience, and one that definitely belongs in the teen movie canon. 4 Swedish weight gain bars out 5.