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 Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, and Amy Poehler.Director Mark Waters described the movie as "Clueless meets Heathers "[1], 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.
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 television 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
Characters
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
* Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) - The main character of the film. Cady is a teenager that has just moved to North Shore High School after spending her whole life in Africa. She first makes friends with Janis and Damian, but is invited to have lunch with the Plastics. She also develops a crush on Aaron Samuels, who is Regina's ex-boyfriend. When Regina betrays Cady by starting to go out with Aaron again,, 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. At the end of the movie she realizes that all the gossiping and backstabbing is pointless.
* Regina George (Rachel McAdams) - Regina is "Teen royalty" and the leader of the Plastics. Whether intentional or unintentional, this is reflected in her name; Regina being Latin for "Queen" and George being the name of several famous monarchs. 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 Shane Oman. Aaron Samuels is actually Regina's ex-boyfriend, she dumped him for Shane.
* 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. It's possible the character of Janis was loosely based off of real life folk singer Janis Ian, who performed at the first episode of SNL, but another possibility is that she is named after late rock singer Janis Joplin.
* 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 to Cady 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) - Karen is also a member of the Plastics, 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.
* 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.
Box office
The movie was declared an instant success after its opening weekend made the film $24.4 million and the #1 film in America at 2,839 theaters.[3] Due to strong word of mouth, 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. It was later nominated for the prestigious WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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