"Mean Girls" (2024) Premieres: It’s Not a Regular Musical, It’s a Cool Musical

The most fetch thing to happen yet in 2024 has undoubtedly been the musical adaptation of the timeless movie, Mean Girls. Mean Girls is a classic movie that originally was inspired by the 2002 self-help book known as Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which was written to assist parents of young girls during their troublesome teenage years. This early 2000s staple depicts the amplified version of a stereotypical American high school life. It contains the dramaticised portrayal of various cliques, over-exaggerated interactions between teenagers, and outfits that are all exclusive to this era and make this movie practically irreplaceable.   

The plot focuses on protagonist Cady Heron, who transfers to a public high school after growing up homeschooled, and befriends both a clique of stereotypical “loners” and the “Plastics”: the classic, well-known, and good-looking mean girls. The leader of the “Plastics” is Regina George, a “queen bee” who ends up infatuated with the same man as Cady. 

Cady’s journey through high school overall displays an intensified struggle to balance academics, familial, and social life. With a cafeteria full of cliques that mimic a harsh savanna filled with predator and prey, and conversations in which one wrong word could result in your social status being permanently abolished, Mean Girls creates an irreplaceable exhibition of teenage life. Though the movie severely over-exaggerates these situations, its overall moral is that you should accept yourself and refrain from being overly judgemental. The film exemplifies this with a climax that centers around a seemingly playful action that eventually escalates into a disastrous mess. The Plastics create a “burn book” that is filled with gossip about almost every student in the school excluding them, and when the information inside is made public, it creates havoc in their school. After somewhat resolving their issues, the Plastics become significantly more tame and Cady begins to accept a more thoughtful lifestyle that is true to herself. The film shows you that highschool is a very difficult time for every student and that it is key to embrace your own identity and treat others well, regardless of what everybody thinks. 

The recent adaptation takes from the musical that was released in October of 2017, and includes a new and improved cast to make this modern film its own. The actor and actresses that play Damian, Janis, and Karen, are all people of color and make a bold entrance while adding new diversity into this modern musical adaptation. The representation of South Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and African American identities in the musical is a major change from its previous all-White main cast. The alterations that were made to this remake were done to reflect the experiences of high schoolers in today’s world, asco-director Samantha Joyce told People Magazine during the film’s premiere. A key example of this includes gossip primarily being spread through social media. Additionally, the active representation of LGBTQ+ individuals such as Janis, and the inclusion of Regina’s hidden “homophobic” views that were present in the original movie would be considered controversial in our changed society. The new musical also includes a feature from famous The Summer I Turned Pretty actor, Christopher Briney, who plays Regina and Cady’s mutual crush, Aaron Samuels. The adaptation itself also contains the additional small modification, such as relationship or dialogue changes, but still manages to capture the original piece’s general essence.

The modern recreation of this timeless film adds a new fashionable element to the idea of “Mean Girls” and it can almost seem like an “update” to match with our current generation. Overall, the musical captures a very dramatic and comedic version of the many themes in current day society that are meant to be portrayed by the film and does so in a very progressive and entertaining manner. I found the musical to be both charming and enjoyable despite the inclusion of a couple questionable songs and altered dialogues. Regardless of its quirks, the adaption still manages to capture many amusing aspects of teenage years in our modern world and wraps it all up into a timeless recreation.

by NIHASHI NAG