The new Mean Girls. Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
We all know it. The pink trio. The plastics. The ‘you-can’t-sit-with-us’-popular-backstabbing-amazing-most-loved-yet-most-hated-mean girls. I’m sure coming up with the title of the 2004 film didn’t take too long. Since its release a decade ago (yes girls, you heard that right), Mean Girls has influenced two entire generations of high school girlies, outsiders, nerds, dreamers, jocks and fashionistas who are just craving for the annual October-meme when Cady is crushing on Regina George’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels:
On October 3rd he asked me what day it was: “It’s October 3rd.”
I think we can all agree that this movie is a timeless classic or, as Gretchen Wieners would say: so fetch. So why is Paramount releasing a remaking of Mean Girls, ‘with a twist by Tina Fey’? And this so-called twist doesn’t seem to be much of a twist at all. I mean, yeah, they changed up the cast a little bit, and they changed the ‘jingle bell rock’ choreography of the talent show dance. Yeah, they added new music – but other than that, I couldn’t find anything in the preview. Instead, I just thought: ‘Oh no. Hollywood did it again.’ I haven’t watched the full movie yet, and I know that I don’t have to. I can tell you without watching, why we don’t need another Mean Girls Movie.
As all good journalists do, I began with a little research. First stop: Instagram. I was curious to see whether people shared my cynicism toward a remake, and well…I think the comments speak for themselves:
“Hollywood just being lazy right now”
“Is the twist that the fashion is incredibly horrendous?”
“It’s so iconic and timeless…let’s make the exact same movie again”
“’It’s cool to see Mean Girls for MODERN DAY’ – omg I grew up in the 1800s apparently”
And my personal favorite:
“It looks like a cheap version, ordered from wish”
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
To be fair, the new ‘Mean Girls’ movie is theoretically not a remake – it’s a film adaption of the broadway musical which premiered at the National Theatre, Washington D.C., in 2017 (see, I did my research). Still, no one can deny that the whole plot, lines, outfits, and the cast as well, almost looks the same as in the movie from 2004. But who wants to hear Regina George sing about her thoughts and her feelings? Because, wasn’t that somehow the magic of the original movie? That you didn’t know what was going on in her head? No one knew. And no one could ever know. Regina George is not supposed to be a relatable character. She is supposed to be someone others look up to and unsuccessfully try to copy her.
While the styling in the original version is perfectly á la 2000s with Juicy Couture, low rise, and sexy kitten heels, the producers Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. decided to put the cast in ‘more GenZ-like’ looks. Or at least what they think it is. That means corsets, mesh, high waist, colorful sweater vests, mini skirts and sneakers. Unfortunately, nothing here ended up being a good fashion moment: Karen looks like everything she wears is two sizes too tight, while Gretchen wears outfits that make her look smaller and paler than she actually is. Regina, the hottest girl of the school, looks – I don’t wanna be rude here – like someone pulled her through a trash bin of cheap fast fashion retailers such as Subdued and ASOS. Everyone who has the least bit of taste in fashion knows that no high school diva wears mom jeans right now. From the iconic, untouchable appearance of the OG clique there is nothing left anymore.
And this is actually something that doesn’t make sense to me. During the last two to three years Y2K was a huge fashion trend for Gen Z. Therefore, it almost feels like the fashion of the 2004 movie is even more modern, and captures the zeitgeist even better than the fashion of the 2024 movie.
Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury. Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
In the end, it only feels like the producers used a story that was already proven to be successful to get the money of a new generation: of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Everyone – even the producers – know that no sequel, prequel or remake will ever top an iconic original movie. So why do we have to kill the cash cow over and over again? We already had a Mean Girls 2 in 2011 – does anyone actually remember that?
Although everyone is asking the same questions – we will never know why Tina Fey, who wrote the screenplays for the first movie, for the musical and the new adaption, thought this was a good idea. Maybe it was for the money. Maybe she needed another movie role. Or maybe she saw flaws in her first ‘Mean Girls’-version, that she wanted to do better. But if she wanted to add more diversity, she could’ve done better and written an entirely new script.
While watching the movie trailer, I’m slowly starting to wonder which remake will come next. A remake of Legally Blonde? Cruel intentions? Or my worst nightmare: A remake of The Devil Wears Prada. Maybe Hollywood should just stop unnecessarily touching iconic movies. Use all that money, all that technology to create something new – something that actually makes a difference. With this last thought, I’m saying goodbye to my dear readers. Hopefully see you soon. And don’t forget: On Wednesdays we wear pink.