t’s October 3rd, aka Mean Girls day. Taking its name from one of the film’s best-known lines (”On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was”) fans of the cult classic should clear some time for a rewatch this evening.
Over the last 20 years, the high school comedy has gained legendary pop culture status: Mean Girls tapped into the psyche of millions of teenagers around the world who sympathised with Lindsay Lohan’s character Cady, a girl who turns up at an American high school after being homeschooled in Africa. After being thrown in at the deep end, she has to quickly work out how to navigate school’s often nonsensical rules and social cues.
The film, which starred Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzy Caplan and Tina Fey (who also wrote the script), was a hit at the Box Office too, making over $130 million against a $17 million budget.
Mean Girls brought the world so many unforgettable lines that it’s impossible to pick just one. The highlights include: “I’m not a regular mom. I’m a cool mom”, “On Wednesdays, we wear pink”, “Stop trying to make fetch happen”, “You go, Glen Coco”, “That’s why her hair is so big: It’s full of secrets”, and “Grool” – and that really is just the tip of the iceberg. Fey’s entire script, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award, is essentially etched into the mind of a whole generation of viewers.
The film also brought some iconic scenes: there’s the Jingle Bell Rock dance, the phone call between The Plastics (“*cough* I’m sick”), the burn book, the gym confessions, Cady’s math competition realisation, and of course, the moment when Cady’s crush Aaron asks her what day it is – it’s October 3rd.
Perhaps Mean Girls made such a lasting impact because, in the midst of the all chaos and the comedy, there were also some clear messages: Fey touched on the pressures teenagers face to fit in at school, the way they can be brutal and bully one another; the pressures young people face to hook up, and how catty behaviour can spiral out of control. In this way, Mean Girls became an important piece of cinema.
If you plan to watch Mean Girls today, here is where you can find the film:
Subscription
For Paramount+ or Amazon Prime Video subscribers, Mean Girls is available to stream. That’s so fetch!
Renting
For those who aren’t signed up to those platforms, Mean Girls is still available to rent on all the major platforms. You can find it on YouTube and Google Play for £2.49, and Apple TV from £3.49.