It’s gonna be so fetch
I’m a firm believer of “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” It’s how I approach a lot of things: my hair, the way I dress, work. But once in a while, you come across something that’s interesting enough to make you want to change your ways and how you view things. For this month, that “thing” for me is Mean Girls.
Despite its snarky and honestly painful headline of “This isn’t your mother’s Mean Girls,” I’m so incredibly intrigued. Regina George and Cady Heron in a world of TikTok? The entire premise of the film presented to an audience that demands political correctness? We’re in for something big.
So what is it with this iteration that has everyone so excited?
It’s a musical
Granted, a Mean Girls musical isn’t exactly the most novel idea—the movie was literally turned into a musical, still with Tina Fey at the helm. But who doesn’t love a high school musical (see what I did there)?
There’s something about telling a story through music, and this coming of age modern classic told through song demands a bigger audience.
A female director
The world has been obsessed with the female gaze recently, and the trend is making its way into casual viewing. Samantha Jayne is making her feature directorial debut, as she’s co-directing with Arturo Perez Jr. No shade to OG Mark Waters, but having a female at the directorial chair is sure to bring an added layer to the film.
The beloved educators
Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury. Tim Meadows as Principal Duvall. Need I say more?
The two area coming back to reprise the exact same roles amidst a sea of (relatively) new faces. Will their chemistry hold up? Will they dare say their iconic lines a second time around? How are their characters going to mix in with a younger group of actors?
The humor
The genius of Mean Girls really lies in the fact that it deals with real problems with an air of humor that almost makes fun of the subject. Teenage girls acting like animals? Ridiculous trends becoming popular (but still ridiculous)? We’re sure to get more of this, but with an added 2024 trend: self-awareness.
Self-aware jokes have been all the rage lately, and it’s looking like Mean Girls (2024) is jumping on it. There’s a PG-13 joke in the trailer that already points at this, but we’re pretty sure Tina Fey is going to make references left and right to the original masterpiece.
Three words: Jingle Bell Rock
The original talent show performance of The Plastics featuring Cady Heron has been cemented into pop culture history. It has spawned remake after remake and countless Halloween costumes, and now it’s getting a 2024 facelift—and a proper musical number.
For once, a remake doesn’t seem like a desperate attempt at making money. It’s actually about bringing the same story and humor and turning it into something fresh for the new generation. So is it out with the old and in with the new? Likely not for those of us that grew up with the OG, but hey, we’re willing to find out and actually not cringing at the thought.
Art Macky Arquilla
