5 Things That Make No Sense About ‘Mean Girls’
The 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls is one of the most iconic film of the 2000s. The brainchild of SNL creator Lorne Michaels and comedian Tina Fey, this movie developed a cult following thanks to timeless humor, over-the-top situations, and so much teenage angst. Mean Girls is endlessly quotable and undeniably hilarious. But it doesn’t make perfect sense.
Fey wrote the screenplay based on Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 non-fiction self-help book, Queen Bees and Wannabes and her own experience in high school, according to IMDb. But despite these influences, North Shore High School has a few details that don’t match up with reality.
Cady Heron’s backstory is missing some information
Mean Girls fans are quite aware that Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is just trying to fit in at her new high school after spending most of her life in Africa while her parents were conducting research. What doesn’t make sense is why Cady tells the students at the school that she, “just moved here from Africa.” Africa is a continent, not a country. Why doesn’t she get more specific?
And Cady also has no discernible accent despite living in “Africa” for at least 12 years. It’s not logical.
Cady should have known what everyone was wearing to the Halloween party
High school girls wouldn’t dream of going to a party without first consulting each other about what each person is wearing. It was funny to see Cady show up in a hideous, scary costume when all the other girls knew to dress sexy.
But to think Regina, Gretchen, and Karen weren’t showing off their outfits — or at least discussing them — doesn’t accurately reflect teens getting ready to attend a party.
Characters keep breaking the fourth wall for no reason
When an actor in a movie or on television addresses the audience by looking into the camera to speak, it’s called breaking the fourth wall. This happens twice on Mean Girls but doesn’t seem to serve any point or drive the story forward.
It makes sense that new student Cady Heron wasn’t in the Burn Book
One of the central conflicts in the movie was the distribution of the Burn Book, which included hurtful or even illegal information about students and teachers at North Shore High School. The principal narrows down the culprits to Cady, Gretchen, and Karen because they aren’t in the book.
But why would he expect a new student to be part of the Burn Book, which was clearly being worked on for years?
The Janice Ian storyline had a few flaws
Cady’s friend Janice (Lizzy Caplan), an outsider who’s all too familiar with Regina George and the Plastics, is one of the best characters in the movie. But her storyline has a couple of weird details.
For example, during the talent show performance the audience learns that Janice choreographed the “Jingle Bell Rock” dance. This seems wildly out of character for Janice and doesn’t fit the timeline of when she supposedly stopped being friends with Regina.
Plus, the kiss scene between Janice and her best friend Damon is weird and unnecessary.
Enjoying Mean Girls means suspending your disbelief just a little bit. But fans know that effort is totally worth it.
