‘Mean Girls’ Brought Gretchen’s Hoop Earrings Complaint Full Circle
Mean Girls is a 2004 teen comedy that is widely considered to be a cult classic movie. One of Lindsay Lohan’s most beloved films, Mean Girls was written by Tina Fey and features a star-studded cast, including Amanda Seyfried and Rachel McAdams. Mean Girls offers an inspired look at the inner workings of high schoolers in America, including social hierarchy structures.
Viewers quickly gravitated to the film, including the fashion commentary from characters like Regina George and Cady Heron, played by Lohan. Notably, one scene in the film ties into a later Easter egg that still has fans buzzing, so many years after the film’s release.
Which ‘Mean Girls’ scenes revolves around hoop earrings?
One of the elements that fans love about Mean Girls is the inspired interchange between characters. None of the dialogue in Mean Girls is wasteful, meaning that there are several things referenced throughout the course of the film that are touched upon later. This is evident in one scene in the film that features Gretchen telling Cady that Regina George has forbidden her from ever wearing hoop earrings because hoops are Regina’s “thing.”
According to a video from the MsMojo YouTube channel, as Cady starts to infiltrate the Plastics to try to take Regina’s queen bee status, she can be seen wearing similar accessories to Regina – including eventually sporting a chic pair of hoop earrings. The video notes that the moment is “powerful,” since it symbolizes Cady’s transformation into one of the “cool girls” – a marked change from the low-key homeschooler from the beginning of the film.
How did ‘Mean Girls’ bring Gretchen’s hoop earrings remark full circle?
Not only did Cady wear hoop earrings as she tried to mirror Regina’s look, but the character of Gretchen, played by Lacey Chabert, got her own full-circle moment with the jewelry item as well. At the end of the film, once the Plastics have all gone their separate ways, Gretchen is seen sitting at lunch wearing a large pair of silver hoop earrings.
While Gretchen doesn’t clarify whether the earrings that she is wearing are the ones that she spoke about in her earlier conversation with Cady, it seems safe to assume that the hoops were the ones gifted to her by her parents that Regina originally forbade her to wear.
What other Easter eggs can fans look for in ‘Mean Girls’?
Mean Girls contains a lot of fun fashion references. BuzzFeed has a rundown of some of the most memorable Easter eggs, including another jewelry-themed moment when Cady can be seen wearing a matching “C” necklace just like Regina’s iconic “R” accessory. Notably, this is well before Cady displaces Regina as the leader of the Plastics, proving that she was planning well in advance to take over Regina’s place.
Another fun moment comes when Mrs. George can be seen wearing a pink tracksuit on Wednesday, just like her daughter and the other members of the Plastics. Since Mrs. George goes out of her way to claim that she’s a “cool mom,” this can be a subtle way of indicating that Mrs. George really believes that she is a trendsetter.
Mrs. George features in several memorable moments from BuzzFeed’s roundup, including the scene where she can be seen trying to take pictures of Regina and Shane’s fancy dress outfits from behind. Finally, Cady moves from Africa at the beginning of the film, and struggles to adapt to public high school – but the mascot at North Shore is a lion, well known as the king of the jungle.
