Mean Girls is a film that has a lot of nostalgic importance for me.  It came out when I was a senior in high school and it was the last film that I saw before I graduated.  So, for me, Mean Girls always brings back memories of the excitement of knowing that my “real” life was about begin.  When I watch it or think about it, I’m always transported back to that time when the future seemed limitless.  I knew I was going to go to college, I was going to meet the love of my life, and I was going to have a great time doing it.  Thoughts of Mean Girls transports me back to one of the most exciting times of my life and, for that reason, I like to think of it.

Add to that, Mean Girls happens to still be a pretty funny and perceptive movie.

One thing that I do always find interesting about films like Mean Girls and 10 Things I Hate About You is that, even though they may be critical of the traditions of high school, they all seem to be taking place in the type of idealized high school that we all wish that we could have attended.  These high schools are always huge with brightly colored walls and quick-witted students who never have a bad hair day.  The rich, popular kids are always so clever with the way that they express their disdain.  And even the outcasts are still pretty good-looking.  Even more importantly, the outcasts are always so sarcastic and political.  They don’t just accept their outcast status.  Instead, they spend all of their spare time plotting ways to overthrow the system.  Perhaps best of all, all of the various cliques have such clever nicknames.

From my experience, most public high schools aren’t actually like this.  Then again, I went to high school in Texas and most of these films were made in California so maybe it’s just a west coast thing.  The important thing about a film like Mean Girls is that, even though it takes place in a heightened reality, there’s still enough reality that anyone watching it can relate to the film’s story.

(It’s been my experience that even real life mean girls love Mean Girls, mostly because I think everyone assumes that in high school, they were one of the clever, sarcastic outcasts, regardless of whether they actually were.)

In Mean Girls, the popular clique is nicknamed the Plastics and they’re led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams).  New student Cady  (Lindsay Lohan) is the latest member of the clique but what the Plastics do not suspect is that Cady is actually an infiltrator who has been recruited by outcasts Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese) to take down the Plastics from the inside.  However, as Cady goes out of her way to destroy Regina’s reputation and turn the rest of the school against her, she soon discovers that she’s running the risk of becoming just as mean as Regina…

Mean Girls is a comedy but, at its center, there rests a very important message about the need for people to not … well, to not be mean.  That may seem like a simplistic message and I guess it is.  But it’s still a good message to get out.  The script by Tina Fey is both clever and funny, deftly mixing the message with the comedy.  Finally, the film has a great cast, with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams as stand-outs and great supporting turns from Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, and Tim Meadows.

Thanks for the memories, Mean Girls!