YMMV / Mean Girls (2024)

• Adaptation Displacement: Many people unfamiliar with Broadway assume this is a straight remake of the 2004 movie, when it's actually The Film of the Play of that movie's 2018 Broadway musical, with several of its changes already taken from that adaptation. The fact it's a musical at all seems to have surprised some people as early trailers downplayed this fact.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Regina George: Shameless Alpha Bitch or Broken Bird forced into behaving that way to appear strong? "Someone Gets Hurt" manages to play her as both at once.
  • Cady Herron: Naïve Newcomer who's genuinely sweet but trying to fit in by Becoming the Mask or Bitch in Sheep's Clothing? The musical furthers this question by having her Calling the Old Man Out in the backstory effectively forcing her mother into taking a job with Northwestern University.
• Awesome Music: Olivia Rodrigo's "get him back!" — already an absolute banger of an anthem — being used in the trailer and ads to help sell the rebellious and empowering aspects of the film against someone you felt horribly wronged by? Well played...
• Fan-Preferred Couple:
  • Despite Janis getting a girlfriend at the end of the film, most fans still prefer to ship her with Regina.
  • Cady/Regina is definitely more popular than Cady/Aaron. Reneé Rapp even ships it herself.
• Foe Yay Shipping: As with the original movie and musical, Regina and Janis hate each other, but that doesn't stop a lot of fans from shipping them together online.
• Ho Yay: Regina and Cady have a lot of moments. Renee Rapp confirmed that Regina was flirting with Cady in the "get in, loser" scene. Regina only wanted Aaron back, or showed any interest in him at all, once she discovered that Cady was interested in him. A lot of her behaviour comes across like she's hurt and jealous and trying to make Cady jealous — not because of Aaron, but because Regina is interested in Cady. Renee Rapp being a lesbian in real life has only added fuel to the fire.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many people just want to watch this movie just to see the Plastics.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Cady's mom (Jenna Fischer), who appears about four or five times throughout the film. Her most important scene is perhaps comforting Cady after Regina's accident.
  • Coach Carr (Jon Hamm) has some genuinely funny lines but — as his teacher/student relationship subplot is gone — can only be onscreen for so long.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Janis is rude, self-centered and bitchy, but the film still treats her as the Only Sane Man. As in the 2004 film, she is never really forced to apologise for her actions and in fact even gets a song ("I'd Rather Be Me") extolling her own virtues as a rebel and truth teller and ignoring the fact that she was at least as manipulative as Regina. The movie providing the backstory as to why she was further provoked into being ostracized by Regina does at least help give context, even if you still feel like Janis went too far either way.

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