When she wrote the screenplay for Mean Girlsmore than twenty years ago, Tina Fey was far from imagining that the film, distributed in 2004 in France under the title Lolita in spite of myself, would become cult. “I just hoped that it could be filmed and released in theaters,” confides the American comedy star to 20 minutes. Since then, the teen comedy has been adapted into a musical comedy in 2018 which, in turn, has been adapted into a feature film, showing in French cinemas since Wednesday – each time with Tina Fey at the helm. for the texts.
Let’s go back to the origins. In the early 2000s, the screenwriter and actress drew her inspiration from an article in New York Times about the book Queen Bees and the Wanabees. “It was about the way girls treat each other, sometimes underhanded, brilliant but cruel. It is violence that is not physical. This fascinated me. I found this very true compared to the memories of my own adolescence, explains Tina Fey. I thought there was material for a film. Initially, I thought it would be more about the teachers, but as I wrote, the teenage characters turned out to be the most interesting. »
October 3, a day like no other
This is how Cady Heron was born, a teenager who grew up in Kenya and arrived at a high school in Illinois. By trying to integrate, she discovers the different clans which structure the hierarchies between the students. At the top, there are the “Plastics” led by the charismatic Regina George, as feared as she is adored. Then begins a dissection of the codes governing each group and an exposition of the strategies that can help gain (or lose) popularity.
If the film, whose cast includes Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried, only had 300,000 theatrical admissions in France at the time, it was more successful internationally and its release on DVD, coupled with the Internet culture, has transformed it into a pop culture phenomenon.
October 3 (referring to the date when hunky Aaron asks Cady, who has a crush on him, what day it is) has become #MeanGirlsDay on social media – with fans taking the opportunity to share memes and remind Internet users of the film. Mean Girls also inspired a Mariah Carey song, Obsessedthe original cast was reunited for a Walmart supermarket ad spot on the occasion of the last “Black Friday”, and several of these dialogues have entered the collective memory, like: “On Wednesday, we wear pink” (“On Wednesday, we dress in pink”).
“ Mean Girls has passed the test of time »
Moreover, on Monday, the audience at the preview of the new version of Mean Girls at the Grand Rex, in Paris, had mostly respected the pink dress code and the room looked like a fuchsia tide. Alizée, invited to surprise by performing Me… Lolita in the preamble to the screening, explained how much his 19-year-old daughter, Annily, was a fan of the original film. And that through repeated viewings, she ended up knowing the lines by heart. “I use the expression ‘It’s so fetch [génial ; un terme que, dans le film, un personnage cherche à imposer, en vain] ” in my everyday life, Auli’i Cravalho, who plays Janice in the new version, assured us a few days earlier. I was born in 2000 and I have always known Mean Girls. With his punchlines, he has stood the test of time. »
The striking aftershocks are not the only explanation for the phenomenon. “If the film is so appreciated, it is because, beyond the dynamics at high school, it talks about feeling uncomfortable in a new, unknown place, where you have to try to find your place, believes Angourie Rice, new interpreter of Cady. We have all more or less experienced this, at work or in our free time. These themes remain current. »
“A character for everyone”
Jaquel Spivey, who plays Damian Hubbard, also highlights the strength of the characters, both stereotypical but with very distinct temperaments, allowing the audience to find the possibility of identifying themselves. “There’s always a Gretchen somewhere or a Damian. Or a Duvall principal. There is a character for everyone,” emphasizes the actor.
Tina Fey doesn’t say the opposite: “I think people love these characters and the actors who originally played them. That’s why I can’t wait for the public to discover the new generation of actors who have made the roles their own, she tells us. I figured if we could have ten different Spidermans, we could definitely have at least two Regina Georges. » If the phenomenon Mean Girls persists, it is also due to the fact that the cult is maintained.
“In tune with the times”
” I think that Mean Girls, version 2004, managed to stand out from all its competitors at the time by not taking itself too seriously. Thirteen years later, the musical allowed a new generation to discover this work which proves that it can still have resonance today. It takes the plot of the film and the cult scenes and adds the social media aspect and the hyperconnectivity of today’s high school students,” underlines Florian Guerard, creator and host of the “Musical Avenue” podcast.
Bebe Wood, interpreter of Gretchen Wieners in the feature film released Wednesday sees Mean Girls like a bridge between generations: “The original film was in tune with its times, just as ours is with what we experience today. But everyone, regardless of age, has had a high school experience and the storyline remains relevant and honest to what it means to be a teenager. »And whatever it is, Mean Girls will remain fetch!