The Tina Fey-penned, Lindsay Lohan-starring high school dramedy came out literally 10 years ago, which not only serves as yet another reminder that holy hell I’m getting old, but also that there hasn’t been a well done, everyone can like this flick movie like it in quite some time.
And make no mistake about it: everyone likes Mean Girls, including guys.
Go ahead and deny it. Hit me with a “Speak for yourself, bro!” if you need to, but just know that I know you like it and I’m with you, because Mean Girls is a really good movie on a whole lot of different levels and there are a number of reasons why tons guys really enjoy this movie.
First and foremost, it’s an extremely watchable flick. You didn’t have to be a girl in high school to get this movie — it played to plenty of demographics and as much as guys like to pretend like we never went through a lot of the stuff Cady Heron & Co. wrestled with in the fictitious halls of their Evanston, Illinois high school, we did.
All of us.
At some point, everyone has been a Plastic or Janis Ian or Aaron Samuels. Some of us were Cady Heron and others were Regina George. Some of us might be Mrs. Nordbury or Cady’s misguided parents now that we’re a little older. Maybe we didn’t write a burn book or plot ways to make another student gain weight, but everyone has been in a clique or excluded from a clique or witness those interactions from the fringes because these things aren’t just high school ideas.
Secondly, it’s also an awesome hangover movie—you don’t need to pay super-close attention to enjoy it, there are some easy laughs and quotable moments, and while you’re crashed out on the couch after a night of seven too many, that’s exactly what you want to put on. Slice was made for movies like this.
(Note: writing this on Sunday afternoon during prime hungover hours, Slice has gone back-to-back-to-back with No Strings Attached, Miss Congeniality, and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, all three of which fit the hangover movie criteria.)
And let’s be honest: there were a bunch of attractive females in this movie and an abundance of pretty girls increases the watchability of any movie for guys because, well, because we’re guys and we like pretty girls.
Mean Girls is actually where my Tina Fey crush took root. I watched Saturday Night Live and thought she was great, but Mrs. Nordbury sent it over the top. I have zero problems admitting that. Still love her to this day.
Though she’s descended into ridiculousness over the years, Lindsay Lohan was “The It Girl” at the time this movie came out and still the cute, girl-next-door type. If you were anywhere between 13 and 21 at the time, you liked her, period.
Rachel McAdams didn’t quite pop as a “Well Hello There” female lead until The Notebook came out a couple months later, but her attractiveness has never been in question. The same goes for Lacey Chabert. While I’ve never been a big Amanda Seyfried guy, I can still admit that she’s attractive, because she is.
Lastly — and this might be what cinches it — this movie is quotable and guys love quotable movies, even if they’re geared towards girls.
Gretchen may not have been allowed to try to get “fetch” to catch on in the movie, but “fetch” caught on in real life in an ironic, sarcastic, fun kind of way.
“I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom” was terrific and I know I used it to describe several “cool parents” that I knew. Mathletes became a thing.
“You smell like a baby prostitute” is still great and “Don’t have sex. You will get pregnant and die” is still a good mantra.
Deny it all you want, guys, but know this: Mean Girls is great and it’s perfectly understandable that you love it, even if you feel like you have to hide your love for it.
