I walked into the theater and my expectations were low. I’m talking through the ground. I was fully prepared for this to be the most painstaking two hours of my life. And you know what? I left angry, but not because I wasted my time, in fact it was the exact opposite; “Mean Girls” the musical was AMAZING.
It seems to be a new thing in this hybrid-internet world, that anything and everything different is commented on, criticized or pulled to shreds. I do not know who gave all these internet trolls the go ahead, but quite a negative atmosphere has been created. It seems that no matter what I watch, whether it’s a video of a model or of a body positivity influencer, someone’s unhappy. The saying holds true that “you can’t please everyone,” but honestly, I think people need to stop expecting to be pleased by everything.
We need to run it back to preschool and reteach the idea that if you have nothing nice to say, keep it to yourself and in the kindest way possible… no one cares. I’m not speaking about you or friends. I mean the Brad and Chads who have had enough with Taylor Swift being at sports games or a “Mean Girls”reviewer “p[sic]” who was mad that the slurs were removed because quote: the songs “They sounded better with the slurs MUSICALLY!” Thank you “p” for your input. Or “Lizasaur” who wrote a three-paragraph review about the one star she gave yet admitted “I haven’t even watched the movie yet” Or the thousands of other people shouting from the roofs about their disappointment in it being “nothing like the original.” THAT’S THE POINT! IT’S A REMAKE! IN 2024! It has been 20 years, things change, MOVE ON! (the poster also says, “The All- New Movie,” if someone did not force you to watch it then, you chose this yourself) Yes, I too, have been upset that something wasn’t what I expected but, three paragraph reviews, fat shaming and boycotting? Hating has gone far too far, what happened to enjoying things?
Had I listened to those tearing Renee Rapp limb from limb with their thrashing “critiques,” I would have missed out on two wonderful hours of nostalgia, laughs, gasps and fantastic songs and performances. Thank you once AGAIN Tina Fey for your brilliant mind.
I say who cares, you can all be negative nellies, I’m gonna enjoy things: Mean Girls the musical brightened my day, introduced me to catchy Broadway songs and made me fall in love with Renee Rapp and her talent.
The movie started in Africa. Yeah, we got to see Miss. Cady Heron in her natural environment, when then her single mother decides it’s time for a move. This is already a win, cause guess who the mom is the one the only: Pam Beesley. Jenna Fischer is a wonderful actress and the most perfect mom; her acting made me tear up a little cause it reminded me how much I miss my mom. Jump to Miss Heron in the cafeteria where an incredibly casted Damien and Janice explain the more censored version of social classes at North Shore High. This I didn’t mind but the anti-woke warriors were up in arms, I think it was wonderful to see how far we have come as a society to the kind of language we tolerate. Then the camera pans and we meet Regina George, in all her glory: blonde blowing hair and the voice of a siren, I become entranced. Rapp continued to keep me hooked till the last scene in all her snarkiness.
I think there were many stand-out performances beyond Renee: “The Sex Lives of College Girls’” (amazing show) own Avantika Vandanapu who played Karen, “The Summer I Turned Pretty’s”- Christopher Briney who played Aaron Samuels, Tim Meadows, Auli’i Carvalo, Jon Hamm, on top of everyone I have already mentioned.
The only critiques I have are none. The Shein costumes were on point – fast fashion is consumed no matter the amount of money in your bank account. The regular shmegular singing from Angourie Rice was relatable and the abundance of cringe was on point.
As a culture, I think some laughing and sunbathing would do us some good, nothing is that serious, and all in all “Mean Girls” hit the spot.