Latex Movie Review: Mean Girls

Tina Fey was ready to graduate from Saturday Night Live in 2002. She had already submitted an idea for a sitcom about a cable news network that would eventually evolve into a sitcom about a SNL type show called 30 Rock. While that show was still in development she set her sights on the big screen, adapting a self help book called Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Relations of Adolescence into a comedy script called Mean Girls. Lorne Michaels became the films producer, and many SNL alumni were cast in small roles, Tina taking the part of a school teacher.

Mean Girls stars Lindsey Lohan as Cady ( pronounced Kay-dee ) Heron, a girl who's parents were research zoologists in Africa which meant that for the first sixteen years of her life she was home schooled while she traveled with them around the dark continent studying animals. After mom accepts a job as a professor at a Midwestern university the family moves back to the United States and Cady, for the first time, is enrolled in High School. There she quickly becomes friends with outcasts Damien and Janis who tell her that the students belong to different cliques, and the clique that is currently on the top of the pecking order are a group of stuck up hot girls known as the Plastics. Cady soon finds herself invited to become a member of the Plastics, and is encouraged to do so by Janis who wants her to sabotage the clique, especially it's queen bee Regina ( Rachel McAdams ). And from there Mean Girls becomes very familiar. I myself recognized bits lifted from Jawbreaker, The Craft ( two movies recently reviewed for The Latex Movie Review ) and Heathers, with a little Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Little Darlings thrown in. Despite claiming the book Queen Bees and Wannabes... as the movies source, Tina Fay has milked every popular movie that featured girls in cliques for ideas. The end result is a movie that could have easily been called Not Another Teen Schoolgirl Movie and released as yet another Airplane style parody movie. My problem was that the stolen material was not particularly organic to the film. It seemed to be added simply to pad the script out to feature length. As corny as the script for The Craft was, there was a reason why the biggest hunk in school asked new girl Sarah out on a date her first day in school, and it ultimately lead to a vital plot point. When the same thing happens to Cadey in Mean Girls it only leads to Regina stealing said boy from Cadey and indirectly to Cadey agreeing to sabotage Regina's life. But didn't Cadey agree to join the Plastics in the first place so she could sabotage Regina's life? You also wonder why Cady would continue to pine away for a boy so shallow that he would dump her the second something better looking showed up. As unoriginal as Mean Girl's script is, it does have the humor of Tina Fey which is in the same style as 30 Rock. If you enjoy that series then odds are you will also enjoy Mean Girls.

THE SCENE:
Halloween is nothing more than an excuse for the girls in this movie to dress up in slutty costumes. Rachel McAdams chooses a playboy bunny style costume, Amanda Seyfried a teddy and mouse ears, but Lindsay Lohan completely misunderstands the concept and wears a zombie bride costume. But the costume that makes this film worthy of the Latex Movie Review is worn by Lacey Chabert, a black latex catsuit which she first appears in at 25 minutes. Another scene that gets a lot of attention takes place during a school talent show. While singing a sexy version of Jinglebell Rock, Lindsey, Rachel, Amanda and Lacey all wear sexy Santa costumes that consist of tight red wife beater tops, red vinyl miniskirts, thigh high black leather high heeled boots, Long black satin gloves and the traditional Santa hat, all trimmed with white fur. This happens at 36 minutes. Beginning at 56 minutes Lindsey throws a party at her house when the parents are away, wearing a black leather mini dress with a pink satin stripe down the side. ( The same party has Lacey wearing a form fitting shimmering orange top. ) A couple of other outfits worth mentioning, at 16 minutes Rachel is wearing a black leather miniskirt while Amanda wears a pink leather miniskirt. And at 49 minutes Rachel tries on a pink satin mini gown at a dress shop, and is seen again wearing it beginning at 1 hour 21 minutes but with a neck brace.