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come-see-our-show · 8 months

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I saw an early screening of the Mean Girls movie last night, so here is a summary of my thoughts, comparing the movie musical to the Broadway musical, which I was lucky enough to see live in 2018!

Changed that I liked:

The usage of social media in the Broadway show made it very clear that it was written by adults who didn’t know much about Gen-Z. It was probably one of the worst parts of the show in my opinion. But Tina Fey must have done her research since 2018, because the way the movie uses TikTok, memes, vlogging, and FaceTime to push the story forward worked VERY well. I think there were some influencer cameos, but it didn’t feel they were included to show how “young and hip” they were, It actually added authenticity.

The diversity within the cast and changing last names to reflect the characters’ backgrounds (Karen Smith ➡️ Karen Shetty, Janis Sarkisian ➡️ Janis 'Imi'ike)

Cutting down “Meet the Plastics.” It’s a very exposition-heavy song and doesn’t need to be super long, even though the full version is quite catchy and fun.

All of the new jokes landed so well, probably because Tina Fey’s writing style is better suited for the screen as opposed to the stage.

This is more of a comparison of the musical vs. the original film, but a big change was The Plastics’ weaponized wokeness (which I talk about here).

The production design for most of the songs was very different. The stage musical has a lot of rock songs, which were changed to a pop sound for the movie. I personally prefer rock musicals, but it was a good way to give the movie a separate identity from its predecessor so it doesn’t risk becoming a carbon copy. It worked on some songs (“Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn”) but not on others (“A Cautionary Tale” and “Revenge Party”).

Cutting the joke about Regina’s ass being big. It was a very low-brow joke, which I’m not a fan of, and was just really immature. Thank God that was changed to her falling, which still shows her being embarrassed without her body being the joke.

Explicitly making Janis a lesbian! (It’s only implied in the stage show with “It’s not even true… I only have one butt”) And she goes to prom with a girl while Damien dances with a boy! ALSO THERE’S REJANIS LORE AND IT’S SO HEARTBREAKING I LOVE IT

megan thee stallion just… being there

Miss Norbury and Principal Duvall being a couple and owning a dog together!!!

As a low mezzo, I appreciated whoever decided to lower the key for “I’d Rather Be Me.” I felt very represented 🩷

Having Cady be raised in a single-parent household so it focuses in more on her relationship with her mom. Jenna Fischer was so motherly and sincere and brought a warmth to the movie. Their scene together near the end made me emotional (you’re never too old to ask your parent to stay with you until you fall asleep) (also this is my request to make jenna fischer my mom)

Changes that I didn’t like:

Cutting BOTH of Damian’s solos??? (SHE’S LEAVING!!!!!!!! JUST LIKE MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Cutting “More Is Better.” It wasn’t necessarily a memorable song, but it did give both Cady and Aaron more depth, both as separate characters and within their relationship.

While cutting some of the songs helped with pacing, cutting HALF of the score made me forget that it was a musical sometimes, which sucks because I really like musicals!!!

Other stuff:

The movie was marketed horribly. One of my friends didn’t even know it was gonna be a musical because there were no songs in the trailers 💀 (Also, this isn’t just a Mean Girls problem. The Color Purple also didn’t have any songs in the trailer. I didn’t even know Wonka was a musical until I saw it in theaters, so that was a bit of a shock.) If you’re producing a musical movie, maybe your focus groups should be musical fans, because that’s still a HUGE market.

Auliʻi Cravalho’s voice is STUNNING! She and Jaquel Spivey had great chemistry and their friendship felt so genuine!

The opening and ending transitions from the garage were everything to me

The EDITING

Angourie Rice is a great actor and fit Cady perfectly… except for her singing. Out of the entire cast she was easily the weakest in terms of vocals and it was pretty disappointing since she’s the LEAD. I could barely hear her in the new song “What Ifs” because of how quiet and breathy she was. I think it’s a better written song compared to “Roar” though.

Jon Hamm cameo!

Ashley Park cameo!

I cannot stress enough how funny this movie was. I was probably laughing louder than everyone else in the theatre.

I lost my shit during “Meet the Plastics” when Regina unzipped her jacket and Cady was staring at her boobs. She’s just like me fr 🏳️‍🌈

I know that Regina is a horrible person but I couldn’t find it in me to dislike her in the slightest. She just served too much cunt 😩

Christopher Briney is a good actor, but I don't think he was the right choice for Aaron Samuels. I would hate to ridicule anyone for their looks, but it still plays an important part in casting. Aaron is supposed to be a somewhat naive, wholesome, hot jock (and Regina has high standards, so he better be a fucking model). Briney is definitely a cutie, but gives off “smoldering badboy with a secret sensitive side” energy, which isn’t what Aaron should be.

The fantasy sequences (Stupid With Love, Revenge Party, October 3rd). I LOVE when movie musicals USE the medium to tell stories in a way that they can’t on a stage!!!

THE CHOREO!!! Everyone freezing then shaking in “Someone Get Hurt” AHHHH that entire number was HYPNOTIZING!!!!!!!!!!! My friend told me the choreographer’s name is Kyle Hanagami, so shout out to him. (also reneé rapp was so fucking hot while singing that oh my lord)

I will be calling my pimples “face breasts” from now on (avantika ilysm)

DAMIAN’S FRENCH COVER OF THE ICARLY THEME SONG 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

why was there a 0.5 camera shot of cady during revenge party 💀

“I’d Rather Be Me” was so much fun and I felt so fucking empowered. And the transition from the song to the bus was just *chef’s kiss*

“donut worry i am still your freend” 🥺

Lindsay Lohan cameo!!!!!!!!!

NOT ENOUGH RENEÉ RAPP 😭😭

Overall, the movie was not perfect, but the Broadway show already had plenty of flaws, so it’s understandably how that would affect the adaptation. I still a LOT of fun and would definitely see it again. Go stream Snow Angel by Reneé Rapp. i love women 🥰🥰🥰

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idontplaytrack · 2 months

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hiiii <3

Can you do one where Janis has been having a lot or trouble in school, and her friends have always kind of jokingly called her dumb or stupid because she makes bad or irrational decisions and she gets overwhelmed and at a big group sleepover freaks out and regina has to calm her down in front of everyone.

Shut up, shut up

Janis ‘Imi’ike x Regina George

Warnings: coarse language, teasing/bullying, Janis gets angry, some crying, self-loathing, implied smut at the end

Janis has been trying to play nice. But her feelings have been hurt by those closest to her— over and over again. One night, she loses it in front of everyone, needing Regina to step in and defuse the situation.

“G, hey.” Janis walks up to Regina, backpack slung over one shoulder.

“Hey, you.” Regina’s flashes her a smile when she came up before her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Janis barely reacted, causing her to ask if she was okay.

“My new homeroom teacher gave me detention for doing embroidery work in the classroom. It’s not like I wasn’t listening, y’know?”

“Ugh, I’m sorry, baby.” Regina puts an arm around her and they headed to their next class together.

“At least it’s only an hour. I’ll be right there at your place as soon as I get outta detention.”

“Mm, okay.” Regina hums, snaking an arm around her waist. “Want me to cook?”

Janis agrees with an eager nod, “That’d be nice.”

Entering the classroom with some time to spare, the couple sat down at their usual desks, Janis takes out her class materials before Regina followed suit. When their teach walked in, the students immediately quiet down. But still, the teacher standing in the front of the class seemed visibly unhappy. “Yes, ‘Imi’ike. I’m looking at you.”

Janis was startled, then confused. “Don’t look so confused, you’re not a freshman. You should know your clothing choice is against school code.”

“I…have been wearing the same kind of outfits all year. Why is it that it’s become a problem today?”

“It’s too short.” The teacher nearly seethed, “Say another word and I’m giving you an hour detention.”

Regina bites back a scoff, but the teacher saw it anyway. “What’s seems to be the problem, George?”

“Nothing, Mr. Moss.”

“‘Imi’ike, one hour. And cover up.”

Not wanting to escalate the situation and cause more trouble for herself, she stayed silent and dug through her backpack for her jacket, put it on and zipped it up.

Janis was starting to feel irritated again. Everything seemed to be going wrong already. And the day’s barely started. She was tense from the anger and frustration that was bubbling up within her— Regina could tell. That meant Janis would definitely need to let go of that emotion after school, some way somehow. Usually, Regina would help her out, cuddling, or much more. Other times, what Janis needed would be to scream, cry or both. Very rarely, Janis would immediately just punch something. Regina hated that last method the most because Janis would end up hurting herself, and that, hurt Regina.

When lunchtime rolled around, Janis got herself three hours of detention and a substitute teacher to hate her. Really, all Janis did was clarify the number of pages in the workbook they had to complete and the teacher immediately responded by yelling.

“Fuck, fuck. I hate today.” Janis mutters, sitting down at the usual bench with her friends. Regina was right next to her, “What happened?”

“What didn’t happen, G?”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be so dramatic, Janis. I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Karen remarked. Janis sucks in a deep breath, keeping her gaze focused on her Converse. She shrugs off Regina’s hand on her back and was fiddling with her thumbs, painfully hard. “Stop.” Gretchen interjects before Karen could continue, “Don’t say anything else. That’s not nice, Karen.”

“But she always—” Aaron added on, “You don’t have the best temper, Janis.”

Now, Regina wanted to slap him. Janis quickly grabbed her bag and ran to the bathroom, feeling like a knife’s been repeatedly slicing through her heart hearing each passing word.

“Janis.” Regina tried to hold her back by the wrist but she easily got free and went on her way.

“Very good, guys. Y’all are such children.” Damian scoffs, Regina leaves the table to go check on Janis.

“Just leave me alone, Regina.” Janis spoke through gritted teeth, hands clutching the sink countertop.

“No, I will not.”

“You need to eat.” Janis says softly.

“Oh, and you don’t?” Regina replied.

“Fuck, why?” Janis slams her fist to the counter, Regina internally cringes, “Jay, let’s go back to lunch. Ignore them, okay?”

“Really? They always do this, make little comments about me, about how I have shitty temper, always being like ‘oh, it’s just Janis being Janis.‘. They don’t see how hard I’ve been trying to change for the better, and how sometimes, the things I get into trouble for aren’t my fault.”

————

When the last bell rang, Janis snaps out of her trance. It felt like she blacked out after lunch and just got through the rest of her day— without any other punishments, fortunately. Regina waits for her right outside the classroom and they head to detention together. “Mom isn’t home for the week. You wanna come over after? I’ll wait for you to get out,”

“Sure.” Janis says, barely audible.

Janis didn’t say much of anything after that. Regina quickly bid her goodbye and went off to her car and waited. Well, she did drive off to the supermarket to get some ingredients to cook, and snacks. But the three hours went by fast enough. Janis got out of detention, obviously in a bad mood. She didn’t say anything and just rested her head on the window as she looked out of it. Regina doesn’t force her to talk, knowing what to do. Once they got to Regina’s room, Janis just yanked the jacket off and crashed into the bed to sleep. Regina didn’t want to stop her, because she clearly needed that. It was better than her punching a table and bruising her hand. She moves herself to lay right next to Janis, carefully wrapping an arm around her and planting a kiss to her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry. None of what happened today was your fault.”

“Clearly it has to be, even our friends are saying it like I don’t know it.”

“Janis.” Regina sighs softly, “Listen to me. It’s not on you, that’s on them. They’re just unfair, angry…sometimes, immature. Some teachers just take their own frustrations out on students and it sucks. But, don’t apologise for things that aren’t your fault, Janis. Please.”

“I can’t help it.” Janis exhales shakily. “They still think I’m like— unbreakable. I’m not, okay? I’m not. I’m fucking weak.”

“You are not weak, Janis. No.” Regina held her tighter, kissing her again, “You are not weak, Janis. You are the strongest person I’ve ever known, and that’s coming from someone who got hit by a bus.”

Janis’ body relaxed gradually as she listens to Regina speak, and her eyes also fluttered shut. She doesn’t say anything though, not because she didn’t know what to say. But because she was afraid of crying even harder.

“Just sleep, it’s okay. I’m here. Everything’s going to be alright, I got you.”

They both woke up again around dinner time and headed straight for the kitchen to prepare dinner. “Pasta?”

“Okay.” Janis agrees, leaning against the counter. “The gang’s coming over, right? That’s tonight— the sleepover?”

“Yeah. Do you want me to cancel?”

“No, it’s fine.” Janis shrugs, “As long as they shut up about me.”

“I’ll make sure of it.” Regina grins, smooching Janis on the cheek then all over her face, making her giggle.

The both of them cooked together, enjoying each other’s company and chatting about anything and everything under the sun. “Holy shit, this smells amazing.”

“Oh, thank you~” Regina bites back a grin, grabbing a plate to start portioning the food for themselves and the gang that were arriving any minute. “Never made this before.”

“Eh, well, you’re a good cook, G.” Janis smiled cheekily, grabbing a strand of noodle from the pot to try it. Regina shrieks, “Janis, oh my God!”

“My hands are clean!” Janis laughs, throwing her hands up in mock defeat. Just as Regina was about to say something back, the doorbell rang. “I’ll go get the door.” Janis says, walking away to the foyer. “Okay, thanks, baby.”

They say hi to her and Janis. Cady, Gretchen and Damian gave her a hug. First thing they did? They gathered around the dining table to have dinner as a group. Janis quietly went over to the fridge to pour herself a drink but her hand slipped and she dropped her mug when she felt a sudden squeezing pain on one side of her head.

“Oh, shit.” Someone gasped. Aaron, it was Aaron.

“Are you okay?” Janis heard Regina and Gretchen.

“Why so distracted, you dummy?” Aaron asks, it was clearly a joke. He always called her these nicknames and she didn’t mind, having a self-deprecating sense of humour. But lately, she just wasn’t having it. She’s had enough of these unkind nicknames and teasing. Regina rushed to her side to see if she cut her hand, “Don’t touch it. I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m fine, go back to dinner.”

“Janis, are you just trying to use the fact that you got detention to smash things?” Damian asked with a laugh. The rest of the gang chuckles.

“Shut up.” Janis mutters, clearly in some distress. She wasn’t even looking Regina in the eye now. “Shut up.” Janis repeated, “All of you shut the fuck up. I don’t need anyone else calling me dumb, stupid, insinuating that I’m violent and cannot control my emotions. Shut up!”

Janis swallowed her tears painfully, sliding down into a squat while her back rested against the counter. “I’m sorry.” Janis said quietly to Regina. “It’s okay, it’s just a mug. As long as you’re not injured, I couldn’t care less about a measly piece of ceramic.”

“I’m such a fuck up, I ruin everything.”

“Ja— baby, you’re not a fuck up. Okay? These people need to learn to get the hint and stop. I’m sure they wouldn’t like it too if they were in your shoes. I’m proud of you for speaking up, okay? Never ever say that about yourself again, that’s the last thing you’ll ever be. You are not a fuck up, Janis.”

“I don’t get it— you guys could tell she wasn’t happy about those damn nicknames and you all still continued? And you just had to laugh at Damian’s stupid ‘joke’? How would you feel if that’s all you heard about yourself from your friends?”

“I’m sorry, Janis. I’ll stop using those names, it was wrong, and I thought it was okay because you never stopped me and in fact laughed along. That doesn’t make it right, I should’ve paid better attention.”

“I’ll never call you dramatic again.” Karen swore, “I promise.”

Janis appreciated and acknowledged their apologies but ultimately decided she needed to spend more time alone to calm down. So, she excused herself and finished up her dinner by the pool. “Hey.” Regina came out to check on her a little later after she put on a movie on the TV for the gang. “I got you your drink.”

Janis turned around, taking the cup from Regina. “Thanks.”

Regina sat down on the low pool chair, groaning slightly as she did so due to the lingering discomfort in her back. “Do you feel better?”

“I guess.” Janis sniffed, picking at the food on her plate. “I don’t know, I think I’m just feeling weird because my mom and dad have been fighting a lot again lately and I just feel so…not like myself. And I — I fucking hate it. I hate that every little thing’s been pissing me off.”

“Babe, please…you’re a human being. Of course you’d feel emotions. Scared, worried, annoyed, sad. Whatever it is, you’d better feel them instead of bottling it all up.”

Janis cracked a smile, eating another forkful of the pasta.

“There’s that smile.” Regina coos, “Don’t you dare lose that smile of yours.”

Janis blushes, poorly hiding it. “You’re so cute.” Regina chuckles to herself, watching Janis getting flustered. “Though I must say…that too you wore at school today? So damn hot.”

“Oh, yeah?” Janis guffaws, setting her finished plate down, “Which am I then? Cute? Or hot?”

“Nice try, you’re both.” Regina turned to face her properly, patting her knee, “Let’s uh…take this up to my room?”

“Tempted.” Janis laughs quietly, “But what do you think we should do about the gang then?”

“Who cares?! They have plenty of stuff to do. Most of the gang’s kissing each other anyway.”

“Well, thank you so very much for putting that image into my head.” Janis snorted, shuddering in disgust.

Regina sighs, pushing herself up off the pool chair then extending her arm for Janis to grab her hand, “Let’s go, pretty girl.”

🏷️ Tag list:

@ashecampos @auliisflower @cheesysoup-arlo @frogs00 @ludoesartnstuffs @pda128

💭A/N:

Enjoy this half-assed attempt. Took me all day but I’m still not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. Hope it’s still okay though🤡

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