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https://nerdist.com/article/mean-girls-2024-is-a-letdown-for-fans-of-the-original-movie-and-musical/
One of the most cherished, highly quotable comedies of the 21st century, Mark Waters and Tina Fey’s Mean Girls has stood the test of time as the teen comedy to end all teen comedies. Taking a page out of the recently released The Color Purple’s book, Mean Girls (2024) adapts the 2017 musical back into a film, once again bringing Cady, Regina, Karen, and the rest of North Shore High back to movie theatres.
Despite the fact that Mean Girls adapts not one but two successful projects of the same name, this new reimagining of the movie-turned-musical is a haphazard dud, doing a disservice to the stage production’s musical numbers and lacking the outlandish ferocity of the original film’s humor. Though the mixed-bag of an ensemble cast (led by a fearsome Reneé Rapp) give their best, Mean Girls fails as both a musical and an homage to the original—soulless and utterly plastic.
Mean Girls follows Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), a sheltered teenager whose life flips when her mother (Jenna Fischer) decides to uproot their family, moving from Kenya to Chicago. Clueless as to American teen culture and desperate to fit in, Cady initially bonds with misfits Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) but quickly enters the thrall of the plastics, a group of uber-popular mean girls led by the unflappable Regina George (Rapp).
In terms of its script, Mean Girls is an interesting case. It’s an adaption of a musical adapted from a movie, adapted from a book—all of which (save the novel) from writer by Tina Fey, who also serves as a producer and reprises her role as Mrs. Norbury. Returning to write yet another reimaging of Mean Girls gives Fey the opportunity to punch-up jokes from the original, though the 2024 script remains clearly reverent of the 2004 original.
The 2024 script of Mean Girls still contains all the lines fans know and love (Glen Coco, “Fetch”, on Wednesdays we wear pink, etc) but makes a few changes to accommodate a more modern setting. Mostly this pertains to the lines from the original that haven’t aged particularly gracefully—cracks about “unfriendly Black hotties” and so-called “cool Asians.” Tossing around racial slurs are nowhere to be found.
Mean Girls’ most curious changes, though, come with regard to Janis’ backstory with Regina. In the original film, Regina casts her out by lying and telling everyone in school she’s a lesbian, while in the updated version, she outed Janis, who actually was a lesbian. It’s a strange, not particularly effective change that’s indicative of how Mean Girls treats the original like gospel, cashing in on as many recognizable moments as possible and not meaningfully engaging with the changes it dares to make.
Speaking of changes, the 2024 Mean Girls has no such reverence regarding the songs written for the 2017 musical. While Fey’s book is gospel, the original Broadway arrangements (composed by Jeff Richmonds) meet decimation. Instead, we find monotonous synth-pop which transforms even the musical’s strongest numbers into forgettable sludge.
While Mean Girls on Broadway may not have boasted an original script or a cast with names like Amanda Seyfried, Lindsay Lohan, and Rachel McAdams, what it did have was a cheeky, self-aware sense of humor that embraced the ridiculous grandiosity of musical theatre. Numbers like “Where Do You Belong”, “Sexy”, and “Stop” aren’t lyrically dense, but feature stereotypically Broadway-esque choreography and have a charming, tongue-in-cheek vibe that made the musical breezy and entertaining, if not quite a sharp as the original.
In attempting to translate Richmond’s songs (with lyrics by Nell Benjamin), Mean Girls razes its songbook of any personality, humor, or referentiality. Certainly, it’s understandable why producers might opt to cut a tap number in a film full of TikTok references and Shein clothes, but even some of the musical’s tamer numbers like “Stupid With Love” are sanitized into near unrecognizability.
Yes, the arrangements are somewhat salvageable when seasoned performers like Rapp, Cravalho, or Bebe Wood (Gretchen) lend their vocal prowess. Wood’s sweetly vulnerable “What’s Wrong With Me” is a breath of fresh air and a rare moment of genuine emotionality. In that same breath, though, poor arrangements become all the more noticeable whenever Angourie Rice’s Cady attempts to warble her way through one of them, which is a shame, because she’s the lead.
Rice is certainly a formidable actress and comedienne (she gives a particularly memorable turn opposite Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys) but her Cady is bone dry and utterly lacking in personality, not to mention vocal talent. Clearly, co-directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. recognize Rice’s voice isn’t of broadway caliber. Countless Cady songs go to other characters or cut entirely and the efforts they go to to keep Cady from singing makes one wonder why they didn’t simply cast an actress who could sing the part.
As for the rest of the cast, it’s difficult to wholeheartedly identify any comedic standouts. Even the bits that do land are marginally unfunnier rehashes of jokes from 20 years ago. All the pieces are on the board, sure, but Mean Girls rests on its laurels, thinking that simply regurgitating all the right aesthetic trappings and quotable moments is enough to cobble together a cohesive reimagining of this iconic chick flick.
Between the inconsistent vocals, bizarre musical arrangements, and misguided script updates, Mean Girls (2024) is a letdown, whether you’re a fan of the 2004 film or the 2017 musical. Though co-directors Jayne and Perez Jr make some interesting and ambitious choices with cinematography and staging, a few experimental stylistic flares and an admirable effort from Rapp aren’t enough to save this high school comedy from musical ruin.
Mean Girls (2024) ⭐ (1.5 of 5)
The post The New MEAN GIRLS Musical Movie Can’t Make Fetch Happen appeared first on Nerdist.
One of the most cherished, highly quotable comedies of the 21st century, Mark Waters and Tina Fey’s Mean Girls has stood the test of time as the teen comedy to end all teen comedies. Taking a page out of the recently released The Color Purple’s book, Mean Girls (2024) adapts the 2017 musical back into a film, once again bringing Cady, Regina, Karen, and the rest of North Shore High back to movie theatres.
Despite the fact that Mean Girls adapts not one but two successful projects of the same name, this new reimagining of the movie-turned-musical is a haphazard dud, doing a disservice to the stage production’s musical numbers and lacking the outlandish ferocity of the original film’s humor. Though the mixed-bag of an ensemble cast (led by a fearsome Reneé Rapp) give their best, Mean Girls fails as both a musical and an homage to the original—soulless and utterly plastic.
Mean Girls follows Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), a sheltered teenager whose life flips when her mother (Jenna Fischer) decides to uproot their family, moving from Kenya to Chicago. Clueless as to American teen culture and desperate to fit in, Cady initially bonds with misfits Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) but quickly enters the thrall of the plastics, a group of uber-popular mean girls led by the unflappable Regina George (Rapp).
In terms of its script, Mean Girls is an interesting case. It’s an adaption of a musical adapted from a movie, adapted from a book—all of which (save the novel) from writer by Tina Fey, who also serves as a producer and reprises her role as Mrs. Norbury. Returning to write yet another reimaging of Mean Girls gives Fey the opportunity to punch-up jokes from the original, though the 2024 script remains clearly reverent of the 2004 original.
The 2024 script of Mean Girls still contains all the lines fans know and love (Glen Coco, “Fetch”, on Wednesdays we wear pink, etc) but makes a few changes to accommodate a more modern setting. Mostly this pertains to the lines from the original that haven’t aged particularly gracefully—cracks about “unfriendly Black hotties” and so-called “cool Asians.” Tossing around racial slurs are nowhere to be found.
Mean Girls’ most curious changes, though, come with regard to Janis’ backstory with Regina. In the original film, Regina casts her out by lying and telling everyone in school she’s a lesbian, while in the updated version, she outed Janis, who actually was a lesbian. It’s a strange, not particularly effective change that’s indicative of how Mean Girls treats the original like gospel, cashing in on as many recognizable moments as possible and not meaningfully engaging with the changes it dares to make.
Speaking of changes, the 2024 Mean Girls has no such reverence regarding the songs written for the 2017 musical. While Fey’s book is gospel, the original Broadway arrangements (composed by Jeff Richmonds) meet decimation. Instead, we find monotonous synth-pop which transforms even the musical’s strongest numbers into forgettable sludge.
While Mean Girls on Broadway may not have boasted an original script or a cast with names like Amanda Seyfried, Lindsay Lohan, and Rachel McAdams, what it did have was a cheeky, self-aware sense of humor that embraced the ridiculous grandiosity of musical theatre. Numbers like “Where Do You Belong”, “Sexy”, and “Stop” aren’t lyrically dense, but feature stereotypically Broadway-esque choreography and have a charming, tongue-in-cheek vibe that made the musical breezy and entertaining, if not quite a sharp as the original.
In attempting to translate Richmond’s songs (with lyrics by Nell Benjamin), Mean Girls razes its songbook of any personality, humor, or referentiality. Certainly, it’s understandable why producers might opt to cut a tap number in a film full of TikTok references and Shein clothes, but even some of the musical’s tamer numbers like “Stupid With Love” are sanitized into near unrecognizability.
Yes, the arrangements are somewhat salvageable when seasoned performers like Rapp, Cravalho, or Bebe Wood (Gretchen) lend their vocal prowess. Wood’s sweetly vulnerable “What’s Wrong With Me” is a breath of fresh air and a rare moment of genuine emotionality. In that same breath, though, poor arrangements become all the more noticeable whenever Angourie Rice’s Cady attempts to warble her way through one of them, which is a shame, because she’s the lead.
Rice is certainly a formidable actress and comedienne (she gives a particularly memorable turn opposite Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys) but her Cady is bone dry and utterly lacking in personality, not to mention vocal talent. Clearly, co-directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. recognize Rice’s voice isn’t of broadway caliber. Countless Cady songs go to other characters or cut entirely and the efforts they go to to keep Cady from singing makes one wonder why they didn’t simply cast an actress who could sing the part.
As for the rest of the cast, it’s difficult to wholeheartedly identify any comedic standouts. Even the bits that do land are marginally unfunnier rehashes of jokes from 20 years ago. All the pieces are on the board, sure, but Mean Girls rests on its laurels, thinking that simply regurgitating all the right aesthetic trappings and quotable moments is enough to cobble together a cohesive reimagining of this iconic chick flick.
Between the inconsistent vocals, bizarre musical arrangements, and misguided script updates, Mean Girls (2024) is a letdown, whether you’re a fan of the 2004 film or the 2017 musical. Though co-directors Jayne and Perez Jr make some interesting and ambitious choices with cinematography and staging, a few experimental stylistic flares and an admirable effort from Rapp aren’t enough to save this high school comedy from musical ruin.
Mean Girls (2024) ⭐ (1.5 of 5)
The post The New MEAN GIRLS Musical Movie Can’t Make Fetch Happen appeared first on Nerdist.
Updated January 12, 2024 The luxurious destination wedding market will be worth nearly $80 billion by 2027, according to data published in Research and Markets’ 2023 Destination Wedding Global Market Report.
Recently, World Bride Magazine founder Myrdith Leon-McCormack spoke about the importance of unity in the multi-billion-dollar luxury space.
From event producers, photographers, and fashion designers to planners, cake makers and caterers, people of color have historically been underrepresented in the wedding industry and publications. And the destination wedding space amplifies the disparity. As engagement season unfolds, Leon-McCormack posed a profound question: Why aren’t Black and Brown people worldwide dominating the growing industry?
Leon-McCormack, a businesswoman, mother, and proud daughter of Haitian parents, reminded BLACK ENTERPRISE that people of color are not always seen in a positive or progressive light. They’re often represented in “entertainment, the movies and cops and robbers experiences.” So, there is a responsibility to break the stereotypes circulating across media outlets.
“There’s Black people all over the world, and I don’t think people realize,” Leon-McCormack told BE.
“It is a myth to think that Black people are just limited to a specific region.”
Couples are choosing to tie the knot in luxurious destinations outside of their hometown, especially after the pandemic-induced slump. In celebration of love, freedom, and life, couples are spending an average estimated baseline cost of $35,000, according to experts. The wedding industry consists of smaller enterprises and services catering to weddings, guests, brides and grooms, and much more.
“Who you choose to spend your money with values your business,” Leon-McCormack explained to BE.
“If you don’t feel invited, wanted, desired, appreciated, why would you give them your money?”
She added: “Wherever you’re traveling around the world, you just have to make a diligent effort to find those qualified people to do the business with.“
Leon-McCormack’s ambition and brand expertise have taken her across the globe, allowing her to explore popular wedding destinations like Egypt, Qatar, Dubai, London, France, and Ireland. She is proud to have found communities, businesses, and services by people of color in these countries that welcomed her with open arms. Throughout her three-decade career, Leon-McCormack, 2023 Crain’s New York Business Notable Black Leader, has architected businesses from the ground up.
Before WBM, Leon-McCormack transitioned from a renowned Celebrity Manicurist represented by Factory Downtown into a visionary founder. MLM Represents, the firm she founded, provides invaluable strategic guidance to select clientele. She brings her prowess to radio and serves as Executive Entertainment Producer for the weekly radio show Keep It Moving w/Marsha Jews on WEAA 88.9 FM.
Since 2006, World Bride Magazine has boasted being the “number one source for diverse wedding information.” The mission is to represent the authenticity and the inclusivity of everyone on the planet. Every page broke away from the Western or European perspective and celebrated the culture of a people exactly where they were. WBM has worked with advertisers such as Piaget and Cadillac, and Black woman entrepreneurs, including Brussels-based dressmaker Valentine Avoh and Black jewelry designer Sheryl Jones.
“We don’t write about anything we haven’t touched, tasted, experienced, smelled, and seen with our own eyes… We just can’t,” Leon-Coleman said, adding that her team of all shades and backgrounds is passionate about sharing stories and ads that act as endorsements and reflect everyone they serve.
She continued, “The average consumer does not know how to differentiate between a paid ad and what we believe in. We look for brands that are inviting and are very specific, and we make it clear who they’re targeted to. But when it comes to ethic, that’s nonnegotiable.”
“I like places that are off the beaten path, and that’s what our goal is every year is to not give you the same commercial who paid the highest dollar, but to find the most exquisite gems for people to look into.”
Thanks to her wisdom, Leon-McCormack shared some tips for readers, couples, and business owners who want to take up space in the destination wedding industry.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
- Research the company.
- Find a place that’s that’s excited to work with Black people.
- Go for a trial.
- Take meetings.
- Interview people.
- Examine their body of work.
ACCOUNTABILITY
- “I am still a customer. There’s a certain standard that I expect to be treated as a customer.”
- “It’s not what you say. It’s how you say it.”
- “Give the same energy to a Black business that wants to get better, that wants to compete.”
- “If your ethics is to [exclude] other people and [shame] other people, and you have a history of doing it, we don’t do business with people like that.”
“I want Black people, Black business owners to step up their game to get into the luxury space because there’s room. Come into the luxury space with the understanding that there’s very few of us in that space, and there’s few of us that are in that luxury space.”
Pick up the lastest issue of World Bride Magazine here.