Millennials Designated A Date In Honor Of 'Mean Girls' Movie

In case you haven’t been on the internet for a while, October 3rd is mean girls day, the official holiday celebrated by the fans of the teen comedy. "Mean Girls" is relatable, irreverent and absurd — that's why millennials love it so much. Have you watched it?

In the movie, the main character gets asked what day it is from her main crush. She dreamily replies “It’s October 3rd” and from that, the official holiday was born. Mean Girls debuted more than fifteen years ago, so how is it still so celebrated among millennials and teenagers today? The move is still downloaded and played constantly and quoted by kids that weren’t even born when the movie came out. What is it about this film that seems to be standing the test of time?

For starters, the move is funny, irreverent and very quotable. So much so that it’s difficult to avoid cultural references to it, even if you haven’t seen it. Chances are you have heard or maybe even said a quote from the movie that you didn’t even realize was from the movie! The films portrayal of high school and teenage girls is routed in anthropology, and it is not subtle at all. One of the main characters played by Lindsay Lohan literally compares the dynamics of teenagers in high school to animals in the wild. In a scene from the film, Lohan states that she knows exactly how the current situation would be in the wild as she imagines herself roaring like a lion and diving on the other girls.

Because of that framing device, the movie’s imitations of high school popularity, burn book rumours and cafeteria clicks are absurd. But they are also relatable and informative. And there is a reason for that.

Mean Girls was actually based on the non fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by author Rosalind Wiseman. The author is a renowned speaker on parenting and anti bullying. In a 2014 interview with the Atlantic, Wiseman said about the film “It gave archetypes of people’s behaviour, and it sort of started off as a stereotype, but it got into the bigger and more complicated and more nuanced dynamics between all of the characters.”

Today the portrayal of these dynamics still holds relevance. No longer just a movie, Mean Girls has spawned a Tony nominated Broadway musical and countless rumours of direct spin-offs and sequels. Even though the movie still hold major popularity with young adolescents and teens around the world after fifteen years, it is hard to tell if a sequel will be able to hold the same fan base and connect with these kids on the same level.

Although the movie does have a good overall lesson, it also portrays bullying and taunting, something that not all parents want their kids to watch. If they can get past the mean scenes and focus on the overall message of the movie, they will see that this film may indeed be a good flick for their teenage daughters and sons to watch on a Friday night. It might show them the other side of high school life and understand how it may feel to be the one being bullied.