Summary
- A Mean Girls theory suggests Janis was the movie’s real villain.
- As mean as Janis was, Regina was also a villain.
- Mean Girls is more complex, showcasing different types of “mean girls/people” and high school dynamics.
Mean Girls is all about the fall of Queen Bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), but there’s a theory that says Regina isn’t the movie’s real villain – but I don’t entirely agree with it. The 2000s saw the rise of teen comedies, and one of the most popular and beloved ones is Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters (who a year earlier directed Freaky Friday) and based on Rosalind Wiseman’s self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes, Mean Girls took the audience to North Shore High School to follow Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan).
Cady had been homeschooled her whole life as she lived in Africa with her parents, who were research zoologists, and now she was about to enter the wild and ruthless world of high school. Cady befriended outcasts Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese) and Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan), who later came up with a plan with Cady to get revenge on the most popular girl in school: Regina George, and for that, Cady had to befriend her and her clique of “Plastics”. Regina has been named one of the most memorable villains in teen comedies, but she wasn’t the only villain in Mean Girls.
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Mean Girls Theory Says Janis Is The Real Villain
Janis Wasn’t Entirely Innocent
If it wasn’t for Janis Ian, Cady wouldn’t have gone through everything she did in Mean Girls. Cady was invited to the Plastics’ table by Regina because she took pity on her after Jason tried to mess with her at the cafeteria, fully taking advantage of Cady’s vulnerability as the new girl. This gave Janis the idea of using Cady as an insider to collect information on Regina, who she claimed had ruined her life many years before. It was later revealed by Regina herself that she and Janis used to be best friends, but the latter got too clingy and upset when Regina got her first boyfriend.
Regina didn’t invite Janis to her pool party because she thought she was a lesbian, and so their friendship ended. It’s implied in Mean Girls that Janis used to be one of the Plastics, as her choreography for “Jingle Bell Rock” was still used by them every year. After all those years, Janis wanted revenge, and when Regina betrayed Cady by getting back with her ex-boyfriend, who was Cady’s crush, Janis saw the chance to use Cady to finally get her revenge, and she absolutely took it.
Janis never hid the joy and pride it gave her to see that their plans succeeded.
Janis, Damian, and Cady came up with various plans to ruin Regina in different areas of her life: her physical appearance, her love life, and her friends. Janis never hid the joy and pride it gave her to see that their plans succeeded, and the only thing she regretted was considering Cady her friend, as she ended up becoming a Plastic. Because of all this, a popular theory says Regina wasn’t Mean Girls’ real villain: it was Janis, and I agree to an extent.
Janis Was A Mean Girl, But So Was Regina
There’s A Reason Everyone Feared Regina George
Janis took advantage of Cady’s vulnerability not just as the new girl, but after she had her heart broken.
I agree that Janis was a mean girl and a villain in Mean Girls, but I don’t agree that she was the one and only villain in the story. I won’t deny that Regina ruined Janis’ life, and she had the right to be angry after all those years (everyone processes their trauma differently), but what she did to Cady wasn’t right. Like Jason did in the cafeteria, Janis took advantage of Cady’s vulnerability not just as the new girl, but after she had her heart broken, which isn’t what a friend does.
It’s not just how Janis used her new friend Cady for her revenge, but also everything they did to Regina.
Janis used Cady’s new anger against Regina for what she did with Aaron to bring her into her revenge plan, but she wasn’t counting on Cady getting too comfortable among the Plastics. Of course, it’s not just how she used her new friend Cady for her revenge, but also everything they did to Regina, which was started by her. As mean as Regina was, some of the things Janis, Cady, and Damian did were too much, such as giving her high-calorie snack bars so she would gain a lot of weight.
However, like I mentioned above, what I don’t agree with is that Janis was the only villain in Mean Girls, because Regina definitely was one, as well. Most of Regina’s evil/mean actions either happened before the events of Mean Girls (such as how she destroyed Janis’ reputation) or off-screen, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. Regina was controlling, manipulative, intelligent, and cunning, just like Janis – except that they showed their “meanness” in different ways. Regina was more about “breaking” people from the inside, messing with their minds and self-esteem, while Janis was more about actions.
Other theories suggest the real villain was Cady, with some going as far as to say she was Regina’s doppelgänger, giving Mean Girls a fairytale-like twist. This idea is based on how Cady started as a puppet of Janis and ended up taking over not just the revenge plan, but Regina’s spot in the social pyramid as the leader of the Plastics, destroying Regina’s reputation and Janis’ plan. Cady surely did some shady stuff in Mean Girls, but I wouldn’t call her a villain or even a “mean girl”, as she was just wowed by her sudden popularity and let it control her.
How This Theory Changes Mean Girls (& Makes It Better)
Mean Girls Is More Complex Than It Seems
Looking back and with the realization of Janis’ real role in it, the movie shows different types of “mean girls/people”.
Realizing that Janis is a villain in Mean Girls completely changes how I see the movie, but for the better. Mean Girls is definitely fun and has some of the most iconic scenes and lines from the 2000s, but looking back and with the realization of Janis’ real role in it, the movie shows different types of “mean girls/people”. As I explained above, Janis wasn’t the good friend she presented herself as and took advantage of Cady, using her for her own revenge, which ended up getting out of control.
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Regina wasn’t innocent at all and did a lot of harm before and during Mean Girls, and Cady let herself be controlled by her new social status in school – and because of this, I see her as more of a “victim” of the circumstances than a villain, and let us not forget she hadn’t had the experience of attending a school and socializing. Damian, Gretchen, and Karen also represent “meanness” but differently: theirs was more passive, as they either witnessed Janis and Regina harm others or endorsed it, whether due to “friendship” or seeking validation (like Gretchen).
Mean Girls is a lot more than it might seem, as it’s not just an accurate (though obviously exaggerated in some parts) portrayal of what the high school experience was in the 2000s and how mean teenagers can be to each other, but also how others, directly or indirectly, take part in that “meanness” and bullying, and being “mean” isn’t exclusive to one clique.
Mean Girls (2004)
Mean Girls tells the story of Cady (Lindsay Lohan), a teen girl who falls in with the wrong crowd. After returning to the USA after spending her childhood in Africa, Cady infiltrates her school’s group of mean girls, befriending the conniving Regina George (Rachel McAdams) and her cronies. However, Cady finds the high school hierarchy to be far more complicated than she had imagined, drawing her into a game of manipulation and deceit that threatens her reputation.
- Director
- Mark Waters
- Release Date
- April 30, 2004
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
