With the imminent release of Mean Girls, plenty of fans have been revisiting the iconic 2004 original.
The film that launched a thousand quotes is a firm part of the millennial zeitgeist. Many of those folks who grew up trying to make fetch happen now have families of their own, and they might be wondering: when is the right time to introduce my child to the wonderful world of Regina George?
If you’re hoping to share this film with your kid but can’t remember enough of it to judge if it’s suitable, or have never seen it before but are keen to dive in alongside your family, then you’re in the right place. Here’s our Mean Girls parents guide, to help you decide whether or not your younger ones are ready to discover the joy of Glen Coco.
What is Mean Girls about?
Mean Girls follows Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), the daughter of two archaeologists who grew up in the African savannah. When her mother takes a job at a university in the States, Cady is forced to join the public school system, where she has to learn all the unwritten social rules that define American High School. Her school, North Shore High, is home to a trio of popular “mean girls” called the Plastics (Regina, Gretchen, and Karen). Cady soon finds herself in their world, where she has to decide whether popularity is worth the pain it causes.
What rating is Mean Girls?
Mean Girls has a PG-13 rating. This means parents of kids under the age of 13 should exercise some caution before showing the movie to their kids. This is because Mean Girls has several instances of sex/nudity, a lot of naughty language, and even some violence and gore.
Sex and nudity in Mean Girls
There are multiple instances of the implication of sex or partial nudity in the film, but nothing too explicit (this isn’t Y tu Mama Tambien, after all).
The main ones involve passionate kissing, which happens a fair few times, including one scene where two characters are on a bed. In that scene, one of the character’s mothers offers her daughter condoms. There are also some scenes of scantily clad young men and women, including the character Shane Omen in his underwear, and three of the Plastics in revealing Halloween costumes. The famous “Jingle Bell Rock” scene (pictured above) is definitely a little racy thanks to the outfits and suggestive dance moves. There’s also the unfortunate Coach Carr subplot (which seems likely to have been removed from the 2024 refresh), which shows a teacher and student kissing. Additionally, there are mentions of infidelity.
There are also many spoken references to sex and nudity throughout the film. The character Karen mentions her cousin being a good kisser. Cult hero Kevin G sings a suggestive song for the talent competition, which includes the line “making love to your woman on the bathroom floor.” A scene set in a sex education classroom mentions chlamydia, sex, pregnancy, and condoms. Planned Parenthood is mentioned in a scene. One of the characters talks specifically about her vagina (not in a sexual context, but in reference to her period), and Karen mentions how her breasts can “tell when it’s going to rain.” Regina refers to herself as “half a virgin,” and a side character is said to have lost her virginity to “a hot dog.”
There are no explicit sex scenes, and no full-on nudity.
Violence and gore in Mean Girls
Although it’s not a central part of the film, there are many instances of violence/gore in Mean Girls. There are two scenes where a young woman is hit by a speeding bus. One of these is imagined, but the second is real, and we see the character in hospital and later wearing a back brace as a result of the crash. There is a scene where multiple young women get into a brawl, as well as a scene that takes place in Cady’s imagination which recasts her fellow pupils as animals fighting for space at the watering hole. In this scene various teens wrestle, and one even brings another down into a water fountain.
During the talent show scene, Damian throws a sneaker at another character after he makes fun of him, and Gretchen accidentally kicks a stereo into someone’s face. Both of these scenes show the contact between the item and the people. Cady trips and falls headfirst into a trash can, and later in the film vomits on somebody. Near the end, Regina puts in a hard tackle in a field hockey game, and is also slammed into by her teammates after they win. There are a number of uses of the term “social suicide,” as well as instances of flatulence. Regina’s mother is also seen to have her breast implants gnawed on by the family dog, and there is mention of her breast enhancement surgery several times throughout the film.
Adult language in Mean Girls
There are multiple references to swear words throughout Mean Girls, including the term “-effing.” Regina also says the word “mother-” with the implication that the second half of her exclamation will be the f-word. Janis makes an obscene gesture with her arm, there are 4 references to bodily functions, 22 sexual references, 8 mentions of anatomical terms, 1 use of a derogatory word for black people, 2 homophobic slurs, 19 examples of religious exclamations, and 21 mild obscenities. Damian is referred to as “too gay to function” three times throughout the film.
Substance use in Mean Girls
Alcohol is consumed in several scenes in the film. One of the major plot points also involves a student accusing a teacher of dealing drugs. The specific drugs are not mentioned, and the audience knows the rumor is false throughout the film.
