INVESTIGATION: Mean Girls Vs She’s The Man: Which Is The More Iconic Teen Movie?
When it comes to high school teen movies, there are few ’00s flicks quite as iconic as She’s The Man and Mean Girls. But if you had to pick a side, which film has more to offer? We’ve launched an investigation to help you decide.
Both movies are timeless hits with Mean Girls instantly iconic since 2004, while 2006’s She’s The Man slowly gained popularity for the comedic masterpiece is truly is. Seriously, how many times can you rewatch these movies?
These two films are some of the most quoted movies of their decade and both helped relaunch the careers of child stars Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes – two actresses who have since seen better days.
They are both absolute gold and tbh they’re about on par in our hearts but if you have to make a choice then it’s important to examine all the evidence.
So we’ve done a thorough investigation into what both movies have to offer, to help you decide who to put your money on when push comes to shove.
Let’s start with our leading ladies: Cady Vs. Viola
Mean Girls’ Cady Heron is a great protagonist. She definitely embodies the ‘journey’ character arch and while there’s some questionable behaviour going down when Cady goes full ‘plastic’, moral righteousness prevails when she shares her enlightening epiphany mid-mathlete tournament. Onya Cady.
HOWEVER, Viola Hastings in She’s The Man schooled everyone with her progressive views and rallied against gender norms. Viola for president 2020.
Which movie is more quotable?
Basically every line of Mean Girls is red hot and quotable. The whole script is iconic.
Admittedly, Mean Girls has some hilarious lines but She’s The Man also gave us gold.
Sorry Amanda, but Mean Girls is probably one of the most quotable films ever. It’s won this round.
What eye candy is on offer?
Mean Girls is full of hotties but I’m going to go ahead and focus on objectifying the men because that’s just the way it’s gonna be lil darlin’. Aaron Samuels is satisfactory eye candy. He’s cute, he’s quirky, plus his hair looks sexy pushed back.
But on the other side of the fence, She’s The Man introduced the world to Channing Tatum.
Enough said.
Whose supporting cast is more entertaining?
Regina’s mum is totally ‘down’ with the youth culture.
As far as cringe goes, Eunice has got it down.
However, Regina’s ‘cool mum’ has got this one in the bag.
Which principal wins?
Principal Duvall trying to tame the high school Mean Girls and relate to ‘women’s issues’ is iconic stuff.
But She’s The Man’s uber friendly principle was much more err… welcoming.
She’s The Man has to take this round.
Which film has more cutthroat deception?
Destroying Regina George was a surprisingly calculated plan for a group of teens to hatch, and it was ruthless af.
To pull off Viola’s transformation into her brother Sebastian, she had to enlist her friends and attempt some ‘bro language’ which quite often was a major fail.
She also fell for her best guy friend Duke and manipulated him into dating the female version of herself. Geez, I’m getting dizzy.
We reckon Mean Girls has got this.
Who makes a better grand speech?
We do love Cady’s public destruction of the spring fling queen tiara, the pivotal moment the mean girls all decide to stop being mean and start sharing plastic paraphernalia.
The closest thing She’s The Man had to a grand speech was Viola breaking up with her brother’s toxic girlfriend.
Sorry not sorry, Lindsay’s kickass speech might have an edge here.
Which had a better strong female lead?
While Cady had a certain naive innocence in the beginning, eventually she gave into peer pressure, even becoming a ‘mean girl’ herself by trying to take Regina down.
Whereas Viola was always herself and never followed society’s sexist standards and rules.
Now pick a team???
You’ve got the facts, so now decide for yourself who you would win in the battle of: Mean Girls vs. She’s The Man.
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Written by Sophie Giles and Tara Watson.