Top 20 Things You Never Noticed in Mean Girls

#20: You Go, Glen Coco!

Without saying a word or showing his face properly, Glen Coco became one of the most iconic characters in “Mean Girls.” Remember the Christmas scene? Damian, dressed as Santa Claus, burst into the class and hands out candy canes, only to give Glen Coco four. It’s such a random moment made unforgettable by Damian’s wild enthusiasm. But here’s the kicker: the actor who played Glen didn’t even know he’d be in the movie. Actor David Reale had wandered onto set for a free lunch and somehow ended up immortalized in pop culture. Isn’t that cool? Even more amazing is the fact that Tina Fey named the character after her brother’s friend. So, Glen Coco is real. That’s so fetch!

#19: Foreshadowing of Regina’s Accident

After Janis exposes everything she and Cady did to sabotage Regina, things get heated up. Furious and betrayed, Regina storms out while Cady chases after her. Then she steps into the street and bam! She’s hit by a bus. It’s shocking but not so random. Early in the film, Cady nearly gets hit by a bus on her first day. It’s quick and easy to miss, but it could’ve been a clue. There’s also Cady’s unforgettable line about falling for Aaron, feeling like being hit by a big yellow school bus. Sounds like a metaphor for love, but was it just that? With all these little hints, it feels like Regina’s accident was foreshadowed right from the beginning. We should’ve seen it coming.

#18: Tim Meadows’ Injury

Principal Duvall is one of the few people who sees how ridiculous all the teen drama is. As the school’s weary but grounded authority, he does his best to hold things together. Here’s a fun detail you might’ve missed: throughout most of the movie, he’s wearing a wrist cast, mostly noticeable during the chaotic gym assembly. In the story, it’s blamed on the carpal tunnel, but in real life, Tim Meadows had broken his wrist before filming. Instead of recasting or hiding it, the filmmakers cleverly worked it into the script. That’s brilliant, isn’t it? Because it kinda fits that an overworked principal will also have a chronic wrist illness.

#17: The Wrong Class

We all know Cady grew up in Africa and eventually transformed into one of the Plastics. But there’s a small detail on her first day that feels off. In a quick montage, we see Cady walk into a classroom only for her teacher to yell at her in German. It doesn’t add up because Damian checks her schedule later and says she’s taking Spanish, not German. So, what happened? Did Cady walk into the wrong class? Or does her Spanish teacher yell in German when angry? The film doesn’t explain it, but it sticks out for its inconsistency. Maybe it’s just Cady being overwhelmed on her first day - a painfully relatable experience we’ve all had. Either way, it’s a fun little mystery.

#16: Ms. Norbury's Pants

In the chaos of Cady’s first day, it’s easy to miss tiny slip-ups –like Ms. Norbury’s magically changing pants. When Cady bumps into her, soda spills all over her baggy, brown trousers. Moments later, when she’s wiping them before Principal Duvall walks in, they’re suddenly black and more fitted. Like we said earlier, it’s easy to miss. Still, we can’t help but wonder: did Ms. Norbury change her trousers in front of her students? If she did, why is she still cleaning them? Unless she got a spare hidden in her desk (unlikely). The only real explanation is that it’s a continuity error. Let’s be honest. It doesn’t take away from the hilarious awkwardness that made Cady’s first day unforgettable.

#15: “Friday the 13th”

Janis and Damian are enjoying a scary movie night all alone when Cady walks in, delivering a perfect jumpscare. For hardcore horror fans, it’s pretty clear they’re watching towards the ending of “Friday the 13th Part 2.” So, it’s understandable why they’re so visibly shaken when Cady walks in dressed like a zombie bride from the Halloween party. That’s not the only oddity worth noticing in the scene. After Cady takes them by surprise, the popcorn flies everywhere, yet in the very next shot, it seems to be all in the bowl. Did someone perform some sort of magic or is it yet another plot hole?

#14: Misspelled Word on the Board

Even if you’ve seen “Mean Girls” a dozen times, there’s a blink-you’ll-miss-it moment hidden in Cady’s awkward first day montage. When she asks to use the bathroom, look behind her science teacher – on the blackboard, “Silicon” is clearly misspelled as “Silicone.” Big difference! Silicon is one of the elements taught in a science class, while Silicone is used in plastic surgery. What we don’t know is if it is an intentional joke showing how clueless or underqualified the teachers are. Or perhaps it’s just a genuine filming oversight. Or maybe it’s a clever nod to the name “Plastics.” After all, silicone fits the theme all too well. Whatever the case may be, it gives you another reason to rewatch this teen classic.

#13: Mrs. George Wears Pink on Wednesdays

One of the most ridiculous rules of being part of the Plastics? On Wednesdays, they wear pink! While Mrs. George isn’t officially part of this elite group, it appears she adheres to their rules. When Cady visits Regina’s home for the first time, Mrs. George is rocking a pink tracksuit–the Plastics’ signature colour for Wednesdays. We all know she tries really hard to be a cool mom, throwing around slang, gossiping like a teen, and showing off awkward dance moves. She’s like this hyper-involved, attention-seeking parent. She’s cringey already, but following the Plastics' rules? That’s next-level embarrassing, if you ask us.

#12: Animal Kingdom Metaphors

In “Mean Girls,” Cady often compares high school to the African jungle, where animals struggle to survive. In her fantasies, classmates morph into wild animals- fighting over cheese, gathering around fountains, aggressively flirting. She even imagines pouncing on Regina like a jungle cat in the cafeteria. Since she knows the African jungle, it makes sense that this is how she processes high school chaos. The truth is, North Shore High indeed feels like a jungle where the strong prey on the weak. Even the school’s lion mascot somehow reinforces this animal kingdom metaphor. The plastics are like the lions of the school. Just as lions rule the jungle, they rule North Shore.

#11: Lesbian/Lebanese Joke

What sparked the beef between Janis and Regina? It goes way back to eighth grade, when Regina spread a rumor that Janis was a lesbian, leading to her being ostracized. Towards the end of the film, Janis tells Kevin she’s Lebanese. They share a dance and even start dating. So, Janis isn’t a lesbian, at least not in this continuity. Let’s be real – Regina isn’t the brightest. It wouldn’t be surprising if an eighth-grade Regina confused lesbian with Lebanese. She’s probably never even heard of the country. Even though the film doesn’t confirm this mix-up, the joke plays into a long-running gag in pop culture, where the two words get hilariously confused.

#10: Gretchen Gets to Wear Hoops

The Plastics clique and the primary source of the film’s title is run by Regina George, at least initially. She dictates not only to the school at large, but also to her hangers on, Karen Smith and Gretchen Wieners. This includes forbidding them from wearing articles of clothing, like hoop earrings, because they’re “her thing,” despite Gretchen receiving a pair of them from her parents as a Hanukkah gift. However, once the Plastics have broken up at the film’s end, Gretchen can be seen sporting a pair after all.

#9: Regina’s Homeschooler Beloved Book

Regina is hardly an intellectual, but she’s still quite a cunning, if cruel, girl. She is also oddly disparaging and dismissive of homeschooling and those who experience it. Why is this odd? Because one of the books in her room, “The Lively Art of Writing,” is one often favored by homeschoolers and their parents and/or teachers. Whether the book’s presence in her room is a hint that Regina has hidden depths, an interest in writing beyond a Burn Book, or just a fun Easter Egg from the set dressers, we can only guess.

#8: The Wrong Elephant

Cady Heron is the protagonist and is dropped into high school life after being homeschooled while living in Africa. She naturally has trouble adjusting, but she does make friends who have positive and negative influences on her. Cady also develops a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron. When she shows Aaron around her room, a picture is seen of Cady riding an elephant. Despite Cady growing up in Africa, the elephant seen in the photo is an Asian one. While we’ll grant that it could have been rehabilitated back from a zoo or something, it still seems far more likely that it was intended to be an African one, and this was just a mistake.

#7: Odd Time for a Talent Show

“Mean Girls” features a famed talent show sequence, featuring a rapping performance and a risqué performance of “Jingle Bell Rock” by the Plastics. This in itself is fairly obvious, but what’s really odd about the talent show is when it takes place. According to a poster in the girls’ bathroom, the date the event was held on was November 27, 2003. Not only is the month a little premature for something Christmas-related (you heard us retailers!), but the 27th was also that year’s Thanksgiving! You’re telling us that kids attended an event at school on a U.S. national holiday? As if!

#6: A Flimsy Ruse

We mentioned Regina George’s poison pen earlier. The main evidence is her Burn Book, a journal filled with hurtful gossip about everyone in school, students and teachers included. To get back at Cady and the other Plastics after she’s ousted from the group, Regina omits their names from the book and includes some dirt on herself to make it seem like they were responsible for writing it; making them social pariahs. Except…it’s all handwritten. And no one thinks to check Karen, Gretchen, or Cady’s handwriting against the writing in the Burn Book? Seems like it’d be pretty easy to exonerate them.

#5: Shakespearean Queen Bees

In another Christmas-related moment, Damian delivers candy canes to students, leading to the aforementioned “Glen Coco” line. While most are probably paying more attention to Damian’s admittedly hilarious delivery, the background of the scene contains a classical Easter Egg related to the film’s plot. The Shakespeare quote on the blackboard is from “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” which features three queens asking for revenge for the deaths of their husbands. Three queens fit well with the three queen bees (or four) of the Plastics, yes?

#4: Ms. Norbury Is a Piano Virtuoso

During the aforementioned talent show, the Plastics nearly face disaster during their performance after losing their CD player and the music they’d prepared. However, Cady begins singing “Jingle Bell Rock,” and is joined by the others, with Ms. Norbury joining them on piano. Now, in case you didn’t know, playing by ear can be quite difficult, even for professionals. So Ms. Norbury is not only an overworked, underpaid high school teacher/bartender (Who drives a Trans Am? Whaaat?), but she’s also an amazing piano player! Maybe her third job is as a music teacher or a lounge player…

#3: Cady Copies Regina Before Replacing Her

In her attempts to take Regina and the rest of the Plastics down from within the group, Cady inadvertently becomes more like Regina over time. While this can easily be seen after she’s already taken Regina’s place, given that Cady starts wearing hoop earrings, there are some signs beforehand too. One of the more prominent indicators is the necklace with the letter “C” on the end that Cady begins wearing, in imitation of the “R” one that Regina wears. Subtle foreshadowing is always fun to find no matter the film.

#2: Cady’s Weird Racism

Although generally pretty intelligent, Cady makes a surprisingly dumb and racist mistake early on in the film. While trying to get to know students in the cafeteria, she attempts to speak Swahili to Black kids in the cafeteria. Trying to fit in and falling back on something familiar is one thing, but did Cady honestly believe that the students were from Africa? Did she, someone who grew up there, not realize that Swahili is just one of literally thousands of languages spoken on the continent? Is she unaware of American history and that most Black people in the U.S. had ancestors who were African slaves who lost much of their culture? Like, what the actual hell, Cady?

#1: Janis & Damian’s Map

When she first arrives at North Shore High, Cady is completely ignorant of the social hierarchy of the school. Thankfully, her new friends Janis and Damian manage to fill her in on everything she needs to know. Part of their education includes a map of the cafeteria and the surrounding environs. This map contains plenty of “blink and you’ll miss it” details, including where each clique sits in the lunchroom, the typical menu items served, as well as a warning that the nearby woods are prone to makeout sessions and sexual activity. Useful info indeed.

What other juicy details have you noticed in “Mean Girls?” Share with us in the comment section.