Lack of Female Agency in the “Mean Girls” Musical

I wanted to love Broadway’s “Mean Girls.” As a fan of the 2004 movie, I could see how it could translate perfectly to the stage. I was ready to put the soundtrack on loop and bask in the glow of a well-written celebration of women.

Instead, the musical not only contains major structural issues but delivers a core message that is uncomfortably muddled by a seemingly minor change: the cause of Cady’s moral epiphany. Despite its enjoyable music and quippy lyrics, the “Mean Girls” musical ultimately fails to deliver a strong message of female empowerment.

The “Mean Girls” story begins with Cady Heron moving to the U.S. from Africa, where she has been homeschooled for most of her life. Suddenly immersed in the back-handed, high-pressure atmosphere of high school, she struggles to make friends. Although social outcasts Janis and Damian are immediately welcoming to her, Cady finds herself drawn to Regina George and her fellow “plastics” — i.e. popular girls. On Janis’ urging, Cady infiltrates Regina’s group to play the spy in “a fun little experiment.” However, as Cady attempts to seduce Aaron Samuels, Regina’s ex-boyfriend, and dethrone the queen bee, she becomes more and more “plastic” until she can no longer claim that it is only an act.

The turning point in the story is when Cady realizes that she does not like the person she has become and attempts to make amends with those she has wronged. This recognition comes at a different moment in the musical than in the film.

In the movie, the realization begins to dawn at a party and reaches its climax at the Mathletes competition. At the party, Aaron tells Cady that she is “just like a clone of Regina,” but the comment obviously does not resonate with Cady, who chases after him and yells, “Call me!” After a similar confrontation with Janis, Cady is left deep in thought. African music, a nod to her past and former self, begins to play, marking the beginnings of a change.

Her full epiphany, however, does not come until the Mathletes competition. After mentally berating the appearance of a female opponent, Cady realizes that “making fun of Caroline Krafft wouldn’t stop her from beating me in this contest…Calling somebody else fat won’t make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn’t make you any smarter. And ruining Regina George’s life definitely didn’t make me any happier. All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you.” As the turning point in Cady’s character arc, this moment is organic and believable, affirming the merit of self-discovery. The climax, and the movie as a whole, encourages young girls to focus on building themselves up instead of tearing others down.

The musical shifts the focus away from the Mathletes competition, instead playing out the epiphany entirely within the context of the party. In the song “More Is Better,” Cady argues that she is not as bad as Regina, asking him who he would prefer. He replies, “I would prefer the girl you were.” Instantly, the music changes — akin to the use of African music in the film — and provides an earnest and compelling underscore as he continues: “You think this works with me. / Well, you thought wrong. / Looking at this place, / I see you trying to erase / what is best about yourself just to belong.” In this version of the story, Cady is undeniably affected by his words, softly agreeing that she “should have thought it through a bit [more].”

Aaron’s mansplaining is condescending and hypocritical. When Cady was still “the girl [she was],” he chose Regina. But this change also creates a much larger issue. In framing Cady’s decision around Aaron’s preference, the musical inadvertently promotes the toxic — and already far too prevalent — belief that women should curate their behavior to please men.

Cady’s agency is stripped away as her epiphany shifts from an internal realization to the acceptance of external advice. This change endorses the idea that women should allow outside opinions to dictate their actions, problematic in any context but even more so in a story where self-determination is a driving theme. Cady has not stopped molding her beliefs to others’ expectations. She has merely shifted from conforming to the plastics’ idea of perfection to conforming to Aaron’s, contradicting a core lesson of the film: that it is the individual who is responsible for their actions.

This loss is even more disappointing given the positive influence that the musical could have had if handled more attentively. The “Mean Girls” movie has remained a fan favorite because it considers topics that are rarely done justice, if addressed at all: the overwhelming pressure to conform, the subtle nuances of “girl world,” the power dynamics of high school, and the profound seriousness of the stakes involved. These aspects of youth impact women for the rest of their lives, and they deserve more attention. Although some of these ideas are touched upon in the show, none is given its due weight. The “Mean Girls” musical could have made a potent statement about the complexity of the female experience in a patriarchal culture. Instead, it subtly reaffirms the same male dominance that the movie strove to reject.

—Contributing writer Jessica N. Morandi’s column, “The Might of Musicals,” explores the societal implications of musical theatre, with a focus on Broadway and off-Broadway shows.