Mean Girls has secured itself as one of the most iconic teenage films of all time.
Following the life of Cady Heron, a home-schooled teenager dropped into the world of a public high school, captured the attention of millions when it debuted in 2004. With a star studded line-up, including Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfreid and Amy Poehler, the film became a box office smash.
The story, based on a parenting book called Queen Bees and Wannabes, the film brought in a massive $130.1million in cinemas, all for a budget of just $18million. The film also catapulted Lindsay to new heights in her career as she broke out of the child image she had started with.
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But what many fans may not know is that many of the raunchy scenes in the film had to be adapted or axed entirely for the sake of censors. Though the film itself is riddled with innuendo and cheeky moments, some scenes appeared to cross the line with film bosses that demanded it be changed.
One scene in particular that was hit hard was when Cady walks in on fellow ‘Plastic’ Gretchen making out with boyfriend Jason during a house party. In the iconic scene, the young high-schooler walks in on the couple getting steamy with their kisses, but the plan was initially something much more explicit.
In the initial cut of the scene, Cady was set to walk in on Gretchen and Jason getting up to some much more naughty antics. This was eventually cut from the film, with the script having to be changed; as a result, the iconic line “made out with a hot dog” was initially “masturbated with a hot dog”.
Censors also took issue with one of the most well-known lines from the film, arguing that it was too explicit for a teenage movie. The line came in the form of a student who, in the midst of confessing their issues, exclaimed: “I can’t help it if I have a heavy flow with a wide-sit vagina.”
Bosses at the film board told production crew that the line would have to be cut, but writers fired back – pointing to much more vulgar remarks made in Anchorman, a similar-humoured film released at the time. Director Mark Waters explained to Vulture magazine years later that they called out censors on their sexist behaviour.
“We told them, ‘You’re only saying this because it’s a girl, and she’s talking about a part of her anatomy’,” Mark said. “There’s no sexual context whatsoever, and to say this is restrictive to an audience of girls is demeaning to all women.”
Eventually, censors backed down from their complaint about the line, which would go on to be one of the most iconic in the movie. The film’s release would go on to win a number of nods at the Teen Choice Awards, and the MTV Movie Awards in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
