Mean Girls has given rise to a host of internet memes over the last 10 years. On the website Know Your Meme, a simple search for "Mean Girls" brings up several results, including "Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask someone why they're white," "Glen Coco," "Get in Loser, We're Going Shopping," and "Stop Trying to Make Fetch Happen." A March 2017 Buzzfeed article entitled "93 Hilarious 'Mean Girls' Memes that Will Make You Go 'LOL, That's Fetch'" provides some indication of how deeply the film has saturated the social media landscape.
The quotability of Mean Girls owes everything to Tina Fey's script, which is smart, fast-paced, and laced with memorable one-liners that linger in the mind of the viewer. Even many of the film's throwaway lines, such as Damian's "Four for you, Glenn Coco! You go Glenn Coco!" have taken on lives of their own, given the enthusiastic delivery of the actors and the humorous context in which the lines appear. In interviews, Waters has remarked that he kept Fey "close to my vest" during production, so that she could give advice about the quality and timing of various jokes.
Articles like "Why is Mean Girls So Quotable?" (Slate, 2014), "Why Mean Girls Has Obsessed the Internet for Over a Decade" (Wired, 2014), and "Why Does—and Will—Mean Girls Continue to Endure Online?" (The Washington Post, 2014) all support the notion that the the film has enjoyed uncommon longevity—especially in the internet era. Many authors surmise that the film's combination of humor, uniqueness, and universality have made it a cornerstone for an entire generation of people who remember all too well the realities of high school.
The film's impact has been felt throughout popular culture. Mariah Carey named her 2009 song "Obsessed" after Regina George's line, "Why are you so obsessed with me?" Jennifer Lawrence mentioned the film in her acceptance speech at the 2013 People's Choice Awards. On social media, October 3rd is now called "National Mean Girls Day," given that this is the day it is when Cady Heron asks Aaron Samuels what day it is.
