Mean Girls has officially been removed from Netflix, and right before October 3rd no less, a referenced date from the cult classic teen movie. But if you think you’re going to miss the movie, you can still enjoy Netflix’s new movie, Do Revenge. The movie stars Camila Mendes (Riverdale) and Maya Hawke (Stranger Things), and was released on September 16; it follows both girls as they team up to try and get revenge on the people that have wronged them. Do Revenge has obvious inspiration from other teen movies of the lat-90s and early-2000s, playing with similar tropes and ideas, while bringing a unique spin to the genre. Teen Vogue, in fact, made a list of all the movies it makes reference to. But the movie it can be easily compared to the most is Mean Girls. It shares similar character tropes and plot points without ever feeling like a cheap rip-off of the film.
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If you’re unaware, Mean Girls is a movie that was released in 2004, starring Lindsay Lohan and becoming easily one of her best teen movies, and since its release has become adored by many. It’s a staple of Millennial pop culture, with jokes and references still being used today even by a younger generation, effectively making it a timeless classic. Since then, there hasn’t been another high school teen movie quite like Mean Girls — until now. We’ll go over Do Revenge and its parallels to Mean Girls and how it brought a unique spin for a newer and ‘woker’ generation.
What Made Do Revenge Work
Netflix
If you go into Do Revenge with any expectations for what direction the movie will go, you will come out happily surprised. It’s cleverly written and delivers genuinely funny and memorable lines. For starters, it’s a romantic comedy that never fits into the typical tropes of the genre that can be viewed as toxic, making it a not-so-typical rom-com. While being heavily inspired by other popular teen movies, including using character archetypes we’ve seen hundreds of times, Do Revenge never feels like it’s trying to live up to them, rather it’s happily content with being what it is. It also contains a plot twist that can feel maybe a little outlandish, but still fits with the concept of the movie. It’s not a cinematic masterpiece, but it’s not trying to be and does exactly what it is aiming to do, which is share an entertaining and engaging story that makes you gasp and laugh.
How It Compares to Mean Girls
Paramount Pictures
It would be easier if we tell you the differences between Mean Girls and Do Revenge, considering that Netflix’s film shares a lot of similar plot points and concept. Do Revenge makes a lot of callbacks to the early-2000s film in scenes like when Drea (Mendes) drugs the senior class at the ring ceremony and one of the girls is seen trying to call her mom to come get her, a reference to the now-meme from Mean Girls, “Mom, can you pick me up? I’m scared.” And another: when Drea exposes Max to the entire school, which leads to all-out chaos, much like when Regina George spreads pages from the Burn Book all over the school, causing a frenzy among the girls. There’s even a scene in Do Revenge where Eleanor is presented the different cliques around school.
Besides similar scenes, Do Revenge also, more or less, shares the same concept to Mean Girls. Both movies focus on getting back at the popular kids, and they both have back-stabbing girls out to get each other. It also centers on popularity and the importance of how people view you, even going as far as sharing a character that becomes a different person once they become popular. It’s all about status, whom you hang out with, and how you become idolized by other people, but Do Revenge takes it a step further than Mean Girls by using the elite privilege of having lawyers and strategists to ensure their status never falters.
Gen Z’s Mean Girls
Gen Z has become known for their progressive views and, according to Pew Research, is on track to be the most educated generation. Because of this, there was no way any movie could attempt to be like Mean Girls without acknowledging the political activism and ‘woke’ perspective of this new generation of teenagers. While Lohan’s movie is still well adored by those in Gen Z, it’s hard to believe it would’ve gotten the same adoration if it was released today because of its at-times overtly racist jokes and comments on eating disorders. That’s why Do Revenge fits the bill perfectly to be Gen Z’s Mean Girls. Like mentioned before, it makes jokes about how politically correct this newer generation cares to be, but it never feels like a jab at them for it. Instead, it does make a jab at those that use political activism for their own gain.
And rather than entirely focusing on a love interest, Do Revenge almost entirely focuses on the young women leads. Even when they’re trying to get revenge on Drea’s ex-boyfriend, it never makes him feel like a focal point of the story. When she develops a relationship with another boy, it still keeps focus on the girls and their plans. It might make the love interest subplot feel like an afterthought or forced in there, but it still works because this isn’t about love — it’s about vigilante justice. Do Revenge also passes the Bechel test, a way to evaluate whether a movie portrays women in a sexist or stereotypical way, and although Mean Girls does as well (to an extent), there is a stark difference in how they portray the girls in both movies.
Lastly, Do Revenge puts same-sex relationships in the foreground with one of its main characters, Eleanor (Hawke), being a lesbian. This is different to Mean Girls, where they have very little representation of queer characters. Eleanor is an out and proud lesbian and her sexuality is never treated differently than her heterosexual counterparts. She even has her own love interest. The movie doesn’t make itself feel superior by including queer characters, but rather just included the typical people you will meet in a modern high school.
