My Entry For MC's Blog Party

 

It's finally here! The first day of MC's Blog Costume Party! After a few solid minutes of squealing, I actually managed to make a post. First, I'm gonna show all of you my costume, and then a not-so-brief list of reasons why I love her character. Yeah, this is going to be a monster post, so, uh, let's get started.

This year I was Janis Ian from Mean Girls, because I love her and her unique sense of style, and I actually had something similar to what she wears. 

Here is a picture. Just ignore my weird facial expression. So, it's not exactly like what she wears, but it was pretty close. I didn't have a wig, and I wasn't going to dye my hair, but, again, I think it's pretty close. 

My sister did my hair. Didn't she do a great job? And she didn't even need a tutorial or anything. She just found a reference picture, and copied it. And my mom did my makeup. Because Janis has pretty intense eye makeup, that was all we did. I had on some really cool boots, but those didn't get in the picture. Oh, well. *shrugs* I don't know if you can see this, but I'm wearing mismatched earrings, because that seemed like something she would wear, even though I don't think she does in the movie or musical. Now, time for some reasons why I love her character. I think this requires a little re-introduction. 

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Greetings and salutations, everybody! Whoops, wrong movie. Let me start over. *clears throat*

Hi, my name is McKayla, and I get way too emotionally attached to fictional characters. One of these characters I'm super attached to is Janis Ian from Mean Girls.

There are multiple reasons for this, so let's go through them slowly.

Warning: A slightly rambly monster of a half-post will proceed

Also very mild spoilers for Mean Girls. Read at your own risk******

I've already reviewed Mean Girls [here is the link], so I'm just going to assume that you all have read that and know what the movie's about. If you haven't, basically what you need to know is that Janis is a rebellious goth artist, who's trying to overthrow Regina George [aka the school's queen bee], and convince Cady [the movie's protagonist] to help her. 

From the moment I first listened to the musical [which was over a year ago], I knew that Janis was my favorite. There's a lot of reasons why I like her.

One of those reasons is that I see a lot of myself in her. That probably wouldn't make sense to most people. The fact that I'm homeschooled and like animals makes me seem like a Cady, and the fact that I dress like a character from a teen drama every day would make me seem akin to Regina [a nicer Regina, but still]. However, Janis and I have a lot in common. We're both sarcastic, we're both rebellious, we're both pretty weird, we both hate the idea of social hierarchy, and, as much as I hate to admit it, we both like revenge. 

Also, the fact that she's not popular and doesn't care really resonates with me. Sure, she gets upset when people insult her and spread rumors about her [and, who wouldn't?] but her story isn't about trying to become friends with the school's resident Queen Bee. She's just comfortable with being herself. In that way, she kinda reminds me of Luna Lovegood, although their personalities are very different. It's nice to have a main character in a story genuinely not care about being part of the in crowd. 

Also, her friendship with Damian is one of my favorite parts of the entire movie. Unlike lots of ''friends'' in Mean Girls, she and Damian seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company. They're very different people, but they have what felt like a real friendship. And I dig that. 

Also, her comebacks are E-P-IC!  In fact, her lines in the movie are some of my favorites. I have a thing for snarky and witty characters, and Janis is both snarky and witty, so it's really no surprise that I love her. Of course, to be fair, the whole movie is quotable and iconic and I've seen it way too many times. 

What can I say? I know what I like. 

And, let me play favorites for a minute. To those of you who say she's just as mean as Regina George, she isn't. 

Sure, Janis makes plenty of mistakes, and she has her fair share of moments being a mean girl, but she is a good person at heart. 

She wasn't really mean to anyone else other than Regina. Sure, her revenge plan went wayyyyy too far, but she wasn't super cruel to other girls the way Regina was. Plus, she was nice to Cady at the beginning, which was when Cady couldn't have really helped her ruin Regina's life. 

In the musical, she's even more sympathetic. She genuinely feels bad for trying to convincing Cady to ruin Regina George's life, and there's the little fact that she is canonically lesbian/bisexual (at least the way Barrett Wilbert Weed played her), which sort of makes her wanting revenge a little more understandable, don't you think? And when Cady betrays her, and she sings the "Someone Gets Hurt" reprise and IT JUST ABOUT BROKE MY HEART. I felt so bad for her. *sniffles*

For whatever reason, most people agree that the movie is better. I love the movie, but I would disagree, and you should listen to the soundtrack. It's so goooooodddddd, and it's hilarious, and the characters are all so complex, and Barrett Wilbert Weed is in it. Seriously, what more could you ask for??????

I'm not denying that she has her flaws, and she's certainly not perfect, but she's special, and I just like her. Which, really, is all you need to dress up like a character, and write a post dedicated to them, right?

So, as previously warned, this post did get kind of weird and rambly, and I have no idea if this made any sense, because I was up late reading a book, and I'm super tired, but I hope you enjoyed it. 

Okay, this quote is one of her most iconic ones. I'm sure I'll use it IRL at some point, actually.

So, let's chat. Have you seen Mean Girls? Fav character? What do you think of Janis? Did I do a good job with my costume? Did this post actually make sense? Am I asking way too many questions?