The Mutated IP of the Mean Girls Reboot

This week I’m joined by Michelle Cyca to talk about the trailer for the Mean Girls reboot. You might think: wow, that’s a very small thing to focus on, what could you possibly talk about for 45 minutes… but just you wait. WHY are they hiding that it’s a musical? WHO do they think is the actual audience for this movie? What happens when millennial content is rebooted for Gen-Z audiences without context? And why is Tina Fey apparently uncancellable? We cover it all.Show Notes:THE TRAILER IN QUESTION:Some context about studios shying away from marketing musicals as suchRevisiting Queen Bees and WannabesI misremembered how Drive Me Crazy is integrated into the movie — it’s more like the movie is integrated into the video for the Britney song???Julia Stiles’ unforgettable modern dance routine at the end of Save the Last Dance:Mean Girls 2 did in fact existJust in case you forgot Laura Dern’s style from Jurassic ParkRe: the Barbie Marketing Campaign (via Variety)The piece I wrote back at BuzzFeed News after seeing Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: “It’s Time to Stop Apologizing for Tina Fey”All about Michelle Cyca!!!Follow Melody on Instagram and follow the show on Instagram!We’re currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:SITTING. Is it that bad? How do you feel about how much you sit? Do you do anything to sit more or less?The cultural force that is/was Contemporary Christian MusicMoms for LibertyThe appeal of the ACOTAR seriesGoodreads (what has made it so bad, a particular trend you’ve observed, should you go to Storygraph, you can take this anywhere you want)Very Contemporary Architecture Trends (like ‘modern farmhouse’) and/or wtf is going on with Chip & Joanna Gaines these days, why is their new show so banalWhatever Bradley Cooper’s deal isYou can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here (and here’s the subscriber-only priority form)Would love to hear your thoughts on the Mean Girls trailer (and the movie if you see it) — come join us in the comments! Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.