Fridae

Directed by Mark Waters (Freaky Friday) and written by Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live), Mean Girls is a subversive and highly enjoyable bitchfest of teenage malice, melodrama and malfunctions in the vein of Heathers.

Based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, the movie centers around Cady Heron (the adorable Lindsay Lohan) who, after being raised in "the African bush" by zoologist parents, finds herself transplanted into the socially stratified "jungle" that is the modern high school.

As the new girl, Cady is befriended by Janis (Lizzy Caplan), the arty-farty Goth with a blade for a tongue and Damian (Daniel Franzese), an overweight queen who is "too gay to function."

However, her knockout looks and enhanced boobs (whoops!) also catch the well-mascara-ed eyes of the Plastics: a trinity of walking and talking Barbie dolls with the mean genes who top the popularity stakes and terrorise the school halls.

The Plastics comprises reigning queen and leader Ultimate Bitch Barbie Regina (Rachel McAdams on catty mode) and her handmaidens: Big Mouth Barbie Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and Dumb Down Barbie Karen (a hilarious Amanda Seyfried).

Having been humiliated by the Plastics, Janis and Damian naturally encourage Cady to take advantage of the Plastics' offer of "membership" to infiltrate the nasty girls and sabotage them from within.

In her role as "double agent", Lindsay Lohan redeems herself from her all-over-the-place acting in the vapid Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and provides a convincing portrayal of someone who is both disdainful of the Plastics' lifestyle yet seduced by the privileges and power of being a Plastic.

Manicured nails are unsheathed and character assassinations plotted when Regina ruins Cady's chances with Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron (Jonathan Bennett) - a big no-no since according to Gretchen: "That's, like, the rule of feminism!" - and the Plastics find themselves becoming unraveled by Cady's wicked machinations.

With its incisive depiction of the terrifying high school hierarchy, Mean Girls distinguishes itself from the rut of teenage fluff starring Hilary Duff and the abominable Olsen Twins and further endears itself to the gay and lesbian audience for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Mean Girls doesn't sugar coat the social reality that many gays and lesbians face in high school. For instance, the character Janis becomes a social pariah after Regina started a vicious rumor that the former is a "dyke" way back when the two were best girl friends.

Secondly, the movie veers away from the typecasting of gay characters as weak and pliable targets for social abuse. In addition to "suspected" lesbian Janis, Damian, the only out-and-proud character, possesses a sharp sense of wit and does not think twice about getting back at his hetero-tormentors.

Thirdly, Mean Girls serves as an effective mirror to the pecking order within the gay community where one's standing is similarly dependent on physical perfection (and fashion pizzazz) - qualities which are prized, however erroneously, over mental faculties and personality.

Finally, the movie's accurate depiction of combative cliques (jocks and cheerleaders versus geeky "Mathletes" versus Asians versus school misfits etc.) is also reminiscent of the exclusive cliques within the gay community.

The depiction of high school cliques and their lunch-table caste system further brings to mind the "incestuous" behavioral patterns of many a gay clique in which gay men actually refuse to socialise, or worse, date outside of their respective circles.

Unfortunately, just as the movie draws to its conclusion, Mean Girls loses its comic momentum and malicious edge, and morphs into the traditional John Hughes teen movie complete with a happy-ever-after ending and sermons about what true friendship is all about and the need to be true to oneself.

Despite its cop-out ending, Mean Girls is still well-worth watching because it's one of those rare teenage movies that happens to be socially accurate, cleverly conceived, unashamedly bitchy and utterly hilarious.