Mean Girls and Beauty Queens: An Ode to the Real Janis Ian

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Janis Ian the singer (left) and Janis Ian the character from Mean Girls (right)

Image: Mashable Composite AP Photo/Handout/BMG, Paramount Pictures

By Jessica Catcher2014-04-30 17:54:49 UTC

Despite being the outcast in Mean Girls , Janis Ian carried a deeper meaning than the Plastics could ever fathom.

She's more widely recognized as that fictional teenager, but the real Janis Ian was a singer-songwriter who, in 1975, wrote what is perhaps the most quintessentially angst-ridden adolescent ballad. Her Grammy-winning song "At Seventeen" sums up the 'Mean Girls' message and the struggle of the teen years in a way that's still relatable.

See also: 12 Mean Girls Who Belong in History's 'Burn Book'

Though I didn’t know much about Tina Fey when I first saw Mean Girls 10 years ago, I knew I had stumbled upon a kindred spirit when the Burn Book revealed Janis’ last name as Ian. It was so subtle, waiting until the middle of the film to fully acknowledge the reference, but its impact was huge impact for those familiar with the singer.

The homage makes perfect sense: Ian's lyrics speak so acutely to the social struggles of the downtrodden high schooler. Except, unlike the witty movie quotes we still repeat today, her vocals are emotionally palpable. Taylor Swift is probably like, “Damn, this girl is deep.”

Lamenting 17 as the age when she learned "the truth," Ian reflects on the high school chasm between "beauty queens" and "ugly ducklings." The pressures of complicated reputations, unrequited crushes and clique clashes that most of us drowned in during our youth is transformed into poetry, as she croons about our "ravaged faces" versus those with "clear-skinned smiles."

Image: Tumblr coloredyouth

The tune doesn't really offer much by way of solace, mostly just a shoulder to cry on. But it does introduce a "brown-eyed girl in hand-me-downs, whose name I never could pronounce right" — just like your high school best friend who was always there to remind you that those jerks would "get what they deserved."

Image: Tumblr smurfsexual

Despite the song ending as mournfully as it began, Fey thankfully gave the film a much happier ending, eventually creating compromise among the cliques. She also brought the real Ian back years later on an episode of 30 Rock, with a karaoke performance by Liz Lemon, fulfilling the angsty fantasies of so many former teens.

The hilarious scene pokes good-natured fun at the mopey ugly-duckling still inside of each us — and since, in real life, it was performed by perhaps the most successful female comedian of our generation, it was so fetch.

Whether you’re 17, 15 or 27, let’s raise a glass to the original Janis Ian, without whom all the other Janis Ians would be lost.

Topics: Conversations, Film, mean girls, Music, tina fey, Watercooler