The University’s Panhellenic Council hosted a “Mean Girls” movie night last Wednesday, April 16 for sorority members in honor of the movie’s upcoming 10-year anniversary.
At approximately 8 pm Wednesday night, sorority girls flocked to Wilson Hall carrying pillows, blankets, and snacks. On the bottom floor of the building, outside of the auditorium, there was a table and snacks set up for the girls to enjoy. Inside the auditorium there were rows of seats set up; however, many girls opted to set up their blankets and pillows on the floor and watch the movie from there.
The room resembled a giant sleepover party, with girls spread out all over the place and talking and laughing with their friends. Once the film began, the only talking to be heard was that of girls quoting their favorite parts, such as, “Gretchen, stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen!” and, “She doesn’t even go here!”
The Panhellenic Council has been finding new ways to connect their members in light and fun activities to strengthen inter-organization bonds,” said Jon Buchalski, Assistant Director of Student Activities for Fraternity and Sorority Life. “The event was a huge success with about 125 women with their pillows and blankets watching the very quotable movie. I was told by one of my students that her Twitter feed was filled with quotes from the sorority women all evening.”
Buchalski said the brainstorming of the “Mean Girls” movie started with Fellowship Chair Carly Swanson, a junior communication major. “[We] decided that it would be fun to enjoy a cult classic with the entire community,” he said.
“I thought it was very successful,” Swanson said. “Wilson auditorium was filled and everyone was quoting the movie and laughing together. I think these fellowship events are great for our Panhellenic community.”
According to Swanson, the “Mean Girls” movie night was a great way to promote Greek unity. It brought together girls from all different sorority chapters on campus to take part in something they all enjoyed.
“I loved the movie night and I think we should do it multiple times throughout the year,” said Raven Lake, a junior secondary English education major. “It was so funny how we were all quoting the same lines, no matter what organization we were from.”
Ali Hart, a freshman education and anthropology major, was also very excited by the event. “I thought that the movie night was such a good idea! ‘Mean Girls’ is one of my favorite movies, and I know everyone had fun watching it together and enjoying the snacks they provided for us.”
This was one of the first movie nights the Panhellenic Council has hosted, but considering its success, there might be more in the future. “I hope they (Panhellenic Council) do it again in the upcoming years because it was definitely worth going,” said Hart.
“Mean Girls” was released on April 30, 2004. According to BoxOffice.com, the Mark S. Waters directed comedy made $24,432,371 in the Box Office during opening weekend, and had a worldwide gross of $129,042,871. The film is a huge hit due to the fact that so many girls can relate to it, being that it represents every spectrum of the social popularity scale. It is movie that manages to be funny and teach messages about anti-bullying and self-acceptance at the same time.
“What girl doesn’t like ‘Mean Girls?’” said Lake. “It is a movie our generation grew up loving and quoting.”
The University’s Panhellenic Council’s “Mean Girls” movie night was just one way that girls around the world will be honoring the anniversary of the movie. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this beloved film, MTV is airing a “We Heart Mean Girls” weekend marathon from Saturday, April 22 to Sunday, April 23. The marathon will include screenings of the movie, as well as bonus clips and extras.
PHOTO TAKEN from drafthouse.com