Mean Girls Fan Believes This 'Most Iconic Joke' Went Over All Our Heads

If you're anything like us, you probably think you know every Meal Girls gag back to front.

But it turns out we were missing one of the biggest jokes of the whole movie. Remember when Regina George explains why she isn't friends with Janis Ian because she's 'a lesbian'?

Well, it turns out this may have all stemmed from her slight (read complete) misunderstanding of the word... Lebanese.

This was spilled earlier this week by TikTokker Sabrina Alease, who shared a video explaining the subtle running joke.

"It's come to my attention that most people don't know the most iconic joke in Mean Girls," she writes. "If you remember at the end f the movie Kevin G starts tasing with Janis and asks her 'Are you Puerto Rican?' She says 'No, I'm Lebanese.'

"If you remember earlier in the movie when Regina was talking to Cady, she was talking about how she doesn't want to hang out with [Janis] because she thinks she a lesbian.

"The whole premise of the movie was based on the fact that Regina didn't understand the difference between 'Lebanese' and 'lesbian'."

Well, damn. We can't believe we missed this!

Paramount)

"I was today years old when I realised the plot of Mean Girls is that regina stopped being friends with Janice bc she thought she was LESBIAN but really Janice was LEBANESE lmaoo I'm dead," wrote one fan after watching the TikTok online.

While another penned: "The fact that I just found out there's a theory that Janis Ian from #MeanGirls is perceived as a lesbian because she is "lebanese" and Regina probably misheard that and told the entire school which led to the entire plot to the movie... Just sits in my mind rent free."

Paramount)

A third didn't even need the TikTok for the gag to dawn on her - almost two decades later.

"Oh my God I just woke up and for some reason I JUST f***ing got the joke in Mean Girls where they bullied Janice about being a lesbian even though she isn't because she's actually Lebanese. This only took me 16 years to realise," they wrote.

Of course, in the movie, Regina does explain to the Plastics that the reason she thought Janis was a lesbian is because she sensed she 'got jealous' when she got a boyfriend.

But maybe Regina only perceived Janis as being 'jealous' because she was so fixated on the fact she was 'Lebanese'.

If so, that is iconic... Mean Girls script writers, please confirm immediately.

Topics: TV News, TV Entertainment, Mean Girls, TikTok

Joanna Freedman

Joanna is a journalist at Tyla with a particular interest in highlighting women's issues and telling inspiring first person stories. She's also their resident foodie, and loves covering exciting new beauty launches, too. Contact her at [email protected].

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