9-Months On, And It’s Obvious That Mean Girls Dropped The Ball With This Original Character

The 2024 reboot of Mean Girls has received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. However, one shared opinion between many cinemagoers is that the character Aaron Samuels was too underdeveloped. Aaron was supposed to be the main romantic interest for the film’s protagonist, Cady. However, lack of screen time and storylines for the character made for him to become dry and boring. Although the character is just written as someone for Cady and Regina to fight over, there was no charisma or romantic connection between the characters. This made Aaron and Cady’s relationship at the end of the movie unbelievable.

As the film is a musical, the fact that Aaron didn’t sing at all really limited his connection with Cady as most of the character connections in the film were built through song, whether it was Renee Rapp singing “World Burn” or Avantika singing “Sexy”. Although it was clear that Cady liked Aaron and Aaron liked Cady, the lack of singing between the two characters just made the relationship seem dry and forced. Christopher Briney would have done a great job playing Aaron in a normal movie, but in a musical, without singing his performance just felt off.

Aaron Samuels Was Hardly In The Mean Girls Reboot

The Lack of Screentime Led To The Character Being Underdeveloped

One of the main problems that led to Aaron’s underdevelopment as a love interest was his lack of screentime in the movie. He was hardly in the film at all. Aaron would appear in any scene that Cady had math class, the two parties and the prom at the end, but that was it. This lack of screentime really hurt the character and made it difficult to establish Aaron as his own character, with his own story. Every other leading character had their own small story that made them stand out as a character, separating them from the main plot.

There was a line in the movie where Cady referred to Aaron as Regina’s property. Aaron got angry at this, and rightfully so. However, in reality, the movie has just used Aaron as an object of attraction for the main characters to fight over, with no real plot of his own. Every time Cady looks at Aaron, it is hyper-romanticized: there’s always romantic music or a daydream sequence. Nothing about Aaron’s personal life is discussed at all in the movie. He is just used to be objectified and to be seen as Cady’s prize at the end of the movie.

The Relationship Between Cady and Aaron Felt Forced

There Didn’t Seem To Be An Emotional Connection Between The Two Characters

The biggest flaw with Cady and Aaron’s relationship in the show is that they knew nothing about each other. There was one intimate scene between the two of them when they were sat talking on Cady’s bed at her party, but that ended in disaster. Besides that scene, there were no other instances in the movie where the two characters sat down to genuinely get to know one another. The only things audiences are told about Aaron’s life is that he is good enough to be in the top calculus class and that he used to date Regina George.

Although Cady had an immediate crush on Aaron, Aaron’s feelings took a while to catch up. It took for Cady to fake failing math to get Aaron to tutor her. It was only when he thought he was saving her by teaching her math that he began to feel the same way about her. This made their relationship feel forced as Cady’s attraction for Aaron came from his looks, whereas Aaron’s attraction for Cady came from the idea of saving a so-called damsel in distress. There seemed to be a lack of a sense of personality in the relationship because of this.

Aaron Didn’t Sing In The Musical

It Was Strange For A Male Lead Not To Sing In A Movie Musical

The one thing that really hurt Aaron’s character in the Mean Girls reboot is that he didn’t sing. The fact that it is a film musical where the lead male character doesn’t sing is very strange. In the Broadway musical, the emotional connection between Cady and Aaron is established through the use of song. Together, Cady and Aaron sing two songs to establish their relationship. They sing a reprisal of “Stupid With Love” and they sing a duet called “More Is Better”, both of which were cut from the film.

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In the stage musical, Aaron also has a singing role in the song “Someone Gets Hurt” which makes the scene where Aaron and Regina get back together a lot more impactful. All the main characters have their emotions and feelings established through song, but since Aaron doesn’t sing, he is lacking the same emotional depth as all the other characters. Unfortunately, this has had a negative impact on his relationship with Cady, making it seem forced and unrealistic, as well as making the characteristics of Aaron Samuels seem dry and wooden in the musical reboot of Mean Girls.

Mean Girls is a reimagining of the 2004 classic comedy film as a musical, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. When Cady Heron and her family move from Africa to the United States; she experiences a culture shock when she enters the public school system for the first time. While trying to fit in, she is roped into the popular but superficial and cruel clique, the Plastics.

Director

Samantha Jayne , Arturo Perez Jr.

Release Date

January 12, 2024

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

Writers

Nell Benjamin , Tina Fey

Studio(s)

Broadway Video , Little Stranger , Paramount Pictures , Paramount Players

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