'Mean Girls' is an evergreen, quotable cultural staple

Seeing as the 20-year anniversary of "Mean Girls" is coming in eight months, it seems only fitting to talk about the cultural staple to kick off our "Back to School" week.

For those who don't know, "Mean Girls" is a 2004 movie about Cady Heron (Lindsey Lohan), who enrolls in a U.S. public high school for the first time after being homeschooled in Africa for 12 years. She then works to fit in, initially befriending two social outcasts before infiltrating the popular "Plastics" clique.

During the course of the movie, Cady starts to lose both her friends and her sense of self in pursuit of revenge, popularity, belonging, and queen bee Regina George's (Rachel McAdams) boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett).

While some aspects of the movie feel exaggerated or situation-specific, it really does capture the spirit of how vicious teenage girls can be toward one another as they form and navigate social cliques in high school.

This makes sense given that "Mean Girls" is based on both screenwriter Tina Fey's high school experiences and Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 parenting book "Queen Bees and Wannabes."

And practically every line in the movie is quotable, no matter how big or small. I still quote the movie regularly, as do a lot of people I know, and the quotes never seem to go over anyone's head, especially the most notable ones like "fetch!"

"Mean Girls" has stood the test of time and popularity, spawning sequels, musicals, video games, themed merchandise, and songs, among other things.

In the last few years alone, The New Yorker ranked Lohan's performance No. 11 for the 21st century, Rolling Stone ranked the movie No. 20 comedy of the century, and Indie Wire ranked the movie No. 12 comedy of the century.

Even yesterday, when asking others what their favorite school themed movie is, the first response I got was "Mean Girls."

"Mean Girls" is evergreen and endlessly quotable and enjoyable. Anyone who hasn't seen the movie should, and anyone who has might want to rewatch it for the back-to-school vibes.