In the movie “Mean Girls,” a pink-clad Lindsay Lohan follows fellow Evanston teenagers around Skokie’s Old Orchard Shopping Center, a beautiful indoor mall complete with a fountain, pristine white pillars and an ornate staircase leading to a second level.
In real life, Old Orchard shoppers who have just seen the film at the mall’s movie theater climb down a green-carpeted staircase to re-enter the beautiful … outdoor shopping center?
“I was like, ‘What? That’s totally not Old Orchard,” said New Trier High School junior Adrianne Saavedra, who was standing in a circle of high-school girls in the outdoor mall, 34 Old Orchard Center, after seeing the movie.
Saavedra was one of many local residents who were less than satisfied with the way “Mean Girls” portrays the North Shore. The recent Paramount Pictures teen hit — which has grossed more than $42.4 million since it opened April 30 — features Lohan as Cady Heron, a 16-year-old who was uprooted from Africa and brought to Evanston. Lohan goes from shy to snooty as she struggles to include herself in a superficial clique at the fictitious North Shore High School.
“I had a lot of friends in Africa, but so far none in Evanston,” she says in the beginning of the film, prompting a loud cheer and smattering applause from the opening night crowd at Evanston’s Century Theatres, 1715 Maple Ave.
Other local flavor includes a mention of Wilmette’s Walker Brothers Original Pancake House, 153 Green Bay Road, and several references to Northwestern — Lohan’s mother is an NU professor and her high school boy toy ends up attending the university.
But to some NU students, this wasn’t enough.
“I was disappointed we didn’t get to see the campus,” said Weinberg freshman Sophie Miller, who added that she wished the film would have featured more Evanston landmarks.
One of the few places Lohan goes in the movie besides school and the mall is the luxurious mansion of her friend Regina, played by Rachel McAdams. McAdams’ home is enormous, elegant and — according to some local moviegoers — a bit too extravagant.
“A lot of it didn’t really seem North Shore — the homes, nothing.” said Judy Berlin, a 43-year-old Wilmette resident.
Berlin also complained about the inaccurate portrayal of Old Orchard. But Enna Allen, the mall’s regional marketing director, wasn’t complaining. She said she was thrilled the name of the shopping center made it into the movie.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a movie,” she said. “It’s not a documentary, it’s not real life.”
Allen said a crew from Paramount filmed at Old Orchard for three hours on a Saturday morning in November, but none of the scenes made it into the movie. She also said the shopping center was not asked permission to have its name used.
Vice President for University Relations Alan Cubbage said Paramount never contacted NU.
“To be honest, I was somewhat surprised that there was a reference to Northwestern in this particular movie,” he added.
Cubbage said movie-makers would have needed permission if “Mean Girls” had referred to specific campus buildings or used NU’s name more frequently.
Even hearing NU mentioned a few times was exciting, said Communication graduate student Nadia Cone. She said portraying Evanston accurately just wasn’t important to her.
“I can take it with a grain of salt in a fictional movie,” she said.
But to some area students, the film was not as fictional as it seemed. The cliques at Lohan’s North Shore High School, they said, resembled those in actual North Shore schools.
“The girls in the movie were meaner than they actually are,” said New Trier freshman Clay Gordon. “But it was pretty close.”
