Janis Ian (Mean Girls)
Janis Ian, also referred to as Janis Sarkisian or Janis Imiike in the musical versions, is a character from the Mean Girls franchise.
She is portrayed by Lizzy Caplan in the original 2004 film, Barrett Wilbert Weed in its Broadway musical version and by Auliʻi Cravalho in the musical film.
Janis is the best friend of Damian Leigh, and ex-best friend of Regina George. Her main goal throughout the story is to get revenge on Regina for spreading rumours about her, and she does this through the use of new girl Cady Heron, who is enlisted to help Janis take down Regina.
Janis' character was written by Tina Fey. The character originally shared a name with a folk singer who appeared on the series premiere of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975, and had a Top Ten single "At Seventeen" from her album Between the Lines, which reached no. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in September 1975 when Fey was five years old. The song is a stirring critique on high school angst, popularity delusions and teen barbarity. The singer was outed in 1976 and came out as a lesbian in 1993 with the release of Breaking Silence, her album which confronts teenage suicide and related issues. "At Seventeen" is played faintly during a scene in the 2004 version of Mean Girls.
Biography
Janis Ian as a character is depicted as a gothic or emo girl of Lebanese ancestry. She was best friends with Regina George throughout her childhood and was previously very fashionable and feminine. This all changed in eighth grade after Regina got her first boyfriend Kyle. Janis was upset that Regina was spending more time with Kyle than her, which annoyed Regina to the point that Regina did not invite her to her birthday pool party. Regina told Janis that she did not invite her because she thought Janis was a lesbian. This resulted in Janis's mother calling Regina's mother and shouting at her. After the incident, Janis had shaved half her hair and left school due to being upset about Regina's treatment of her. During her time away, Janis developed a different style and expression, that being her now-iconic gothic punk image, and grew a bitter hatred towards Regina for making everyone think she was a lesbian.Janis returned to North Shore High some time before Cady Heron joined. She stayed away from Regina and befriended Damian Leigh in that time.
For the musical film adaptation, the role of Janis Ian is replaced by "Janis Imiike", an actual lesbian infamous for lighting Regina on fire.
Personality
Janis is a punk rocker outcast who is witty, artistic, manipulative, and opinionated. She sometimes can seem aggressive, as she cares deeply about her revenge on Regina. However, she has a rather healthy friendship with Damian Hubbard and Cady Heron. She is notable for being rather teasing with said friends, calling Cady "Caddie" and poking fun at Damien for being "too gay to function". She is fine with being considered an outcast, but is angry that she has been called a lesbian when she is not one.Role in ''Mean Girls''
Janis begins the movie as a social outcast, and is always seen with Damian. Janis befriends Cady Heron and encourages her to pursue a friendship with the Plastics when she sits with them on her second day, with the goal of using Cady to find a way to take down Regina George as revenge for their fall out. While Cady initially sees Regina as sweet, Janis warns her the opposite is true. After Cady returns to Janis's house from a Halloween party in tears after Regina kissed her crush, Aaron Samuels, Janis concocts a plan to take down Regina, by ruining her relationship with Aaron and the other Plastics, and making her body fat.While plotting against Regina, Cady learns about Regina and Janis's past friendship around 8th grade, which crumbled as Regina believed Janis was lesbian and spread rumours because of it. Cady slowly stops talking to Janis afterwards and the two hardly talked by the time Cady successfully overthrew Regina. The friendship was broken after Cady lied about being unable to attend Janis's art show due to going to a show with her parents in Madison the same night, when she actually stayed home and threw a party without inviting Damian or Janis. When they find out about this, they drive to her house and chastise her, which collapses their relationship.
When the Burn Book is released, there is a riot and then the girls have to attend an apology workshop in the gymnasium. During Janis's apology, she reveals everything that she and Cady had done to Regina and at the end of her speech, she jokes that the reason she hates Regina so much is because of her "big, lesbian crush" on her, before receiving cheers from the other girls. At the Spring Fling dance, Janis is nominated for Spring Fling Queen alongside Cady, Gretchen and Regina. She loses the crown to Cady, but is given a piece of it from Cady as a sign of mending bridges and forgives her. Janis ends the movie being friends with Cady and Damian and having begun a relationship with Kevin Gnapoor.
Role in ''Mean Girls'' (2018 musical)
Janis was included in Mean GirlsJanis's character is similar to in the original film. In the film, Janis befriends Cady in class; in the musical, Janis and Damian Hubbard befriend Cady in the girls' bathroom to help her find a way to fit in.
In the musical, Janis functions as a narrator to the audience as well as a character in the story, occasionally directly addressing the audience, especially in the opening.