Janis' influence on "Mean Girls"?

[Wildflower Fever]

Forgive me if this has been threaded already, but I had to unfortunatley sit through "Mean Girls" with Lindsay Lohan today, and was surprised to see a outsider type character named Janis Ian who was Lohan's friend/co-conspirator. I thought it may have been a coincidence, but I also noticed that in one scene you could hear "At Seventeen" in the background. I found this strange, as it was a typical teen movie, and I expected to hear Hillary Duff moreso than a Janis influence. Does anyone know the significance of this, Janis, or anyone else? I know Tina Fey wrote the film version, and perhaps she's a Janis fan? Feedback please!!!:confused:

[Anna from Dublin]

Well as far as I know Tina Fey used Janis's name deliberately - and if memory recalls, she apologised to Janis for not asking permission ahead of time. Janis has mentioned that when the movie came out first, there would occasionally be groups of teenagers coming to her gigs expecting to see the actress who played Janis Ian in the movie! Beyond that I don't believe Janis directly influenced the movie as such.

[CD Matthew]

I read somewhere a while back (not on the board) that this was indeed a consciously chosen homage to our Janis by Tina Fay. I actually rather liked the film, found it better than most from this genre, but found the use of Janis's name jarring.

CD Matthew