While scrolling through TikTok, you’ve probably seen the fan-made edits of Rodrick Heffley and Regina George on your “For You” page with their ship name as “Rodrina.” They are characters from distinct movies, yet they have completely different personalities. These edits showcase the reemergence of multifandom shipping. We used to see edits of characters from the same movie, but now we are seeing an increase in characters from different movies being shipped, with Rodrina among the most popular.
Regina, played by Rachel McAdams, is from the hit classic movie “Mean Girls,” a comedy film following a teenage girl named Cady Heron, who goes from being homeschooled to attending public high school. While adjusting, she befriends social outcasts, Janis Ian and Damian Leigh. They guide her through the everyday struggles of high school, including the rigid social hierarchy of their school. They tell her about the most popular girls in school, otherwise known as “The Plastics,” who are ruled by Queen Bee Regina. From there, they devise a plan to take Regina down.
Rodrick Heffley, played by Devon Bostick, is from the franchise “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” He is a typical offbeat teenager who plays in a heavy metal band. He is a side character in these films, with his antics centered around pulling pranks on his little brother, Greg Heffley. Rodrick spends most of the film trying to impress Heather Hills, a blonde, popular girl. He even goes so far as to get her to join his band.
The ship started through a piece of art created by monia_lynn. She drew the scene in “Mean Girls” where Regina dances to “Jingle Bell Rock” as Santa Claus. In the movie, Regina’s mom is recording her dance with her infamous camera. The art imagines that Rodrick is recording her as he looks at her smiling while she is flustered.
People saw this fan art and decided to create edits of it with the idea that opposites attract. It drew people’s attention to the multifandom reemergence. Since Regina is described as popular, mean, and unapologetic, the edits portray her as being drawn to him, but compelled by the thought of dating a rebellious boy goes against the status quo. Editors on TikTok continued this concept by having songs with themes of unrequited love or jealousy to portray the tension between the two characters. The songs include “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus, “Dirty Little Secret” by All-American Rejects, “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne, and many more that have an edgy aesthetic.
Editors have gone as far as to edit Regina and Rodrick rekindling their teenage romance as adults. They do this using other films or shows that McAdams and Bostick have done more recently, such as McAdams in “Doctor Strange” and Bostick in “The 100.”
Rodrina helped bring back the cross-shipping culture that people have not seen in a long time.The ship brings back a wave of nostalgia amongst fans as they recall the ship of Elsa from the movie “Frozen” and Jack Frost from “Rise of the Guardians,” which occurred after their respective releases in the early 2010s. People enjoyed this ship for their ice power similarities. Interestingly, society has drifted away from shipping characters with the trope that birds of a feather flock together, and more so, in the case of Rodrina, towards opposites attract.
Rodrina has allowed for many other ships to form. Some of these ships include PJ Duncan from “Good Luck Charlie” and Cat Valentine from “Victorious,” as well as Lara Jean from “P.S. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” and Peter Park from “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” This current trend of shipping characters from different universes fosters a sense of community amongst people with different interests. Now, people can connect and build new bonds despite their unique movie tastes.
Whether or not Rodrina would work out in real life is up to interpretation. We still shouldn’t ignore the editors and artists’ creativity with this concept, as they resurface a trend that was missing from the public eye for years. Through their efforts, they are helping make editing more popular across unique interests, tastes, and communities.
Music lover who likes attending festivals by day, movie premieres by night.
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