It’s Been 21 Years Since October 3rd Became Mean Girls Day, and I Still Don’t Think Aaron Samuels’ Hair Looks Sexy Pushed Back

It’s October 3rd, which means all the grool kids are celebrating Mean Girls Day, the day Aaron Samuels asked Cady Heron what day it was in the Y2K classic. (It was October 3rd.) And while I’ll be celebrating with an Instagram meme just like the rest of you, the time feels right to discuss something that has bothered me for decades: Aaron Samuels’ hair.

In the 2004 hit movie, when Regina steals Aaron from Cady, then “dangles him” in front of her, the queen of plastics forces her frenemy to admit that her crush would be even hotter if he didn’t wear his bangs long and combed over his forehead.

“Why do you wear your hair like that? Your hair looks so sexy pushed back,” Regina coos, throwing Cady a knowing look.

She then turns to Cady and prompts her, “Cady, will you please tell him his hair looks sexy pushed back?”

“Your hair looks sexy pushed back,” Cady concedes, knowing she’s not going to win this one.

Back in 2024, Bennett revealed the scene was partially inspired by a conversation that he and the film’s screenwriter, Tina Fey, had behind the scenes.

“Tina Fey was onto something. She was like, ‘Your hair looks sexy pushed back.’ I was like, ‘No, Tina, I’m doing the Justin Bieber,’ ” the actor told PEOPLE.

“And I had my hair all down and she was like, ‘When you get older, you’re going to push your hair back and you’re going to find that you look sexy.’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m still a teenager,'” Bennett continues. “And then boom, I pushed it back and she was right.”

Though he agrees, I think two things can be true.

A young Aaron Samuels did look so much better with the unkempt coif. His face was much better framed by the swooping bang; it complemented his boyish, round face and brought out his almond eyes. With no facial hair, we got to see his defined jaw and oh-so-adorable cleft chin.

The bang also just went better with his “cool senior/football player who’s terrible at math but has a big heart” vibes.

And let’s not forget: Shaggy, swooping bangs were the go-to hairdo for a lot of the “It” guys back then. Justin Bieber was one famous purveyor of the look; you could also see it on Joe Jonas, Zac Efron, Jesse McCartney and Fey’s bestie Jimmy Fallon, whom, as Bennett once revealed, was the reason he got hired for the job.

But, like Bennett said, Tina Fey is always right. Twenty-one years later and now a Hallmark hunk, the actor is, in fact, so much cuter with shorter hair. But, I say it’s because he’s filled out his face, wears a nice short beard and the shorter hair allows us to get a better look at his luscious eyebrows.

I guess the moral of the story is that Jonathan Bennett is actually just handsome, no matter what. His look has evolved with our tastes: He was a dreamboat who had his finger on the pulse of what was cool back in the early aughts when I was a preteen, and he’s just as good-looking all these years later.

That’s so fetch.