I too loved Bring it On, despite spending most of my life loathing cheerleading. I did not do this because I learned it from an academic source, it began with my sisters. They practiced and practiced and did not get it. Meanwhile, less athletic gals made it on. So much for the "athletic" angle. I can't use that springboard for all cheerleading squads are bad and fixed, but I felt bad for how much they WANTED to be on that squad. Why? Because there was nothing else for gals to do then. Fast forward to when I am in sports, and Title XCIII-whatever comes out. Now, gals don't have to pretend to care for crappy sports teams, they can run, jump on their own. I am wondering why given this choice, these girls are cheering for me at the wrestling match. First off, I know they don't care about me at all. They NEVER talk to me at school. Second, I notice they are totally disinterested and not watching the match, and as I am counting the lights (you really do stare at the lights of a gymnasium if you are getting pinned), I hear them yell "Go Go Go!" like I'm winning or something, in this weird-lethargic-disinterested way. Which by the way, is perfectly okay. Why should they give a shit about me? While I think it's an interesting exercise to get excited about things that you may not be excited about, I would say it's an exercise. Not something to continue over the stretch of the season. You know what cheerleaders I like? The boys who love basketball, but know they suck. They take an old basketball, cut it like a mask with eyes and come out and cheer at the game. Even though they are cheering for other dudes, which in guyland, sadly, can get you ridiculed -- they don't care. They really are into the game, not their boyfriends, not shaking their butts, not their uniforms, not their gymnastic routines. If you say cheerleading is about dancing and gymnastics -- then form dance and gymnastic teams. I'll support that in a second.
So despite all this cheer-bad-cheer from me, I loved that film because Dunst won me over. She said "look, I know this is goofy -- BUT I LIKE IT." I have many loves like that, ones I know I can't logically justify. Why did I wake up at 3AM and think my life was shit because the Ohio State Buckeyes lost yesterday? Stupid. But I love rooting for my sports team. I love going to right-wing sites and trying to talk people out of all the derision and hate and pre-packaged opinions. All of these I can't justify, just like ultimately she can't -- except that it's fun to me. And, her guy learned to support her in something he initially hated -- that's true love folks. That was the best thing about the movie, and the fact that she liked a cool music dude. Yes I may loathe cheerleading, but I still have stupid hardwiring in lower thalmus that wants a cheerleader to like me. Ugh.
