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- [00:00]
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- [00:17]
Linda Holmes
This episode contains mention of sexual assault. The cheerleading film Bring it on turns 25 this month. It spawned direct to video sequels and a Broadway musical. And you can still find people who quote its best lines and relish the story of the battle between the Rancho Carne Toros and the East Compton Clovers.
- [00:42]
Aisha Harris
Bring it on stars Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Gabrielle Union and Jesse Radford, among many others. And a lot has happened in 25 years that might make it feel very timely or very dated. I'm Aisha Harris.
- [00:56]
Linda Holmes
And I'm Linda Holmes. And today, in this encore episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we're revisiting our conversation about Bring on.
- [01:08]
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This message comes from Sony Pictures Classics and the new film east of Wall, a portrait of female cowgirls in the new west, directed by Kate Beecroft. A rancher must cope with her family losing her ranch and providing for a group of wayward teens now playing only in theaters.
- [01:27]
Kathy Tu
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- [01:55]
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This message comes from NPR sponsor Lucasfilm presenting Andor Season 2. Andor has earned 14 Emmy nominations, including writing, directing and outstanding drama series. Vanity Fair raves that Andor is profoundly resonant. It's the best television of the year. All episodes of Andor are now streaming on Disney. This message comes from FX's Alien Earth. From creator Noah Hawley and executive producer Ridley Scott comes the first television series inspired by the legendary Alien film franchise. A spaceship crash lands on Earth, bringing five unique and deadly species more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined. And a technological advancement marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. FX's alien Earth. All new Tuesdays on FX and Hulu. This message comes from Schwab. Everyone has moments when they could have done better, like cutting their own hair or forgetting sunscreen. So now you look like a tomato. Same goes for where you invest. Level up and invest smarter with Schwab. Get market insights, education and human help when you need it. Learn more@schwab.com Joining us today is the.
- [03:11]
Linda Holmes
Executive producer of 99% Invisible at SiriusXM, Kathy Tu. Hello, Kathy.
- [03:16]
Aisha Harris
Hi.
- [03:17]
Linda Holmes
Also with us is Tobin Lowe. He's an editor at this American Life. Hey, Tobin. Hello. So I don't know how many of you are or aren't terribly familiar with Bring it on, but the story is that Torrance Shipman, played by Kirsten Dunst, is the new captain of the cheerleading squad at the very affluent and very white San Diego school Rancho Carne. That's meat ranch or ranch meat, depending on how you think about it. She discovers that her ruthless predecessor as captain was stealing cheers from the East Compton Clovers, a mostly black squad led by Isis, played by Gabrielle Union. Eliza Dushku shows up as a new and somewhat reluctant recruit for Torrance's team, whose Discman listening brother Cliff, played by Jesse Bradford, takes a liking to Torrance. It's directed by Peyton Reed from a script by Jessica Bendinger. Aisha, how do you feel about Bring It On?
- [04:10]
Aisha Harris
So if my memory serves correctly, this was either the first or one of the first movies 12 year old Aisha was allowed to see in a theater without an adult present. Wow. And I have very, very, very strong memories of seeing it there. And I feel like it's a movie that has stuck with me, even though it's not one that I necessarily return to. You know, people of my age have. I feel like Mean Girls for me was a much more formidable teen movie. But I will say that it is, as you mentioned, at the top, such a quotable movie, for better or for worse. And I realized after not having seen it in, you know, years, probably a decade is the last time I actually watched it in full. How much of it still just like came back to me and popped in my mind really, really easily. I really, really enjoy the way in which this film treats cheerleading as more of a sport than it had been previously treated within pop culture. You know, the running gag is that they've won all these championships, but the football team sucks.
- [05:14]
Linda Holmes
And so that's one of my favorite jokes in the movie.
- [05:17]
Tobin Lowe
Same.
- [05:17]
Aisha Harris
It's such a great joke and I really appreciate it. Now there are lots of dated aspects of it that are just, oof, you could not make this movie today in the way that they did. There's eating disorder like jokes where the dance coach encourages them to get an eating disorder. This is also very clearly Pre jlo and pre J. Lo in her Versace dress. Because there are lots of jokes about having too big of a butt. And I'm like, whoa, now, this is, like, everyone wants that butt now. And that's very different. I will say that for me, though, the highlight remains Gabrielle Yoon's character. And there was a really great interview with her in Vogue magazine for the 20th anniversary of this film. And she talks about the ways in which she got the part. And she was like, look, there are some things about this that we need to change. So it was a very collaborative experience of her working with the director and the screenwriter and making sure that the character of Isis was not just, like, a villain, even though there are still people today who consider her to be the villain.
- [06:19]
Linda Holmes
Oh, that's crazy.
- [06:20]
Aisha Harris
Yeah, it really is ahead of its time. I still can't think of another teen movie that at least attempts to do the things that it does with cultural appropriation. And this is, like, before cultural appropriation was, like, a commonly used. And the scene, for me, that does it is the scene where after Torrance has had her awakening, or her awakening and realizes that, like, her whole cheerleading career has been a lie, she insists that her dad, like, make a check for the Clovers to be able to afford to go to the tournament so that she can beat them. And so she arrives and she's like, here's my check. And so let's play actually a little clip of this scene where ISIS just rips up the check and is like, nope, you want to make it right. Then when you go to Nashville, bring it. Don't slack off because you feel sorry for us. That way, when we beat you, we'll.
- [07:12]
Kathy Tu
Know it's because we're better. I'll bring it.
- [07:16]
Linda Holmes
Don't worry. I never do.
- [07:18]
Aisha Harris
I just think it's a great scene because it is. This character just being like, I'm not gonna take your charity. I'm gonna win fair and square. And frankly, this is the way in which I feel like most or a lot of black people are brought up. It's like, we don't want handouts. We don't want you to give us these things. We wanna earn it. The irony is that the white team that Torrance is on, they all have to learn how to actually do work and be good and not just rely on plagiarism. And so it's a great message. They could have gone farther. There are obviously lots of homophobia as well. Maybe we'll get into that as well. But overall, bring it on. Still bringing it 20 years later.
- [07:59]
Linda Holmes
Yeah. It's funny that you say that she didn't want Isis to be a villain, because to me, every time I watch it, I'm like, well, Isis is right about literally everything. She's right about the ste. She's right about Torrance's motivations. She's right about the way she's being treated. She's right about the lack of respect. She's basically right about everything. And I think in a lot of ways, the thing I have always liked about the movie is that she is the character who you would expect to be the villain in a sports. If you think of this as a sports movie, then the opposing team captain leader would be like the guy who runs the dojo and the Karate Kid, and she's not that at all. She's actually right about everything. Kathy, what do you think about this movie?
- [08:43]
Tobin Lowe
Oh, my God. So this came out when I was in middle school, and I was a huge Buffy the Vampire fan, so I only went to go watch this movie because I loved Faith, and Tobin hates this part about me.
- [08:56]
Guest Speaker
I don't hate it. It's just a controversial take for Buffy fans.
- [09:02]
Tobin Lowe
I love Faith. I love Eliza Dushku. So the only reason I went to go watch this mov was because of Eliza Dushku, and she played this character that I tried so hard to relate to because she's kind of considered the outsider in this, like, cheerleading world. And somehow I was able to, like, apply this to my life and feel like an outsider, and I really related to her. But then I was so pleasantly surprised that I loved this movie and it was about cheerleading, which I had no experience with, and I just kind of assumed this is actually. It was documentary. Like, this is what it's like to be a cheerleader. I think most of it still remains true, and I'm surprised, like, 20 years ago, they were talking about cultural appropriation. I didn't have those words then, but that's what was going on. And I'm kind of shocked. It's like when you watch an old, old movie and you realize how progressive it was at the time. And there were some things obviously, like Aisha said, does not work anymore. Maybe the whole Sparky Polast thing can just entirely go away. He could. He didn't need to be there, really. But continue to love this movie. Continue to love Eliza Dushku as Missy. And that's my take.
- [10:12]
Guest Speaker
Yeah. For me, upon the rewatch, I really feel like the movie starts as soon as Eliza Dushku enters. Like, she was so good in this in a way that I, like, maybe took for granted before, but watching it a second time, I'm like, wow, she really does a lot of the work in this to. I don't know. There's so many people who I feel like are delivering Disney Channel kid level acting, which adds to the camp and I think makes it funnier. But I think her performance stood out to me on a second watching or probably this time hundredth watching of how good it was.
- [10:47]
Tobin Lowe
Oh, yeah. My being a fan of hers exploded after this movie. I mean, because she was the kind of person that I thought I would be around all of my friends who were not cheerleaders, but certainly of, like, the popular crowd at school. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna take tips from this person.
- [11:04]
Aisha Harris
Wear all black.
- [11:06]
Tobin Lowe
Wear all black, and then carry a chain.
- [11:09]
Linda Holmes
Well, and when I first saw her, I was like, what is that? What is that hair? Those tiny. Are those tiny dreadlocks? And I was so relieved that her hair did not stay that way. Cause I was like, did her hair stay this way? And I just don't remember it.
- [11:21]
Aisha Harris
You know how in the wizard of Oz, when the lion gets his hair done, that's what it kind of looked like, those ringlets. It was weird.
- [11:27]
Linda Holmes
I was like, what is this?
- [11:29]
Guest Speaker
Yeah, well, I'll just echo the sort of, like, this hit when I was entering high school, I believe. So there was something about this movie that it was like, the first foray for a lot of us into having something that felt a little bit edgy that we could quote to each other and sort of like this, like, tilting at a more adult sensibility of humor and edginess without actually being that edgy or, you know, adult. But rewatching it, I think the things that I still love. I'm gonna echo Aisha in saying the Gabrielle Union performance. And it was amazing to revisit, because in my mind, the Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union characters are, like, the two pillars of this film. And rewatching it, Gabrielle Union has, like, half the scenes, if that.
- [12:14]
Linda Holmes
Oh, yeah.
- [12:14]
Guest Speaker
Like, she has very little to establish who this character is and the motivations and to get you to root for her, too. And yet, in my memory, you know, those two are toe to toe. They're representing, you know, these two leaders. So that performance still totally holds up. And then I think the other thing that saves this movie from going maybe into a bad direction and sort of all these things we're talking about is that I still love that the Clovers win at the end. Like, I think that's actually such an important choice for this film for honestly, like, white folks to learn that if you appropriate in this way, you not only need to own up for it, you can still try your hardest to make it right. And it's still, like, not okay for you to win in the end, you know? Like, I think the fact that the Clovers still take it is a subtle but, like, very important thing about this film. And I was so glad to, like, rewatch it and have that feeling again.
- [13:08]
Linda Holmes
Yeah, in a way, the Clovers winning at the end of this movie is sort of like Julia Roberts not getting the guy at the end of My Best Friend's Wedding. It's sort of like. It makes the movie a completely different, like, thrust. And in the same way, it requires that the main character sort of sacrifice what it is that they originally tell you that they want. And in most movies, you don't get the main hero of the story sacrificing the fundamental thing that you get told that they want, the person that they want, or the victory at nationals that they want. Especially once you get the sort of, you know, everybody doubts Torrance. People don't believe in her. She has to sort of overcome all these doubters. It really puts you in a position to expect them to win.
- [13:52]
Guest Speaker
Right? Totally.
- [13:53]
Linda Holmes
You know, I did have a moment where, you know, when you have the confrontation at the school where Missy and Torrance have gone over to East Compton High School and they are confronted out, like, in the parking lot by Isis and her two best pals, I didn't particularly love the fact that they were sort of threatening to beat them up. Like, I didn't love the fact that it was like, you go over to this school with this black cheerleading squad, and the black cheerleaders threatened to beat you up. I sort of wished that that had not happened. I also had the funny experience recently of seeing somebody on Twitter say, it's very upsetting that this movie has a sexual assault in it. It took me a second because I was like, what are they talking about? And then I realized they're talking about the guy who makes the joke about taking advantage of the girl in the lift to feel inside her underwear, essentially. And I think the movie tries to have it both ways a little bit in maybe implying that she's sort of into that or that she consents to it in some way. But they also play it like, you can't tell that that's true. It's certainly not unambiguously true. And like I said, I think the movie wants to have that both ways. And having had that pointed out to me, that played really awkwardly to me as well. But again, a lot of it is there's such a weird attitude towards sexuality among these kids because they're trying to have them be very, like, sexually frank in some ways and talk about gay people and talk about what team you're on and all that kind of stuff. But it's not done from a position of genuinely everybody being fine with whoever you are. It's just. They just talk about it a lot.
- [15:34]
Aisha Harris
I mean, I definitely think that the blessing and the curse of this and the dialogue is that it does sound so much like what I was hearing at school when I was that age. Like, they talk like teenagers that I was around. And so there was a lot of throwing around the F word and, you know, the D word for lesbian. Like, all of these really harsh words and framings. And, you know, we were all, like, 13 years old. We didn't know better, quote, unquote. But, like, I wonder how much of it was, like, a chicken and egg sort of thing, because this was common in all of these teen movies. So we were watching these teen movies, and they sound like us, but then in parts do they sound like us? Because we are watching these movies. Like, another movie I can think of that has a lot of issues with it is something like, can't hardly wa. If you go back and rewatch that movie, there's so many things that are wrong with that. And that's the one with Jennifer Love Hewitt where it's like the house party at the end of senior year. And it's just lots of things happen.
- [16:32]
Linda Holmes
Everybody is in that movie.
- [16:34]
Aisha Harris
Everyone is in that movie. And, you know, if you go back and rewatch a lot of these movies, there's always going to be at least a few moments that are just like, this is not okay. And I think Brigitte on handles it better than most, like, because it does kind of try to have its cake and eat it, too. And it doesn't always seem so vindictive. It just seems kind of like this is the way people talk. But it is hard to swallow.
- [16:57]
Guest Speaker
Yeah. Well, I was gonna say it's interesting to hear you say that, Aisha, about the, like, chicken or the egg problem. Because watching this movie again, it reminded me that, like, so I would have seen this freshman year. And then when I started coming out to people senior year, I suddenly remembered that I, like, dropped the F bomb when I did it, like, for a couple People, I would say, I'm an F bomb. And it suddenly made me think, did I do that because of this movie? And watching it in sort of the casualness of dropping that word. Also, to Linda's point, I think with. There were so many more instances of them saying the F word than I remembered. And it does seem to hide behind the. Like you were saying, having it both ways, where not only is the jock saying it, but the gay character himself is throwing it around because he's so cool with it and casual with it. And I think that's how they sort of rationalized getting away with using it so much. I don't think that holds up, but I see what they were trying to do.
- [17:53]
Linda Holmes
What pleased me the most about it was both that kind of framing around the Gabrielle Union character that we talked about and that great scene that Aisha played. That is also my favorite scene in the movie. But also just like, it does have just a lot of funny lines in it. I think the opening sequence of this movie, the sort of cold open of this movie, is so funny and clever and establishes so much in such a short time. And on the other end, the credits bit where they're all sort of dancing together and there's a little bit of bloopering, which, of course, was very popular at the time, around that time, bloopers at the end of films. But I think both the very beginning and the very end really effectively build this kind of really funny, silly mood that I did very much enjoy revisiting. I'm not trying to be the buzzkill of Bring it On. I enjoy this movie a lot. It's just. It's. Of its time, you know?
- [18:49]
Guest Speaker
Definitely.
- [18:49]
Tobin Lowe
Yeah. The thing that I felt like worked the best for this movie was that every scene propelled the story forward. There weren't that many scenes that were just sort of superfluous, though. I will say the Jesse Bradford character was kind of useless as a love interest. But you had to have that in a teen movie. She's into the Ramones and the Clash.
- [19:12]
Linda Holmes
He's a very particular kind of, I think, honestly, like, 80s movie guy in some ways. Cause the first time you see him, you see, like, the sneakers coming up the hallway and he's got the class shirt. And I mean, he's like the third generation photocopy of that guy already.
- [19:32]
Guest Speaker
Yes.
- [19:33]
Aisha Harris
He was giving me serious Paul Rudd and clueless vibes. Not that, like, it's very similar where it's like, I'm cool, I'm deep, and you're just a. You know, vapid girl.
- [19:42]
Linda Holmes
Yeah, totally. But he's also like, very sincere and makes her the mix. I think this is kind of the waning era of the actual mixtape. Cause he's also carrying around his discman. As I mentioned earlier at school. Discman, that was not a good technology.
- [19:57]
Aisha Harris
Terrible, terrible.
- [19:59]
Linda Holmes
It's interesting that he occupies that liminal space between the mixtape and the discman.
- [20:04]
Aisha Harris
I guess that's what I'm trying to say.
- [20:06]
Tobin Lowe
See, this movie does it all.
- [20:07]
Guest Speaker
He's the Rosetta stone of this movie. You know, he just captures.
- [20:12]
Linda Holmes
All right, well, we want to know what you think about Bring it on. Find us@facebook.com PCHH that brings us to the end of our show. Kathy Tu, Tobin Lowe, Aisha Harris, thank you so much for being here.
- [20:23]
Guest Speaker
Thanks.
- [20:23]
Aisha Harris
Thank you. Thank you.
- [20:25]
Linda Holmes
This episode is produced by Will Jarvis and edited by Mike Katzeff and Jessica Reedy. And hello. Come in provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Linda Holmes and we'll see you all next time.
- [20:42]
Kathy Tu
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- [20:56]
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- [21:15]
Kathy Tu
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