I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of high school comedy Bring It On and wow that just makes me feel old. The film looks into the world of competitive cheerleading through the experiences of two high school teams in California, one of which is the defending national champions (the Toros) while the other is a talented, but financially strapped team (the Clovers).

Kirsten Dunst plays Torrance, the newly-appointed captain of the Toros, while Eliza Dushku plays Missy, the tough new girl who reluctantly signed up for cheerleading because the school didn't have a gymnastic team. Jesse Bradford plays Cliff, Missy's brother and Torrance's maybe-love interest. Gabrielle Union plays Isis, the captain for the Clovers. The rest of the cast are mostly comprised of similarly young up-and-comer actors.

One of my favorite things about this film is its focus on cheerleading, which back then didn't get a lot of play. That's not true now, what with all of the lame sequels that inevitably made following this movie, but neither here nor there. In the production notes on the DVD, we learn that director Peyton Reed was drawn to the script because "it's not just another teen film about guys wanting to get laid, or who's going to be asked to the prom." There's still typical high school drama and such, but the main conflict is all rooted in cheerleading.

With its focus on cheerleading, the routines are obvious stand-outs. The film even opens with a wonderful routine that effectively introduces the audience to not only the characters but to this high-energy and irreverent world. Just note the sassy lyrics to the opening cheer:

I'm sexy. I'm cute. I'm popular to boot. I'm bitchin', great hair. The boys all love to stare. I'm wanted. I'm hot. I'm everything you're not. I'm pretty. I'm cool. I dominate this school. Who am I? Just guess. Guys wanna touch my chest. I'm rockin'. I smile. And many think I'm vile. I'm flyin', I jump. You can look, but don't you hump. Whoo! I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore. We cheer and we lead. We act like we're on speed. Hate us 'cause we're beautiful. Well we don't like you either! We're cheerleaders. We are cheerleaders. Roll call!

Most of the other routines in the film aren't as lyrics-oriented. Instead they rely on kick-ass choreography and a great backing soundtrack. Or at the very least, a well executed robot sequence:


This film, however, is more than just the routines, even if there's fabulous. The dialogue is chock full of cheer-related bon mots such as cheer-ocracy, cheer-tator, and cheer-sex. As well as oft-repeated phrases such as "she puts the itch in bitch" or "whore in horrifying." Funnily enough most of these are uttered by the two "mean girls" before Mean Girls even came into being, Courtney and Whitney:

Boo, you whore.

They definitely amped the bitchiness to max, but without them the movie would not have had most of its bite. Speaking of bite, how about Gabrielle Union's Isis ? First time we see her she's leading her team with the "Brr, it's cold in here" routine. And this is how she looked:

Worship me or die!

It's as if she's some kind of warrior goddess, or something. Another screenshot of her that I love is when she makes eye contact to a member of the Toros during regionals:

If looks could kill...

There's so much more I could say about the film, but instead I want to call out just one more thing. During my recent re-watch I was a little caught at the casual use of "fag" and "dyke" though not all instances were negative. Of course there's the two football players, who I imagine were most likely closeted boyfriends, who kept name-calling the male cheerleaders and bitchy Courtney calling Missy an "uber dyke" and a "big dykey loser." Then of course this great exchange happen on their way to the team's first football game of the season:

Missy: What is your sexuality?
Les: Well, Jan's straight, and I'm... controversial.
Missy: Are you trying to tell me you speak fag?
Les: Oh, fluently.

Missy: And Courtney and Whitney... dyke-a-delic?
Everyone: No. Are you kidding? I don't think so.

Gotta love it. There's one character I purposely didn't talk about in this post, but there's a reason for that. For now, I'll leave you guys with Eliza Dushku simultaneously sticking out her tongue and giving a middle finger, just because it's an awesome shot: