Bring It On: The Complete Story of the Cheerleading Movie That Changed, Like, Everything (No, Seriously)

Journalist Wickman celebrates the movie Bring It On with research, interviews, and reasons why it still has maintained its popularity since 2000. Screenwriter Jessica Bendinger worked hard to have the film realized and not altered. Early on, Jonathan Demme was a powerful advocate. Most people who don’t know anything about it think it’s just a cheer movie, but this piece of pop culture endures for many reasons: Kirsten Dunst, Gabrielle Union, LGBTQIA+ awareness, and feminist respect for the sport of cheerleading. The movie is fun and subtle. Wiseman offers background on the actors and their feelings about the film, which opened to big box office success and became a cult movie. Perhaps that is due to it being one of the few major teen films that centers around girls. It also addressed issues such as systemic inequality, cultural appropriation, and intersectional feminism, all which make it even more relevant today.