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- Bring It On
(Reviewed August 11, 2000, by James Dawson)
- This mindless, TV-quality teen comedy about a cheerleading competition would have been, oh, about a thousand percent better without its heavy-handed and offensive overriding
theme of White Liberal Guilt. There is something very creepy and divisive about this movie, in which the captain of a (nearly) all-white San Diego cheerleading squad discovers that the only reason her team
has
been winning national championships is because the previous captain stole routines from a (nearly) all-black East Compton squad. The implication is that pampered white girls have no soul or creativity, and
that underprivileged black girls inherently have more rhythm, which seems just a tad racist and simplistic to This Reviewer. Make that more than a tad.
Head rah-rah girl Kirsten Dunce was excellent in last year's "Dick," but is pretty much wasted in a generic role here that could have been played by any perky teen. The real standout is her team's
"bad-girl-who-is-just-misunderstood" member, played by Eliza Dushku of TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The actress seems as embarrassed about being in this brainless "white bad, black good" movie
as
her character felt about being on a cheerleading squad, which somehow worked for me.
Back Row Grade: D (Just because it is impossible to give a failing grade to any movie that has this many cute teenage girls bouncing around in cheerleader costumes.) (Note: Am I
shallow?)
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