Twenty years after “Bring It On” debuted, “Brr it’s cold in here” and “This is not a democracy, it’s a cheer democracy” have shown no signs of being repelled from the cultural lexicon.
But in the late ’90s, when writer Jessica Bendinger bought her 120-page long script around Hollywood, every major studio went on to make a teen movie about cheerleaders. She was about to give up hope that the Rancho Carne Toros and the East Compton Clovers would get their compensation on the big screen when producers at Beacon Pictures fell in love with the play and agreed to make the film. (Universal images divided the film into theaters.)
Despite the initial reluctance of many performers, ‘Bring It On’ became a hit when it was released in theaters on August 25, 2000 – eventually costing $ 90 million at the box office. The legacy of ‘Bring It On’ extended far beyond that original film, which later tracked down five direct-to-DVD sequels and a Broadway musical that spun with songs by ‘Hamilton’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda .
The film, now considered a cult classic, also bolstered Kirsten Dunst as an office card – she had a big year in 1999 with “The Virgin Suicides,” “Drop Dead Gorgeous” and “Dick.” In ‘Bring It On’, she played Toros captain Torrence Shipman alongside strikers Eliza Dushku as fierce cheerleader Missy Pantone and Gabrielle Union as the fearsome leader of the Clovers, Isis.
“Bring It On” follows two rival teams from high schools as they prepare to compete for the national title. But the coming-of-age story is more than just impressive stunts and ghost finger. The film’s central conflict – Torrence and the Toros find out that their team’s five-win routines were stoned by Black cheerleaders – weaves in a timeless and timeless social message about cultural appropriation and white privilege.
In honor of their 20th anniversary, Bendinger and director Peyton Reed reunited to think about making the film and plans for a sequel to the original cast.
This movie was shopped a lot before it got the green light. Why do you think it was finally made?
Jessica Bendinger: It’s one of those crazy Hollywood stories. Universal went into the room. It was a male studio performance, which I remember throwing a basketball in the air while he was talking to us. He was like, “Let me stop you. It’s going to be a pass.” He tried to be a good man and not waste our time and energy. Then I went to Beacon [Pictures] and I was, ‘You will not want this. Nobody wants this, so I’ll tell you. ”I was really at the end of my sail, and sure enough [executives] John Ketcham, Caitlin Scanlon and Max Wong really advised to buy it. Miracles happen.
Peyton Reed: It’s amazing, even before I got to the movie, Jessica – you and Caitlin and Max were on such a unanimous front, “We get this movie made.” There was just this energy behind the film that was not to be ignored.
It’s a fun teen rom-com, but it also takes serious themes about cultural appropriation and white privilege. Did that get one pushback?
Bendinger: I think it was medicine in the candy. The only pushback I remember anyone saying was, “[The Toros] will not win in the end. Do you think that is a problem? “And I was, ‘Rocky did not win. No, I do not think it’s a problem.’
Reed: It’s only 20 years ago, but it looks like another time – a time when big studios made $ 10 million or $ 11 million movies. But even then, you know, they had much bigger fish to fry. We shot down in San Diego and we were really on our own in a great way. For me, as a first-time feature director at the time, it was really liberating. We just had all this youthful enthusiasm on film, and we just dived in and kept going and never looked back.
You bring up a good point. Studios do not make low budget movies. Do you think a movie like this would be made in a big studio now?
Reed: It’s getting harder and harder, which’s sad. It was the perfect budget for that movie. If it came out now, it would probably be a streaming movie. To do a competitive cheerleading comedy for big studio, all this time later, that actually feels like a coup to me. It feels like another era.
Bendinger: It was very gratifying to see the success of “Cheer” on Netflix. The public is still there, they are still hungry. We have really applied to something that has not diminished in culture. Having people who feel “different” than marginalized to win and have their moment central is very powerful.
The movie is insanely funny. Do you have any favorite favorites?
Bendinger: One of my favorite scenes is actually non-dialogue, which is brushing my teeth. We said, I think it would be great if Kirsten and Jesse [Bradford] had a moment. It’s such a beautiful scene. The actors are so cute, they are just so darn fun. It’s really irresistible. There are a lot of memorable lines, but those performances, there’s something about them that I really like. But if you put a gun to your head, my favorite lines are “Missy’s the poo” as the opening sentence.
Gabrielle Union talked about the perception of her character, noting that some people interpret it her like playing the villain as in “out of control, young Black woman. How did you see that?
Bendinger: Wow, that was never – I mean, there were earlier versions of the script where they were more oppositional to each other, but I thought one of the wonderful things about the movie is that there is no real villain. . The villain is your own behavior. The villain is your own ethical moral compass. Like, how will you behave in a situation? Are you choosing right or wrong? I think Gabrielle’s character is so poised.
Reed: Jessica is right. There’s no villain in the movie. The real thing is about Kirsten’s character and having someone realize that they’ve practiced being the five-time national champions and they stole those routines, right? It’s really about cultural theft. Kirsten’s character realizes that the Toros are direct beneficiaries of this cultural theft. That’s the stuff that’s really relevant there. Gabrielle’s character, Isis, is an established leader who will go to Nationals and prove to everyone that they are the rightful ones. They have fought in obscurity to be the best, and they are the best, and now they will prove it to the world. In no way is she a villain or even an antagonist. That’s a very strange read on film.
Right, I think it’s very clear in the film how much Kirsten’s character respects Gabrielle’s.
Reed: I think there will always be people in the public, like there are in our country, who are not comfortable that the white girls did not win. That’s the sad truth of our country, and I think that was a fun thing to confront in the movie, because absolutely the Clovers deserve to win. They won by being the best and working hard. What I like about that ending, as Jessica mentioned, it’s almost like a Rocky ending, where the main character comes second, but it feels like first. She learned something, she finally realized how complicated she is in this strange institutionalized racism that goes on. Those are two victories in my book.
Why would you approach the subject of cultural appropriation through the lens of a teen cheerleading film?
Bendinger: Taking an arena as iconic as cheerleading and all that it represents – All-American, idealistic, enthusiastic – was the perfect setting for a little subversion. I always hope to carry out that unexpected twist – use universal emotional real estate to burn beautiful injustice. If something’s already subversive, it’s not fun to go through, is it? You want there to be some tension and distance so that the character can grow.
In this regard, Torrance and cheerleading was the perfect proxy. Pairing coming-of-age with coming of consciousness is a natural fit. Especially for a teenager in pre-smart phone / pre-social media / pre-WiFi 90s aughts who has never had to doubt her reality and suddenly has to question everything.
Cheerleading was the learning curve that is relatable. She is well-meaning and gets a chance to learn from her mistakes and correct and grow course. It’s subverted the many classic sports structure in many ways, because it’s not about us whether they win or lose. It’s about both.
Following the success of ‘Bring It On’, there were so many direct-to-DVD sequels that none of you were a part of it. Why were you not involved with them?
Reed: I can speak for myself, but not long after that I found the script for “Down With Love”, which is my second film. The way I have traditionally worked, I will dig into something new and then become really myopic about it and get sucked into it. And by that time, I think DVD sales were up for grabs. Our movie did well in theaters, but it really went down well with DVD sales.
Bendinger: It did really well on DVD. Like, it was stupid.
Reed: I think there was a business model at Universal at one time or another, they did it with “Bring It On” and “American Pie,” where they would do these things on DVD. In retrospect, I think there would have been a market for theatrical versions of the sequel. But I never remember specific conversations about getting the cast for one again.
Bendinger: Peyton and I, over the years, have had fun conversations. We’re really excited about the idea of maybe following this. We have nothing explicit to announce, but we have been talking about this for years.
Reed: We have some very, very fun and specific ideas that we are working on. That we love the idea that “Bring It On” could potentially be this generational game, because the appetite for cheerleading and that whole world has only grown since we made this movie 20 years ago.
Can you place what that looked like or where you present the characters now? Are they like Monica, the coach from “Cheer”?
Bendinger: I do not know. We’re excited to think about it.
Reed: One told me last year in the context of a Marvel talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one said, “You really should create a ‘Bring It On’ Cinematic Universe. We started talking about it and were like, “Wait a second,” and started thinking about certain things that really got us excited. And I think that’s all we can say right there.
Bendinger: I will say, we really like the character Sparky Polastri.
Twenty years later, what do you hope people still distance themselves from seeing ‘Bring It On’?
Bendinger: The power of respect. Torrence says, “I’m just cheerleading.” But her entire career was built on stealing someone’s job. It’s a nice benevolent lens to think about the bigger problem we’re having in America. It’s a fun starter kit for people who want to talk about it or think about it.
Reed: I agree, I think this is this mutual respect. In a utopian world, Kirsten’s character Torrence realizes the reality of what has happened and how they become the five-time national champions, and she wants to try to make it right. She makes some misteps along the way, but the intention is good. That was the story we went through back then, and I think that resonates even now.
Check out Gabrielle Union’s surprising “Cheer” star and “Bring It On” superfan Jerry Harris below:
