It may seem just like yesterday, but it’s been two full decades since the original release of Bring It On. Kirsten Dunst has gone on to have quite the prolific and successful acting career, earning a Hollywood star. But movie fans will never forget her as Torrance, head of the Rancho Carne High School cheerleading squad.
Bring It On may not go down as one of the greatest films of all time, but it remains one of the most rewatchable teen comedies from the 2000s with a great cast.
Updated on November 17th, 2021 by Amanda Bruce: Bring It On spawned a surprising franchise of direct-to-DVD movies that pitted cheerleading teams against one another in different settings. Up and coming performers like Solange Knowles, Hayden Panettiere, Ashley Benson, and Cassie Scerbo all found themselves playing cheerleaders at some point.
The original movie, however, remains the best of the bunch as it was one of the first times cheerleaders were seen as more than just support for the football team on the big screen. The characters got to be fully fleshed out with some great lines, and not just girlfriends of the football players.
Aaron’s Version Of The College Experience
“It’ll be like high school, only better!”
At the very beginning of the film, the audience sees soon-to-be head cheerleader Torrance Shipman beginning her last first day of high school, getting picked up by her slightly older boyfriend, Aaron, who is about to head off to college. He awkwardly picks up Torrance and tries to reassure her that despite all the change they are about to face, they’ll be able to make it as a couple. Once she graduates and begins attending the same college as him, it will all work out. “It’ll be like high school, only better!” Aaron declares.
Aaron is one of those guys that clearly peaked in high school and will probably never find the same amount of notoriety that he had while he was on the cheer squad with Torrance. There’s plenty to like about college, but to look at it as high school 2.0 is overly simplistic.
Sparky Has Very Specific Cheerleading Ideas
“Those aren’t spirit fingers! These are spirit fingers.”
If there’s one thing people in the cheerleading community will never forget from the long list of memorable Bring It On quotes, it’s Sparky’s love for “spirit fingers.” They’re like jazz hands in musical theater. The concept looks ridiculous when Sparky’s teaching his routine to the team, but there’s no denying that there’s a large number of spirit fingers in cheerleading.
Getting the team to enthusiastically wiggle their fingers during routines is a bit of a hilarious challenge. There is a lot of eye-rolling and sighing on the part of the team, but it only serves to make Sparky’s spirit fingers more pronounced during his demonstrations. While it’s a frustrating concept to act out in real life, it makes for one entertaining sequence for the audience.
Torrance Wants To Be The Best
“I define being the best as competing against the best there is out there and beating them.”
The Rancho Carne Toros are used to being considered the best by everyone around them. When they find out they might not actually be the best cheerleaders in the country, it throws them all for a loop. While some team members, like Courtney and Whitney, have no problem pretending they’re still the best as long as they don’t have to compete against the East Compton Clovers, Torrance has a very different opinion.
Once her eyes are opened to the disparity between their schools as a result of the wealth amongst her own teammates, she can’t let the idea go that they aren’t actually the best. Torrance believes that the Clovers deserve the chance to show their skills to the world, and though it makes her a little uncomfortable at first, she welcomes the competition. It’s a lesson more sports movies should take into consideration: athleticism shouldn’t just be for the wealthy.
The Football Announcer Knows The Score
“Our next defeat is scheduled for next Friday, eight o’clock.”
The vast majority of sports movies put their focus squarely on the (usually male) team that throws the ball around. If cheerleaders are in a movie or television show, their status as athletes are often overlooked. It’s interesting to note that in the world of Bring It On, that’s not the case. Instead of the football team being the popular draw in the movie, it’s the cheerleaders.
As the game announcer points out, the football team is regularly facing defeat on Friday nights. It’s a nice change of pace for an audience to see that this football team isn’t full of the plucky underdogs who come out on top in the end. Instead, the cheerleaders take a tumble from the top of their pedestal and become more self-aware.
Torrance Learns The Truth About Aaron
“You’re a great cheerleader, Aaron. It’s just that, maybe, you’re just not boyfriend material.”
The audience can tell right away that Aaron isn’t the great boyfriend Torrance thinks he is. He rarely has time for her, and when he does, it’s all about how great college will be when they’re together, or that Big Red was just doing what she thought was best for the team. It’s pretty clear he doesn’t actually listen to Torrance when he doubts her skills as captain.
Eventually, Torrance realizes that too, and pays him a visit, only to find him with another girl. She turns his speech about her not being captain material back on him in this often mimicked Bring It On quote, complete with the same hand gestures and expressions, making for one cathartic moment for the audience. The audience is thrilled for Torrance to get the chance to really move on with her life.
Jenelope Doesn’t Want To Hold Back
“You’ve been touched by an angel, girl.”
The audience doesn’t get to spend nearly as much time with the Clovers as they do with the Toros, which is really the one fault of the movie. The audience could have seen so much more of Isis’ wisdom, Jenelope’s one-liners, and the skill of the group as a whole. This particular line comes from Jenelope after Missy brings Torrance to see the Clovers in action.
The team confronts Torrance and Missy, but when Torrance realizes how naive she was, and tries to explain that she didn’t know what was happening, the Clovers aren’t quick to believe her. Jenelope thinks she should be allowed to teach them a lesson – with her fists. Isis stops her, and when Jenelope tells Torrance, “You’ve been touched by an angel, girl,” the audience believes it. Despite how calm Isis remains throughout the movie, it’s clear there’s a lot of (understandable) rage simmering in the Clovers who have consistently been overlooked or stolen from.
Carver Is The Eternal Optimist
“I’m a quick healer!”
Within moments of Torrance becoming the new head cheerleader of the Toros, one of her fellow cheerleaders, Carver, takes a huge fall while trying to pull off a difficult move. As the medics take her away, her spirits are not the least bit diminished. She tries to reassure Torrance that she’ll be as good as new in no time. “Don’t worry! I’m a quick healer!” Carver tells the team.
It’s awful when someone has a serious injury, and if fans have watched Netflix’s CHEER, they know they’re all too common. Carver’s go-get-’em attitude is priceless even when she’s out and down for the count. She remains a cheerleader for the team even when she can’t do the moves.
Cliff’s Response To The Cool Kids
“I’m pretty sure the loser sneeze is dead.”
With the departure of Aaron, a new romantic interest is able to take center stage in Torrance’s world in the form of Cliff. When Cliff first arrives at Rancho Carne High School, he shows up as the new student in one of Torrance’s classes.
After being introduced by the teacher (who butchers his last name) two jocks say “Loser!” as he takes his seat, barely pretending to cover it up with a sneeze. Trying to keep his cool he looks at the jocks and throws their line back at them. “I think the loser sneeze is dead,” he says. It doesn’t stop them from doing it again, but others likely wish they could have the same kind of wit that Cliff does when people make fun of them.
Missy Is Honest At Try0uts
“This is a last resort!”
With Carver’s absence, the Toros need a replacement, so tryouts are held. After an abysmal string of potential candidates, one girl arrives and makes her mark: Missy. She immediately establishes her status as a rebel, upsetting Whitney and Courtney, putting a target on her back.
But Torrance is impressed and asks Missy if she can do a yell. After Torrance gives her an example, Missy replies sarcastically, “I transferred from Los Angeles, your school has no gymnastics team, this is a last resort!” Plenty of aspiring cheerleaders and gymnasts enjoyed the sarcastic aspect of one of the most famous of Bring It On quotes. Missy demonstrates she can bring it and she’s not going to be just a cookie-cutter replacement for anyone on the squad. Missy likely would have had an even better time if she’d been a character in the gymnastics movie Stick It.
Torrance Makes Her Opinion Clear
“Missy’s the poo, so take a big whiff.”
Despite her flippant cheer, Missy performs several stunts that impress Torrance and make her impossible to pass up. Courtney and Whitney try to dissuade Missy and make her leave the tryout, but once she’s left, Torrance puts them in their place.
“This is a ‘cheer-ocracy’,” Torrance tells them. “Missy’s the poo, so take a big whiff.” This is one of the best things about Torrance. She knows how to be a real leader and keep the squad in line. Not an easy task for anyone, but especially the new head of a cheerleading squad, and especially when her fellow veteran members doubt her.
Torrance Opens Up
“I think I’m cursed.”
Torrance has a huge awakening when Missy takes her to a school competition in Compton and shows her that the signature cheers of the Toros were stolen. Despite being the cheerleaders that came up with the cheers, the East Compton Clovers have not achieved the same notoriety as the Rancho Carne Toros.
As Missy and Torrance return home, Torrance confesses she thinks she’s cursed after an incident at cheer camp. The film flashes back to when she was at camp and dropped the infamous “spirit stick”, causing her to believe she has cursed the Toros. Missy might think the superstition is ridiculous, but little do they know that Torrance’s troubles as the head cheerleader are far from over.
Sparky Pulls No Punches
“I will attempt to transform your robotic movements into poetry with your body.”
In an attempt to revamp the Toro cheerleading squad’s routines, Torrance calls upon the help of choreogapher Sparky Polastri thanks to the recommendation from Aaron. It turns out that Sparky is much more than they bargained for, making up for what he lacks in good routines with his commanding personality.
“I will attempt to transform your robotic movements into poetry with your body,” he proclaims. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be more of a jerk during that process, but the audience can’t help but laugh as he sells his ridiculous routine. He truly commits, but as he reveals in the same speech, he’d rather work with dancers, seeing cheerleaders as somehow lesser, and wanting to elevate their art. He’s quite the character, and it’s no wonder that his insults get under the skin of the team.
Cliff Writes Torrance A Song
“I’d feed you bonbons all night.”
Cliff and Torrance are clearly the couple that is meant to be, but it takes a while for them to come together as Aaron stands in the way. Cliff tries to win Torrance’s affections not just by bringing her flowers, but by writing a song for her.
In one of the first lines of the song, Cliff declares, “I’d feed you bonbons all night,” as the tempo of the song shifts from a single acoustic guitar to a full band. If Cliff hasn’t won the audience over by this point, he simply won’t. What Bring It On fans really want to know, though, is if he has a band he hasn’t told Torrance about and where he managed to record his bomb-diggity jam. Torrance eventually uses his song as part of the mashup for their final routine in the movie, cementing to Cliff (and the audience) how she feels about him.
Missy Gives Other Teams A Warning
“If you don’t have it yet, you don’t have it!”
As the Toros arrive for the national competition in Florida, Missy and Torrance share one last bonding moment the night before they have to leave it all on the field. As they are talking, they can hear another team that maybe isn’t quite so confident that they’re going to win.
Despite it being who knows how late at night, another cheerleading squad is practicing their routine just outside. Missy goes to the balcony and tells them to knock it off. “If you don’t have it yet, you don’t have it!” She exclaims. Late-night cramming may work for some tests, but not in cheerleading. It’s also a sign of Missy’s confidence. The team might be nervous as to whether or not they’re going to be good enough, but she knows they know what they’re doing.
Isis Wants A Fair Playing Field
“When you go to nationals, bring it.”
When Torrance hears that the East Compton Clovers won’t be able to make it to the national competition in Florida due to funding issues, she manages to get her dad’s company to write a check. Torrance has the best of intentions when she does it, but she doesn’t realize how thoughtless she’s being. Isis makes sure she understands that the team will get there on their own terms without her guilt money.
She rips up the check right in front of Torrance. “If you want to make it right, then when you go to nationals, bring it,” she challenges Torrance. Isis won’t settle for a white savior, and the Clovers don’t need one anyway. Go Clovers! Isis’ decision is one of the many aspects of Bring It On that still holds up today.
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