Bring It On! Part 2
It’s time to bring the spirit and travel through time with Erin Cline, Ben Silverio, and Ansel Burch. They’re pop culture observers/ zany podcasters/ excellent friends who know spirit fingers when they see them. What could bring Erin back from her hiatus? Why the movie that spawned an unlikely franchise and decades worth of memes, Bring It On
Do you have opinions on Bring It On? We certainly do. Ben and Erin are here with the hot takes on the movie that encouraged every millenial to form an opinion on spirit fingers, Eliza Dushku, and the inherant danger of the wolf wall.
Find us online!
Erin Cline is @nyderngenc on Instagram. Ben Silverio is @Bsilverio20 on Twitter and IG. Ansel Burch is @Indecisionist on Twitter and @TheIndecisionist on IG.
Join us next week as we reminisce over 28 movies worth of time travel goodness and the fun we had making them. So, make sure you’re subscribed because all month long, it’s #Time2Party
Episode Transcript
Ben Silverio 0:00
I am Ben Silverio
Erin Cline 0:06
and I'm Erin Cline
Ansel Burch 0:07
And I'm Ansel Burch
Ben Silverio 0:08
and this time to party!
Ansel Burch 0:12
this month's episodes on Bring it on. We're recorded on March 26 23. We are not doctors. We don't give medical advice. Please drink responsibly.
Sure. Pyro smoke machine.
Ben Silverio 0:27
Oh, it is Wrestlemania. We've
Erin Cline 0:30
got people talking about Wrestlemania. And I was like, is that this week? Oh, oh yeah. So glad to not be a part of that right.
Ben Silverio 0:39
Cody Rhodes is going to use all of the pyro available in California. So
Erin Cline 0:45
Cody Rhodes is going to personally burn down the remaining patches of forest. Oh, no. It was just one spark.
Ben Silverio 0:54
That's all it takes. Yes. Aaron
Erin Cline 0:57
bet. What are we talking about? today?
Ben Silverio 1:00
We are talking about the 2000 Right. The year 2000s. Seminar time travel. Featuring it on
Erin Cline 1:12
Oh, you know that again? We just we talked about it the last episode with how can you not think of bringing on when you think classic time travel media? It's, you know, it's been so it's seminal. It's a seminar. Again, we talked about it last episode. I don't even need to go into it. We don't even need to go into it.
Ansel Burch 1:37
Yeah, it's right up there with the future in terms.
Erin Cline 1:40
Absolutely. When when you ask someone to name their top 10 Time travel movies and they don't include bringing on I don't know, man, maybe discontinue that friendship. That's drafted. Maybe? questionable? Definitely the first offense I mean, maybe but like a third offense plus, you know, cut them up anyway,
Ben Silverio 2:02
because of bring it on. You know, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans should be should be rejoicing, you know, because without it, Peyton Reed wouldn't have gotten you know, Hitman and all the time travel that came with that eventually,
Erin Cline 2:17
you know, linked to time travel. This isn't retroactive in any way that was definitely planned at the time of the Bring it on.
Ben Silverio 2:24
Yeah, you know.
Ansel Burch 2:27
By the way did weird piece of trivia Did you know that Peyton Reed was the actor who played the mime in the in the like montage of hilarious files that they're going to
Ben Silverio 2:37
study? I did not know that.
Erin Cline 2:39
That's very funny. I did not know that. caught
Ansel Burch 2:42
that on the IMDB trivia last night.
Ben Silverio 2:45
Peyton Reed. His career has come a long way people went when first talking about him and they were just like, I'm sorry. We went from Edgar Wright to the Bring It On guy. But obviously bring it on prepared him for big things.
Erin Cline 3:01
Right, exactly. Bring it on. It's a big production. It's
Ben Silverio 3:03
true. But yes, we're gonna review the movie that we'll be spotlighting this month get all of our thoughts feelings, emotions, cetera et cetera. Yeah, all the all that good stuff. Because you know, you want all that. Movies.
Erin Cline 3:19
Exactly. 100% That's, that's what I'm looking for high drama.
Ben Silverio 3:27
Especially one from the 90s Slash 2000s
Erin Cline 3:31
Oh, my God. Alright, let's just let's get into it. Right. Some of this does not hold up. Some of this movie is not very good to watch in 2023. But to be honest, for a movie that's over an hour and a half, I would say less than five minutes of the movie is like actually offensive, which was pretty surprising actually. Like it spread out those five minutes aren't consecutive is definitely a curse throughout the whole movie. But like I was I honestly the thing that doesn't hold up the most are the gay jokes. It feels like they're very aggressive in a post Hilary Duff Don't say things or gay campaign way where it's like, I think a very good indication of where we were as a culture at the time that like that was something that you could just make super flippin jokes about constantly. And it wasn't like a derailment of any kind. That was the most stark thing that stood out to me as now. Yeah,
Ben Silverio 4:30
R word F word like just
Erin Cline 4:33
oh R word. Oh my god. Yes. That
Ansel Burch 4:35
hard R at the 45 minute mark. Yep.
Ben Silverio 4:41
Yeah, no, though. There are a lot of times where it's just like, Oh, yeah. Like, just flippantly drop in those words. Yeah, man now would not stand
Erin Cline 4:52
the F slur is all over. Oh, yeah. No, that's, yeah, there were some Some F slur drops that I was just like, wow, people really just just say that all the time had like that really blew me away. I, I don't know, part of it is because I'm queer. And I knew kind of young that I, I don't remember using that slur so freely, but I guess I don't remember it. Just I guess I got that it doesn't exist
Ben Silverio 5:19
anymore. It was yeah so much when I was younger that was I just didn't think about it. And now that now my brain is wired to think about it. It's just like, how did this? How did this slide like the one that caught me off guard the most was when they pick up Missy to go to the first football game. And they're asking, you know about the male cheerleaders sexual orientation. And I'm just like, damn, okay.
Erin Cline 5:51
It's, it's wild, because I feel like that Missy is coded as kind of queer and is called a dyke many times. And so it's, I feel like in 2023, you could watch that with a very generous eye and be like, that's one queer person speaking to another queer person. But it's not written that way. That's not what they intended at all from that scene. And it felt really startling. It also felt a little startling in the eye note, I noticed in that same scene, he doesn't say that he's gay. He says he's controversial, which feels more like to me that he's indicating that he's bisexual, which is even more surprising for a 2000s movie than to just completely write him as a gay character. I like that they didn't actually differentiate that he was fully 100%. Gay, it's implied. And he like flirts with a man later. But I don't know if that's part of like sensor code at the time that they're like, don't actually say that you're gay or how that came out. I like now that it can be read a little more fluidly. So that was also very, you know, the
Ben Silverio 6:58
writing is so interesting, because you get those stereotypical moments, you know, that just like, pigeonhole these young people into these categories, but they also in the same scripts will lift up various people for doing these things that they're the characters stereotypically wouldn't be doing. Like, you know, Torrance taking AP classes. You know, Darcy doing well on the SATs. The the biggest example, though, is Gabrielle Union. Cuz when she joined the film, it was right after she did 10 Things I Hate About You. She's all that and Love and Basketball. So bring it on.
Unknown Speaker 7:53
Yeah, oh, wow.
Erin Cline 7:54
She was like a big star at the time. I mean, she still is, but like she was it wasn't like she was. It's funny, because I feel like Kirsten Dunst was pretty well known at this time, because she'd already done like, Interview with a Vampire when she was a child actor. But it's weird that she was so good in this movie, and it became like a stain on her and her career for a long time, in a way that didn't happen to Gabrielle Union. And I wonder if part of that is because she had already done all of those other teeny bopper movies. And so it didn't feel like a rubber stamp on her
Ben Silverio 8:30
was pursuing award father also, you know, they were they were in very different circles, projects. But also, like part of what made Gabrielle Union's part in this movie so impactful. Because first, she wanted to be in the movie sugar and spice. The movie about the cheerleaders robbing people. Oh,
Erin Cline 8:56
yeah. The other cheerleader movie. I forgot about that. Yeah, they premiered like really close to each other. But
Ben Silverio 9:02
apparently they didn't want to make any of their leads. Black. She didn't. Yeah, no. Bus right after she got turned away from that. She found a movie called cheer fever. Which is what Bring It On was originally what a terrible title. Oh, yeah. And the script was equally as bad.
Erin Cline 9:25
That's not surprising. Yeah. So
Ben Silverio 9:27
I found out all the stuff when I was doing research to interview Gabrielle Union when she was in the Cheaper by the Dozen remake on Disney plus. Yeah. So like, I took kind of a deep dive into her career. And like in an interview, she said that the original script for Bring It On, had ISIS speaking in like made up blaxploitation dialogue
Jesus Christ.
So the shooting script did not end up on on screen at all. Good. We're changing the script constantly, thanks to Peyton Reed and another writer who Gabrielle Union went on to work with a couple times. And I'm blanking on his name right now. And I'm sorry, but But yeah, they were basically like, throughout the whole process, they were like, Hey, would isis really save this? Will the clovers really say this? So Gabrielle Union had a huge hand in making sure that these characters felt authentic and fully formed, because ISIS was just going to be like a stock character essentially. And have it all be about the Toros. But you know, because of the clovers storyline, this, this movie ended up exploring cultural appropriation in a way that teen movies typically don't you see, the strong black female characters standing up for themselves, you know, do see a ton of white guilt. And it's, it was just great to see. Because you don't often get that, especially in in this genre.
Erin Cline 11:06
Also, I really like and I made a note on this too. I really like that on the Toros on the predominantly white squad. There's all these jokes and this like talk about how they're gay and how all the cheerleader guys must be gay. That is never once mentioned about any of the clovers. And in a culture where black men being assumed as feminine or queer is controversial in many ways. Like, I like that on this, they were like, No, not a big deal. These dudes are on this squad. They're obviously very cool. Who gives a fuck? Like, I really liked that. I thought that that was a really good choice. And I feel like now probably influenced by Gabrielle Union, which is good to know. I'm glad.
Ben Silverio 11:51
Yeah. And it's as much as certain points of bring it on, don't hold up anymore. Some of the parts hold up even stronger. You know, and I wish some of those elements you'd see more of, you know, and thankfully, you do get to see a lot more diversity in these casts. As as leads you know, you get to see uplifting stories from people of color in American society like the lists in certain aspects Bring It On was ahead of its time but then you know, you get Jan right yeah,
Ansel Burch 12:29
they didn't knock it out of the park every time.
Erin Cline 12:32
We started talking about this in the first episode, but it's weird because I feel like there are ways that you can read this where some of it is satirical, but it looks like some of the stuff that reads is super sent to recall it's like I don't think that that's what they meant to do here and it's funny that now watching it 23 years later it it some of the stuff that feels very satirical which I don't think was supposed to be at the time almost reads is like not almost it's camp it fit like bring it on feels super camp in lots of ways. I do not think it was intended to be camp but then there are parts of it that do feel intentionally can't be like Sparky plaster is a great example of that like that whole bit is very camp and like them learning the different styles in order to like the mime and the swing dance like that's all very camp to and it's I have no idea how much of that was intentional or not. But I like that it feels very campy now and looking back on it like sits is this one weird camp milestone of the the 2000s
Ben Silverio 13:38
You're being a cheer tater Torrance right like a pain in my ass.
Erin Cline 13:42
Some of it is just like wow, this is very over the top. In a way that's clearly like we talked about this too in the first episode those two terrible characters Whitney and what's her for me and
Ben Silverio 13:53
Whitney? Yeah, like
Erin Cline 13:54
that's very camp that like very exaggerated shitty girl. Those like weird clap backs that are that we talked about in the first episode too. Like that is very camp. All of that is very camp and it's like I can't Did you mean to do because if not, I'm kind of glad it wound up this way. And if so, I would rather know that so I can give credit to the fact that this is like purposely satirical instead of just like me with 223 year later rosy glasses being like actually it's
Ansel Burch 14:25
it does seem like there's an opportunity to look at it that way because we've got we do have the storyline with ISIS and the clovers and and I think that the other thing that really made me wonder how self aware they were in the moment is the fact that torrents I don't think ever gets an easy out. Throughout the entirety of the movie. She gets held to her shit and man made to pay for the mistakes of both of herself and Big Red. Now granted, it's usually on the second time that she gets the easy out but not The first and that that felt, yeah felt like a enough tension that, like they are really holding her to, to her standards. And they really are forcing her to atone for the errors in a way that is genuine. And that feels like a more serious movie or at least a more self aware movie. Yeah, then the rest of the film that we're watching.
Erin Cline 15:30
Yeah. And I feel like the way that her parents interact with her, especially when she goes to them and is talking about like, put your money where your mouth is, like you say, you want to be about it and be about it. And she leaves and they're like, What the fuck just happened like that? I think also points to that where it's like, Okay, I think this is what you're trying to do here. And like, it does work sometimes. And I like that she's held to that account, and we get to see that journey for her as well. I feel that same way too. When she goes to finally break up with Erin. It's not like she's shocked by the fact that he has is a huge douchebag and is clearly cheating on her. She's just prepared for it at that point, because it feels like she knows she's reaping her her just rewards in many ways that like, I deserve this. I put up with this piece of shit boyfriend who tried to sabotage me and like, okay, yeah, I need to accept that I have to cut these losses out of my life. I liked that journey. And I think they did a really good job with that.
Ben Silverio 16:26
Yeah, you know, I think that the self awareness definitely came in way after the original writers of cheer fever are no longer needed on the project. You know, like, once all of the things were in motion. And the people were involved, that the story really started to evolve into this more self aware thing. And you know, one of the notes that I made about Torrance is that she really is a great character. And I said, despite the white guilt, but maybe it's because of the white guilt, because she's sees that she needs to be held accountable for stuff. And she's just not simply that, that airhead cheerleader trope, you know, because she is smart. She stands up to Aaron, she has integrity. You know, she communicates well, even with Cliff, you believed in me, you know, like that. You don't typically get your lead character. Being that self aware. And it's an important thing to show your audience to be like, Hey, this is this is how things could be.
Erin Cline 17:35
Yeah, it's, it's interesting how much got stacked on top of what was apparently a terrible script. That almost does make me think that a lot of this stuff is intentionally satirical and campy, because it's sitting on top of this terrible material. It's like people who watch starship Starship Troopers and think that it's like a totally serious movie. And it's like, no, this is clearly a satire. And because it's stacked on top of all this shit, you don't like notice it that I think showgirls is even a better example of that, like, most people don't understand that that's a satire. And they just think it's a bad movie. And it's like, no, you're right to like, stack all these layers on top of it. And so I feel like, I'm glad that you told me that I feel like knowing that the script had such a shitty base does make me feel like this stuff is more intentional.
Ben Silverio 18:20
Yeah, definitely. And just seeing where Peyton Reed has come from as a filmmaker, like, I don't think that his style would be to just accept the script as at face value and just do it, you know, he's going to add his own voice, which does have an element of satire to it. You know, like, I always go to Ant Man when talking about paying read, because, you know, obviously, big Marvel fan. So like, he kind of flipped the script on on the heist movie with his amp and movies, you know, each time featured a different kind of heist. That isn't your, your run of the mill heist. And he makes it interesting, even without the ant powers, you know. But yeah, I think he was doing the same thing here. And, of course, largely, it was fueled by the the Teen Queen Gabrielle Union, which I like to call her, Her Majesty the Queen. Because she's so so great in this and in her body of work.
Erin Cline 19:23
Yes, she's really, really good at this.
Ben Silverio 19:28
I also wanted to point out, Jesse Bradford, as Cliff,
Erin Cline 19:32
he was really good in this.
Ben Silverio 19:34
Yeah, he's really good in this.
Erin Cline 19:36
I really enjoyed his performance. It's funny because some of it feels very cringy because I'm an adult watching teenagers flourish. And there were times where I wanted to crawl inside of my body and die because it felt so cringy but at the time as a teenager watching this, it was like the height of romance. He was so romantic. And now looking back, it's like, well, yeah, so he's also a dweeb. And so I liked the ages in a way that kids and teenagers can watch this and be like, Oh, it's so romantic. He does a great job of threading that line. I think it's, it's really good. You can tell he was a child actor and has done this for a long time. Like, he clearly knows how to hit that middle point. Yeah.
Ben Silverio 20:16
You know, like, when this movie came out, I totally wanted to be Clif. You know, like I, the making the mixtape thing was definitely something that I tried to do. And it also kind of made me think of how I miss that I that I used to make more time for playlists and mixtapes, you know, because not only did I enjoy making them for people, but it was almost like, like, meditative, you know, like, the process. Like, obviously, I wasn't like recording off of a boombox onto another tape. I was burning CDs, but still, but still it was it was a it was a it was a fun process
Erin Cline 20:57
kids today have it's so easy, you just throw everything into a Spotify playlist. Like that's, I made a playlist for the trip with chicken in February and it wound up being like 28 hours long, because I just tally everything on there. It was like it's the vibe it all fits. So I take like making a playlist pretty seriously but most people it's like, oh, I just need 14 songs to chuck onto this playlist super easy but like ripping songs from the internet, which meant going on to I don't know Livewire maybe risking it all for lack of one mislabeled song. Oh, yeah. A lot harder. But yeah, the cassette in this when he when she takes out the cassette, I was like, like I said, Oh my god. It was a real blast from the past. So
Ben Silverio 21:39
it's funny that you mentioned Limewire because I definitely downloaded just what I need offline wire for mix tapes back then.
Ansel Burch 21:48
That's so funny. Yeah. This was my first time watching the movie. I know. Shocking. And I was really surprised that the song that he wrote her, didn't end up being in the, in the like, ultimate cheer routine. I was sure that's what they were setting up.
Ben Silverio 22:03
It was. Was it? Yeah, that that point where he's like, rocking out to it. They show him in the stands. That was his song.
Erin Cline 22:11
Oh, that guitar riff You're right. And they do that in the I didn't even realize that man. I didn't catch that. I never would have realized that's what that was. Yeah. Oh. Wow. Man that really flew.
Ansel Burch 22:25
Well, there we go. I'm glad that they did that. Work them because
Ben Silverio 22:29
see, like that that element, right was something that I loved about that final performance, because it really like it brought together everything that they went through as a team. So it really like showcase them. But like the new them, and so like something like that came up later in life when in Pitch Perfect. You have the kid from dear Evan Hanson. What's his name? Ben. Ben prep. And once it's back, yeah, you have him being the nerdy kid who does magic as part of the acapella group. And then in the finale, he sings, I've, I've got the magic in me, and then doesn't do magic in the number. So you don't get that payoff. And I'm still annoyed to this day about it.
Erin Cline 23:24
Eric, no, thanks. I've never seen Pitch Perfect. I made a judgment call and was like, no.
Ben Silverio 23:31
You made the right call. I don't like those movies. For reasons like that, where you set up something so easily, and then you don't pay it off. You know, it's like screenwriting one on one. When you put a gun on the wall. In Act One, it's better be fired. Yeah. But yeah, I love that bit. Where you see Cliff just rocking out because like he hears the song. Yeah, but also he's like, Oh, torrents. But also I think it's funny that he was just like, into it. Oh, yeah. But also, it was funny that he managed to fly out to Daytona Beach, Florida. In a day's notice. Dude,
Erin Cline 24:14
I said the same thing. I was like, I cannot believe that this younger brother got carted all the way to Daytona. Like why are both of her parents at this competition? And why is only Mrs. Brother at this competition? So as a clarifying note, are they are they twins was that the deal? Step siblings? Their step siblings. I never figured that out. Pick up on that. I had no idea that they were step siblings. That's why they moved from LA is because the two got their parents got married, I'm assuming.
Ben Silverio 24:42
Yes. Because Cliff mentions that I believe he was from Detroit.
Erin Cline 24:50
Yeah, he says he lives in Detroit, Kentucky, LA and somewhere else. I don't remember. Yeah. Oh, okay. I just assumed they were fraternal twins. And I was like, I don't know. If I ever really knew what the answer was, okay, well, I'm glad you knew the answer.
Ben Silverio 25:03
I've seen this movie a lot.
Erin Cline 25:06
I mean, I've seen this movie a lot too, but I don't remember a lot of it. I guess it's been like 10 years since I watched this.
Ben Silverio 25:11
I mean, this is also where my crush on Eliza Dushku like really heightened. Beautiful. Yeah. Have you such a crush on this?
Erin Cline 25:22
Yeah. Both of the learned well learned. Yep. She and Jesse Bradford. What a handsome family they fight. Yeah, right.
Ansel Burch 25:32
It must have been the 2000.
Erin Cline 25:35
You know, it must have in the 2000 a motherfucking. Skinny. Everybody in this movie was like,
Ansel Burch 25:40
wow, shocking.
Ben Silverio 25:42
Yeah. Even when Sparky was talking about Darcy's ass. You know,
Erin Cline 25:48
it was wild. How many Asterix they made about Darcy who has a perfectly normal size but super normal ass. Yep. So normal. It was so weird. Like, there were a couple that I was like, What? What is this? And then I remembered at that time JLo was like the pinnacle of giant butt. And like if you look at JLo now she has a nice but she's a very nice but but it's not like goodbye. But she's not like Meghan the stallion. She doesn't like a big ass. So it's wild to see all these jokes about Darcy where it's like, what is this? It's very weird.
Ben Silverio 26:21
JLo and Darcy crawled. So Megan the stallion could walk
Erin Cline 26:25
just for real. And we all her
Ansel Burch 26:29
a lot of the other I guess a lot of the rest of this of the squad have like, really tiny butts by comparison. So maybe that's what it is. But yeah,
Erin Cline 26:42
it's wild. It's a very, it's a very 2000s thing that now when you watch it, it makes like almost no sense. I bet people like my younger sister's age would watch this and be like, I don't understand.
Ben Silverio 26:55
And that's good. That
Erin Cline 26:57
you know, I would agree.
Ansel Burch 27:01
I do enjoy that they referred to Buffy completely unrelated but in that same area. They made a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference. And I guess, had Eliza Dushku not been on Buffy yet at that point.
Ben Silverio 27:18
Oh, by 2000s
Erin Cline 27:20
I don't even remember when Buffy premiered.
Ben Silverio 27:23
Yeah, I mean, the
Ansel Burch 27:24
Buffy was from 97 to 2003. So then she was visionary already. Yeah. Cuz she was in like season three or something.
Erin Cline 27:31
Oh, yeah. This probably she was probably filming around the same time. So the show would have premiered before the movie would have. So it was probably intentional. Yeah.
Ben Silverio 27:43
By the way. Yeah, there was a way that they dropped. Buffy worked as like a nod to Eliza Dushku. But also it was like, you know, Buffy is just like a generic white girl name. You know,
Erin Cline 28:00
while we're like sort of talking around Sparky two, I also made a note, I feel like the casting of Sparky isn't perfect. But I thought that he was pretty good. And in hindsight, I'm very grateful they did not cast Andy Dick in that role, because that feels like a part that was fucking written for Andy Dick, and it would have ruined this movie. Oh, sure. This movie would not be rewatchable in the same way it is. Now if Sparky Platt Street was played by Andy tech, like it would have completely changed that it would have felt more like the original, non satirical non campy script, it's, it's a character that would be so easy to do in a very, very gross way. And I'm glad that they really threaded the light on. And it holds up much other than like the weird butt jokes and like jokes about eating disorders. But that all feels very meta, in a lot of ways. A lot of that with him feels intentional, because of the way that this guy plays this character. If they had thrown it away, in a very different kind of context. I think that this could have been a lot worse, but I thought that it held up much better than I was expecting.
Ben Silverio 29:07
Yeah, you know, and read. i Yes, definitely agree. I wrote still a good bit of passive sexism for such a female positive film.
Erin Cline 29:16
Yes. There's some very casual sexism from Sparky. And it's like, clearly written that way on purpose. It's just Yeah. It could have gone a lot worse.
Ben Silverio 29:29
You know, who, who I think could have played Sparky. Christopher Maloney.
Erin Cline 29:36
Yes, I do. I feel like that is the energy that was needed for he would have been very good. Because this was when did Wet Hot American Summer come out?
Ben Silverio 29:51
I want to say yep, I was right after this. 2001
Erin Cline 29:59
Oh, yeah. Ah, what a missed opportunity. He would have been very good Sparky.
Ben Silverio 30:06
I'm just picturing him from Wet Hot American Summer as a CT, a choreographer?
Erin Cline 30:12
Exactly. Yes. That exact same character only in the pleather and doing the spirit fingers like 100%. I love Christopher Maloney. He's very funny. I think it's very funny that he got super, super famous doing law and order a not at all funny show. Yeah. But he's very funny. It's like Jon Hamm, where you watch Mad Men and you're like, Yeah, sure. You're like, incidentally, funny on this, but then you really see him act and other things. And it's like, Oh, shit. You're very good at comedy. Oh, it's just that you happen to get famous doing? Not comedy.
Ben Silverio 30:46
Yeah, I tend not to go back to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But Jon Hamm is performance of that as the cult leader was very funny. Very good.
Erin Cline 30:57
I like him a lot. Oh, he
Ben Silverio 30:58
should do more movies as comedies. Bro. I agree. Like, why was everyone sitting on a John M like that? I don't know if that's a great
Erin Cline 31:07
question. Because he's out here playing Santa for FIFA commercial. Making insane money.
Ben Silverio 31:13
I mean, that's fair. Jon
Ansel Burch 31:14
Hamm will do whatever he wants,
Erin Cline 31:16
right? Yeah. He's like, I made all my money. I can just do literally whatever I want.
Ben Silverio 31:22
So the last question really about this movie, Aaron, is, bring it on still worth your time.
Erin Cline 31:30
Oh, I'm sorry. We do have one more thing we need to discuss before we hit that. Okay. We got to talk about how much Aaron fucking said yes,
Ben Silverio 31:37
we do have to talk about how much Aaron says
Ansel Burch 31:41
that got sued.
Erin Cline 31:43
Aaron is a character that makes me think he was written not satirically, and that with the script, punch ups and changes, he was changed into a much more campy satirical character. Oh, yeah, that red sweater that he wears is red Dickey LIS it's ridiculous to be wearing in California. It's ridiculous to be wearing literally anywhere. Like, I think that his styling and costume details are so good and just communicate so clearly what a piece of shit he's like. It's is surprisingly well written in a way that you want to punch him in the face. But you also know that he's absolutely going to get what's coming to him. So it never feels overwhelming in a way that I think that it was maybe originally read. You probably did
Ben Silverio 32:33
like to be specific there in Southern California. Like I know it can get cold in Northern California where you might need a sweater. But you don't need that in San Diego, bro.
Erin Cline 32:45
This main fisherman sweater.
Ben Silverio 32:50
But ya know, you make a very excellent point. I feel like they did not change Aaron at all in the script and kept him as a stupid idiot. But because of the changes around him, it worked so much better. You know, because to have to have torrents be so aware to be like, hey, you know what he does suck. I'm breaking up with him is a very healthy response to that shitty person.
Erin Cline 33:18
Yes, definitely. And like, there are so many clues to it that lead up to him being so shitty to like her parents hate him. He felt fucking terrible, unsafe drunk. I think it's like detail. It's a very good detail for a teenager to be so fucking reckless. Like, that made me laugh. My brother in law used to drive like that when we were in high school. And, like, it makes me laugh now every single time but it's I they build up to him in such a great way. And like you, you don't even see him so much of the time, like what you're hearing is his roommate covering for him on the phone and like a plot point that would not hold up in 2023. Because everyone has cell phones, right? So like, the recording of the routines the No, Clovers could never prove that they had stolen from them like that it would not be possible to make this movie now. And the way that Aaron avoids her and like leads all this to like landline communication, especially I feel like it's something that technologically just like does not transfer in the same way but works as a very effective plot point in this.
Ben Silverio 34:26
It's crazy how telephone technology will completely undo old movies. Like
Erin Cline 34:34
oh, yeah, I mean, it changed our lives in ways that were just incomprehensible to people 15 years ago, either. Yeah,
Ben Silverio 34:41
we have supercomputers in our pockets at all times, constantly. When they used to take up an entire fucking room.
Erin Cline 34:50
For real data,
Ansel Burch 34:51
it's wild. The concept of a character just straight up not knowing something simple. No longer
Erin Cline 34:59
like you You can just Google it. You could just check and see any of this stuff like there's so much like telephone miscommunication that happens in a way that it's it's such a time capsule for the time. Like it's funny that landlines in the hotel room phones don't feel as dated as like a flip phone would. Like there's something about a flip phone where you're like, that's fake. That's not real.
Ben Silverio 35:27
I forgot what I was watching and somebody busted out. Oh my god, what were those Timo, a sidekick? Someone's sidekick? And I was just like, fuck are we at? At an early 2000s pop punk show in a basement like,
Erin Cline 35:47
like watching last, it's just flip phone after flip phone like two dozen before. Everybody had a flip phone. So they're all over it. It's like this feels more dated than anything else about this.
Ben Silverio 35:58
In the later episodes of Frasier, when Niles and Fraser, get better cell phones, but they're better cell phones are still like flip phones. It's
Erin Cline 36:09
a weird, strange. Oh, yeah. It's funny, they totally avoided this, that and bring it on. I like that, because this thing could have used some of that technology and like, they're especially Missy. And once as Cliff, their parents are clearly rich, like they each have their own individual phone line with an answering machine, right, that indicates that their level of wealth in 2000, that I'm a little surprised that they didn't have cell phones. And they made that choice not to use them.
Ben Silverio 36:38
Yeah, and I feel like for a lot of cars, they
Ansel Burch 36:40
could have had those little Nokia bricks. Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah.
Ben Silverio 36:44
And I think that offers a new storytelling tool for modern writers. Because if they want to set a story where, you know, cell phones and such easy access to each other, will be a nonfactor. They'll just set it in the early 2000s or late 90s.
Erin Cline 37:04
Yeah, it's it's easy to date something backwards in way
Ben Silverio 37:08
i i was watching the new Hulu series up here, which is a musical directed by Tommy Kael from Hamilton, and with music from the Lopez's from Frozen, with Mae Whitman, and the dude who plays Cisco, Ramon for the flash. Oh my god, Carlos Valdes? Yeah. And it sets at the turn of the new millennium. Like, and, and like the, the cell phones just aren't as central to the, to the plot, you know, because they would instantly solve some of the problems that they're having, you know,
Erin Cline 37:50
so wild. Well, it makes me feel old a little bit.
Ben Silverio 37:54
Yeah. Oh, my God, God, if Bring It On happened, just a few years later, you know, the clovers would be trying to get torrents canceled on Twitter, or on MySpace.
Erin Cline 38:13
All right, well, you asked me so now I'll ask you, Ben, do you think that this movie is worth your time? Oh, absolutely.
Ben Silverio 38:18
You know, one of the most important things about movies from the past is that sometimes you can learn what not to do, right? So it's important to see that stuff as it is. So you're not constantly making these these passive sexist jokes, or these, these queer jokes. But also, you get to see things like torrents and ISIS and how they are fully formed characters that break tropes constantly, you know, but like, in addition to the cultural impact of bring it on, because yes, I did not think that when this movie came out that this movie would be so culturally important, but livraria looking at it from today's lens. It is very culturally important, you know, but in addition to that, it's fun. You know, like the the it has a killer soundtrack. The Yeah, the stunts and you know, the the cheerleading acts are all really good. It's choreographed really well, that remix of all Mickey over the is really good. It's fun. Not enough movies have fun like that anymore. Also the run time no movies don't have this runtime anymore.
Erin Cline 39:50
Oh, man, I looked it up. It was like 100 minutes. That's it?
Ben Silverio 39:54
Yeah. You know, like there was such a great time for shorts. But fun movies, it comedies, but even like you know some more kind of serious stuff but like just what happened to that? Why do I need to sit through three hours of fucking avatar every time I go to the theater? Like I don't need that all the time. It's I don't have time for that
right? You don't have time for that kid.
Erin Cline 40:23
I haven't had time for that since before I got pregnant like I started getting I got pregnant and I was like oh can't sit there an hour long movie never think I'll ever return to that. I had it took me like four hours to watch Bring it on. I keep it I kept having to like pause it and go do stuff and then come back and was like, All right, at least this holds up over like a an extended watch.
Ben Silverio 40:48
Ansel, how about you is bring it on worth your time as someone who has just seen it for the first time? Yeah,
Ansel Burch 40:54
I would say I would say it absolutely was worth my time. If only because there are so many cultural touchstones in this film that suddenly I have context for like I knew. I knew the Spirit Fingers line before the Spirit Fingers line was said in the movie. And I don't think before watching this, I could have told you where that was from. So yeah, I think it was very much worth my time. Also, as a time capsule, as we talked about, it's interesting to have this look back into the early 2000s. And what we were doing at the time. Yeah, I don't think that there's an argument against it being worth your time, except for the fact that it does have all these very dated jokes. That, you know, not every viewer is going to be prepared to deal with right. Yeah, I totally agree with that. So like Yeah, is it worth everybody's time? No, but it was worth mine. Yeah, I really, I really thought it was especially interesting to see the the way that they left it as is at the end of the movie where if it was made today, I mean, among the many many other changes that there would be I feel like there would be a need for like almost a rush Amman ask version of the story from the clovers point of view. Because we get so little of the quote the clovers are clearly the heroes of this day. And at least in in my estimation, the clovers are clearly the the heroes of the film. And we get so little of their viewpoint, aside from when they're being confrontational with torrents that I really would love to see. I'd love to see the same movie shot from the clovers POV.
Erin Cline 42:59
That would be cool, right? Yeah, I actually like that a
Ansel Burch 43:03
lot. I mean, there have been six or seven sequels. So who knows maybe that's
Ben Silverio 43:06
true. Interestingly enough, including a horror sequel that came
Ansel Burch 43:10
out last year that's the most I didn't know that. Cheer or die.
Ben Silverio 43:16
But interestingly enough, Gabrielle Union has been developing an actual true sequel to the original bring it on for some time.
Yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Gabrielle
Ansel Burch 43:30
I would love
Ben Silverio 43:31
to catch up with Isis and torrents you know, maybe to see if they're cheerleading moms now or if like, they run squads, or, you know, if they if they work for the the cheer association or something like that. There's a lot of ground that they could cover with a legacy sequel. And I mean, fuck, that's, I know, that's a horse that's been beaten to death many times over a legacy sequel, but sometimes that shit is just fun. I know sometimes it works. Yeah, you know, Picard season three. Ah,
Ansel Burch 44:04
masterwork love.
Ben Silverio 44:05
It's so really, it's so good. The second we saw daddy Worf back on screen again. To ah, and then when he finally reunited with the rest of the crew, I was just like,
yeah
I don't know I'm maybe I'm just a sucker for that stuff. You know, like,
Erin Cline 44:25
listen, fanservice is good. Sometimes, like too much fanservice can be bad, but sometimes, like what you want is fanservice Yeah,
Ben Silverio 44:33
yeah.
Ansel Burch 44:34
I and I have been fanservice more egregiously than yes show has been. I don't know if you're watching it, Aaron. But yeah, it's it's very good.
Erin Cline 44:45
I'm not currently watching it. I have heard that it has been very good, though.
Ben Silverio 44:50
Yeah, see, because like when the only people I get to talk to about it really are Ansel, Bobby and Stella and stuff. Ella doesn't watch stuff as it comes out. She waits till much later. Yeah. But when she gets to it eventually she's just like the cards trash. And like it's not
Erin Cline 45:08
Yes, she's entirely like the guy
Ansel Burch 45:11
does not like it. Yeah.
Ben Silverio 45:14
But you know,
Ansel Burch 45:15
she makes very good points for why she doesn't like I just disagree.
Erin Cline 45:19
Yeah, I think that she she has a very focused way that she likes her Star Trek
Ben Silverio 45:25
right? Gay
Erin Cline 45:28
gay
Ben Silverio 45:30
super gay
Ansel Burch 45:33
it's fair but card could be much Capys they really gestured at it and then didn't follow through and Oh, come on, guys.
Erin Cline 45:42
Okay, yeah, I would be not into that as well. Mortgage making more gay.
Ben Silverio 45:50
Well, all right. But anyway, all right, party people.
That does it for our review of the landmark time travel film, bring it on. You can find us on the internet. I'm at basil Vera 20 on Instagram, Twitter, and Hivju
Erin Cline 46:09
I'm at mid urgency on Instagram. I am at
Ansel Burch 46:13
indecision just on Twitter and at the indecision nest on Instagram.
Ben Silverio 46:17
If you'd like to join in the conversation, you can use the hashtag time to party that's time the number to party or
Ansel Burch 46:23
time the number to party all spelled out. Doesn't work.
Ben Silverio 46:29
It's all your fault. Warwick solidor followed Warren
Ansel Burch 46:35
nickel for every time he had to say
Erin Cline 46:37
we should have several nickels at
Ben Silverio 46:39
least man in the two years that we lived together I should have started a jar
Erin Cline 46:45
shocking nickels. Hilarious Special
Ansel Burch 46:50
thanks to April Mirabeau for our podcast art and to Marlon longet of Marlon and the sheiks for our amazing theme song. This has been an Indecision is production transcripts and show notes are available at indecision as.com/time to party.
Ben Silverio 47:03
Yes, well, our good friends, the deer party people who tune in to this batshit crazy thing that we've been doing. We want you to tune in next week, when instead of our usual edutainment session, we're going to have a very special episode.
Ansel Burch 47:25
Member berries all the way down. Yeah.
Ben Silverio 47:33
So until then,
be excellent to each other party on dudes. Happy April Fool's Day bitches
Ansel Burch 47:47
two weeks, two weeks after the fact but I gotcha.
Ben Silverio 47:51
Yep, that's that's how you do it now. The long game that's a long
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
