wanna go my way

Comics blogging wunderkind and master of facekick-fu Chris Sims has, in a fit of apparent delirium, decreed that this week shall be known as Bring It On week, a seven day celebration of 2000's cheer-tastic cinematic epic and its diminished returns, direct-to-video sequels.

Normally, I'd be the one trying to talk the victim of such a mania down from the ledge of unhealthy obsession, or at the very least keep well clear of the vortex of madness, but the prospect of becoming a bona fide "cheerfiliate" was too tempting an opportunity to pass up.

Besides, I actually kind of like the film.

Okay, maybe "like" is too strong a word. "Genially tolerate" would be more accurate. If the wife, who does sincerely like the film, is watching it on the big TV downstairs, there's a better than even chance I won't leave the room. I do think Chris was a bit off-base when he labeled it the "greatest film franchise in the history of cheersploitation." Semantic arguments about the definition of "franchise" aside, it should be apparent to anyone versed in that micro-genre that the greatest cheersploitation flim ever is, hands down, 1984's Gimme an 'F', with The Pom Pom Girls pulling a close second, followed by Bring It On in third place.

(I am willing to cut Chris some slack in regards to his hyperbolic claims, as he is but a youngster still, and lacks the scars this writer earned in the USA Up All Night and 80's cable TV trenches. It's true what they say, you never see the Rhonda Shearer segment with your name on it.)

What Bring It On lacks in T&A-itude and crass sub-Animal House humor, however, it makes up for in, for lack of a better word, "heart." Chris provides a detailed recap of the film here, but suffice to say that very rarely has a film managed to so successfully address the issues of racial and social inequality in modern America through the vector of perky teens with mini-skirts and bare midriffs shouting school spirit chants and throwing each other in the air...and it manages to do so in a ABC Family-friendly way, too. (There's also a remarkably insightful -- for a teen flick -- examination of the patronizing economics of white liberal guilt in there, too. Go figure.)

Then there's the film's soundtrack. Though consisting by and large of cheer-friendly techno cuts interspersed with then-contemporary R&B and sugary teen-pop tracks (with a requisite cover of Toni Basil's new wave cheer anthem, "Mickey"), there were a couple of pleasant surprises which didn't make it onto the culled-for-the-intended-teen-girl-demographic official soundtrack release.

No worries, though. Andrew's got you covered:

The Leaving Trains - Kids Wanna Know (from Loser Illusion, Pt. 0, 1991; collected on Amplified Pillows, 2005) - An unexpected choice of music to establish a Punky McDreamy romantic interest's socially acceptable non-conformity, but considering the 90's pop-psuedopunk drek the filmmakers could have gone with instead, I'm delighted by the presence of something with some honestly abrasive power.

Of course, if had been me, I'd have gone with either "Violent Sex" or "Temporal Slut" from the band's 1987 Fuck LP.

Bis - Detour (from Social Dancing, 1999) - This collaborative effort between the Glaswegian popsters and Lois Maffeo was used in the flashback sequence where Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) causes the holy "spirit stick" totem to touch the ground on a dare, thus causing her to believe that her reign as spirit squad leader is cursed.

I think I've made it clear in previous posts that I consider Social Dancing to be one of the finest pop albums I've had the pleasure of listening to. I'm not the type to lightly apply the "favorite" tag onto things, but this album certainly qualifies for the honor. It's gotten a bum rap from places such as AMG (which likened it, absurdly, to Haysi Fantayzee's work) because of the deliberate shift in style from the band's brattier early sound. Be that as it may, I found Bis's first album to be charming but grating in large doses, but I found Social Dancing's mix of new wave, indie pop, and trip hop styles -- with some postpunk tossed into the mix by producer Andy (Gang of Four) Gill -- to be nothing short of exceptional from beginning to end.