"And They Shall Know No Cheer..."

In a crazed, desperate bid to get mentioned by comic-book-blogging-madman Chris Sims, Esq., I now leap wholeheartedly into day 4 of his unstoppable, untoppable Bring it On Week.

If you haven't yet had the pleasure, 2000's Bring it On is indeed the pinnacle of cheerleader-based cinema. Sims himself has expounded on what might be termed the cheernre of cheer-related cheernimatography, and BiO stands tall atop the miniskirted corpses of its competitors, metaphorically speaking. Naysayers, I say only this: you know what else had THREE SEQUELS made to it, and is awesome? Die Hard. The parallels are staggering indeed.

There are many things to love about this film. Its message of perseverance, teamwork, and cooperation. Its amazingly realistic portrayal of "teen-agers" and their "life-style." The truly stupefying amount of midriff. And, of course, actresses in bikinis washing cars.

But today I'm going to talk about the title.

Not much at first, is it? "Bring it On." Bring. It. On. In these three simple words, we find a message that transcends cheesy teenage catchphrases, something that speaks to the very core of our humanity.

Bring. The title asks, nay, demands that we take action. We are not here to be passively entertained, like cattle chewing their cud. We have come to be engaged, to rise from our stupor into the light of reason. This is a film that asks, before the first flickers of its light reach one's eyes, "WHO? WHO AMONG YOU HAS THE COURAGE, THE WILL, TO BRING IT ON???" And when we see the glitter of soapy water splashing upon pert breasts, the flash of bright pom-poms exploding into our consciousness, we rise, trembling with the revelation, and cry to the heavens themselves, "I WILL ANSWER YOUR CALL!"

It. The indefinite. The formless mystery, forever without an identity, meaning all things and none. What shall we bring on? we ask ourselves, fearing, doubting. Why do you not instruct us, your loyal and faithful servants? But then, when we receive no answer, we realize. We see that what must be brought on is not any one thing. It is whatever we strive for. It is our hopes, our fears, all that makes us human---we must bring it on, and stride confidently towards our dreams, that no matter where we roam we will know we follow the true path.

On. Not off. On. Alive. Alert. Active. Thrumming with power, with potential, stirring from the primordial muck into dynamic vigor. To cheer is to live---to seize life and crush it to your lips, to drink deeply of the joys and woes of mortality, to be forever on...always ready, always alert, prepared to take on rival cheer squads and existential despair in equal measure. If it is not on, like unto Donkey Kong, then such a life is scarce worth living.

This, the Cheerma Sutra, the Cheerfold Path, the New Cheerstament: may it guide you to peace...and wisdom.

Is it for cheer to wet a widow's eye
That thou consumest thyself in single life?
---William Shakescheer