Tuesday, August 25th was the 20th anniversary of cult cheer movie Bring It On.
Gabrielle Union and Kirsten Dunst talked about their idea for a reboot in a Zoom conversation with writer Jessica Bendinger and director Peyton Reed.
Union also discussed the frustrating perception by some audiences of her character, Isis, as the movie's villain.
Bring It On turned 20 whole years old yesterday, and to prevent you from sinking deep into a spiral concerning the transience of youth and the unstoppable march of time, let's get straight into the fascinating Zoom conversation that stars Gabrielle Union and Kirsten Dunst, writer Jessica Bendinger, and director Peyton Reed held to mark the occasion. The group discussed the movie's endurance, its central theme of cultural appropriation and the white theft of Black creation, and their ideas for a potential reboot—which, naturally, very much excited the internet.
"The impact, 20 years later, that this movie had and continues to have, that's awesome," Union said, as Entertainment Tonightreports. "So whatever that we may one day come up with, I mean, Kirsten, maybe we're like co-heads of the PTA. I don't know."
"Or we run a cheer school like Cheer," Dunst suggested. "Who knows."
Union also discussed the perception of her character, Clovers captain Isis, in comparison with Dunst's role, Toros captain Torrance, and the movie's enduring theme of white appropriation of Black culture. The movie, she said, "is received very differently from communities of color and from white folks."
Union added that she'd recently seen a Bring It On iteration of the "movie villain/actual villain" meme, in which Isis was described as the movie villain. "I never thought about her as being a villain for wanting equality and accountability and an equal playing field, and to be recognized for her squad’s contributions," Union said.
"It never occurred to me that anyone could be demonized for that," she continued, before noting the real-life pervasiveness of cultural appropriation. "I don’t know why, because that’s actually life," she said.
Gabrielle Union's Most Iconic Fashion Moments
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(Image credit: Andrew Toth)
March 7, 2020
Dwyane Wade, Zaya, and Gabrielle Union stunned in matching custom Rich Fresh suits. Union wore a pair of Bottega Veneta sandals.
(Image credit: Michael Reaves)
February 22, 2020
Union at the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers game wearing Prada lace-up shoes.
Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.
