Toros Cheers from Bring It On

The Toros cheers from Bring It On, the breakthrough movie about competitive cheerleading, are both good and bad examples of real cheerleading skill.

While it was a hit movie and certainly showed some amazing performances by both the squads and the actors, Bring It On is fiction, and pop fiction at that. A lot of the cheerleaders and the cheers are stereotyped and exaggerated – for example, the choreographer who is hired by the Toros squad is bombastic, vain, and (in the end) crooked. It would be unfortunate if cheerleaders thought that all dancers' opinions were that "cheerleaders are dancers who have gone retarded."

The cheerleaders themselves seem to be rather stereotypical as well, and use rather silly terms to talk to each other – such as one squad member angrily referring the captain as a "cheer-tator!" Even with that, there are some solid examples of good cheering going on in the movie – not only from the Toros, but also from their rivals the Clovers and even occasional other bit parts.

The opening of the movie is a spoof of a long sideline or pep rally cheer – the cheerleaders are doing versions of "roll call cheers", introducing the characters and establishing a haughty sense of pride and entitlement. While the method of cheering is a good thing to emulate – strong arms, loud, clear voices, and sharp moves – the attitude and words of the cheer are not anything you want to include in your squad's routine.

For one thing, they are telling a story – which violates one of the keys to a good cheer: keeping it short and easy to remember. When watching the movie, it helps to remember that the main character who is speaking has the advantage of a microphone and a sound editor to make sure people can hear her. In an actual pep rally, you would not be able to give a long speech like "Red" does in the beginning of the show.

For more stereotypes, there is a "cheerleader tryout" section where they are trying to replace a member of the squad. One of the candidates is a young asian woman, who comes out with a cheer that would be good for a junior cheerleading squad:

Rancho Carne's Out on Top, All we know is Toro's ROCK!

…and so on. While she is doing the moves correctly and delivering the lines audibly, it is obvious she is not up to the standards of the team. Plus, the kind of single-rhyme doggerel that she chants is not very creative; almost any cheer squad can look online for better cheers.

There are two parts in the movie where cheerleading squads duel, using cheers to mock and belittle each other. The worst example is the opposing team at the Toros football game, where the cheerleaders end a cheer with "All we know is Toros suck !". Unfortunately, the Toros cheerleaders respond quickly and in unison with an almost lewd cheer about pumping gas, and the other team is obviously outclassed.

However, when the Toros are going into their next real cheer – a play on both the word "atmosphere" and the pop singer Vanilla Ice – they get their own proverbial derrieres handed to them when the Clovers' cheer squad shows up and performs the same cheer even more effectively than they can.

The problem is they were stealing the cheers from the Clovers, and if there's one thing that the Toros cheers from Bring It On illustrate, it's why you should never copy cheers from either an opposing team or a movie. It is horribly embarrassing to appear unoriginal. In addition, the Clovers cheerleaders embellished their "response" cheer with some profanity, which while understandable for the characters, should never be used in an actual cheer.

The lesson learned by the cheerleaders in the movie is the same one that all cheer squads should take to heart: it pays to be authentic, no matter how hard you have to work at it.

You can certainly rent the DVD and watch all the Toros cheers from Bring It On for yourself. However, there are also many clips from the movie on Hulu.com and YouTube that illustrate some of the various cheers:

• Face-Off Against a Rival Squad
• "Brrr...It's Cold In Here" cheers for both Toros and Clovers
• Challenge Cheers at the Game
• Cheer Try-Outs

• Cute Hello Cheers
• Freshman Cheers for a Pep Rally
• School Cheers
• Cheerleading Quiz

• Words for Cheerleading Cheers
• Popular Cheers for Cheerleading
• Cheerleading Chants
• Football Cheers Chants
• Cheerleading Routines

• Cheerleading Cheers in Bring It On