In 2000, the turn of the century, we were blessed with an amazing movie known as "Bring It On" starring Kirsten Dunst. Now, I know what you're thinking, "this is a cheerleading movie, what's so special about it?" And yes, you're completely correct, it is a cheerleading movie, but we don't give cheerleading movies enough credit. They are, in my opinion, the original feminist movie.

Hear me out.

"Bring It On" is about newly elected cheer captain Torrance. Her squad has been national champions for the past five years, and it's up to her to make it six. On her first day, she injures one of her cheerleaders and must replace her. In comes Missy, the definition of bad-ass. She had a tattoo drawn on her arm, ya know, because she was bored in class. She's a serious gymnast who needs to find a replacement for her passion, and luckily the Toros need her as badly as she (unknowingly) needs them. Here's where the drama happens: Missy realizes that all of the Toros routines are stolen from another, less well endowed, squad from Compton. Boom. Calling all feminists.

The story splits into following the two squads. The Clovers, the team the cheers were stolen from and are led by Gabrielle Union, go on a mission to fund their well deserved trip to nationals. The Toros, on the other hand, must decide between using the stolen cheers or coming up with new ones. Each cheer captain has a lot on their plate and must make some tough decisions. And here's the thing, they do it all by themselves. Torrance originally asks her loser boyfriend who went off to college, only to realize how much of a loser he actually is, and tells him "You're a great cheerleader Aaron but ... maybe you're just not "boyfriend" material." What. A. Stinger. At this point she realizes she knows what's best for the squad, she's captain dammit! And as for Isis (Gabrielle Union) you know not to mess with her from the get-go. She comes up with a way to get the money for her squad to go to nationals, even though Torrance offers her the money. She takes control. She breaks through barriers.

In the end, Torrance's squad gets second at nationals, but like the bitchin' woman she is, she's satisfied with that because the cheer routine used was all their own. She was the strong, gracious loser that you rarely get to see. Normally when something like this happens, the losing team is seen pouting and complaining and not at all being composed (i.e. "Bring It On: All or Nothing"). But Torrance is a pillar of strength and grace, a true fem icon.

As for the Clovers, they win. They were an inner city school never even on the map for being a cheer threat, but here they are holding the gold. And Isis wins with grace, not rubbing it in Torrance's face because she appreciates that they didn't use the Clovers cheers and were still good enough to get second.

All in all, these two strong female leads set the stage for the female leads of the 2000s. No more damsel in distress, they took matters into their own hands. And isn't that what feminism is all about? Taking control of your own story and not letting anyone decide for you how it's going to end? To me, that is truly admirable and one of the cornerstones of feminism. So well done Jessica Bendinger (she wrote it), you created (maybe the first!) a feminist cult classic.