Blood, sweat and cheers - The Mail & Guardian

Sequined, sunshiny, all-American girliness is the collective imagination of what a cheerleader is. She is simultaneously sexy and cute as she dances on the sideline, imploring the real athletes to “Be aggressive. Be-E aggressive”.

It’s being caught that hurts. Falling into the cradle-like, muscled embrace of the stunters leaves deep bruises on the ribs, threatening to shatter them. At its core, Cheer is about a sport that is so underestimated there are almost no opportunities to pursue it beyond college — yet these cheerleaders are willing to do almost anything for their moment in the sun.

Aldama uses this strictness to keep her often troubled team members fist tight, teaching that meticulous teamwork is the only thing stopping them from coming crashing down into the mat. “If I didn’t have cheer, I’d be upset at the world. Because I would be hurting others because I would be hurting myself,” Jeremiah “Jerry” Harris says, a tired smile never budging from his face.

This element of the docuseries threatens to nudge it into the realm of American Idol-style sentimentality. But there is no attempt to sugarcoat the effects of these traumas by polishing these characters with the shine of false redemption.

Why are you reporting on an American sports documentary when your job is to report on one of the most violent, corrupt and divided societies on earth? This is the definition of a privileged outlook.

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