(Universal Pictures)īut, interestingly, the shame depicted in Coyote Ugly isn't the same sort. Left to right: Brandi Williams, Shamari Fears, Gabrielle Union, and Natina Reed in Bring It On. There deserves to be an element of shame. We should have to learn from our mistakes, start again, and do better. And if they (we) do, we shouldn't have to offer a meagre apology. But while moments of levity abound, there's still a bigger message to take home: white people don't get to steal and appropriate Black culture. Of course, there are many Teen Movie™ elements that are silly and stereotypical of the genre. And while the Toros end up giving it their all at the championship, the Clovers finally take home the trophy after years spent coming second place to their own moves that had been stolen from them. So, called out by the Clovers' Captain (played by Gabrielle Union), Torrence ends up scrapping the existing dances and starting fresh. Torrence (Kirsten Dunst), the new captain of her school's cheerleading team, quickly learns the existing routines were lifted from the Clovers, rivals from a primarily Black school. It's ironic that the more meaningful story is rooted in high school and in cheerleading, two settings that are typically dismissed by anyone whose worlds are no longer - or were never - entrenched in them. Ultimately, one is a story about forging your own path, and the other is about.well, the same thing, provided you don't do it at a bar that you also dance atop of. And instead of being the catalyst for abandoning dance altogether, it forced a sect of main characters to atone for their actions while abandoning tradition and pursuing creativity. In this film's world, the shame was legitimately deserved. But where Coyote Ugly used shame in conjunction with the development of its main character's self-worth, Bring It On wielded it to illuminate the damage caused by co-opting Black culture. Released just weeks later, it too centred on a white woman trying to define herself through movement. These themes are echoed in another defining 2000 film, Bring It On. Maria Bello and Piper Perabo in Coyote Ugly. That is, as long as you're willing to embrace the feeling already so prevalent throughout your teens: shame. But 20 years later, the appeal is obvious: Coyote Ugly is a story that suggests you can tap into your long-evasive self-confidence through dance. Of course, as a tiny precious infant at the time, I had yet to fully understand why Coyote Ugly - a movie about a group of female bartenders whose beauty and knack for choreography give them an almost untouchable power - had such a strong allure for me. Then, in my pleather pants and bright pink polyester halter top, I stood in front of my tiny TV, fast-forwarded to the scene in which the cast dances to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" atop the bar, and learned the choreography.Īt least as far as my 15-year-old self was concerned. After spending nearly two hours blow-drying and ironing my box dyed-blond hair, I settled on an outfit that I felt would reflect the aesthetic values of a New York City bartender. The day after I finally rented and watched Coyote Ugly was a busy one. Donahue that explores and celebrates the pop culture that defined the '90s and 2000s and the way it affects us now (with, of course, a few personal anecdotes along the way). Anne-iversaries is a bi-weekly column by writer Anne T.
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