the zeitgeist report

Lifetime has new eight part reality series, following an awardwinning Cheerleading squad:

The channel's out-of-stepness has led to some good things: Lifetime has managed, against the odds, to distinguish itself with openly philanthropic and activist projects, and it has even become a noteworthy lobbying force on urgent women's issues like sex slavery and domestic abuse. But those good deeds seem to have compromised its credibility with guilty-pleasure programming, which is what "Cheerleader Nation," a reality series in the vérité mode, ought by rights to be.

Nope — there's no guilt here, and only a little pleasure. Don't look for beauty, catfights or even short skirts. (On tomorrow night's episode, at least, the girls mostly wear gym shorts.) Instead, "Cheerleader Nation" is a set of stylized encounters between mothers and daughters. Rarely has a reality show — even "The Simple Life" — had dialogue that seems both so scripted and so mundane. The girls, already under pressure to perform as athletes, seem doubly pressured to shine as reality stars, and there is something moving and even a little sad in their willingness to divine and advance the plot of "Cheerleader Nation." When, amid their exertions on behalf of this feminist channel, did these girls do any schoolwork?

I wonder if the new rules regarding acceptable cheer maneuvers is covered?:

ust as college basketball moves to center stage for March Madness, college cheerleaders have had their wings clipped by new safety rules that ban their tall pyramids and highflying stunts at the national tournament games — to the dismay of the cheerleaders who say they're trained and ready to show their spirit safely.

I am reminded of two great cheerleading films: Bring It On and Sugar and Spice