Cheerleaders Playing Cheerleaders

When you see an actor in a movie about soccer you wonder how much training they had to undergo in order to successfully come across as a soccer player. If their performance is convincing enough you start to wonder if they actually play in real life. I'm not talking about the professional soccer players who are brought in for background work, or even the ones given a few lines. I'm talking about the actors who grew up playing soccer before they started acting, and then getting to revisit this past time through a role. This concept always fascinated me. I wanted to find out how many cheerleaders out there had roles playing cheerleaders on TV or in movies. 

Cheerleaders Playing Cheerleaders is going to be a recurring theme in this blog, but I'd like to start off the list with lifelong cheerleader Charisma Carpenter. You've gotta  give it up for the girl, even her name has spirit.

Charisma Carpenter

Cheered in high school and for the NFL San Diego Chargers.

In 1997, she was cast as Cordelia Chase on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For the first 3 seasons she played a self important queen bee who landed a spot on the cheerleading squad within the first few episodes. 

In 2010, Carpenter joined the Butterfingers Defense League and was in uniform once again for a promotional music video. 

A New York Times reporter titled an article and accompanying interview with the actress "Charisma Carpenter: I had to wear a cheerleader costume... again." In the interview, her exact words are [when approached by Butterfingers to do the video] "Do I have to wear a cheerleader uniform again?" Referring to a cheerleading uniform as a costume is putting cheerleading into a fantasy category. Instead of using the word 'uniform' in his headline, this reporter chose to go for the more eye catching phrase. The words 'cheerleader costume' bring a specific image to mind, especially to male readers. This phrasing sexualizes the sport. Carpenter refers to her wardrobe for the video as a cheerleader uniform, but when the reporter asks her about her cheerleader costume, she doesn't correct him. 

Cheerleading in the Media: A Beginning

Cheerleading is a big part of my life. I picked up my first pair of poms when I was 10 years old and never could put them down. I discovered cheerleading through movies and after watching one in particular, I knew I had to be one. Movies are very influential. Actually, all forms of media are. I started thinking about the presence of cheerleading in movies that I've seen. When I started a list, I had an entire sheet of paper filled in minutes. That's when I started thinking about the sport and the way that cheerleaders are percieved. I decided to start this blog to document my findings and share my opinions.