While some question the athletic ability cheer requires, this new series showcases the emotional and athletic ability needed in the sport. The Netflix show “Cheer,” premiered on Jan. 8 based on the community college Navarro cheer team near Dallas. The new short series directed by Greg Whitley shows the intensity of college athletics and how the sport helped athletes overcome personal hardships.
Throughout “Cheer,” the sport was shown as an escape for the athletes. Many of the athletes had hard lives growing up, Coach Monica, of Navarro College Cheer, acted as a motherly figure to her team which all admired her. Senior cheerleader Abbey Wehrheim commented on her experience with cheer as an outlet as well. “Cheer is something I can do to distract myself from everything going on in my life,” said Wehrheim.
The hardships faced by athletes were shown through personal stories. Morgan, a Navarro College cheerleader, began to live with her grandparents at a very young age. Morgan’s mother was not present in her life. Her father left Morgan and her brother to live in a trailer alone before being taken in by their grandparents.
Being in the conservative state of Texas, many of the male athletes felt ashamed of their passions. LaDarius, Navarro College cheerleader, was often assaulted as a child by his brothers because of his sexuality and his interest in cheer.
Coach Monica helped LaDarius and Morgan along with other cheerleaders through their hardships and pushed the college students to do well in school. Cheer was an outlet for them to get through and all that was going on in their lives.
The documentary showcased the highs and the lows of college cheer. Throughout this series, there was very little background music. Music could have been added to help portray emotion while showing the adversities many cheerleaders faced.
“Cheer” also included hard to interpret transitions throughout the show by switching from scene to scene without ending the first. While the rough transitions were not viewer friendly, the series continued to grab the viewer’s attention.
The Netflix series has been popular because of the breakthroughs shown. CNN’s Brandon Tensley stated that “Over the course of six hour-long episodes, the series reexamines a sport that’s long been viewed in terms of exhausted stereotypes.”
Regardless of the few errors, “Cheer” captured the raw emotion of athletes while showcasing hard work. The Netflix series showed an in depth perspective on the world of cheer and the people who cheer. The series broke the stereotypes of the sport as a whole, showed it’s difficulty and the real people who are the famous Navarro College cheerleaders.
