Americas Sweethearts

[KenAdams]

Has anyone watched this on Netflix?

It's about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

There's so much wrong with it I don't even know where to start. They get paid virtually nothing but are required to completely commit (because the role is a privilege), are held to unrealistic beauty and weight standards, ruin their hips and feet by the time they are in their early twenties, the list goes on.

It shows how backwards the USA are as a country in terms of their treatment of women that they think this is OK.

I have watched a couple of episodes and I am shocked what these young women willingly put themselves through, and seem to think it's a privilege. It's bonkers to me.

I caught an episode and couldn't stop watching it. Very interesting. I'm not sure what I think about it tbh.

Texas is another universe altogether. And the Dallas Cowboys are even that good of a team ! But it is like beauty pageants , the hope that the cachet of being a DC Cheerleader will introduce you to a rich football player or sponsor or give you an edge in a job in Texas .

It is a microcosm of how shit it is to be woman in Texas, but put up and shut up cos your beauty will fade and then no one will want you.

The gymnastics around them trying not to mention EDs and weight is also crazy.

Have to say I am enjoying it immensely!

The athleticism is astounding but some parts are a tough watch

"She isn't fuelling herself properly."

It's so upsetting watching Victoria. She's obviously been coached for this and nothing else. It's affected her mental and physical wellbeing.

I found the birthday bit heartbreaking. Her day consisted of producing social media content and just cutting a cake with her mum.

Yeah I watched the making the team one, just finished the new one last night

The early ones are so much worse

Yeah I have watched it. I have also watched the "making the team" series as well. It is incredibly brutal. Watching Victoria in the Netflix series is heartbreaking.
I also watch and follow the NFL, the players are paid so much money and the Dallas Cowboys as an organisation are worth a fortune. The highest in the franchise I believe? So I can't comprehend why they can't pay the cheerleaders more considering how much is expected from them.

DCC making the team was my guilty pleasure

I found this one a bit heartbreaking.
Victoria desperately needs counselling. She's too dependent on her mum and an ideal that never materialised.

I was impressed with the way that Kelli and the organisation did seem to go into protection mode over Sophy? There does seem to be some genuine care.

The thing is... these women afe teachers, nurses, dentists... educated professional women. There must be something driving them.

I was absolutely transfixed with this and binged it over the weekend. Made me blub in parts. I didn't actually realise how massive the DCC status is....and the drive to become a DCC......trying to think of an equivalent in the UK but cant. I thought Kelli and her team were fantastic and loved the sisterhood. Very shocked to hear how much the girls get paid per game plus all of them had full time jobs.
I thought the series was done very well. I really hope Netflix does another one for 2024 season.

This is the weirdest thing. I don’t get why the women want to do this?

Getting a hairdresser to judge dancing?

They all have a ‘look’?

The boot fitter was the worst. And the cooking influencer. What could the possibly add to the process?

£££ probably.... Do they get 'exposure' for their boots and a seat at the table in return for 'sponsorship' or something?

I didn't know this was back on under a different name. I've watched a lot of Making the Team and have been very impressed with the work that goes into being a DCC.

Re. meeting a rich footballer, I believe the DCCs are forbidden by their contracts from fraternising with the players.

yep the boot manufacturer? WTF?

Do they all have veneers?

One of the veterans (in or around Series 12 I think), Holly, was hauled into Kelly's office for breaching that part of the contract. It seems she had been out clubbing with members of the football team. She was a fabulous dancer, extremely confident but she ended up resigning as Kelly and Judy had "lost faith" in her.

They are so forbidden that if they are eating in a restaurant and a player walks in they have to walk out and leave their meal! They cannot have any contact with them whatsoever. They are even made to block them on social media.

It's like a whole different world, so very odd.

It shows how backwards the USA are as a country in terms of their treatment of women that they think this is OK

This is like saying that the UK must have been terribly backwards because of Page Three girls, or France because of Le Crazyhorse or the topless dancers at the Moulin Rouge, though.

The women protesting the repeal of abortion rights, Ruth Bader Ginsberg etc are also American.

I wonder if a good cheerleader at high school can get a college scholarship the same way the other athletes can?

She was told in a previous series that she was overweight which I think has triggered an eating disorder. She looks positively emaciated it’s hardly surprising she appears so tired. It’s an extremely toxic environment and it’s heartbreaking that these girls and their mothers think this is something to aspire to.

It’s only recently that they’ve been allowed to have other careers too. In the previous series that I watched they had to be available constantly.

Are you being serious? That's crazy... Why shouldn't the player leave if they just walked in if that bonkers rule is a thing

I binged it. Mostly with my mouth open.

Much if it was depressing and Stepford-like.

Some of those women didn’t seem real. The one named Reese (I think) with the lunk-head boyfriend, in particular. I kept expecting her to short-circuit.

The mental and physical toll. So many ruin their hips with that crazy jump-splits thing. Look what it did to Prince.

The hairdresser scenes were particularly perverse. One went in blonde and came out a dark redhead. Not entirely sure she had any say in it.

Imagine a daughter aspiring to do this. Awful.