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 always wonder how those women that have needed surgery have paid for it - certainly not on their wages

Would they have medical insurance as part of the job? I'm not sure how it works over there.

Or would their parents have medical insurance that covers them?

Dd had major spinal surgery last year due to curvature of the spine. I dread to think how much something like that would cost.

I think they probably get free healthcare whilst actually in the role but I would guess it doesn’t extend to retired girls whose bodies are done in after the fact

I hope Dayton is able to pull away from her mum and forge her own path.

I think this is sheer lunacy if not outright abusive. Surely, with their access to the best choreographers, they can come up with something just as exciting, awe inspiring and 'iconic' as a routine that leads to young women having hip surgeries many decades before they should face anyrhing of this nature.

These women clearly are willing to do the move however as (mostly) 20-somethings feel invincible and hip replacements, or similar surgeries, are for their grandparents.

Agreed. Jump splits might be iconic, but so were many things that have been left by the wayside because they weren't worth the cost.

Kelli’s daughter seems to have swerved it all, so its adorable

In the previous series they seemed to want them to dance sexily, but to be pure and innocent at the same time.

This should say DOABLE not adorable!!

I watched Making the team on MTV and have them all recorded (bit obsessed!). There used to be a lot more lingering camera shots of their bodies, people being put on 'weight probation', the weighing scales being brought into the dance studio where the girls would line up to be weighed, Kelli urging girls to dance more with their 'behind' as only half the audience would see their faces, the other half would be looking at them from behind.

I think I only watched about one series of that so missed a lot. I have a vague memory of some sort of weight camp involving a hot tub or something.

I noticed in the 3rd episode of this season they said about Faith "there's nothing up in the upper carriage." As in, no boobs.

@OrchardDoorin an episode I watched recently they cut a girl for being 'too square' (in shape). Kelli found it hilarious that the girl had what she described as a 'thutt' which meant a thigh that runs into a butt and didn't look good in the shorts.

I also remember her making a comment that someone was not "HD ready" and laughing.

The later series didn't show these sorts of comments/situations however I wonder if they still happen away from the cameras.

It’s not ‘light viewing’!

I'm going to binge this evening, I love this show.

I've watched 3 episodes of series 3 and I'm enjoying it so far.

I've watched all of it now and it has seemed the most hollow season yet in some ways- but is interesting in others. I always feel like they really overblow the audition process / training camp in the series with the amount of episodes it gets vs the total run. As it now S3 with only 6 rookie spots and Kelli and Judy off promoting the show so the training wasn't structured as usual/seemingly less intense, it felt like a bit of a struggle for material and I just wanted a bit more time exploring things like the Christmas show and their tour, how social media and the new pay had changed the role and maybe slightly more footage of how the team navigated the season. I was especially interested in Megan's commentary on the new joiner attitudes and wondered what didn't get shown. She also came across wonderfully as head girl / HBIC. Hope she goes on to great things.

What I did appreciate was the dive into how more personal comments online really affect the girls. Obviously some people draw us in and you may not agree with every opinion the girls share as individuals, but some people are just outright mean and project onto them bizarrely. I follow the dcc official insta and have occasionally ended up on reddit if I've googled something team related (e.g. what's the significance of the yellow roses etc) and have clicked into other threads whilst I'm there and my jaw has dropped at some of the comments. There are also many positive comments but then some seem weirdly too keen!

In particular I'm really glad they actually highlighted how vile people have been to Anna Kate and how much it has really, really affected her. And it is for absolutely no reason - and for reasons people have made up and stretched like worn elastic. I've spotted it on reddit- whilst she also has many fans and has some lovely compliments dropped her way, she definitely cops some of the very worst abuse. Anna Kate seems lovely, she's very accomplished and attractive and seems to be extremely hardworking at dcc and her day job and is obviously popular with the dcc girls. I wonder if she was a bit (possibly unintentionally) unsympathetically edited in s1 & s2 and now netflix has had to do some damage control - and remind people that the girls are human beings. But I'm unsure why the Anna Kate hate has snow balled so much. Happily it hasn't stopped her coming back for a 4th year.

AK is also one of the girls mentioned as current struggling with her hips (unsurprising given how her dcc sister suffered, hope she avoids what Caroline went through). Pleased they actually acknowledged / showed the girls struggling, not just retirees on crutches post surgery. They obviously love what they do. It's just so damaging.

If they do a S4 it will be interesting as there's drama atm over a very shocking senior vet cut at finals!

Oh no. I wasn't aware that AK was getting a lot of abuse. I can't imagine what she could be getting criticised for, although I don't suppose there has to be a reason for abuse. She seems pretty harmless

That retirement @MrsToothyBitch I think it all just got too intense and not fun anymore

I'm glad they've started giving positive feedback as well as negative feedback to the girls. Not sure what took them so long.

I agree. The girl in question obviously has many opportunities coming her way so this will let her take advantage of them but she also just seemed so stressed and wrung out and over all of it. Definitely leaving at the right time.

@OrchardDoor I know! I'm also at a loss as to why and it seems from the show, so are the rest of the team and the staff! AK is obviously very well liked there. Not in a fawned over, pet manner, she just seems pleasant and capable and is popular as a result. The mean things said to a lot of the girls have been really unnecessary and unkind but it has randomly really bothered me that she has been so aggressively picked on! It's touched on quite a bit more than for some of the others and whilst we only see a glimpse of the season - edited with an agenda - that does suggest to me that she has had it pretty bad.

I think I preferred Savannah's hair before the makeover.

I’ve just watched the first two episodes of season 3. I feel for Dayton; hopefully though she won’t put herself through the process again though.

My other thought is Kelli’s daughter is in the second episode and, although I’m sure she’s a nice enough girl, she is very plain looking and not pretty at all. So I think Kelli has a fucking cheek to be commenting on whether girls auditioning are ‘pretty enough’ or not.

I haven't got that far yet so this is pure guesswork and can't be accused of being a spoiler...but is it Reece?