A
cheerleader is a person who chants, dances and cheers for his or her team. A cheerleader uses his or her voice, as well
as body, to demonstrate support for an organization, usually involved with sports.
Cheerleaders
have appeared throughout cult-TV history, not in always flattering forms, but
most often so.
TV’s
most famous cheerleader is likely Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) of Buffy:
The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003).
A valley girl, Buffy wants time to date boys and be a high school
cheerleader, but instead must constantly defend her town, Sunnydale, from the
undead spewed out by the Hellmouth.
The whole (brilliant) series
plays as an explosion of tropes. Buffy -- the stereotypically “stupid” or insipid cheerleader -- is actually the savior of
the whole world.
In
2006, the NBC series Heroes (2006-2010) also featured a
cheerleader -- Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) -- in a prominent role.
A mutant/superhero with the ability to
regenerate, Claire Bennet became the fulcrum of the series’ first season; right
down to its legendary and memorable motto: “Save the Cheerleader; Save the
World.”
Virtually
every high-school-focused cult-TV series in history has featured a cheerleader
character at one point or another.
Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) in Smallville
(2001 – 2011) spent some time in the first season as a cheerleader for the
Smallville High team, before seeking a life beyond the football field.
And
The
Vampire Diaries (2009 – 2018) also sees its juvenile characters, namely Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and Caroline (Candace King) taking part in cheerleading in its
early, high-school based season.
Going
back further, The X-Files (1993 – 2002), featured a third season episode by
Chris Carter, “Syzygy” wherein two cheerleaders – affected by a cosmic
conjunction – develop terrifying psychic powers. The two cheerleaders, while seemingly inseparable,
are also portrayed as sadistic and horrible people.
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