Sharp Comebacks, Beam Routines & Sisterhood: A Stick It (2006) Retrospective

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a day ago

The year was 2007, and I was but a chubby little girl with dreams of the balance beam and cute leotards. Stick It might have come out a year prior to my first viewing but it was on heavy rotation, whether it was on TV or begged for at my local Blockbuster (RIP) I was completely absorbed into the world of gymnasts: the drama, the endurance, the bitchin' soundtrack full of Missy Elliot and Blink-182. But recently I decided to put it on for a rewatch and it was like catching up with your friend's cool older sporty sister in the mid-aughts, but with a whole new world of nuance. The movie begins and we are met with one of the coolest 'Sk8ter Girl' breaking and entering gymnastics routines of all time, teeming with BMX bikes and police chases. Our protagonist is introduced as the juvenile delinquent and tumbling retiree Haley Graham who just can't seem to stay out of the eyes of the law. After her latest arrest, she is given the choice of military camp or VGA, she adamantly chooses to channel her inner Cadet Kelly but this world is full of false choices and she's ultimately sent off to Housten to attend the hard, blood, sweat and tear filled facility which is the Vickerman Gymnastics Academy. There she meets the hard-assed coach Vickerman and her teammates: Joanne, Mina, and Wei Wei, who all give us more background on Haley's abrupt dismount from nationals and gymnastics as a whole years befor,e and a deep dive into their catty and competitive world through side eyes, and snippy dialogue. Quickly, Haley and Joanne are pitted against each other, resulting in one of my favorite exchanges in the entire movie:
HALEY GRAHAM
(about the girls Burt picked for the Classics)
They just get their spots handed to them? What about the rest of us?
JOANNE
I don't like what you're instigating, Haley.
HALEY GRAHAM
(whispers to herself)
Instimulating?
JOANNE
I have earned my spot.
BURT VICKERMAN
Girls.
JOANNE
I'm practically a Dalmatian.
HALEY GRAHAM
Dalmatians are born with spots. They don't earn them. Which is exactly my point.
JOANNE
Dogs are people too, Haley!
BURT VICKERMAN
Very nice, Joanne! Touché!
JOANNE
Thank you!
Slowly, our girls stop competing and begin to conspire! Unpacking the system and using it to their advantage as they compete and train as the story progresses. The end of the film presents us with a turn of events. We end at Nationals and VGA are on to win but our girls realize that their world is built upon a predatory relationship between the athlete,coaches,and judges, and sisterhood as a whole. The girls fight back by scratching or the act of fucking up on purpose for my less attuned reader. As the scores go down the solidarity between our VGA queens only grows in a stylish act of collective rebellian. Nationals are done and dusted and we end the movie with our troop of spandex gilded warriors linked at the arm, proud, and unapologetic. As the credits rolled among the plethora of messages in this movie this one stuck out to me: Gymnastics is girlhood. Flipping, balancing, bruises and performing for points are a package deal growing up as a girl in the not-so distant past and the ever more concerning future. We are shown two sides of the scale in Stick It. Haley who represents the fed up femme. Joanne, who can be compared to every classmate, relative, or friend that's been groomed to despise and compete against other women, Wei Wei, who's desire for perfectionism weakens her individuality. And Mina, who reclaims her oh-so unacceptable fault of one sliver of her bra strap showing after the most difficult routine of the entire movie by showing both in an act of revolt. All four of our reflections of girlhood not only show the different strains of perfection induced exhaustion but the power of finding strength in the girls who stand beside you. Stick It isn't just 2000s angst and MTV style editing. It's about how as women and femmes the real power is in showing up for yourself and each other.
In the hypothetical 2000s Teen movie National Championships 2025 or the (TMNC2025 as i've decided to dub it two seconds ago) this one deserves a 10/10 for subversion,soundtrack,and sparkly solidarity.