movielib

Showtime, 9:00pm CDT.

The eighth season kicks off with... Cheerleaders!?

Now here's a topic that has been crying for the Bullshit treatment for years. I can't believe it has taken this long.

Wait, that's the silliest thing I've ever said. Who the hell cares? Probably just an excuse to have cheerleader parodies with boobies. OK, not all bad but where have all the good topics gone?

Palaver

Always look forward to a new season of Bullshit, but I also have to wonder about the topic. Is the well really this dry?

extreme2700

I dunno, makes some sense to do one on cheerleaders as it does have quite a high level of douchebag parents living vicariously through their children, much like highschool football in Texas. I probably wouldn't have had it as a season opener though.

Groucho

Hey, Penn and Teller, I'll tell you what's bullshit:

JasonF

This show has evolved from "Everything you think you know about Topic X is wrong!" into "Here are some horrible things that nobody ever talks about when it comes to Topic X!" With that in mind, cheerleaders seems to fit right in.

Mad Dawg

I saw an interview with Penn where he said he wanted to kick off the season with Vaccines, but Showtime decided that this would be the better choice. Oh well, let's get it over with. And boobies.

Dan1boy

We are just finishing up S7 and watched "Organic Foods" last night....classic !!! Loved it.

movielib

Vaccines may be the season finale. Since it looks like (to me) the best show of the season, it is probably good to finish strong. I can wait.

Deftones

that was actually quite a bit better than i thought it was going to be. the best part wasn't even related to the episode (acronym/initialism).

andicus

Yeah, that was a surprisingly good episode.

$10k - $15K / year? That's quite the racket Varsity has going.

Red Dog

For a 'soft' subject, that was a very good episode. I knew that injuries were a big problem with cheerleading, but I was never aware of the importance of it being classified a sport or not, and the juggernaut that is Varsity. I wasn't shocked when I learned that Title IX and feminism was a big reason behind it not being classified a sport.

They should do an episode on Title IX itself. Plenty of bullshit there.

movielib

I agree. Much better than I expected.

JasonF

I think it turned out to be a pretty bad episode. They kept trying to blame Title IX for all the injuries, but they never really connected up how Title IX led to cheerleading not being a sport led to injuries. Plus, they pretty much say that Varsity is responsible for cheerleading not being a sport, then go right back to the Title IX bashing.

That said: Topless cheerleaders

Red Dog

I'm shocked you didn't like it, since it bashed Title IX.

JasonF

I don't mind bashing of Title IX (or any other law or regulation) if it makes sense, but this didn't make sense. They just didn't do a good job connecting Title IX to the injuries, particularly in light of the role of the Varsity Company.

Separate from that, if you want to condemn Title IX, it's not enough to simply point out a bad consequence of Title IX -- you also have to demonstrate that the bad consequences outweigh the good consequences. They didn't even try to do that (to be fair, this episode was "Cheerleading is Bullshit!" not "Title IX is Bullshit!").

Bill Needle

They completely neglected that if cheerleading is classified as sport that would shift the men/women numbers balance required by Title IX, and is probably the biggest reason the feminists oppose it.

sherm42

I don't think Title IX requires there be gender balance in how many of each gender participate. I believe requires equal funding if there is sufficient interest.

Title IX would not require schools to force boys to participate and form cheerleading squads.

Bill Needle

No, but it would count against the girls total, whereas now it does not. I attended a major university that dropped baseball after well over a century of fielding a team mainly due the need to meet Title IX. They did not to have the money to add women's softball to offset, so they were forced to drop baseball.

sherm42

That may be true, but I gotta say it: so what.

Maybe its just because I don't really care for sports overall, but I don't see why one sport deserves any higher priority or praise than any other sport, even if it has been around a century. Personally, I'd rather watch cheerleading than football any fricken day.

XavierMike

My university dropped football for the same reason. There wasn't enough money to fund a counterpart women's sport.

Bill Needle

There are many examples of this. I just find it unusual that the show didn't explore this well known consequence of Title IX as well, especially since they walked all around it. It is another glaring example of the unintended consequences of feel good legislation. And it is in my opinion the main reason Title IX supporters oppose classifying cheerleading as a sport. Title IX coerces schools into creating and funding unwanted womens sports or face the prospect of cancelling existing men's sports, a position which cheerleading as a sport would weaken.

Jericho

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but by University had to drop men's swimming and added women's soccer and softball to comply with Title IV. For reference, there were a women's swimming and men's baseball team prior to the change, but no men's soccer. I always figured the biggest problem was football, which skewed the numbers towards men (other than football, the only sports played were men and women's basketball, men and women's track/cross-country, men and women's tennis, and women's volleyball). I connected the dots in this episode as others have stated, which is to mean if cheerleading is a sport, then the numbers balance out.

Also, if Title IX doesn't classify it as a sport, then High Schools won't classify it as one either.

wmansir

If gymnastics counts as a sport under title IX (and it does), I don't see why competitive cheerleader should not.

Red Dog

Like I said before - I hope they do a Title IX episode. Maybe they are thinking about doing one in a future season and why they didn't go too deep into it.

As for your theory, are you saying that Title IX supporters would be opposed to making this a sport because it would eliminate some men's sports (which I agree is what would happen)? That would seem to be the last thing such people care about since they certainly haven't cared about that before.

Bill Needle

They (Title IX supporters) oppose cheerleading as a sport to further coerce institutions to create more women's sports to be able to keep from cancelling men's sports. But often the latter is exactly what happens, and I totally agree that there is no doubt that this does not bother them one iota. I have seen it first hand.