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wherever you get your podcast. Hello. I'm Brittany Loose and you're listening to It's been a minute from NPR. A show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

This week we're looking at one of the most familiar tropes in media about teenagers

the cheerleader. She's popular, she's bubbly, she's talented, and she might have a mean streak.

You know her, you may hate her, or you may want to be her.

Have you seen her in movies like Greece.

TV shows like Greece.

TV shows like Glee.

When I look at a person I don't see someone who looks a certain way. I just see someone who I may or may not have to destroy and even the depths of Taylor Swift's discography It almost feels like any teen TV show or movie would be incomplete.

It almost feels like any teen TV show or movie would be incomplete without a snobby cheerleader somewhere in the mix.

But after a while, these representations start to blend together and form a powerful, tight

narrative about who gets to be a cheerleader.

Everybody's immediate impulse is to look at the tiny straight white woman

who is on the top of a pyramid or is the top girl.

That's actor Deborah Jacobs Jacobs who you may recognize from

reservation dogs or from Marvel's echo. But now she's the star and co-producer

of BackSpot, a new cheerleading drama directed by D.W. Watterson.

We are looking at the athletes of color who are the foundation of these squads, who are the

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