Better to sleep through 'Sleepover'

This is one of those flicks that will wind up being shown on the WB Saturday mornings, because it'll be cheaper to air this crap rather than producing fresh kid's programming. "Sleepover" isn't just a bad movie, it's morally bankrupt. \nAlexa Vega (the "Spy Kids" trilogy) plays Julie, a recent middle school graduate. Julie invites three friends over for a sleepover to do typical girly things. That all changes when Julie's rival, Stacie (Sara Paxton), shows up to make Julie and her gal pals participate in a scavenger hunt. The girls go to great lengths to win this scavenger hunt, because the victor gets to sit at the cool lunch table in high school. We all know how important it is to sit with the cool kids, or so the movie implies. \nJulie and her friends accept the challenge, leaving the house against her mom's (Christopher Guest vet Jane Lynch) orders. Some things Julie has to do on the hunt include: having a guy buy her a drink at a club, steal her crush's boxers and win the crown at a high school dance. This is a typical night out for middle school girls, right?\nThere are many studies on how Disney movies make young girls believe all they need to do in life is get the guy. "Sleepover" makes Disney's duds look like feminist propaganda. In addition to this ethical flaw, the movie is extremely lame. The phrase "carb out" is used when Julie is tired of hearing her mother's rules. \nHowever, the movie does show how cruel middle school girls can be to each other. The popular girls point out how fat one of Julie's friends is. Julie feels bad and decides to invite her friend, Yancy (Kallie Flynn Childress), to the sleepover out of pity. Also, Julie gets into the high school dance by explaining how the ticket taker is a nerd and doesn't mess around with boys. Julie says she doesn't want to turn out like this, and is allowed in. Last time I checked, doing your homework instead of messing around with members of the opposite sex is a good thing.\nInappropriate for young girls is a scene in which Julie tries to obtain the high school hunk's boxers. Julie is forced to hide in a running shower -- for good continuity, she comes out dry. While this is happening, she gets a good, unnecessarily long look at the high school boy's backside (unclothed). Another odd scene includes Julie and her prepubescent pootie posse sneaking into a bar. Julie has an Internet date set up, and the older man is none other than the girls' teacher. \nI know times have changed a lot, but when I was younger the most popular guy in high school wouldn't have been caught dead with a middle school girl. OK, it's just a movie. Then again, I know when girls crash a car into a security guard's vehicle, they usually get in some trouble. So, there's no doubt the story is bad, but the fine people who made this movie offer another slap in the face -- it's morally corrupt as well.