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But i am a cheerleader movie1/16/2024 But when Megan meets the lovable rebel Graham-played by Clea DuVall with a charming mix of vulnerability and sensuality-she awakens to her own desire. A hot-pants-clad RuPaul teaches the men how to chop wood and repair the undercarriage of a car, while the women paint each other’s toenails, try on wedding dresses, and learn how to scrub a kitchen floor. Under the leadership of Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), the young attendees are made to deconstruct their identities and adopt behaviors that reinforce stereotypical gender roles. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan, an effervescent, all-American cheerleader whose parents (played by cult icons Bud Cort and Mink Stole) begin to fear that she’s a lesbian and send her off to a reparative therapy center called True Directions. Yet, as queer communities continue to fight for their human rights, Babbitt’s inclusive tale of love and self-discovery continues to feel transgressive and ahead of its time.īased on both Babbit’s own experiences and ones she had read about, But I’m a Cheerleader playfully confronts the homophobic practice of conversion therapy. Over the last two decades, we’ve witnessed the rise of LGBTQ representation in mainstream film and television, the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S., and-just this week-the long-overdue prohibition of workplace discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual identity. However, "But I'm a Cheerleader" is, on the whole, a sharp, intelligent outing (now there's something the conversion camp would frown on) bolstered by both Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall who communicate their conflicts and turmoil (and eventual joy) with low-key power, and through whom a credible love story begins to build.When Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader made its theatrical premiere in July 2000, it was entering a queer political landscape vastly different from the one we live in today. They do pull the film away from the plot. The only real flaw is a lengthy mid-section which, in her enthusiasm for satirical set-ups, the director packs with far too many examples of individual sexualities and life at camp. There is also a clutch of ongoing gags, including (as his t-shirt proclaims) the 'straight is great' teacher who is himself secretly in the grip of gay lust. A case in point is the moment when Megan comes home from school, only to be grilled by her family and friends, and both the serious critique and comic impact are lifted by exaggerated camera angles and weird music-box style music. There are, amazingly, over 200 camps of this ilk in the States, and debut director Jamie Babbit took her cue from reading about them.Īs with all the best satires, the chuckles never bury the essence of what is being spoofed, and even the more stylised interludes highlight the narrowness and foolishness of mainstream America. She believes, by the way, in teaching the girls hoovering and the boys car mechanics. Believing that the straight and narrow can be learned, they deposit her at True Directions, a camp where homosexual people are converted to heterosexuality by the 'treatment director' (Cathy Moriarty). A plea for tolerance which embraces the need for self-expression, and the idiocy of denying it, this is a comic canter through the young life of Megan who, because she likes tofu and has a picture of a girl in her locker, is deemed by her parents to be gay.
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