Stats:

Movie:
But I'm A Cheerleader

Stars:
Natasha Lyonne
Clea DuVall
RuPaul Charles
Cathy Moriaty
Richard Moll

Date: 2000

Bottom Line:
Campy, funny look at a very serious subject and bringing it to the attention of the world. Highly recommend.

But I'm A Cheerleader

I saw a preview of this movie at the Seattle International Film Festival in May, 2000. This film will be released theatrically in July, 2000. The movie is a comedy, but deals with anti-gay issues.

Natasha Lyonne is Megan, an all-American cheerleader who gets sent off to an ex-gay re-education camp by her parents. Before she goes, she has an intervention sponsored by her parents, friends, boyfriend and RuPaul (in a non-drag role). All of them are concerned because she has a Melissa Etheridge poster in her room, she doesn't like kissing her cloddish boyfriend and she has pictures of girls in her locker.

After the intervention, her parents drive her nearly to the ends of the earth to "True Directions", a Barbie dream house style re-education center. There, she is expected to relearn how to live within her true gender role and become a heterosexual. The boys all dress in tight, light blue shirts with blue ties and shorts, while the girls are dressed in Barbie pink shirts, sweaters and skorts. At night, the girls sleep in matching pink girlie nightgowns. The house's 8 occupants go through therapy sessions everyday. The first step in their recovery to heterosexuality is "Admitting You Are A Homosexual". We find that among the things that makes these kids gay is that they were born in France, their mothers wore pants during their wedding ceremonies and other ludicrous notions.

One of Megan's roommates is Graham. She has the hots for Megan and after Megan comes to terms with her own lesbianism ("I can't be a lesbian. I'm a Christian. I'm a cheerleader."), they both try to pursue their forbidden romance. They aren't the only ones trying to romance each other at the school. While RuPaul wears a T-shirt that states "Straight Is Great", he lusts after the Dean's latent son. The guys are being taught to be real men (by RuPaul as the Boys Dean) through wearing plaid flannel shirts while they attempt to chop wood, or work on cars. The girls are being to taught to be real women by wearing make-up, doing housework and crossing their legs correctly in prom dresses. There is a lot of very funny homo-erotic sexual imagery going on in much of the school's decor and program activities.

The kids get sprung from re-education by a pair of ex-ex- gays(dressed in lavender camouflage with rainbow accents) who routinely take kids to the local gay bar, The Cocksucker, to show them what they would be missing out on if they accept the re-education training from the school.

Eventually, the school catches Megan and Graham in lust. Megan admits to their love and she is expelled. Since her parents cannot accept her as a lesbian, she cannot go back to them and is taken in by the ex-ex-gays. She asks the guys to teach her what she needs to know about being a lesbian, but they politely point out they can't teach her that since they are guys, but they give her a place to crash. Meanwhile, Graham is torn between her love for Megan and her parents taking her trust fund away from her.

Megan finally rescues Graham from false heterosexualism at the graduation ceremony for True Directions. They drive away into the sunset together in their pickup and live happily ever after.

But I'm A Cheerleader is very funny, very campy look at a very serious topic. These re-education schools actually do exist and do a great deal of harm to the gay and lesbian children subjected to the behavior modification attempts. The message of this movie is that you should be who you really are and like yourself. Trying to fit in otherwise is false and plastic.

When I saw this film, the film's director was at the screening and we had a question & answer session afterwards. She said that the production design and costuming were very deliberate. She chose the True Directions decor to be modeled after a Barbie Dreamhouse. The costumes for the graduation ceremony are made out of vinyl plastic, and the uniforms during re-education are polyester. Before Megan is taken to the school, she wears mainly cotton. The materials used are meant to show the transformation away from their actual, gay selves accepting a plastic veneer upon graduation.

Highly recommend.