When New Queer Cinema emerged in the early 90s, it was very clear that homosexuality was finally coming out in the closet. By the mid and late-90s, homosexuality was starting to gain some acceptance except in conservative landscapes. It was independent cinema where homosexuality was getting away from its stereotypes and exploring the emotional aspect as Hollywood would begin to notice. In 1999, former MTV show director Jamie Babbit decided to create a comedy about the tolerance towards homosexuality in a coming-of-age story entitled But I'm a Cheerleader.

Written by Babbit and Brian Wayne Peterson, But I'm a Cheerleader is a satire film about a young girl who is suspected of acting strange around her classmates and family as she sent to a rehabilitation program to cure her homosexuality. In the camp, she tries to rediscover her heterosexuality while becoming attracted to one of the girls, who knows she likes girls. Taking on the stereotypes and conservative tolerance towards homosexuality, Babbit creates a film that isn't just funny but deals with the isolation and attitude towards homosexuality. Starring Natasha Lyonne, Clea Duvall, Bud Cort, Mink Stole, RuPaul Charles, Cathy Moriarty plus cameos from Richard Moll, Julie Delpy, and Michelle Williams. But I'm a Cheerleader is a sweet, funny movie that shows the absurdity of homosexual intolerance.

To Megan (Natasha Lyonne), she seems like your typical teenage girl. A good student who is also a cheerleader and always go to church and be nice to her parents. Yet, to her classmates including fellow cheerleader Kimberly (Michelle Williams), something isn't right. Megan has a boyfriend in Jared (Brandt Wille) but doesn't feel anything when kissing him. Even Megan's parents Peter (Bud Cort) and Nancy (Mink Stole) think there's something wrong with since she has Melissa Ethridge posters and is a vegetarian. Finally, Megan is confronted by her parents and classmates as a counselor named Mike (RuPaul Charles) who used to be gay until he claimed to be cured by True Directions and considers himself straight now.

Megan goes to the True Directions rehabilitation camp where she meets the camp's leader Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty) who tries to get Megan to finally admit that she's a homosexual. Megan in front of her class of boys and girls, who have finally admitted their homosexual, finally realizes that she's a lesbian. Megan rooms with the girls that includes the sports-loving, baggy Jan (Katrina Phillips), the Australian geek Hilary (Melanie Lynskey), the Goth, pain-loving Sinead (Katherine Towne), and the subversive Graham (Clea Duvall). On the boys side there's former varsity wrestler Dolph (Dante Basco), the Jewish Joel (Joel Michaely), sunny boy Clayton (Kip Pardue), and Latin diva Andre (Douglas Spain). Mary also has a gay son who does a lot of exterior work in Rock (Eddie Cibrian) who often tries to tease Mike and the boys at the camp.

With the first step of admittance done, the second step for all the kids is to rediscover their heterosexual identity with the boys learning to fix cars, play football, and grab their balls like real men. The girls learn from Mary to play roles, especially in the maternal world though Graham seems to try and antagonize Mary while being aggressive towards Megan. In that moment, Megan is trying to discover the root of her homosexuality while everyone else has figured it out except for Andre. Still, there's sexual temptation where Megan learns that the girls would shock themselves if they're feeling sexual towards a female which is in the case for Sinead and her infatuation with Graham. The third step is the family therapy where Graham's father (Robert Pine) and her stepmom (Rachelle Carson) leave the therapy over the stories they hear as they force Graham to give up her homosexuality or she's cut for life. Megan meanwhile, reveals the root about the time her father had been laid off for nine months and her mother had to take the paternal role in getting a job.

Megan learns of Graham's vulnerability since she got caught kissing a girl by her stepmom while her real mother left her father at a young age. Megan and Graham get more friendly despite the time Megan caught Dolph and Clayton making out in Mary's office in one night where Dolph was kicked out and Clayton was in solitary confinement. Megan and Graham get closer as Megan joins Graham, Sinead, Jan, and Andre as they sneak out to go to a gay bar accompanied by a couple of ex-ex-gays in Lloyd Morgan-Gordon (Wesley Mann) and Larry Morgan-Gordon (Richard Moll). Megan is asked to dance by a Lipstick Lesbian (Julie Delpy) as she notices the relationship of Graham and Sinead as she is bothered by it until Graham confronts her and the two realize their attraction.

Mary then begins to discover that someone had been sneaking into the club as Graham claims she has a crush on Joel while Jan has left claiming that she's always been straight. Megan's parents learn about the trip to the gay bar and believed that she didn't go but if she doesn’t pass her stay at the camp, she is forced to be on her own. Mary and the rest of the campers decide to protest outside the homes of the Morgan-Gordons while the two men insist they’re not doing anything wrong. With the fourth step about demystifying the opposite sex, some seem on their way to heterosexuality as Megan and Graham grow closer only to be caught. Graham stays because of her father as Megan has been kicked out as she lives with the Morgan-Gordons and plan to win Graham's heart.

If there's one way to approach comedy in the most intelligent way, satire always work. Jamie Babbit and her co-writer Brian Wayne Peterson managed to find ways to pretty much make fun of the whole viewpoint of conservatives. While the film does lean more towards the liberal side, that side to is also made fun of. Babbit deserves credit for finding humor in the right places while showing the ridiculousness of the idea of trying to cure someone from homosexuality. The film does have a good message on homosexuality since the choice is really up to the individual.

The satire in the film is wonderfully well-played on the roles of men and women in a heterosexual world. It also kicks the stereotype right in the pants by showing how idiotic straight men would act and some of the gay characters aren't the stereotypes that are usually seen. Even the roles of women are ambiguous in the way that Mary Brown wants women to portray while its really both Megan and Graham who realized that the role of women don't really have to be the homemaker and that there's a choice. Also, the way homophobia is handled is also done is a satirical way where Mary and her kids protest with signs that would say Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve or Silly F*ggot, Dicks are for Chick. It's the humor that is well handled in Babbit’s direction that is very spot-on though the film is a bit predictable yet it's so much fun to watch. Especially with characters that an audience cares about.

The film on a visual side is very offbeat in a way that John Waters would be proud of. From the colorful cinematography of Jules LaBarthe and the production design of Rachel Kamerman and art director Marcy Vener to the hilarious uniforms the kids wear by costume designer Alix Friedberg. The film moves leisurely with style thanks to editors Ross Gudici and Cecily Rhett. Pat Irwin's music score also plays with that innocent, off-kilter style that has a bit of Danny Elfman but also some playful, chiming textures for the beginning of the lesson plans. The film's soundtrack is wonderfully memorable cuts from RuPaul himself plus Saint Etienne, Go Sailor, and most of all, Dressy Bessy that fills in with some great indie-pop cuts.

The film's ensemble cast is wonderfully inspiring since it features some nice cameos from Michelle Williams and Julie Delpy plus a hilarious Richard Moll as a gay man with Wesley Mann as his partner. Cult actors Mink Stole and Bud Cort are very funny as Megan's parents with Cort being the more nervous of the two and Stole as the more strict and embarrassed. Many of the actors who played the campers like Kip Pardue, Dante Basco, Joel Michaely, Katrina Phillips, Katherine Towne, and the always wonderful Melanie Lynskey each stand out with their own characters. The one stand out in the film is Douglas Spain of Star Maps who pretty much stole the show with the best lines of the entire movie, notably I wasn't meant to be butch. Model Eddie Cibrian is also extremely funny as the seductive, gay Rock who does everything to tempt RuPaul and the boys with all sorts of ideas.

Drag queen icon RuPaul goes against his look in probably the film’s funniest performance as an ex-gay man who is trying to teach the boys how to be straight yet has a hard time with temptation from rock. Cathy Moriarty gives a funny, over-the-top performance as the camp leader’s hard-nosed leader who is part Joan Crawford in some ways and part fundamentalist preacher. It's extremely funny.

Clea Duvall is amazing in her role as the subversive and troubled Graham with her attitude on loving girls while having a hard time opening to her own feelings as Duvall brings sympathy to her character. Natasha Lyonne is also brilliant in her leading performance as the sexually and morally confused Megan who learns more about herself and what is right. Lyonne brings a nice development and sympathy to her character as she and Duvall have great chemistry together that is believable in every way.

But I'm a Cheerleader is a wonderfully funny, sweet satire that hits all the right notes in laughs and intelligence. Director Jamie Babbit plus her cast including Duvall, Lyonne, Charles, and Moriarty make a comedy that isn't funny but also to the point on how absurd the world is in its view on homosexuality. Conservatives will definitely not like this film but it's not for them. This movie really has a lot to offer while dealing with the trouble of coming out in front of the world. But I'm a Cheerleader is a wonderful film to see for anyone wanting to figure out some truth about homosexuality.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age