But I'm a Cheerleader online
But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 satirical romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan Bloomfield, an apparently happily heterosexual high school cheerleader. However, her friends and family are convinced that she is a homosexual and arrange an intervention, sending her to a reparative therapy camp to cure her lesbianism. At camp, Megan soon realizes that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the therapy, gradually comes to embrace this fact. The supporting cast features Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Mink Stole and Bud Cort.
But I'm a Cheerleader was Babbit's first feature film. It was inspired by an article about conversion therapy and her childhood familiarity with rehabilitation programs. She used the story of a young woman finding her sexual identity to explore the social construction of gender roles and heteronormativity. The costume and set design of the film highlighted these themes using artificial textures in intense blues and pinks.
When it was initially rated as NC-17 by the MPAA, Babbit made cuts to allow it to be re-rated as R. When interviewed in the documentary film This Film Is Not Yet Rated Babbit criticized the MPAA for discriminating against films with homosexual content. The film was not well received by critics who compared it unfavorably to the films of John Waters and criticized the colorful production design. The lead actors were praised for their performances but some of the characters were described as stereotypical
The film introduces seventeen-year-old Megan (Lyonne), a high school senior who loves cheerleading and is going steady with football player boyfriend Jared. She does not enjoy kissing her boyfriend, and prefers looking at her fellow cheerleaders. Her family and friends suspect that Megan is in fact a lesbian, and with the help of ex-gay Mike (RuPaul), surprise her with an intervention. Following this confrontation, Megan is sent to True Directions, a reparative therapy camp which uses a five-step program (similar to Alcoholics Anonymous' Twelve-step program) to convert its campers to heterosexuality.
At True Directions, Megan meets the founder, Mary Brown (Moriarty), Mary's son Rock and the group of young people trying to cure their homosexuality. With the prompting of Mary and the other campers, Megan agrees that she is a lesbian. This fact, at odds with her religious upbringing, distresses her and she puts every effort into becoming straight. Early on in her stay at True Directions, Megan discovers two of the boys, Dolph and Clayton, having sex. She panics and screams, leading to their discovery by Mike. Dolph is made to leave and Clayton is punished by being forced into isolation.
The True Directions program involves the campers admitting their homosexuality, rediscovering their gender identity by performing stereotypically gender-associated tasks, finding the root of their homosexuality, demystifying the opposite sex and simulating heterosexual sex. Over the course of the program, Megan becomes friends with another girl at the camp, college student Graham (DuVall). The group is encouraged to rebel against Mary by two of her former students. The ex-ex-gays Larry and Lloyd take the campers to a local gay bar where Graham and Megan's relationship develops into a romance. When Mary discovers the outing, she makes them all picket Larry and Lloyd's house, carrying placards and shouting homophobic abuse.
Megan and Graham sneak away one night to have sex. When Mary finds out, Megan, now at ease with her sexual identity, is unrepentant. She is made to leave True Directions and goes to stay with Larry and Lloyd. Graham, afraid to defy her father, remains at the camp. Megan and Dolph, who is also living with Larry and Lloyd, plan to win back Graham and Clayton. They go to the True Directions graduation ceremony where Megan performs a cheer for Graham and tells her that she loves her. They drive off with Dolph and Clayton. The final scene of the film shows Megan's parents (Stole and Cort) attending a PFLAG meeting to come to terms with their daughter's homosexuality