But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

Directed by

Jamie Babbit

Genre

drama film, teen film, LGBTQ-related film, coming-of-age film, romantic comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 29m

Rated

R

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 847 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A high school cheerleader gets sent to a conversion therapy camp by her parents. While there she realizes she is a lesbian and starts to accept herself.

satiricalcampywhimsicalupbeatcolorfulheartfeltplayfullighthearted

What happens

But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 American satirical teen romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit in her feature directorial debut and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan Bloomfield, a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a residential in-patient conversion therapy camp to "cure" her lesbianism. At camp, Megan realizes that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the "therapy", comes to embrace her sexuality. The supporting cast includes Clea DuVall, RuPaul, and Cathy Moriarty. Inspired by an article about conversion therapy and her childhood familiarity with rehabilitation programs, Babbit 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 by 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, she criticized the MPAA for discriminating against films with homosexual content. While the film has developed a cult following since its release, it was not well received by conservative critics of the time, 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. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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