Miranda Ljung-Baruth, Creative Media Editor October 5, 2022
Warning: This review contains minor spoilers! Read at your own risk… In the 1999 film “But I’m a Cheerleader,” director Jamie Babbit pushes gender roles to the limit to undermine them. The film follows Meghan (Natasha Lyonne), a traditional girlish girl, who is sent to a conversion therapy center when her friends and family suspect her of being a lesbian. Meghan herself seems to believe that she is straight by default due to her feminine presentation and conservative upbringing, despite all the reasons her loved ones send her away (vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge posters, not enjoying kissing her boyfriend). The conversion camp she arrives at, True Directions, is an absurdly colorful embodiment of the camp aesthetic. Throughout history, camp has gone hand in hand with queerness, especially gay or effeminate men, and is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “showy, exaggerated and theatrical.” This definition fits perfectly with the conversion center she is sent to: a bright colorful building that almost resembles a theater set, with a bright pink room and uniforms for the girls and all blue for the boys. The design of the house relies heavily on artifice, with plastic furniture, fake flowers in the garden and Barbie-esque decoration. All this campy plastic is a metatextual genius move by Babbit, as it really emphasizes the fakeness of the gender roles the program pushes. Once there, Meghan joins the group of misfits already present, including resident bad girl Graham (Clea DuVall). Showrunner Mary (Cathy Moriarty) begins teaching the girls femininity and heterosexuality, by teaching gender-based tasks such as cleaning, motherhood and makeup. Throughout all of this, Meghan is assigned to Graham as an obligatory “friend”. They adjust wedding dresses and question each other about traditional gender roles, all in preparation for the “normal” straight life they will lead after graduation. Despite camp being an aest, it’s tied to queerness, in the film, heteronormativity is exaggerated and artificial, and homosexuality is the authentic truth. The film demonstrates this with a scene where the (future ex) gay men sneak out of camp and sneak into a gay bar, aided by two “ex-gay” guys who used to go to True Directions but ran away. In this part of the film you finally see the teenagers take off their gender uniforms and get dressed. It’s shocking to see the darker muted colors and androgynous silhouettes the characters choose as opposed to the vibrant pinks and blues forced upon them throughout the film. Likewise, the gay club itself is an incredible juxtaposition of the technicolor True Directions, with a smoky purple interior that represents gender fluidity and the blending of femininity and masculinity. “This film is ahead of its time, and really genius at using extreme gender stereotyping as satire.” Later that night, Meghan and Graham confess their love for each other, a beacon of hope and authenticity in the Barbie dream home life in which they pretend to live. In the weeks that follow, they increasingly secretly fall for each other, all stolen glances and quick cocks when no one is looking. Inevitably they will be caught and Meghan will be thrown out. In an act of self-preservation, Graham takes a plea deal and stays. Meghan, hurt and betrayed, begins to formulate a plan to save her love. On graduation day, all of the camp’s plastic artifice reaches a new high. The graduates wear latex formalwear, pink dresses and blue suits. With fresh 50s haircuts and pearls that Audrey Hepburn would be proud of, they walk down the aisle and receive an award with statuettes representing a heterosexual woman. represent count. Everything about this ceremony is so ostentatious that it undermines the typical roles of gays and straights and equates heterosexuality with a performance akin to drag. At the last minute, Meghan dives in and Grah saves Stand in front of the entire crowd of parents. They drive into the sunset and the environment behind them is something we have rarely seen, the real nature. Green trees and flowers that are not made of plastic. A blue sky that is not a painted background. They are not under watchful eyes, only the sun itself, and as they kiss, the audience can sense how bright their future together is. It’s hilarious, but equally heartwarming, with its optimistic ending that’s so rare in lesbian movies. It’s definitely a feel-good movie that seems silly and lighthearted, but if you dig deeper, it’s a deeply social commentary on how entrenched gender roles are in Western society. If you want to laugh, cry and experience a ridiculous piece of art, “But I’m a Cheerleader” is available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and YouTube.
Warning: This review contains minor spoilers! Read at your own risk…
In the 1999 film “But I’m a Cheerleader,” director Jamie Babbit pushes gender roles to the limit to undermine them. The film follows Meghan (Natasha Lyonne), a traditional girlish girl, who is sent to a conversion therapy center when her friends and family suspect her of being a lesbian. Meghan herself seems to believe that she is straight by default due to her feminine presentation and conservative upbringing, despite all the reasons her loved ones send her away (vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge posters, not enjoying kissing her boyfriend).
The conversion camp she arrives at, True Directions, is an absurdly colorful embodiment of the camp aesthetic. Throughout history, camp has gone hand in hand with queerness, especially gay or effeminate men, and is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “showy, exaggerated and theatrical.” This definition fits perfectly with the conversion center she is sent to: a bright colorful building that almost resembles a theater set, with a bright pink room and uniforms for the girls and all blue for the boys. The design of the house relies heavily on artifice, with plastic furniture, fake flowers in the garden and Barbie-esque decoration. All this campy plastic is a metatextual genius move by Babbit, as it really emphasizes the fakeness of the gender roles the program pushes.
Once there, Meghan joins the group of misfits already present, including resident bad girl Graham (Clea DuVall). Showrunner Mary (Cathy Moriarty) begins teaching the girls femininity and heterosexuality, by teaching gender-based tasks such as cleaning, motherhood and makeup. Throughout all of this, Meghan is assigned to Graham as an obligatory “friend”. They adjust wedding dresses and question each other about traditional gender roles, all in preparation for the “normal” straight life they will lead after graduation.
While camp is an aesthetic linked to queerness, in the film it is heteronormativity that is exaggerated and artificial, and homosexuality is the authentic truth. The film demonstrates this with a scene where the (future ex) gay men sneak out of camp and sneak into a gay bar, aided by two “ex-gay” guys who used to go to True Directions but ran away. In this part of the film you finally see the teenagers take off their gender uniforms and get dressed. It’s shocking to see the darker muted colors and androgynous silhouettes the characters choose as opposed to the vibrant pinks and blues forced upon them throughout the film. Likewise, the gay club itself is an incredible juxtaposition of the technicolor True Directions, with a smoky purple interior that represents gender fluidity and the blending of femininity and masculinity.
“
This film is ahead of its time, and really genius at using extreme gender stereotyping as satire.”
This film is ahead of its time, and really genius at using extreme gender stereotyping as satire.”
Later that night, Meghan and Graham confess their love for each other, a beacon of hope and authenticity in the Barbie dream home life in which they pretend to live. In the weeks that follow, they increasingly secretly fall for each other, all stolen glances and quick cocks when no one is looking. Inevitably they will be caught and Meghan will be thrown out. In an act of self-preservation, Graham takes a plea deal and stays. Meghan, hurt and betrayed, begins to formulate a plan to save her love.
On graduation day, all of the camp’s plastic artifice reaches a new high. The graduates wear latex formalwear, pink dresses and blue suits. With fresh 50s haircuts and pearls that Audrey Hepburn would be proud of, they walk down the aisle and receive an award with statuettes representing a heterosexual couple. Everything about this ceremony is so ostentatious that it undermines the typical roles of gays and straights and equates heterosexuality with a performance akin to drag.
