But I’m a Cheerleader: The Gay Rom-Com We All Needed
“I myself was once a gay. Now I’m an ex-gay, Megan.”
Date watched: May 14, 2020
Released: 1999
Director: Jamie Babbit
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, RuPaul, Cathy Moriarty
But I’m a Cheerleader follows the story of Megan, a girl, who on the outside, lives the life of the stereotypical high school cheerleader living in a small conservative town. The twist is she is a lesbian. She is sent to a conversion therapy camp where she comes to terms with her sexuality and finds love.
Throughout the 90s there were so many classic teen girl movies. But I’m a Cheerleader is a refreshing change of pace. This isn’t to say movies like Clueless aren’t good, but But I’m a Cheerleader is there for the queer teens who were, and still are, very underrepresented.
But I’m a Cheerleader should be held as the blueprint for how to do dark comedy well. In reality, conversion therapy is a traumatizing, and sometimes fatal, experience for queer youth that does not work. It is not something to take lightly. The way that But I’m a Cheerleader is able to make a comedy surrounding conversion therapy is by not making jokes about the actual trauma of conversion therapy. Instead, the film focuses on the characters and their interactions. Instead of making a mockery of the cruel practices of the therapy, they make jokes about the cruel leaders of the therapy. One of my favorite ways they do it by making one of the leaders of the conversion therapy camp extremely gay.
An aspect of the film that is often overlooked is its mise-en-scène. Conversion therapy is a grim concept, but the movie is set in as bright a location as imaginable. The walls of the conversion therapy center are bright blue and pink. Each character, depending on whether they are a boy or girl, wear pastel blue and pink. On the surface, everything looks pretty, but really it is a disguise to hide to horrors taking place in this facility,
But I’m a Cheerleader is nowhere close to being a perfect film. Some jokes miss, most characters are two-dimensional stereotypes, and it can be silly. But at the end of the day, think to yourself: when is the last time you saw a queer movie that ended well for the couple? It may not be a movie for everyone, but it is definitely a movie for me.
Rating: 4/5
June 23, 2020