Week 9
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Honestly, no matter how many films I’ve seen, there’s nothing as unique as But I’m a Cheerleader. From its quirky visuals to its surprisingly poignant story underlined with sharp satire, But I’m a Cheerleader is truly a diamond among often cliched and even downright offensive LGBTQ+ movies. Though panned by mainstream critics, this film is one that can truly only be appreciated by the LGBTQ+ community due to its messages of hope and self-expression targeted to late-90s LGBTQ+ youth. The reason this movie is so effective at relating to its intended audience is because its written and directed by a lesbian, Jamie Babbit, and produced by her then-girlfriend, Andrea Sperling. Even today, most movies with LGBTQ+ themes are spearheaded by straight people, thus depictions of LGBTQ+ people and their relationships can often be cliched or downright problematic (see Blue is the Warmest Color). But I’m a Cheerleader serves as a refresher from the mainstream, allowing LGBTQ+ audiences to truly relate to the struggles that protagonist Megan goes through in conversion therapy. But I’m a Cheerleader is also incredibly brave for its time, mocking homophobia instead of exploiting it, and the best example of this is casting the gay icon RuPaul as Mike, a staff member at True Directions conversion therapy. When Mike’s character was first introduced, I was absolutely howling with laughter that THE RuPaul was taking Megan to True Directions. Of course, this film isn’t all about comedy, as conversion therapy and homophobia is still an incredibly sensitive topic in the LGBTQ+ community today. Not only does But I’m a Cheerleader combat homophobia through extreme satire, but by presenting a tender relationship between Megan and Graham (played by Russian Doll‘s Natasha Lyonne and lesbian legend Clea Duvall, respectively). Graham is a smug, masculine lesbian, whilst Megan is quite the opposite, being a shy, femme lesbian. While their characters both help introduce the audience to lesbian archetypes, their characters run so much deeper than these common clichés. Their relationship is so natural though the two are opposites, however, both deal with opposite struggles. Megan deals with accepting herself and her identity while Graham, confident in her orientation, is afraid to defy her father in favor of Megan. The two work through this together, and finally overcome their conflicts for one another. This is symbolized through Megan’s absolutely adorable declaration of love near the end of the film. I often come back to that scene when I’m feeling blue, and it truly helps me feel better.
The themes of But I’m a Cheerleader are best complimented through Edward Scissorhands-esque visuals, with the traditional colors of bright pink and blue representing gender norms. All of the occupants of the True Directions program are assigned either pink or blue based on their gender, thus one may believe that the gay relationships portrayed in the film will fall along gender norm lines. However, But I’m a Cheerleader breaks down these stereotypes, reminding the audience that there’s no “masculine” or “feminine” roles in a gay relationship, there’s just two people of the same sex, each occupying a place in the relationship not on the basis of sex.
But I’m a Cheerleader was the first film I saw depicting a WLW relationship, and it stuck by me as I was struggling with my own bisexual identity. It’s a personal favorite of mine and a great film to watch when you’re feeling down.
I love the Word Art-reminiscent lettering on the poster for the movie. It’s really interesting to see Natasha Lyonne in something other than Russian Doll, and to be honest I don’t think I would have recognized her if I hadn’t known it was her. I think it’s really interesting that the cheerleader and the “stereotypical lesbian” have such opposite experiences, when, if you go by the stereotypes on the surface of these roles, you might think their experiences would be switched.
Wow, this sounds like a fantastic movie! I totally get what you’re saying about earlier LGBT-themed movies missing the mark or being downright problematic– I’ve certainly seen a fair few that left me shocked. It’s particularly interesting that the director is a lesbian, which totally explains why this film is so uniquely unproblematic for its time. I’d love to watch this!
I agree that it’s ironic that RuPaul wound up being cast as a staff member at a conversion therapy clinic. I’m not an expert on the history of gay film, but this movie seems like it could be representative of a shift away from gay-bashing in films with gay characters.