Slideshow
BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
Pre-recorded introduction by star Natasha Lyonne
U.S., 1999
Directed by Jamie Babbit
With Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, RuPaul Charles, Cathy Moriarty, Melanie Lynskey
Approx. 85 min. DCP.
Natasha Lyonne is the bubbly, wide-eyed, all-American cheerleader whose pious parents (Bud Cort and John Waters regular Mink Stole), suspecting that she’s a lesbian (see: vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge poster), send her off to a conversion camp. Under the direction of Cathy Moriarty and her saved ex-gay assistant RuPaul Charles, the teens (including Melanie Lynskey) are forced to overcome their homosexual desires, then deconstruct their identities, performing tasks relegated as “feminine” (scrubbing floors) or “masculine” (chopping wood), donned in high-camp, monotone, cotton candy pink or blue, until they can identify the “root” of their homosexuality. But when Lyonne meets bad girl Clea DuVall, she is suddenly awakened to her own desire.
Reviews
“Natasha Lyonne blends hyperbole and sincerity in perfect proportions.”
– Chicago Reader
“A delightfully subversive sendup of homophobia and ridiculously rigid gender roles that still feels all too relevant more than 20 years after its release.”
– Abbey Bender, Nylon