But I'm A Cheerleader

Starring:

Natasha Lyonne......Megan Bloomfield

Clea DuVall......Graham Eaton

Cathy Moriarty......Mary J. Brown

RuPaul......Mike

Mink Stole......Nancy Bloomfield

Bud Cort......Peter Bloomfield

Directed by:

Jamie Babbit

Written by:

Brian Wayne Peterson and Jamie Babbit

Release Date:

July 7, 2000

Running Time:

85 mins.

Seventeen year old Megan Bloomfield, despite her boyfriend, is accused by her parents and friends of being a closeted lesbian. Suppressing the accusations and trying to convince everyone she is definitely straight because she's sexually active with her boyfriend and is a cheerleader proves fruitless as her friends notice her staring at other girls and realize she only has posters of females in her locker at school.

Megan arrives at True Directions, which is for homosexuals as Alcoholics Anonymous is for alcoholics. With the prompting of the counselor and other campers, Megan admits that she is, in fact, a lesbian, and that she wants to be cured.

There are five steps to go from gay to straight, and everyone at camp must succeed through them in order to graduate as a heterosexual person. These include the campers admitting their homosexuality, rediscovering their gender identity by performing stereotypically gender-associated tasks, finding the root of their homosexuality, demystifying the opposite sex, and simulating heterosexual intercourse.

Everyone seems to want to become straight, including Megan herself. There is one exception, however, in the form of Graham, a girl whom Megan falls in love with.

Trying to find a way out of the camp, Megan and Graham bond together and become friends.

There's more to the story, but I want to leave out as many spoilers as I can.

The acting is great, especially the part played by Natasha Lyonne. I hadn't seen her in much else before this film, but I definitely will try to. Clea DuVall was also great, as was Cathy Moriarty, and Michelle Williams in the few scenes she was in.

I definitely recommend everyone to check out this movie, although be forewarned that it isn't your typical romantic comedy. It satires society's views on homosexuality as if it's a disease, and generally gets its message out pretty clear. Check it out.