Movie Review

Title: But I'm a Cheerleader
Year: 1999

In short, this film is basically about this lesbian cheerleader, Megan (Natasha Lyonne), who is sent to "straight camp" by her conservative, religious parents and accusatory friends. The whole movie humorously addresses the topic of gender identity and sexuality stereotypes.

Right from the beginning of the film, the stereotypes come out. The "evidence" that Megan is a lesbian included her vegetarianism, her magazine photos of girls hanging in her room and locker, her feminist singer albums, and her appreciation for artwork that vaguely resembled a vagina. (After hearing these “symptoms," most of which I share, I jokingly wondered whether I was a lesbian.) Religion played a small role in the film, most apparently when her parents told her that heterosexuality is “natural and healthy and sacred” and that we have a duty to fulfill the “roles [God] creates for us.” Because hostility toward a homosexual lifestyle is most often (though not exclusively) expressed by religious followers, this was nicely-used mockery as an introduction to the film.

Anyway, the film goes on to show the "reformation" process of camp life, which includes extensive subjection to re-learning proper gender roles. Males are required to play football, chop wood, do yard work, play the aggresssor, participate in war games and, most humorously, grab their own crotches and chug orange juice instead of sip it. The females were expected to wear makeup, perform household duties, change an infant’s diaper, provide for the husband’s comfort, and accept the male’s advances. The necessity to perform these roles was emphasized by Megan saying, “women have roles; as soon as you learn that, you’ll stop objectifying them.” Haha.

In short, the film does a humorous job of adressing and breaking down both gender identities as well as society's stereotypes of lesbians, gays, transgenders, etc. It's a decent film to watch if you're looking for a funny, only partially deep perspective on the topic.