In
But I’m a Cheerleader, Jamie Babbit (both director
and storywriter) takes us on a journey to "True Directions,"
a rehabilitation camp for "homosexual" children whose parents
want them changed into "heterosexuals." Entitled Make
Me Over at some cinemas, we see the odyssey through
the eyes of high school cheerleader Megan (played by Natasha
Lyonne), a sweet sixteenish girl who wants to remain a virgin
until marriage. Nevertheless, Megan is accused of being a
Lesbian. Why? Because she is a vegetarian, she has a picture
of Melissa Etheridge in her school locker, she wipes off the
saliva from an overly deep tonguekiss from her boyfriend,
and she refuses to have sex with him. Despite protesting that
she is normal, her parents (played by Bud Cort and Mink Stole)
maroon her at the eight-week camp, where for the first time
she encounters young gays and Lesbians. Indeed, True Directions
turns out to provide camp experience in more ways than one.
Camp director Mary Brown (played by Cathy Moriarty) inducts
her into a five-step program. In Step 1 ("Admit That You Are
A Homosexual") Megan lies by making the required admission
"I am a homosexual." In Step 2 ("Rediscover Your Gender Identity")
she pays more attention than ever before to the delights of
being a girl, including a new appreciation for Graham (played
by Clea DuVall), a strong-willed Lesbian who has the hots
for her. In Step 3 ("Family Therapy"), Megan learns in a conversation
with her parents and the camp director that she will only
be welcome at home if she graduates as a "heterosexual." In
Step 4 ("Demystify The Opposite Sex"), she obviously encounters
only effeminate boys, so Graham is clearly a preferable companion
because she has the masculine traits that she seeks. But Step
5 ("Simulated Sexual Experience") is too much for Megan, so
she refuses to participate and is booted out of the camp.
Megan then moves into a home with a gay couple, formerly treated
at the camp, who not only provide midnight transportation
for the gays and Lesbians to a gay bar but also provide sanctuary
to camp dropouts. But Megan misses her Lesbian girlfriend,
so she sneaks behind True Directions’ graduation ceremony
(for the non-dropouts, who are pretending to live up to the
camp slogan "Straight Is Great" so that they can continue
to live with their parents). Reminiscent of the last scene
of The Graduate (1967) , Graham then hears her
and leaves the ceremony to join Megan. In the final scene
of the film, Megan’s father and mother are finally getting
the therapy that they need at a local meeting of the national
organization Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
The tagline of the film, "A Comedy Of Sexual Disorientation,"
is quite an understatement. But I’m a Cheerleader
riotously satirizes the faith that many fundamentalist Christians
have that appropriate therapy will end the "homosexual problem,"
showing that their crusade may have the unintended consequence
of nudging sissies and gym buffs into becoming gay while informing
tomboys earlier than they might otherwise about the Lesbian
lifestyle. The comedy ends when we walk out of the cinema
with the realization that nowadays teenagers continue to have
sexual identity problems, authoritarian religions add to the
confusion, many gay and Lesbian teenagers commit suicide because
they are not accepted by their parents, and "homosexual rehabilitation"
camps do in fact exist. But I’m a Cheerleader
extends the gay liberation agenda to children’s rights --
the right to choose one’s sexual identity and the right to
be respected for that difficult choice. Accordingly, the Political
Film Society has nominated But I’m a Cheerleader
for an award as best film exposé and best film on human rights
for the year 2000. MH
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