But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

July 5, 2020 7:31 AM

But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 American satirical romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan Bloomfield, a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a residential inpatient conversion therapy camp to cure her lesbianism. There Megan soon comes to embrace her sexual orientation, despite the therapy, and falls in love. The supporting cast includes Melanie Lynskey, Dante Basco, Eddie Cibrian, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, Katrina Phillips, RuPaul, Richard Moll, Mink Stole, Kip Pardue, Michelle Williams, and Bud Cort.
posted by Fizz (11 comments total)

I haven't seen this in forever, but remember thinking fondly of it. Delightfully low(ish) budget and a lighter take on a deadly serious subject.

Young Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, a cameo by Julie Delpy. I recall Richard Moll had a really fun part.
posted by porpoise at 1:06 PM on July 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

Outstanding movie with an outstanding soundtrack. Definitely a formative queer experience for me.
posted by ApathyGirl at 5:00 PM on July 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

But I’m a Cheerleader is streaming via Hoopla (with a library card), Criterion (via subscription), and a bunch of other places with ads (including IMDB and Roku).
posted by Etrigan at 6:22 PM on July 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

What porpoise said. Also RuPaul is in this.
posted by gryftir at 10:41 PM on July 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

Loved this movie. I was surprised to hear that Clea DuVall was in the closet at the time she made this! I thought I knew she was out at the time, which I guess is my bad for making an assumption, but her performance was so confident and natural I must have just been picking up what she was putting down.
posted by ejs at 5:43 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Outstanding movie with an outstanding soundtrack.

April March’s “Chick Habit” was one of the first songs I ever downloaded from Napster, for some reason, and I’m always thrilled when it shows up in my shuffle play.
posted by ejs at 9:21 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I saw this recently on the Criterion Channel and liked it so much I was surprised to see how bad the initial reviews were. (And remembered that's why I skipped it in theaters, even though I was a pretty big Natasha Lyonne fan at the time and usually made a point of seeing her stuff.) I think it got docked by a lot of critics for looking like a John Waters tribute — of course he's a genius, so it does suffer in comparison to Waters' work, which is singular. But it has really held up over time and Lyonne-DuVall-Lynskey is a pretty sweet trifecta for any director to hit in a single film. Also when Julie Delpy showed up (credited as Lipstick Lesbian) my wife basically stood up and cheered. She's royalty in this house.

I've made a note to keep an eye out for Jamie Babbit's other features, poorly reviewed though they may have been.
posted by Mothlight at 9:43 PM on July 6, 2020

This movie is good.
posted by latkes at 1:45 PM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Anyone who is a fan of Ryan Murphy's more comedic work should definitely check this out, as both its cast/crew draw from Popular and it has a somewhat simpatico aesthetic.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:32 PM on July 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Outstanding movie with an outstanding soundtrack.

Yeah the scene with "Glass Vase, Cello Case" ...
posted by entropone at 6:44 PM on July 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

Oh I love love love this movie! I've probably seen it 10 times and its one of those that I will always watch if I catch it randomly. I fell in love with Natasha Lyonne after this movie and am 100% down for every movie she does ever.

Maybe it's just me, but I got a very Edward Scissorhands feel from the set designs in this movie. This very colorful weirdness that is so fun.
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:01 AM on July 15, 2020 [2 favorites]