But I'm a Cheerleader
July. 07,2000 RMegan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn't like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she's pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to "sexual redirection" school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.
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Reviews
A Disappointing Continuation
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
You know I would've thought this movie should've taken into consideration that why on earth would they call this comedy, when innocent people like high school students go into a 'gay cure' camp? Like I know this film is meant to be fictional but really its giving of a taste of something thats meant to be less scary when its not. I couldn't imagine how it feels to be in that institution of complete lies of who the person is! Its ridiculous and just horrible!Right in the end, Kimberly is whisked off with Megan but I mean what about the rest of the poor kids?? Seriously that is shocking and disturbing. Don't watch this movie...
Wow. Who knew one of the greatest gay movies is actually a lesbian film?I absolutely loved, adored and admired this classic tale of forbidden love. It helps that I lived through this era and what the characters of But I'm a Cheerleader had to endure.You see, my parents were the same. While they didn't go as far as send me to Straight (Str8) Camp, they did encourage me to see psychiatric help with my "choice" of this lifestyle. Well, just like this movie's true moral, it didn't help.I am who I am as these people are. And I am not just proud of it because of what others tell me I should be. I am proud to know my true self.Enough about me. This movie was fantastic. Small, yet large. Deep, though light. Funny and bright. The acting was brilliant, the writing dead-on and the direction: perfection. It's a wonder this movie was set to receive an NC-17 just because it showed acceptance towards lesbians.Poor teenage, cheerleading Megan. She's given an intervention when her family suspects she's a lesbian and sent off to "Str8 is Great" camp. There she must learn the steps to becoming "normal again." Of course, in today's age (2013, soon to be 2014) this hopefully isn't as accepted, but back in 1999, parents just didn't know what to do when they weren't promised a married man/woman grandchild.Along the journey in this camp, Megan meets a whole lot of interesting and wonderful characters, each with depth and wonderful stories of their own. She must make the "right choice," i.e. to be true to oneself.I haven't seen this movie in many years and back when I had, I had watched it many times. No matter the number of views, I love it each and every time. The music is fantastic – LOVE the soundtrack. The story, emotions, depth and direction superb. I love the lines, acting, script and all characters. All actors gave their 100% including a fantastic performance from Rupaul, Cathy Moriarty, Natasha Lyonne and definitely Clea DuVall.This is a classic fairy tale with more layers than 17 onions and more fun than most str8 love stories. I truly believe it can be loved and admired by most people, str8 or gay and lessons can be learned from both sides. Truly see this and know how to treat your children so they can become better people.* * * Final thoughts: Years and years later, I would sit in a movie theatre and hear the song: "Chick Habit" but only this time, it would be in the Grindhouse double feature and at the end of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. While effective there, I will never remember or know that song by any other reference than: But I'm a Cheerleader.
This movie has almost exactly the same plot as Save Me (2007, IMDb title tt0772200), except the sexes are reversed and it's a comedy instead of a drama. Although Cheerleader gets credit for attacking homosexual conversion therapy eight years earlier, Save Me is a very much better movie in every way.Save Me is both more entertaining and rewarding and MUCH more effective in addressing the therapy fad that claimed to turn gays straight through prayer and therapy but by now (thank God) has been pretty much abandoned even by the fanatics who most strongly pushed it.The "humor" in Cheerleader is so excessively stupid, relentless and campy that it completely undermines any serious message the movie might be trying to present. It comes across as simply a mindless, pointless, frantic, unfunny mess - like a Jerry Lewis movie, for those who remember him.The head of the conversion camp in both movies is a woman, but the characters are as different as night and day. Judith Light in Save Me is a compassionate person who honestly believes in the work she does and really loves the men who are sent to her for "help". Her realization that what she does may NOT actually help, and may instead hurt them, is a far more powerful indictment of the therapy than the gratingly moronic, maniacal, twitching monster Cathy Moriarty plays in Cheerleader.This movie's only assets are three of its actors: Natasha Lyonne, who can't help being charming no matter what she does; Clea DuVall, who is so subtly and sultrily sexy that she makes even this gay man drool; and RuPaul - OUT of drag - completely credible in an entirely male role: the relatively macho athletic director of the camp, of all things.But the movie is so stupidly written and directed, and the other actors are so bad, that it is not worth watching - unless by lesbians who can identify more easily with these women than the gay men in Save Me. Gay men have a hard enough time finding good movies, but the selection is even worse for lesbians.
It was one of the sweetest lesbian movies I've seen, I love it when the main character is a lipstick lesbian (I guess that counts as a spoiler, so I'd better be careful)so i can relate. The sets are very cute and very, very fifties, as are the costumes. The costumes are fun in that they all match. You cannot be depressed watching this movie, everything is very technicolor and cheery, almost like a cartoon (I watched this when I had a cold and I felt better immediately). I personally think this doesn't deserve the r-rating, the sex is milder than what I see on buffy the vampire slayer, not very graphic at all, the most I saw being a hand on a navel and some pretty serious necking. Maybe PG-13. I highly recommend this to younger watchers, it was very good. Very yummy movie overall.