But I'm a Cheerleader

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

Genres - Comedy, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Satire, Teen Movie, Gay & Lesbian Films  |   Release Date - Jul 7, 2000 (USA - Limited), Jul 28, 2000 (USA - Expanding)  |   Run Time - 85 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - R
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

In this satire, parents who are worried that their children might not be walking the straight and narrow path discover a rehabilitation camp designed to curb alternative lifestyles. Megan (Natasha Lyonne), a high school student and member of the cheerleading squad, seems like an ordinary enough teenage girl, but her habit of honestly expressing herself and lack of romantic enthusiasm for her boyfriend convince her very repressed parents, Peter (Bud Cort) and Nancy (Mink Stole), that Megan is becoming a lesbian. So Megan is shipped off to True Directions, a camp for gay and gay-leaning teens, where Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty) attempts to deprogram kids with homosexual tendencies. The first step in the process is to get each teen to admit to their homosexuality, which Megan is loath to do, since she doesn't believe she's a lesbian -- or at least she didn't think so before she met her new friend Graham (Clea DuVall), who seems quite sure that she likes girls. Meanwhile, Mary's son Rock (Eddie Cibrian) may be exempt from the camp's activities, but he turns more than a few heads among True Directions' male inmates. Noted female impersonator RuPaul appears as a camp guide, and Julie Delpy has a cameo as a "lipstick lesbian."

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Keywords

camp, friendship, gay-bashing, homophobia, homosexual, lesbianism, sexual-awakening, sexual-awareness