big-gun I'm usually not a person who goes for romantic comedy or romantic drama for that matter. There have been a few exceptions over the years. This was one of them.One evening I was channel flipping and came across But I'm a Cheerleader on the Indie Channel. What the hell, there wasn't much else on so I decided to watch. Natasha Lyonne plays Megan, all-American cheerleader and all around good girl. John Waters fans, Mink Stole plays her mother. Bud Cort (Harold and Maude) plays her father. Suspecting Megan is gay, they stage an intervention with her friends and Mike from True Directions, played hilariously by RuPaul not in drag.The True Directions campus is every stereotype you could imagine. Pink for the girls, blue for the boys among other things. Here, Megan meets Graham (the amazing Clea DuVall) and begins her journey through sexual re-identification or whatever you want to call it. Other faces you may recognize, Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull), Melanie Lynskey (Rose from Two and a Half Men), Eddie Cibrian (who plays one of the gayest characters in the movie), and Richard Moll (Bull from Night Court).All around, I found this movie campy, silly, funny, touching, a little of everything. When, in spite of the best (or worst) attempts to turn her around, Megan embraces and owns who she is and professes her love for Graham, I was left utterly raw. But in a good way. Three subsequent times I watched the movie and felt the same way. If this movie doesn't touch, you have no heart. For the record, I'm a straight, bearded, tattooed, Republican veteran.

thesar-2 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.

gizmomogwai But I'm a Cheerleader is a movie with an intriguing premise, a dissection of the total absurdity of the ex-gay movement and broader issues of the harsh face of religious fundamentalism. It's also the kind of movie bound to become a cult favourite. I say it's intriguing even though I'm a straight male. The comedy is about Megan, a cheerleader baffled when her family and "friends" spring an intervention on her, to address her suspected lesbianism. They have stupid reasons (she's a vegetarian), but it is true she's more interested in the female form than kissing her boyfriend- they're right. Megan is sent to camp designed to "cure" homosexuals, but falls in love with another girl, Graham.The movie, while cute and colourful with a lot of good points, isn't exactly hilarious as a comedy. There are a few snickers here and there, but nothing major. There's also not a lot of eroticism, in spite of being about lesbianism- that's not what this movie is for. Mainly, it's more of a message movie, espousing values of tolerance, honesty, and love. There's some refuting stereotypes, even though it was stereotypes that led to Megan's family correctly detecting she's gay. On a side note, this movie was also subjected to a ridiculous NC-17 rating, for a scene where Megan masturbates- but it's through her clothes, we see *nothing*. This came the same year American Pie (and its trailer) featured a teenage boy having sex with a pie. The double standard is appalling, evidence of either homophobia or a disgust with female pleasure. Ultimately, this movie fell victim to the old attitudes it's trying to address.

Anssi Vartiainen I knew, walking into this film, that I probably wouldn't like it. There are some subjects, like pregnancy, war crimes, and yes, homosexuality that require a certain amount of skill to handle humorously. This movie lacks that subtlety, trying to do both a social satire and a homosexual parody at the same time. A good satire can most often be watched as a good parody as well if you don't concentrate on the hidden commentary. But intentional parody doesn't really work as a satire and it's a form of humour that you either love or hate. I belong to the latter group, and thus I don't really think that I belong to this film's target audience. It's too bright, too in your face, too exuberantly and stereotypically gay - and not in a fun way. You're painfully reminded that these people, especially the males, could never exists in real life. They're just too over the top, too stereotypical, too clueless about even the most basic of social norms.By far the worst is the rehabilitation center, though, which is painted in the most obnoxious shades of pink and baby blue. The whole process of trying to turn gays and lesbians into straight people by forcing them to adapt the most masculine and feminine roles imaginable is of course ludicrous, though from what I've gathered, not that far from reality, unfortunately. And I think that this over the topness will actually please the friends of parody as it is always treated with tongue in cheek and with certain amount of "yeah, we're just kidding". But every now and then the movie takes a turn for the worse and tries to point and mock through the use of satire. It tries to say "this is wrong, don't do this", but it feels like it's trying to force the message down our throats. Its message is a good one, don't get me wrong, but its delivery leaves much to be desired.That being said, there are some good things in this film. The acting is mainly rather bland, but the two main characters, Megan (Natasha Lyonne) and Graham (Clea DuVall), have some genuine chemistry between them and you're able to buy their romance. Add in some laughs, which are kind of forced, but laughs nonetheless, and you have a film that has some value as a guilty pleasure.And that pretty nicely sums up the film. It's not a good movie. It simultaneously mocks the gay people and then tries to tell its audience that it's okay to be one, which sends extremely mixed messages. But it is rather funny if its sense of humour tickles your fancy and the main romance is watchable. There are worse films in existence.