But I’m a Cheerleader
Director: Jamie Babbit Run Time: 85 min. Release Year: 2000
Starring: Cathy Moriarty, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Lyonne, RuPaul
Anna Yacht and C.C. Labrie will be perform a special introduction to our final PRIDE month film But I’m A Cheerleader and stay for a special Q&A after “Ask a drag queen!”
Megan 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.
“A number of recent films have explored conversion therapy, including The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Boy Erased, and the recent horror film They/Them. For the most part, these are serious dramas that hone in on the psychological torture, taking place in cold, clinical settings. For the first major American film to tackle conversion therapy, Jamie Babbit’s 1999 film But I’m a Cheerleader takes a very different approach. The film is a satirical comedy, camping and queering up conversion therapy at every turn to create an extremely funny, incisive, and wildly under-appreciated film.” ~ Barry Levitt, LGBTQ Nation