8 / 10
But I’m a Cheerleader is Jamie Babbit’s 1999 American satirical romantic comedy depicting a high school cheerleader sent to a conversion therapy camp by her parents who discover romantic relationships develop between her and another resident across the camp’s program. Natasha Lyonne plays Megan Bloomfield. Clea DuVall plays Graham Eaton. Cathy Moriarty plays Mary Brown. RuPaul plays Mike. Bud Cort plays Peter. Mink Stole plays Nancy. Eddie Cibrian plays Rock. Melanie Lynskey plays Hilary. Michelle Williams plays Kimberly. The screenplay was written by Brian Wayne Peterson based on a story by Jamie Babbit. Lions Gate Films distributed the film in July 2000 to modest commercial reception and wide subsequent reappraisal as one of the foundational queer-cinema productions of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
But I’m a Cheerleader has accumulated serious critical and cultural reputation across the more than two decades since its release. Babbit’s directorial debut applies bright pastel-color art-direction to substantially serious subject matter, with the conversion-therapy camp setting rendered as deliberately artificial space that signals the screenplay’s satirical positioning throughout. The film operates simultaneously as queer-cinema romance, as satirical commentary on conversion-therapy practices, and as substantially affectionate teen comedy. The combination produces a film that has earned its position alongside Go (1999), American Beauty (1999), and Election (1999) in the late-1990s American comedy cycle while distinguishing itself through its specific queer-protagonist commitment.
Jamie Babbit’s Visual Style
Babbit’s particular directorial choice was to render the conversion-therapy camp through deliberately heightened pastel color palette that signals the screenplay’s satirical positioning throughout. The camp’s interior is dominated by pink for the female residents’ areas and blue for the male residents’ areas, with the gendered color-coding operating as both visual joke and as substantive commentary on the binary-gender ideology that the camp’s program enforces.
The visual artifice extends throughout the film’s production design. The camp’s exteriors, costumes, set decorations, and even meal sequences all contribute to a heightened-stylized environment that audiences cannot mistake for realistic representation. The technique allows the film to address its serious subject matter through deliberate satirical distance rather than through documentary-realism that might have produced less digestible cinema.
For Writers
Visual artifice in satirical filmmaking can carry substantial commentary that documentary-realism approaches could not deliver. Babbit’s pastel production design encodes the screenplay’s critique of binary-gender ideology throughout the film’s visual register.
Natasha Lyonne’s Performance
Natasha Lyonne plays Megan Bloomfield with the certain innocent earnestness that the role required. The character genuinely believes herself to be heterosexual at the film’s opening and must navigate the gradual recognition of her actual sexuality across the running time. Lyonne’s performance maintains the character’s earnest specificity throughout, which gives the film its emotional foundation.
Lyonne’s particular casting was crucial to the film’s tonal balance. The performance refuses both the obvious choices: the actor neither plays Megan as already-knowing about her sexuality nor as anguished-by-recognition. The character’s gradual discovery operates as genuine personal development rather than as predetermined narrative progress, which gives the film its actual romantic-comedy weight rather than only its political-statement value.
For Writers
Coming-out narratives work best when the protagonist’s gradual recognition operates as genuine personal development rather than as predetermined narrative arc. Lyonne’s Megan refuses both the knowing-protagonist and the anguished-protagonist shortcuts.
Cathy Moriarty’s Mary Brown
Cathy Moriarty plays the conversion-therapy camp director Mary Brown with sustained satirical commitment that the surrounding production requires. The character is invested in her program with apparently genuine sincerity while the screenplay reveals layer after layer of her own unaddressed identity issues. Moriarty’s performance handles the character’s contradictions without ever collapsing into easy mockery.
Mary Brown’s eventual screenplay revelation that her own son is gay (despite or because of her camp program) operates as both satirical commentary on conversion-therapy practitioners and as genuine character development for the antagonist. Moriarty plays the recognition with serious dramatic weight that elevates the surrounding satirical material. The performance is one of the strongest single supporting performances in 1990s queer cinema.
For Writers
Satirical antagonists work best when the actor refuses to play them as cardboard villains. Moriarty’s Mary Brown carries genuine emotional weight that the screenplay’s broader satirical positioning could not have delivered alone.
Craft Note
Jamie Babbit’s directorial debut was But I’m a Cheerleader. She subsequently directed The Quiet (2005), Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007), and real television work including episodes of Russian Doll, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Silicon Valley. The 1999 film cost approximately one million dollars and grossed modestly across theatrical release. Subsequent home-video, cable, streaming, and academic-cinema circulation have substantially extended the film’s audience and cultural reputation. But I’m a Cheerleader has become one of the most consistently referenced queer-cinema productions of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Verdict
But I’m a Cheerleader is one of the strongest queer-cinema productions of the late 1990s and a foundational text of contemporary American queer cinema. Babbit’s visual style, Natasha Lyonne’s earnest performance, Cathy Moriarty’s nuanced antagonist work, and the screenplay’s distinct satirical balance combine to produce a film that has earned its real critical reputation. Required viewing for queer-cinema enthusiasts and 1990s American film historians.
FAQ
Who directed But I’m a Cheerleader?
Jamie Babbit directed the 1999 film. It was her directorial debut. She has subsequently directed The Quiet (2005) and significant television work including Russian Doll and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Is But I’m a Cheerleader based on real events?
The screenplay draws on documented conversion-therapy camp practices that were active across the 1990s, though particular characters and events are screenplay invention. Conversion therapy has subsequently been substantially restricted or banned across many United States jurisdictions.
Who plays the lead in But I’m a Cheerleader?
Natasha Lyonne plays Megan Bloomfield. Lyonne has subsequently appeared in Russian Doll, Orange Is the New Black, and considerable other productions across her career.
How did But I’m a Cheerleader perform commercially?
Modestly. The film grossed approximately three million dollars on theatrical release. Subsequent home-video, cable, streaming, and academic-cinema circulation have substantially extended the film’s audience and cultural reputation.
Is But I’m a Cheerleader a comedy or a drama?
Both. The film operates simultaneously as satirical romantic comedy and as substantively serious cinema about conversion-therapy practices. The combination is the production’s particular structural accomplishment.
What is the conversion-therapy camp called in the film?
The camp is called True Directions. The screenplay’s invented camp serves as composite representation of actual conversion-therapy programs operating during the 1990s.
What is the film’s rating?
But I’m a Cheerleader is rated R for sexual content and language. The original NC-17 rating was reduced to R after appeal.