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A
CHEERLEADER BECOMES A LESBIAN WITH THE UNWITTING HELP OF HER
PARENTS
 In
But I’m a Cheerleader, Jamie Babbit (both director
and storywriter) takes us on a journey to "True Directions,"
a rehabilitation camp for "homosexual" children whose parents
want them changed into "heterosexuals." Entitled Make
Me Over at some cinemas, we see the odyssey through
the eyes of high school cheerleader Megan (played by Natasha
Lyonne), a sweet sixteenish girl who wants to remain a virgin
until marriage. Nevertheless, Megan is accused of being a
Lesbian. Why? Because she is a vegetarian, she has a picture
of Melissa Etheridge in her school locker, she wipes off the
saliva from an overly deep tonguekiss from her boyfriend,
and she refuses to have sex with him. Despite protesting that
she is normal, her parents (played by Bud Cort and Mink Stole)
maroon her at the eight-week camp, where for the first time
she encounters young gays and Lesbians. Indeed, True Directions
turns out to provide camp experience in more ways than one.
Camp director Mary Brown (played by Cathy Moriarty) inducts
her into a five-step program. In Step 1 ("Admit That You Are
A Homosexual") Megan lies by making the required admission
"I am a homosexual." In Step 2 ("Rediscover Your Gender Identity")
she pays more attention than ever before to the delights of
being a girl, including a new appreciation for Graham (played
by Clea DuVall), a strong-willed Lesbian who has the hots
for her. In Step 3 ("Family Therapy"), Megan learns in a conversation
with her parents and the camp director that she will only
be welcome at home if she graduates as a "heterosexual." In
Step 4 ("Demystify The Opposite Sex"), she obviously encounters
only effeminate boys, so Graham is clearly a preferable companion
because she has the masculine traits that she seeks. But Step
5 ("Simulated Sexual Experience") is too much for Megan, so
she refuses to participate and is booted out of the camp.
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Megan
then moves into a home with a gay couple, formerly treated
at the camp, who not only provide midnight transportation
for the gays and Lesbians to a gay bar but also provide
sanctuary to camp dropouts. But
Megan misses her Lesbian girlfriend, so she sneaks behind
True Directions’ graduation ceremony (for the non-dropouts,
who are pretending to live up to the camp slogan "Straight
Is Great" so that they can continue to live with their parents).
Reminiscent of the last scene of The
Graduate (1967), Graham then hears her and leaves
the ceremony to join Megan. In the final scene of the film,
Megan’s father and mother are finally getting the therapy
that they need at a local meeting of the national organization
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The tagline
of the film, "A Comedy Of Sexual Disorientation," is quite
an understatement. But I’m a Cheerleader riotously
satirizes the faith that many fundamentalist Christians
have that appropriate therapy will end the "homosexual problem,"
showing that their crusade may have the unintended consequence
of nudging sissies and gym buffs into becoming gay while
informing tomboys earlier than they might otherwise about
the Lesbian lifestyle. The comedy ends when we walk out
of the cinema with the realization that nowadays teenagers
continue to have sexual identity problems, authoritarian
religions add to the confusion, many gay and Lesbian teenagers
commit suicide because they are not accepted by their parents,
and "homosexual rehabilitation" camps do in fact exist.
But I’m a Cheerleader extends the gay liberation
agenda to children’s rights -- the right to choose one’s
sexual identity and the right to be respected for that difficult
choice. Accordingly, the Political Film Society has nominated
But I’m a Cheerleader for an award as best
film exposé and best film on human rights for the year 2000.
MH
ANNUAL
MEETING OF MEMBERS CONVENES AUGUST 5
The
annual Meeting of Members, open to all, will take place
at 8481 Allenwood Road, Hollywood, on Saturday, August 5,
at 7:00 p.m. On the agenda will be the selection of the
Board of Directors for the year 2001.
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