But I’m a Cheerleader

By Jamie June 13, 2026No Comments

Title: But I'm a Cheerleader
Director: Jamie Babbit
Studio: Ignite Entertainment, The Kushner-Locke Company
Release Date: September 12, 1999
Run Time: 92 minutes
Genres: Rom Com, Satire
Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul
Where to Find It: Website
Rating:

High school senior Megan is an all-American girl who loves cheerleading and dates a football player. Her suburban existence is turned upside-down when her family suspects her to be a lesbian. They send her to a ‘rehabilitation camp’ where she comes to question her own sexuality for the first time.

Review

I stumbled on this film entirely by chance late at night when I was a teenager in the 2000s. I came away feeling like I just experienced a fever dream! This film only ever played late at night because pop culture in the 2000s was rife with homophobia.

The story centers on a cheerleader named Megan who is the stereotypical girl next door. She has a jock boyfriend, caring (and overbearing parents), and she just loves cheerleading (and fantasizing about her fellow cheerleaders). After her friends and family stage an “intervention” Megan is sent off to a conversion camp to be “cured” of her lesbianism, a reality she hadn’t grappled with at that point. While there she meets varied group of fellow campers and the very funny ex-gay camp counselor RuPaul (absolutely hilarious). Among this group she meets Graham, who causes Megan to question her sexuality.

The story from there develops in the way you’d expect from any teen rom-com, but what makes this film stand out is in the messaging. The visual language of this film is brilliant, moving from subdued browns and golds to the garish pink and blue color palette at the dollhouse-like conversion camp. It makes those scenes feel disorienting and overwhelming, and it perfectly captures the artificial veneer of heteronormality. The film approaches the horrors of conversion therapy while not losing it’s satirical edge.

But I’m a Cheerleader is pure campy fun that celebrates queer joy, a happy lesbian romance which is a welcome balm for the soul after experiencing so many tragic stories. It’s a movie I have a lot of affection for and have watched a couple of times, and the film never really gets old to me.