She may wear the cheerleader uniform herself, but to see the rest of the team effortlessly moving around in the same outfit as her makes everything seem more exciting. These images, which could be objectifying in other contexts, are meant to convey Megan’s queer longing.
The film opens with shots of cheerleaders jumping energetically in front of a bright blue sky while clad in white-and-orange sports bras and pleated skirts. The film’s sly humor, charismatic stars, and gloriously kitschy costuming have made it a queer cult classic. Rather than depict the depressing world of conversion therapy in drab colors, Babbit takes the novel approach of making the camp positively lurid, with every inch of the screen covered in candy-colored pastels that intentionally give the setting a healthy dose of absurdity. The 1999 comedy is a delightfully subversive sendup of homophobia and ridiculously rigid gender roles that still feels all too relevant more than 20 years after its release.
Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader stars Natasha Lyonne as Megan, a lesbian teen sent to a conversion therapy camp where she falls in with a quirky cast of characters and finds love with a cool, tough girl.
