But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 satirical romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan Bloomfield, an apparently happy heterosexual high school cheerleader. However, her friends and family are convinced that she is a homosexual and arrange an intervention, sending her to a residential inpatient reparative therapy camp to cure her lesbianism. There Megan soon realizes that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the therapy, gradually comes to embrace her sexual orientation. The supporting cast includes Dante Basco, Eddie... Cibrian, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Richard Moll, Mink Stole, Kip Pardue, Michelle Williams, and Bud Cort. But I'm a Cheerleader was Babbit's first feature film. It was inspired by an article about conversion therapy and her childhood familiarity with rehabilitation programs. She used the story of a young woman finding her sexual identity to explore the social construction of gender roles and heteronormativity. The costume and set design of the film highlighted these themes using artificial textures in intense blues and pinks.
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| Release date: | September 12, 1999 |
| Directed by: | Jamie Babbit |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 85 Minutes |
| Producer: | Andrea Sperling, Leanna Creel |
| Editor: | Cecily Rhett |
| Music by: | Pat Irwin |
| Cinematography: | Jules Labarthe |
| Screenplay by: | Brian Wayne Peterson |
| Estimated budget: | $1,200,000 |
| Genre: | Comedy |