But I'm a Cheerleader

But I'm a Cheerleader
A half-length portrait of a young woman with long hair, wearing a bright pink formal dress and satin gloves. Behind her at a distance five cheerleaders in orange cheer-leading outfits perform cheer-leading maneuvers whilst falling through a bright blue sky. Across the portrait reads, in green, "But I'm a Cheerleader", and below, in smaller letters, "A Comedy of Sexual Disorientation". At the top of the picture, in small letters are the names "Natasha Lyonne, Clea Duvall, RuPaul Charles and Cathy Moriarty".
Original film poster
Directed by Jamie Babbit
Produced by Leanna Creel
Andrea Sperling
Screenplay by Brian Wayne Peterson
Story by Jamie Babbit
Starring Natasha Lyonne
Cathy Moriarty
RuPaul Charles
Clea DuVall
Music by Pat Irwin
Cinematography Jules Labarthe
Editing by Cecily Rhett
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
The Kushner-Locke Company
Release date(s) Toronto Film Festival:
September 12, 1999
United States:
July 7, 2000
Australia:
November 16, 2000
United Kingdom:
April 13, 2001
Running time 85 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget US$1,000,000
Gross revenue US$2,595,216 (worldwide)

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. At camp, Megan soon realizes that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the therapy, gradually comes to embrace this. The supporting cast features Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Mink Stole 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.

When it was initially rated as NC-17 by the MPAA, Babbit made cuts to allow it to be re-rated as R. When interviewed in the documentary film This Film Is Not Yet Rated Babbit criticized the MPAA for discriminating against films with homosexual content. The film was not well received by critics who compared it unfavorably to the films of John Waters and criticized the colorful production design. The lead actors were praised for their performances but some of the characters were described as stereotypical.

Contents

Plot

Seventeen-year-old Megan (Lyonne) is a sunny high school senior who loves cheerleading and is dating football player boyfriend Jared. She does not enjoy kissing Jared, however, and prefers looking at her fellow cheerleaders. Combined with Megan's interest in vegetarianism and Melissa Etheridge, her family and friends suspect that Megan is in fact a lesbian. With the help of ex-gay Mike (RuPaul), they surprise her with an intervention. Following this confrontation, Megan is sent to True Directions, a reparative therapy camp which uses a five-step program (similar to Alcoholics Anonymous' twelve-step program) to convert its campers to heterosexuality.

At True Directions, Megan meets the founder, strict disciplinarian Mary Brown (Moriarty), Mary's son Rock, and a group of young people trying to "cure" themselves of their homosexuality. With the prompting of Mary and the other campers, Megan reluctantly agrees that she is a lesbian. This fact, at odds with her traditional, religious upbringing, distresses her and she puts every effort into becoming heterosexual. Early on in her stay at True Directions, Megan discovers two of the boys, Dolph and Clayton, making out. She panics and screams, leading to their discovery by Mike. Dolph is made to leave and Clayton is punished by being forced into isolation.

The True Directions program involves the campers admitting their homosexuality, rediscovering their gender identity by performing stereotypically gender-associated tasks, finding the root of their homosexuality, demystifying the opposite sex, and simulating heterosexual intercourse. Over the course of the program, Megan becomes friends with another girl at the camp, a college student named Graham (DuVall) who, though more comfortable being gay than Megan, was forced to the camp at the risk of otherwise being disowned by her family.

The True Directions kids are encouraged to rebel against Mary by two of her former students, ex-ex-gays Larry and Lloyd, who take the campers to a local gay bar where Graham and Megan's relationship develops into a romance. When Mary discovers the outing, she makes them all picket Larry and Lloyd's house, carrying placards and shouting homophobic abuse.

Megan and Graham sneak away one night to have sex and begin to fall in love. When Mary finds out, Megan, now at ease with her sexual identity, is unrepentant. She is made to leave True Directions and, now homeless, goes to stay with Larry and Lloyd. Graham, afraid to defy her father, remains at the camp. Megan and Dolph, who is also living with Larry and Lloyd, plan to win back Graham and Clayton.

Megan and Dolph infiltrate the True Directions graduation ceremony where Dolph easily coaxes Clayton away. Megan entreats Graham to join them as well, but Graham nervously declines. Megan then performs a cheer for Graham and tells her that she loves her, finally winning Graham over. They drive off with Dolph and Clayton. The final scene of the film shows Megan's parents (Stole and Cort) attending a PFLAG meeting to come to terms with their daughter's homosexuality.

Cast and characters

Background and production

But I'm a Cheerleader was Babbit's first feature film.[6] She had previously directed two short films, Frog Crossing (1996) and Sleeping Beauties (1999), both of which were shown at the Sundance Film Festival. She went on to direct the 2005 thriller The Quiet and the 2007 comedy Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Babbit and Sperling (as producer) secured financing from Michael Burns, then the vice president of Prudential Insurance (now Vice Chairman of Lions Gate Entertainment) after showing him the script at Sundance.[6][7] According to Babbit, their one-sentence pitch was "Two high-school girls fall in love at a reparative therapy camp".[8] Burns gave them an initial budget of US$500,000 which was increased to US$1 million when the film went into production.[7]

Conception

Babbit, whose mother runs a halfway house called New Directions for young people with drug and alcohol problems, had wanted to make a comedy about rehabilitation and the 12-step program.[8] After reading an article about a man who had returned from a reparative therapy camp hating himself, she decided to combine the two ideas.[3][7] With girlfriend Andrea Sperling, she came up with the idea for a feature film about a cheerleader who attends a reparative therapy camp.[9] They wanted the main character to be a cheerleader because it is "...the pinnacle of the American dream, and the American dream of femininity".[2] Babbit wanted the film to represent the lesbian experience from the femme perspective to contrast with several films of the time that represented the butch perspective (for example, Go Fish and The Watermelon Woman).[7] She also wanted to satirize both the religious right and the gay community.[9] Not feeling qualified to write the script herself, Babbit brought in screenwriter and recent graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts Brian Wayne Peterson.[2][9] Peterson had experience with reparative therapy while working at a prison clinic for sex offenders.[8] He has said that he wanted to make a film that would not only entertain people, but also make people get angry and talk about the issues it raised.[8]

Set and costume design

Three young women and three young men stand in a line, with an older woman and an older man. One young woman stands behind the rest, with her back to a bright pink van. The women wear vivid pink skirts and tops and the men wear vivid blue shorts and shirts. They hold placards, in bright blue and pink, which display statements including "Silly Faggots β€” Dicks are for Chicks" and "Procreate". One young woman, without a placard, throws a rock in front of her.
The True Directions campers picket the ex-ex-gays. The intense colors were intended to show the artificiality of gender construction.

Babbit says that her influences for the look and feel of the film included John Waters, David LaChapelle, Edward Scissorhands and Barbie.[9] She wanted the production and costume design to reflect the themes of the story. There is a progression from the organic world of Megan's hometown, where the dominant colors are orange and brown, to the fake world of True Directions, dominated by intense blues and pinks (which are intended to show the artificiality of gender construction).[9] According to Babbit, the germaphobic character of Mary Brown represents AIDS paranoia and her clean, ordered world is filled with plastic flowers, fake sky and PVC outfits.[9] The external shots of the colorful house complete with a bright pink picket fence were filmed in Palmdale, California.[8]

Casting

Babbit recruited Clea DuVall, who had starred in her short film Sleeping Beauties to play the role of Graham Eaton. Babbit says that she was able to get a lot of the cast through DuVall including Natasha Lyonne and Melanie Lynskey.[6] Lyonne first saw the script in the back of DuVall's car and subsequently contacted her agent about it.[8] She had seen and enjoyed Babbit's short Sleeping Beauties and was eager to work with the director.[5] She was not the first choice for the role of Megan. An unnamed actress wanted to play the part but eventually turned it down because she was too Christian and did not want her family to see her face on the poster.[6] Babbit briefly considered Rosario Dawson as Megan but her executive producer persuaded her that Dawson, who is Hispanic, would not be right for the All-American character.[9]

Babbit made a conscious effort to cast people of color for minor roles, in an effort to combat what she describes as "racism at every level of making movies".[9] From the beginning she intended the characters of Mike (played by RuPaul), Dolph (Dante Basco) and Andre (Douglas Spain) to be African American, Asian and Hispanic, respectively. She initially considered Arsenio Hall for the character of Mike but says that Hall was uncomfortable about playing a gay-themed role.[2] As Mike, RuPaul makes a rare film appearance out of drag.[10]

Themes

Two young women face forwards, standing over a pink wooden cradle. Both are wearing pink outfits and the background is a pink room. The woman on the left has chin-length dark hair and holds in her right hand a plastic life-like baby doll. With her left hand she pushes the other woman, who has long, light brown hair and also leans over the doll.
Graham and Megan attempt to reinforce their gender roles through performing traditional female tasks.

But I'm a Cheerleader is not only about sexuality, but also gender and the social construction of gender roles.[11] One of the ways in which Babbit highlighted what she called the artificiality of gender construction was by using intense blues and pinks in her production and costume design.[9] Chris Holmlund in Contemporary American Independent Film notes this feature of the film and calls the costumes "gender-tuned".[12] Ted Gideonse in Out magazine wrote that the costumes and colors of the film show how false the goals of True Directions are.[8]

Gender roles are further reinforced by the tasks the campers have to perform in "Step 2: Rediscovering Your Gender Identity". Nikki Sullivan in A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory says that this rediscovery is shown to be difficult and unsuccessful rather than the natural discovery of their latent heterosexuality.[11] Sullivan says that the film not only highlights the ways in which gender and sexuality are constructed but also takes the norms and truths about heteronormative society and renders them strange or "queer".[11] Holmlund says that Babbit makes the straight characters less normal and less likable than the gay ones.[12] Sullivan says that this challenge of heteronormativity makes But I'm a Cheerleader an exemplification of queer theory.[11]

Rating and distribution

When originally submitted to the Motion Picture Association of America rating board, But I'm a Cheerleader received an NC-17 rating. In order to get a commercially-viable R rating, Babbit removed a two second shot of Graham's hand sweeping Megan's clothed body, a camera pan up Megan's body when she is masturbating, and a comment that Megan "ate Graham out" (slang for cunnilingus).[13] Babbit was interviewed by Kirby Dick for his 2006 documentary film This Film Is Not Yet Rated.[14] A critique of the MPAA's rating system, it suggests that films with homosexual content are treated more stringently than those with only heterosexual content, and that scenes of female sexuality draw harsher criticism from the board than those of male sexuality.[15] American Pie (also released in 1999), which features a teenage boy masturbating, was given an R rating. Babbit says that she felt discriminated against for making a gay film.[16] The film was rated as M (for mature audiences) in Australia and in New Zealand, 14A in Canada, 12 in Germany and 15 in the United Kingdom.

The film premiered on September 12, 1999 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was shown in January 2000 at the Sundance Film Festival. It went on to play at several international film festivals including the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. It first appeared in U.S. theaters on July 7, 2000, distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment.[17] Fine Line Features had intended to distribute the film but dropped it two months before it was due to open following a dispute with the film's production company, Ignite Entertainment.[9][18] It closed after 8 weeks, with its widest release having been 115 theaters.[17]

The film was released on Region 1 DVD by Lions Gate on July 22, 2002 and by Universal Studios on October 3, 2002.[19] Other than the theatrical trailer, it contains no extras.[20] It was released on Region 2 DVD on June 2, 2003 by Prism Leisure. In addition to the trailer, it features an interview with Jamie Babbit and behind the scenes footage.[21]

Reception

Box office and audience reaction

But I'm a Cheerleader grossed US$2,205,627 in the United States and US$389,589 elsewhere, giving a total of US$2,595,216 worldwide. In its opening weekend, showing at four theaters, it earned $60,410 which was 2.7% of its total gross.[17] According to Box Office Mojo, it ranked at 174 for all films released in the US in 2000 and 74 for R-rated films released that year. As of March 2010, its all time box-office ranking for LGBT-related films is 70.[22]

The film was a hit with festival audiences and received standing ovations at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.[2][23] It has been described as a favorite with gay audiences and on the art house circuit.[24][25]

Critical

Critical response to But I'm a Cheerleader was mostly negative. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 35% based on 43 reviews,[26] and Metacritic gave it a score of 39% based on 30 reviews.[27] The overall theme of reviews is that it is a heartfelt film with good intentions, but that it is flawed.[28][29][30] Some reviewers found it funny and enjoyable with "genuine laughs".[31][32] Roger Ebert called it the type of film that "might eventually become a regular on the midnight cult circuit."[29] Others found it obvious, leaden and heavy handed.[28][33]

Writing for The New York Times, Elvis Mitchell described the character of Megan as a sweet heroine and Lyonne and DuVall were praised for their performances.[33][34] Mick LaSalle called Lyonne wonderful and said that she was well matched by DuVall.[31] Marjorie Baumgarten said that they "hit the right notes".[32] Alexandra Mendenhall, writing for AfterEllen.com felt that the relationship between Graham and Megan, having great chemistry, does not get enough screen time.[35] Mitchell called their love scenes "tender".[33] Other characters, particularly the males, were described as "offputting" and "nothing but stereotypes".[33][34]

Several reviewers compared the film to those of director John Waters but felt that it fell short of the mark.[34] Stephanie Zacharek called it a "Waters knockoff"[28] while Ebert said that Waters might have been ruder and more polished.[29] Babbit says that although Waters is one of her influences, she did not want her film to have the "bite" of his.[9] She states that whereas John Waters does not like romantic comedies, she wanted to tell a conventionally romantic story.[9] The production design, which was important to the overall look and feel of the film,[7] drew mixed responses. LaSalle described it as clever and eyecatching and James Berardinelli called it a standout feature.[30][31] Others found it to be gaudy, dated, cartoonish and ghastly.[9][28]

Stephanie Zacharek, writing for Salon.com said that with regard to issues of sexual orientation and homophobia, Babbit is preaching to the converted.[28] Cynthia Fuchs, for NitrateOnline.com, agreed, stating that "no one who is phobic might recognize himself in the film" and that "the audience who might benefit most from watching it either won't see the film or won't see the point".[36] David Edelstein said that the one sidedness of the film creates a lack of dramatic tension and calls it lazy counterpropaganda.[37] In contrast, LaSalle said that "the picture manages to make a heartfelt statement about the difficulties of growing up gay" and Timothy Shary said that the film openly challenges homophobia and offers support to teenaged gay viewers.[31][38] Chris Holmlund said that the film shows that queer identity is multi-faceted, using as an example the scene where the ex-ex-gays tell Megan that there is no one way to be a lesbian.[12]

Reviews from the gay media were similar to those from the mainstream press. Jan Stuart, writing for The Advocate, said that although the film tries to subvert gay stereotypes, it is unsuccessful. She called it numbingly crude and said that the kitsch portrait of Middle America is out of touch with today's gay teenagers.[39] Mendenhall for AfterEllen.com called the story predictable and the characters stereotypical. Despite these comments she said that overall the film was funny and enjoyable.[35] Curve called the film an incredible comedy and said that with this and her other work, Babbit has redefined lesbian film.[40]

Awards

The film won the Audience Award and the Graine de CinΓ©phage Award at the 2000 CrΓ©teil International Women's Film Festival, an annual French festival which showcases the work of female directors.[41] Also that year it was nominated by the Political Film Society of America for the PFS award in the categories of Human Rights and ExposΓ©, but lost out to The Green Mile and Boys Don't Cry respectively.[42]

Music

The composer for But I'm a Cheerleader was Pat Irwin. The soundtrack has never been released on CD. Artists featured include indie acts Saint Etienne, Dressy Bessy and April March.[43] RuPaul contributed one track, "Party Train," which Eddie Cibrian's character Rock is shown dancing to.

Track listing

  1. "Chick Habit (Laisse tomber les filles)" (Elinor Blake, Serge Gainsbourg) performed by April March
  2. "Just Like Henry" (Tammy Ealom, John Hill, Rob Greene, Darren Albert) performed by Dressy Bessy
  3. "If You Should Try and Kiss Her" (Ealom, Hill, Greene, Albert) performed by Dressy Bessy
  4. "Trailer Song" (Courtney Holt, Joy Ray) performed by Sissy Bar
  5. "All or Nothing" (Cris Owen, Miisa) performed by Miisa
  6. "We're in the City" (Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs) performed by Saint Etienne
  7. "The Swisher" (Dave Moss, Ian Rich) performed by Summer's Eve
  8. "Funnel of Love" (Kent Westbury, Charlie McCoy) performed by Wanda Jackson
  9. "Ray of Sunshine" (Go Sailor) performed by Go Sailor
  10. "Glass Vase Cello Case" (Madigan Shive, Jen Wood) performed by Tattle Tale
  11. "Party Train" (RuPaul) performed by RuPaul
  12. "Evening in Paris" (Lois Maffeo) performed by Lois Maffeo
  13. "Together Forever in Love" (Go Sailor) performed by Go Sailor

Adaptations

In 2005 the New York Musical Theatre Festival featured a musical stage adaptation of But I'm a Cheerleader written by librettist and lyricist Bill Augustin and composer Andrew Abrams. With 18 original songs, it was directed by Daniel Goldstein and starred Chandra Lee Schwartz as Megan. It played during September 2005 at New York's Theatre at St. Clement's.[44]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Babbit, Jamie (director). (1999). But I'm a Cheerleader. [Motion picture (DVD)]. Santa Monica, California: Lions Gate Entertainment. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Grady, Pam. "Rah Rah Rah: Director Jamie Babbit and Company Root for But I'm a Cheerleader". Reel.com. Hollywood Management Company. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20050306182317/www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/interviews/cheerleader. Retrieved March 11, 2010. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stukin, Stacie (July 4, 2000). "But she's serious". The Advocate. Archived from the original on July 4, 2000. http://web.archive.org/web/20071224004310/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2000_July_4/ai_63059697 
  4. ↑ Nikki Sullivan goes as far as calling Rock overtly homosexual and says that Mary's desire to cure her son of homosexuality is the inspiration for the True Directions program. Sullivan, Nikki (2003). A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 55. ISBN 0748615970. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Judd, Daniel (October 4, 2000). "Interviews β€” Jamie Babbit". RainbowNetwork.com. http://www.rainbownetwork.com/Film/detail.asp?iData=9110&iChannel=14&nChannel=Film. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Warn, Sarah (June 2004). "Interview with Jamie Babbit". AfterEllen.com. http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/People/interviews/62004/jamiebabbit.html. Retrieved 2007-04-22. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Dixon, Wheeler Winston; Gerald Duchovnay (Ed.) (2004). Film Voices: Interviews from Post Script. State University of New York Press, Albany. pp. 153–165. ISBN 0-7914-6156-4. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Gideonse, Ted (July 2000). "The New Girls Of Summer". Out: p. 56 
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 Fuchs, Cynthia (July 21, 2000). "So Many Battles to Fight β€” Interview with Jamie Babbit". Nitrate Online. http://www.nitrateonline.com/2000/fcheerleader.html. Retrieved April 22, 2007. 
  10. ↑ Fine, Marshall. "Ladies' Man: An Interview with Superdiva RuPaul". DrDrew.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071017180115rn_1/www.drdrew.com/DrewLive/article.asp?id=908. Retrieved March 7, 2010. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Sullivan, Nikki (2003). A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 52–56. ISBN 0748615970. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Holmlund, Chris (2004). Contemporary American Independent Film: From The Margins To The Mainstream. Routledge. pp. 183–187. ISBN 0415254868. 
  13. ↑ Taubin, A. (August 3, 1999). "Erasure Police". The Village Voice: p. 57 
  14. ↑ Dick, Kirby (director). (2006). This Film Is Not Yet Rated. [Motion picture (DVD)]. New York, NY: IFC Films. 
  15. ↑ Carlson, Daniel (2006). "Muscles and Boobies and Wieners, Oh No". Pajiba.com. http://www.pajiba.com/this-film-is-not-yet-rated.htm. Retrieved June 2, 2007. 
  16. ↑ "'This Film is Not Yet Rated' Explores Anti-Gay Bias of MPAA Ratings System". GayWired.com. September 1, 2006. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080222041920/http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=9&id=10452. Retrieved March 7, 2010. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "But I'm a Cheerleader". BoxOfficeMojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=butimacheerleader.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-22. 
  18. ↑ Churi, Maya; Eugene Hernandez (June 3, 2000). "Lion's Gate acquires Jamie Babbit's "But I'm A Cheerleader"". IndieWIRE. http://www.indiewire.com/article/daily_news_lions_gate_gets_cheerleader_lipskys_at_lot_47_ifpwest_joins_laif/. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
  19. ↑ "But I'm a Cheerleader". MovieWeb.com. http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/DVdX0eilBNtogj. Retrieved July 28, 2010. 
  20. ↑ "DVD Review β€” Quick Peeks". DVD Review. http://www.dvdreview.com/quickpeek/collect/254.shtml. Retrieved May 13, 2007. 
  21. ↑ "But I'm a Cheerleader". Amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/But-Im-Cheerleader-Natasha-Lyonne/dp/B00005NBUC. Retrieved April 22, 2007. 
  22. ↑ "Gay / Lesbian Movies". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=gay.htm. Retrieved March 23, 2009. 
  23. ↑ Mandelberger, Sandy. "New York Lesbian And Gay Film Festival -- 1–11 June". FilmFestivals.com. http://www.filmfestivals.com/int/overviews/2000/NYgay_00.htm. Retrieved October 13, 2007. 
  24. ↑ Tropiano, Stephen. "But I'm a Cheerleader Review". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/film/reviews/34400/but-im-a-cheerleader/. Retrieved October 12, 2007. 
  25. ↑ Benshoff, Harry M.; Sean Griffin (2004). America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. Blackwell Publishing. p. 333. ISBN 0631225838. 
  26. ↑ "But I'm a Cheerleader". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader/. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  27. ↑ "But I'm a Cheerleader". MetaCritic. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/butimacheerleader?q=but%20i'm%20a%20cheerleader. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 Zacharek, Stephanie (July 7, 2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader". Salon.com. http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2000/07/07/cheerleader/index.html. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Ebert, Roger (July 14, 2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000714/REVIEWS/7140302/1023. Retrieved April 29, 2007 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Berardinelli, James (2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader". ReelViews.net. http://www.reelviews.net/movies/b/but_cheerleader.html. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 LaSalle, Mick; Guthmann, Edward (July 7, 2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/07/07/DD85029.DTL#cheerleader. Retrieved April 29, 2007 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Baumgarten, Marjorie (July 28, 2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader". The Austin Chronicle. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3a140561. Retrieved April 29, 2007 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Mitchell, Elvis (July 7, 2000). "Don't Worry. Pink Outfits Will Straighten Her Out.". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/070700cheer-film-review.html. Retrieved April 29, 2007 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Noh, David. "But I'm a Cheerleader". Film Journal International. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926232311/http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/reviews/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000697322. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Mendenhall, Alexandra (September 1, 2006). "Review of "But I'm a Cheerleader"". AfterEllen.com. http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/2006/9/cheerleader.html. Retrieved May 29, 2007. 
  36. ↑ Fuchs, Cynthia (July 28, 2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader". Nitrate Online. http://www.nitrateonline.com/2000/rcheerleader.html. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 
  37. ↑ Edelstein, David (July 7, 2000). "Overwrought caricatures backfire in But I'm a Cheerleader". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/85778. Retrieved November 4, 2007 
  38. ↑ Shary, Timothy (2005). Teen Movies: American Youth on Screen. Wallflower Press. p. 99. ISBN 1904764495. http://books.google.com/?id=howIB0OrsUYC&pg=PA99. 
  39. ↑ Stuart, Jan (July 18, 2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader. - Review". The Advocate. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080120182946/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2000_July_18/ai_63398442 
  40. ↑ "Women to watch in film". Curve: p. 22. November 2003 
  41. ↑ Sullivan, Monica (2000). "But I'm a Cheerleader-- Jamie Babbit Wins CrΓ©teil Films de Femmes 'Prix du Public'". Movie Magazine International. http://www.shoestring.org/mmi_revs/but-im-a-cheerleader.html. Retrieved May 26, 2007 
  42. ↑ "Political Film Society β€” Previous Award Winners". Political Film Society. http://www.geocities.com/~polfilms/previous.html. Retrieved May 13, 2007. 
  43. ↑ "Soundtrack Details: But I'm a Cheerleader". SoundtrackCollector. http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=75068. Retrieved May 28, 2007. 
  44. ↑ "But I'm A Cheerleader To Debut At NYMF With Chandra Lee Schwartz, Kelly Karbacz, Natalie Joy Johnson, John Hill And More". BroadwayWorld.com. August 25, 2005. http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=4553. Retrieved October 14, 2007. 

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