But I'm a Cheerleader

But I'm a Cheerleader was Babbit's first feature film.[3] 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.[3][4] According to Babbit, their one-sentence pitch was "Two high-school girls fall in love at a reparative therapy camp."[5] Burns gave them an initial budget of US$500,000 which was increased to US$1 million when the film went into production.[4]

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.[5] After reading an article about a man who had returned from a reparative therapy camp hating himself, she decided to combine the two ideas.[4][6] With girlfriend Andrea Sperling, she came up with the idea for a feature film about a cheerleader who attends a reparative therapy camp.[7] They wanted the main character to be a cheerleader because it is "... the pinnacle of the American dream, and the American dream of femininity."[8] 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).[4] She also wanted to satirize both the religious right and the gay community.[7] Not feeling qualified to write the script herself, Babbit brought in screenwriter and recent graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts Brian Wayne Peterson.[7][8] Peterson had experience with reparative therapy while working at a prison clinic for sex offenders.[5] 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.[5]

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.[7] 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).[7] 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.[7] The external shots of the colorful house complete with a bright pink picket fence were filmed in Palmdale, California.[5]

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.[3] Lyonne first saw the script in the back of DuVall's car and subsequently contacted her agent about it.[5] She had seen and enjoyed Babbit's short Sleeping Beauties and was eager to work with the director.[9] 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 of religious beliefs; she did not want her family to see her face on the poster.[3] 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.[7]

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."[7] 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.[8] As Mike, RuPaul makes a rare film appearance out of drag.[10]

But I'm a Cheerleader grossed $2,205,627 in the United States and $389,589 elsewhere, giving a total of $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.[17] As of December 2011, its all time box-office ranking for LGBT-related films is 73.[23]

The film was a hit with festival audiences and received standing ovations at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.[8][24] It has been described as a favorite with gay audiences and on the art house circuit.[25][26]

Initial mainstream critical response to But I'm a Cheerleader was mostly negative. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 40% based on 85 reviews, with an average rating of 4.96/10. The site's consensus reads: "Too broad to make any real statements, But I'm a Cheerleader isn't as sharp as it should be, but a charming cast and surprisingly emotional center may bring enough pep for viewers looking for a light social satire".[27] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews".[28]

The overall theme of reviews is that it is a heartfelt film with good intentions, but that it is flawed.[29][30][31] Some reviewers found it funny and enjoyable with "genuine laughs".[32][33] Roger Ebert rated it three stars (of four) and wrote, it "is not a great, breakout comedy, but more the kind of movie that might eventually become a regular on the midnight cult circuit."[30] Others found it obvious, leaden, and heavy handed.[29][34]

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.[34][35] Mick LaSalle called Lyonne wonderful and said that she was well matched by DuVall.[32] Marjorie Baumgarten said that they "hit the right notes."[33] Alexandra Mendenhall, writing for AfterEllen.com felt that the relationship between Graham and Megan, having great chemistry, does not get enough screen time.[36] Mitchell called their love scenes "tender."[34] Other characters, particularly the males, were described as "offputting" and "nothing but stereotypes."[34][35]

Several reviewers compared the film to those of director John Waters but felt that it fell short of the mark.[35] Stephanie Zacharek called it a "Waters knockoff"[29] while Ebert said that Waters might have been ruder and more polished.[30] Babbit says that although Waters is one of her influences, she did not want her film to have the "bite" of his.[7] She states that whereas John Waters does not like romantic comedies, she wanted to tell a conventionally romantic story.[7] The production design, which was important to the overall look and feel of the film,[4] drew mixed responses. LaSalle described it as clever and eyecatching and James Berardinelli called it a standout feature.[31][32] Others found it to be gaudy, dated, cartoonish and ghastly.[7][29]

Stephanie Zacharek, writing for Salon.com said that with regard to issues of sexual orientation and homophobia, Babbit is preaching to the converted.[29] 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."[37] David Edelstein said that the one sidedness of the film creates a lack of dramatic tension and calls it lazy counterpropaganda.[38] 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.[32][39] 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 more positive, and the film has undergone a critical reassessment over time as it has been understood more to have been deliberately satirical and campy, drawing on John Waters' techniques. Feminist website Autostraddle declared the film to be number one of 100 best lesbian movies of all time in 2015.[40] AfterEllen.com (which covers the feminist "lesbian/bi pop culture beat"[41]) has called it "one of the five best lesbian movies ever made."[42] That site had originally called the movie's story predictable and the characters stereotypical in its initial 2007 review, with the reviewer saying the film was, overall, funny and enjoyable.[36] Curve called the film an "incredible comedy" and said that Babbit has "redefined lesbian film" with this movie and her other work.[43] 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.[44]

The film won the Audience Award and the Graine de Cinéphage Award at the 2000 Créteil International Women's Film Festival, an annual French festival which showcases the work of female directors.[45] Also that year it was nominated by the Political Film Society of America for the PFS Award in the categories of Human Rights and Exposé, but lost out to Remember the Titans and Before Night Falls, respectively.[46]