Oh, just deal with it!

Imagine yourself as a perky and well adjusted high school cheerleader. Now imagine coming home from school one day to your caring but misguided family and friends who believe that you are a lesbian - and that you must be "fixed." Such is the plight of Natasha Lyonne (Slums of Beverly Hills and Everyone Says I Love You) who delivers a fresh faced and sophisticated performance of the lesbian teenager in the clever new film But I'm A Cheerleader. First time director Jamie Babbitt and writer Brian Wayne Peterson tell a funny and poignant story of Megan (Lyonne) whose family stages an intervention after suspiciously eyeing her vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge posters and distaste for kissing her boyfriend. Megan is promptly shipped off to a rehabilitation camp called "True Directions" run by Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty) and Mike (RuPaul Charles) where adolescent girls are taught to cradle babies, scrub floors, and try on wedding dresses. Teenage boys are instructed in the likes of football and log splitting. All of this is part of a tidy 5 step program to turn "wayward" homosexual teens into "normal" heterosexual members of society. Megan at first attempts to be the model student and "learn" to be straight. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, however, to figure out what will happen to Megan during her two month stay. Through her relationships with the other teenagers and a romance with Graham (Clea Duvall of Girl, Interrupted) she becomes more comfortable with her sexuality, not less, much to the horror of her good Christian parents.

Knowing the premise of the film, I expected a comedic but didactic retelling of Life's Important Lessons: that we cannot hide from ourselves, and that personality (and, in this case, sexual orientation) cannot be learned. I was delighted to find, however, that But I'm A Cheerleader, while imparting that message, is an intelligent comedy and a touching love story, not merely a vehicle for a trite and political moral message.

At true directions Megan meets an amusing array of characters. The five lesbian characters are well drawn, they highlight common attributes of lesbian women without stereotyping them, and the film is careful to show that there is no one way that a lesbian woman is or should be. The five male characters are a bit more stereotypical "fairies," though once again, the characters are likeable and three dimensional. Cathy Moriarty is frighteningly perfect as the dogmatic camp leader and RuPaul provides an interesting sidekick as he is a "reformed gay" which sets up an instant irony of casting and some very funny moments when he is with the boys. Moriarty and RuPaul lead the campers through a ridiculous set of exercises in the 5 step program that furnish But I'm A Cheerleader's best comic moments.

Clea DuVall is the feisty teen named Graham who becomes Megan's love interest. Their relationship is believable and tastefully filmed. Megan bears just enough innocent savvy and Graham betrays just enough vulnerability to keep the romance fresh, interesting, and entertaining. Peterson allows Megan the privilege of growing up in a short span of time without saturating the film with the unnecessary and heavy handed "significant event" or "important conversation" that writers often rely on. We watch Megan come to terms with her sexuality, become more daring, and defy her parents while never letting go of the charming and feminine cheerleader that Megan will always be.

Aside from the stellar performances from Lyonne, Duvall, and the ensemble cast, I laud this film for the great attention given to cinematography and art direction. The visual aspects of But I'm A Cheerleader are as important to the storytelling as the words and the acting. Megan's life at But I'm A Cheerleader is drawn in dark, bland earthy tones. Her home bears the remnants of late '70s trappings replete with harvest gold, orange, and brown. Even the cheerleading outfits are a muted orange and off-white. The "True Directions" camp, by contrast is housed in a bright pink and blue trimmed gingerbread Victorian mansion that looks as if it has been plopped down in Wizard of Oz fashion in the middle of rural nowhere. The girls where pink skirts, blouses and cardigans, and the boys were blue shirts and ties. Every room in the house is decorated as if drawn, the colors are sharp and the décor is both 1950's and post modern. True Directions seems to unearth a never ending supply of matching pens, scrub brushes, diapers, baby dolls, wedding gowns, and bright pink and blue furniture pieces. We are starkly aware of the absurd quality of the program and its owners through their surroundings and we are continually delighted by the visual creations in each new room and scene.

After living in a world of muted colors and finding herself thrust into a palette of tones to shocking to be real Megan's romance brings yet a third hue to the screen. The light and colors in these scenes are the most ordinary and visually appealing. The cinematographer has eased us into the comfort that Megan must feel in her new relationship.

Though produced outside of the studio system, this indie film will enjoy a limited release in most major American cities. I urge movie goers to see But I'm A Cheerleader for the charming love story that it is, though I fear that the people most in need of hearing the subtle underlying message will stay home.

Robin Effron a is a writer living in Manhattan, where she occassionally shows up at Columbia University as a student of philosophy and political science.

Got a problem? Email Robin at filmmonthly@hotmail.com