#clea duvall icons

[nostalgc]

Clea DuVall in but i'm a cheerleader (1999)

please if you save or use like or reblog

[editfandom]

Graham Eaton - But I’m A Cheerleader, 1999

[ycllowjackcts]

but i'm a cheerleader (1999)

my favorite romantic comedy.

[forsapphics]

Kristen Stewart as Abby in Happiest Season (2020) — dir. Clea DuVall

[whalesharkgummer]

depop emmaeboddy ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა

[gobloggirl]

[stevebuscemieyes]

31 Days Of Horror

Day 19, 19/31

The Faculty, 1998

Dir. Robert Rodriguez

[lesbianmarrow]

btvs casting clea duvall to play the unpopular girl who just wants the pretty popular girls to like her but who gets ignored by everybody so hard that she turns invisible and becomes obsessed with ruining cordelia's beauty is so crazy. this was before but i'm a cheerleader! clea duvall wasn't even a lesbian icon yet! they must have picked up on her dyke energy in the audition room

[ninareviewsfilms]

Queering the heteronormative… but make it pink

“I'm a homosexual! I'm a homosexual! I'm a homosexual! Oh my god... they were right. I'm a homo.”

Released in 1999, But I’m a Cheerleader is truly an iconic, camp-filled queer film ahead of its time. I remember stumbling across this film when I was 13. Perfect timing for someone questioning their sexuality, and life in general. I was immediately hooked so watching But I’m a Cheerleader has become a ritual of sorts; it has become my favorite queer film. Uneducated and unfamiliar with queer media, the younger me was immediately drawn to the B-movie chick-flick aesthetic (I was, and still am, a devourer of chick-flicks). Little did I know I was about to watch a genius concoction of satire that subverts the heteronormative by whimsically playing with outrageous queer stereotypes.

Played exquisitely by Natasha Lyonne, the protagonist Megan is sent to a conversion camp by her devout Christian parents, believing her to be a lesbian (oh no). In denial, Megan exasperates: “I’m not perverted. I get good grades. I go to church. I’m a cheerleader!”.

Arriving at the camp, we see two outrageously exaggerated gender roles of men and women. The men are dressed in baby blue uniforms, while the women are adorned with pastel pink skirts. On top of the artificially binary gender roles, we also have all the typical stereotypes of queer people: the flamboyant gays, closeted homophobes, goth and butch lesbians, and our very own lipstick lesbian protagonist. The introduction of the camp already reveals the absurdity of heteronormative stereotypes and their enforcement. The film continuously jabs at such norms while Megan begins her journey of self-discovery – coming to terms with her sexuality – in an overtly ridiculous yet candid way.

And on top of tackling such heavy topics humorously, the film also manages to have a very adorable and genuine romance between Megan and Graham (oh Clea DuVall, my bisexual awakening).

Graham, a rebel, and unwavering lesbian is everything pink-loving, ‘girly’ cheerleader Megan is not. They bicker constantly about ideals, and what it means to be gay or straight. With such contrasting personalities, the romantic sparks that fly is undeniable and beautiful to witness. I remember crying; it was the first unapologetically queer film I watched after all. This intricate play into different queer stereotypes stylistically subverts the heteronormative, showing how all types of queer people are valid and inevitable, regardless of their appearance and interests.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the film, is how Megan's ‘lesbianism’ was to be forced out by the conversion camp, but instead, she learned to accept her sexuality, fall in love, and ended up queerer than ever. The film’s message may be told in a satirical and quirky way, but it is simple: being gay is okay. After years of relentlessly (and yummily) consuming queer media, this is still one of (if not) the only sapphic films with a happy ending. Despite the traumatic backstories of everyone, they all learn to accept themselves, and the world around them. But I’m a Cheerleader was pivotal in the discovery of my own sexuality, and it did it in such an endearing and understandable way that together with Megan, I also learned to accept my sexuality.

[inland3mpired]

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

This film is a critically acclaimed cult-classic that was released in 1999 and directed by Jamie Babbit. The story is about Megan, who is played by Natasha Lyonne, who is a cheerleader who gets sent to a conversion, or "sexual redirection" camp. She believes that she could not possibly be a lesbian because she is a cheerleader, although there are clear signs that she is attracted to women, whether or not she realizes. While at the camp she meets Graham, played by Clea DuVall, and begins to develop feelings for her despite her confusion about her sexuality.

Although this film initially received mixed reviews and had a limited distribution it still was able to reach the LGBTQ+ community and quickly become a cult-film because of its fervent rejection of heteronormativity and its celebration of queerness. This film was also Jamie Babbit's directorial debut and featured several actors that would soon become movie-stars (Natasha Lyonne, Kip Pardue, & Michelle Williams). Rupaul played an iconic role as Mike, a converted "straight" man who is there to train other gay men to be "normal".

The film is lighthearted, playful, and genuinely funny. It is popular for good reason. It is also incredible to think about how this film came out during the AIDS epidemic, which could be part of the reason it got some mixed reviews. It was refreshing back then, and today, to see a queer film that doesn't have a tragic ending. Especially in an era where there was so much heartbreak and pain within the LGBTQIA+ community. I believe this ties back to John Berger's concept of "Ways of Seeing". The way that we perceive and interpret media (movies, books, songs, etc) is heavily impacted by our social, cultural, and political context. The way that 'But I'm a Cheerleader' was perceived was all dependent on the viewer; if a straight critic who thought that gay people were disgusting and spreading deadly illness they would probably have a much different perspective on the film than an openly gay person who lives in an Urban area.

To this day 'But I'm a Cheerleader' is an incredibly popular and highly-regarded film by the queer community. It really is a gift that keeps on giving and will continue to give as more and more young queer folks are exposed to it. This film is a must-watch for anyone in the queer community, or beyond.

[jacquelinemerritt]

Queer Media Review: But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)

Originally posted September 16th, 2016

A tonally mismatched, endearing cult classic.

This review is part of a weekly series of pieces on queer and trans media. See them all here!

Jamie Babbit’s1 first feature film, But I’m A Cheerleader, has, in the years following its release, become something of a classic piece of queer representative media. It frequently tops recommendation lists of films about queer people that don’t end in tragedy (lists that are far shorter than they have any right to be), and it is a film I have heard described as “quintessentially lesbian.”

This film’s status as an iconic lesbian film baffles me. Cheerleader is not a bad film, per se, but it is, in almost every way possible, a sleazy teen comedy that attempts to mine humor out of an incredibly traumatic and horrifying scenario (namely, being sent off to a gay conversion camp). That designation isn’t inherently negative; the same can be said of the original American Pie and John Tucker Must Die, and both of those films are entertaining because they revel in just how sleazy they can be. If But I’m A Cheerleader had committed to reveling in the sleaziness of turning the trauma of conversion therapy in a light comedy, then it might have succeeded on those (less than savory terms.

But Cheerleader is caught in between two worlds. At its core, it’s a film that wants to be a down to earth romance about good people finding love in a dark situation, but that core is constantly at odds with the low-brow humor and unintelligent satire that fills nearly every scene. It never attempts to examine the absurdity inherent to its scenario, and the only clear statement it makes about conversion therapy is that it’s ineffective, which is as obvious a statement on the matter as a film could make. The film also has a wildly inconsistent visual language2, frequently switching between bland stationary shots and handheld tracking shots for no apparent reason, only to return to its bland cinematography a moment later.

And yet, despite all of those flaws, I still rather enjoyed watching Cheerleader. Even with all the poorly designed sleaze surrounding it, the emotional core of Cheerleader is damn compelling, presenting us with a slowly budding romance between two highly likable characters.

That solid emotional core is established early-on through Megan (Natasha Lyonne, of Orange is the New Black fame), a very sympathetic protagonist who is confused about her own sexuality. She frequently fantasizes about her fellow cheerleaders while making out with her boyfriend, and she has a picture of a bikini clad woman in her locker, contrasted with her friend whose locker is adorned with a male model. When she’s ambushed by her friends and parents (in one of the few good uses of visual storytelling, I might add), she’s completely blindsided by them, and she quickly submits to their demands that she attend conversion therapy, despite her beliefs that none of the “evidence” presented was abnormal or confirmed her supposed “homosexuality.”

Megan’s cluelessness and empathy make her romance with Graham (Clea DuVall), another attendee at the conversion therapy camp, all the more believable, as their coupling is treated as a subtle slow, burn. We see them holding hands and touching each other, carefully avoiding the watchful gaze of Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), the camp’s strict headmistress. There’s a clear understanding of the danger of their budding relationship in the film, as when Graham deflects suspicion off of their rebellion by claiming to have a crush on Joel (Joel Michaely), a gay Jewish man also attending the camp, Megan is never shown to be jealous of the affection he’s receiving (she even takes a chance to stare flirtatiously at Graham while she’s holding hands with Joel).

The film also does challenge one idea, and that’s the idea that gender expression and fulfillment of gender roles are connected to or determinate of sexuality, though it does so with mixed results. Early on, there’s a scene where the characters must all think about and confess what the “root” of their homosexuality is, and one of the men at the camp claims that his mother allowing him to wear her pumps was the single experience in his life that led to his same-gender attraction. The film wants to paint this as the ridiculous connection that it is, but its strength is lost because so many of the film’s jokes rely on the association between gay men and femininity.3

The film is more successful in challenging stereotypes about sexuality and gender when the masculine presenting Jan (Katrina Phillips) storms out of a group therapy session, upset that her love of softball and unconventional looks have led to her attending the camp despite the fact that she has always been fully and exclusively attracted to men. Her rejection of the camp’s attempt to foist femininity onto her rings true thanks to Phillips’ compelling performance and the film’s lack of insistence that masculinity in women is in any way indicative of same-gender attraction (an acknowledgement that is present in the film’s title).

The ending of the film, despite being rather annoyingly cutesy, is fairly compelling as well, setting up a scenario in which one of the members of the lead couple is about to “graduate” from the camp, and the other must fulfill a wish the graduating partner made in order to convince her to run away with her. It’s an incredibly sweet gesture, and their relationship is given a satisfying conclusion, capping off the film with passionate kisses and annoyingly chipper music. That this scene works despite its presentation is a testament to Babbit’s strength as a director (of actors) and Natasha Lyonne’s strength as an actress, as the two of them sell the emotion of the scene that would otherwise be drowned out by a bad pop musical score.

Such a tonally conflicted, endearing scene is arguably the perfect ending to this film.

Rating: 3.5/5

But I’m A Cheerleader can be rented and purchased on iTunes or streamed via Xfinity.

Critical Eye Criticism is the work of Jacqueline Merritt, a trans woman, filmmaker, and critic. You can support her continued film criticism addiction on Patreon.

1While Babbit hasn’t directed many features of significant acclaim since But I’m A Cheerleader, she has gone on to become a rather prolific TV comedy director, specializing in smaller, character-driven comedies such as Gilmore Girls (for which she directed eighteen episodes), Malcolm in the Middle, and more recently working on hit comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Silicon Valley (she even directed one of the best episodes of Supergirl’s first season!) All of this to say, she’s got a rather impressive body of work behind her, and it would not be surprising if her name were to show up on a highly successful feature comedy sometime in the near future.

2Bonus points if you caught the reference.

3These jokes are made in spite of the film’s inclusion of Dolph (Dante Basco), a varsity wrestler whose masculinity is never in question, and Larry (Richard Moll), an “ex-ex-gay” who looks like a lumberjack right down to the flannel.

[faithandbuffy]

I love Out of Mind Out of Sight. The villain isn’t even a demon or anything she’s just a girl who was so ignored she turned invisible. She starts living in the vents for some reason. She gets carted off by government agents and it’s never mentioned again. She’s played by Clea DuVall. So iconic.

[rosehillcountryday]

𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙴𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃𝚁𝚈𝙳𝙰𝚈.𝚃𝚄𝙼𝙱𝙻𝚁.𝙲𝙾𝙼     ...     a  reese  production.      very  sporadic  activity  multimuse  containing  muses  from  the  2022  netflix  film  DO  REVENGE   —   (  dir.  jennifer kaytin robinson  )     ...     crossover  and  oc  friendly.      [   twenty - six.   they / she.   est.   ]       minors  &  personal  blogs  dni.     *    sideblog!!   follows  back  from badbandits!

affiliated  with   :       withbags  /  rewhy

*   all  muses  are  18+,   often  played  between  -5 / +5  of  the  faceclaim,   but  there  are  exceptions  for  verses,   etc.

main  muses

carissa  jones    [  19 - 32  ] :   semi - canon  divergent / headcanon  based,   lesbian  —   fc.   ava  capri   /   clea  duval   [  fc  for  yellowjackets  au  ]     ...     primary.

eleanor  cutler  levetan    [  18 - 29  ] :   semi - canon  divergent / headcanon  based,   lesbian  —   fc.   maya  hawke   /   uma  thurman   [  fc  for  yellowjackets  au  ]     ...     secondary.

drea  torres    [  18 - 32  ] :   semi - canon  divergent,   questioning / unlabled  —   fc.   camila  mendes     ...     secondary.

montana  ruiz    [  18 - 28  ] :   semi - canon  divergent,   bisexual  —   fc.   maia  reficco     ...     tertiary.

russ  lee    [  18 - 32  ] :   semi - canon  divergent / headcanon  based,   pansexual  —   fc.   rish  shah     ...     tertiary.

upon  request

allegra    [  18+  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   rachel  matthews

elliot  tanners    [  18+  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   jonathan daviss

erica  norman    [  18+  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   sophie  turner

max  broussard    [  18+  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   austin  abrams

meghan  perez    [  18+  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   paris  berelc

tara  scott    [  18+  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   alisha  boe

the  headmaster    [  46  ] :   canon  compliant  —   fc.   sarah  michelle  gellar

basic  guidelines  &  rp  ettiqute  apply   ..     see  below  for  more  indepth  rules.

interactions   ..    open  starters  are  for  ANYONE   ( unless  otherwise  stated )   who  wants  to  write  a  character  that  fits  gender  of  character  is  open  to  replies  from  and  fit  within  my  rules.    please  only  submit  meme  prompts  if  we  are  mutuals.   i'll  write  with  anyone  18+.   don't  be  afraid  of  following  me  if  you're  interested  in  writing  with  me,    i'm  often  very  receptive  to  anyone  who  wants  to  write  with  me.   THERE  WILL  BE  CONTENT  NOT  SUITABLE  FOR  MINORS  ON  THIS  BLOG.

shipping   ..    always  down  for  a  ship  but  i  will  never  force  a  ship.   i'm  cool  with  assuming  pre-established  connections,  but  if  it  doesn't  vibe  right  away,   we'll  try  plotting.   even  if  a  ship  doesn't  work,   i  will  always  be  down  to  continue  writing  with  you!   just  need  to  try  other  connections!   i  would  prefer  writing  ships  with  anyone  20  and  above,   I  WILL  NOT  WRITE  SMUT  WITH  ANYONE  UNDER  THE  AGE  OF  21.

triggers   ..    triggering  content  will  be  on  this  blog,   but  i  will  always  be  mindful  to  tag  anything  that  i  could  think  may  be  triggering  to others  ( or  if  i  follow  someone  who  has  it  listed  as a  trigger ).   i  write  trigger  warnings  as   " trigger tw ".   as  for  myself,   i  don't  really  have  any triggers,   besides  very  graphic  descriptions  of  eye  trauma,   fingernail / toenail  and  teeth  trauma  also  get  to  me  but  are  not  nearly  as  distressing,   but  a  heads  up  would  be  so  greatly  appreciated.   i  like  to  discuss  with  my  writing  partner  if  something  comes  up  that  feels  uncomfortable,   hope  you  will  as  well.

reply  style   ..    i  do  not  regularly  use  icons  or  gifs  or  graphics  in  my  replies.   however,   it  is  so  fine  if  you  do.   i  make  text  smaller  to  look  more  uniform.   i  do  use  icons  for  starters,   sometimes.   i  am  more  likely  to  use  icons  or  gifs  in  replies  if  there  are  resources  for  said  faceclaim.

simple  little  dni   ..    do  not  interact  if  you  are  a  single  muse  blog  portraying  a  real  person,   you're  under  the  age  of  18  or  a  personal  account.

disclaimer   ..    i  am  not  in  any  way  affiliated  with  do  revenge,   netllix  or  any  of  the  faceclaims  that  may  be  present  on  this  blog.   this  blog  is  for  the  fun  of  writing  and  roleplay  and  in  no way is  being  used  to  impersonate  anybody.

credits  &  such

the  psd  used  on  this  blog  and  graphics  is  vol.  39  by  manguitogay.    meanwhile  all  graphics  unless  stated  otherwise  for  this  blog  have  been  created  by  my  dear  friend  foster  💌

[begay-docrime69]

I know no one will probably see this, and i hate posting on social media with all my heart but im seriously at my fucking limit. Im so fucking tired of being the only lesbian in my friend group surrounded by either straight people or bi girls who exclusively date men and only talk about men (im not invalidating their identity but sometimes its gets tiring), i hate feeling so alone and misunderstood all of the time, not having someone to share my experiences or talk openly about being a lesbian without fearing judgment and strange looks. Even though most of them know im gay they basically never talk about it and just pretend im fucking interested in their boring straight dramas. I keep wishing I'll meet someone with whom i can talk openly about the things i like, such as my favorite tv shows,games,movies,books or even my obsession with t-swift and the whole gaylor stuff but as always i have to tone down my ramblings since no one really gets me. Even now one of my friends stumbled upon some show on comedy central where i saw THE iconic Clea Duvall and Abbi Jacobson and he was like "what the fuck is this shit?". So yeah, im so tired of just existing all alone but hey at least i have Taylor's music to keep me company 😭, even when i say that i love her all my friends go on about that piece of fucking shit k*nye.I fucking hate my life and maybe im just drunk rn but idk when it will get better, maybe when ill leave the country after Uni since i despise everything about it.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk! ❤️

[supergoodfilmanalysis]

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 satirical film directed by Jamie Babbit--it is campy, gay, pink, sweet, and deeply unserious. It follows Megan, played by the iconic Natasha Lyonne, a cheerleader who is sent to a conversion camp in a giant pink and blue mansion staffed by the likes of RUPAUL after her family and friends suspect she is a lesbian. Despite the film's on-paper serious subject matter, it holds a tone of heightened silliness and pokes fun at the real darkness of homophobia. Megan meets cool girl Graham (Clea Duvall), and against all odds, the two fall in love at True Directions. For a film made in 1999, it was impressively ahead of its time for the way it managed to both be a film about a girl falling in love for a girl, but also for the way it makes oppressive societal structures the butt of the joke, while being campy and fun, with an unmistakably saturated color palette that adds so much to the tone of the movie. It is considered an important piece of cinema in the queer community for this fact, and truly feels like it was for us and by us.

@theuncannyprofessoro

[lunacons]