Episode 137: BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (1999) with Emily Csuy & Charlie Mackin

Featuring special guests Emily Csuy (of Stoop Kidz!: A Hey Arnold! Podcast) and Charlie Mackin (https://twitter.com/charliemander13)! BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER is Jamie Babbit’s tacky, iconic entry in the history of sardonic queer cinema, panned at release but brought back as a cult classic by the queer communities it was made for. Its dire subject matter (an all-American cheerleader discovers her homosexuality by force when she’s sent to conversion therapy) is wrapped in a bubblegum aesthetic and inflammatory, comedic writing, positioning it between somewhere between “quaint queer dramedy” and “John Waters camp”. Its insistence on subverting straight symbology and queering the “traditional Western lifestyle” expands its focus beyond a singular queer girl finding herself to include conversations we’re still having today on gender expression, matrimony, queer joy, and more. Find Emily on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/emilycsuy/, listen to Stoop Kidz! wherever you get podcasts, and find the podcast on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StoopKidzPod and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stoopkidzpod/ Follow Charlie on Twitter at https://twitter.com/charliemander13 and Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/charliemander/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Glass Vase Cello Case” by Tattle Tale from the BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER soundtrack. - Learn about the anti-LGBTQ practice of conversion therapy and what you can do to help outlaw it at https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/what-is-conversion-therapy-lgbtq/ - “The new girls of summer” cover story in OUT Magazine, July 2000: https://books.google.com/books?id=oWIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false - “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA feat. Phoebe Bridgers, a music video inspired by BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhyk9rchC2c - Emily referenced “Cheerleader” by St. Vincent on her outro. It’s a good song. Listen to it here: https://youtu.be/LEY9GJAm8bA 0:00 - BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (1999) 2:17 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (licensed by Jason Dafnis) 4:51 - Emily’s thoughts 8:03 - Charlie’s thoughts 9:01 - Jason’s thoughts 14:07 - Cody’s thoughts 17:59 - Harry’s thoughts 22:39 - Should BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER be more transgressive? 33:59 - Shame, growth, and Megan + Graham 47:19 - The “ex-ex-gays” and finding community 52:30 - The problematic fifth step of conversion 1:00:13 - Cody’s Noteys (“But I’m a Trylover” trivia)