What do you get when you combine a little bit of Barbie, a little Tim Burton, some anonymous gay erotica, and a lot of hot glue? BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER, the subject of my latest YouTube video!
The film is about a cheerleader sent to an ex-gay camp, and it draws on some remarkable inspirations. When they were early in the planning stages, director Jamie Babbit took the production designer, Rachel Kamerman, to a toy store to look at how toy companies stick gender all over their products: Always pink for girls, blue for boys, for some silly arbitrary cultural reason that's so deeply ingrained it seems like there must be some immutable basis, but of course there isn't.
Their next inspiration: Making a mockery of the 1950s, when a lot of the then-current childhood gendering really calcified in western culture. To that end, they looked at Edward Scissorhands, a film that is art directed to within an inch of its life to look like a dizzying nightmare of post-war conformity.
Also on their mood board was the film Pink Narcissus, an infamously gorgeous meditation of youthful gay desire (or gay desire for youth). Pink Narcissus is an acid-trippy dream of lurid color and sex, and it was a major influence on an art duo that also inspired BIAC: Pierre et Giles, a French couple who create meticulous sexy tableaux. (Sidenote: A million years ago, when I was taking a color theory class in college, I mentioned Pierre et Gilles as having influenced my color palette in a project; and the professor, who was a delightful queen, gave me a big wink and a knowing, "I'm a fan of theirs myself.")
But of course the biggest inspiration for But I'm a Cheerleader was the jaw-dropping actual real swear-to-God history of bonkers ex-gay "cures." Jamie Babbit did a ton of research on places like Exodus International, and you can see that research at work in the film: Blaming parents, electrocuting patients, and lots of uncomfortable sex. For more about all that, check out my new video!
What's New This Week
A new video about But I'm a Cheerleader!
On the most recent livestream, we watched a bunch of Natasha Lyonne's greatest hits () ... and also got completely distracted by catchy commercials.
On Sewers of Paris, I'm chatting with Christian Garcia about making lifelong friends through Turner Classic Movies.
What's Coming Up
I've got an upcoming bonus video about even more wacky ex-gay cures!
On the next Sewers of Paris, I'm chatting with a seasoned TV writer whose work you've seen many times!
I'll be at WorldCon in Seattle this August! Hosting a talk about George Takei , joining a panel about gay TV history, and hanging out at a table to sign books and chat.
Stuff I've Been Enjoying Lately
Here is a completely charming video of a dog groomer trying to guess the breed while blindfolded.
Oddly enough, I've never seen the movie version of M*A*S*H, but I have seen John Schuck playing a robot on Holmes & Yoyo.
This is the best beer commercial ever made.
