The film “But I’m a Cheerleader,” which was directed by Jamie Babbit, makes fun of heteronormativity via the position of camp aesthetics. Megan is a dancer who is brought to a conversion treatment camp. This fan favorite tells her tale. The movie uses bright images, over-the-top acting, and sarcasm to criticize societal norms. The movie breaks gender stereotypes by taking Susan Sontag’s description of camp as a starting point and tying it to Jack Babuscio’s study of LGBTQ culture. In this introduction, we fight about how camp aspects are deployed as a parodying strategy to undermine and criticize heteronormativity in the movie.
It is necessary to understand the details of camp aesthetics in order to grasp how “But I’m a Cheerleader” uses it to poke fun at and criticize heteronormativity. According to Rabbit and Brian Wayne Peterson (1998), Jack Babuscio’s work on gay aesthetics stresses the theatricality and humor of camp as key components. The camp comprises dressing up and acting out your gender in a stylized and overdone fashion, and it is all done on purpose to mock established norms. Susan Sontag’s ideas help us discover even more. She noted that camp is “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” Camp is employed as a subversive tool in the movie to aid the characters in dealing with and making fun of the harsh rules of heteronormativity. This chapter will speak about how the movie uses camp aesthetics, as Sontag and Babuscio call them, to launch a dynamic and funny attack against heteronormativity (Taberham, 2018).
Gender norms are purposely challenged and given a campy look in the film “But I am a Cheerleader,” which is a comedy. The photographs in the movie, which Jamie Babbit directed, are intended to be the antithesis of what people often wear based on their gender. They make use of vivid, flashy colors in order to adhere to the campy theatrical mood. From Babuscio’s perspective, camp may be seen as the “ironic performance of the gender artifice.” Babbit’s work as a director lends credence to this interpretation. The dance scenes are planned to disrupt gender preconceptions in a number of ways, one of which is through their look, which is described as being highly feminine and lovely. The purpose of this section is to analyze the ways in which the visuals of the film make fun of heteronormativity and gender norms by employing outrageous exaggerations. According to Babuscio (1999), page 149, this investigation will make use of the ideas that Babuscio and Babbit have developed on the performance utilization of camp aesthetics.
The presence of irony in the film is intended to be unnerving due to the camp aesthetic that it possesses. One of the most important aspects of camp is the ability to use irony to distort both meaning and appearance. The television show “But I’m a Cheerleader” exaggerates and overdramatizes a great deal of the behaviors that heterosexual people engage in. As a consequence of this, the observer experiences these limitations as being ludicrous. People are prompted to evaluate and reject heteronormativity as a result of this sardonic detachment. According to Susan Sontag, who once said that irony “is the glory of camp,” this particular instance of irony acts as a subversive device to bring attention to the fact that cultural standards are both arbitrary and restricted (Sontag, 2014).
The dance moves in “But I’m a Cheerleader” capture the silly, role-playing mood while also going against what people expect. When it comes to their sexuality and gender identity, the actors do things that are not typical. In the movie, Judith Butler says that the way the characters “do” gender through improved physical acting shows how gender is performative. This performance method not only sends a strong and fun message about social norms but also questions biases (Fischlin & Porter, 2021). The characters’ showy and dramatic behavior goes against gender and sexuality rules, which is both a form of protest and fun to watch. By showing these acts, the movie shows how identities are formed and makes people question rigid societal rules.
Finally, “But I’m a Cheerleader” skillfully criticizes and talks about heteronormativity by using campy sounds. Many of the film’s themes, like overstatement, comedy, and taking risks that are typical of camp life, are used to question social ideas about gender and sexuality. With queer aesthetics ideas at its core, it gives a sharp critique of how things should be while also making you laugh. The idea of camp is used in the movie to get people to think about and question societal rules while also providing a place for resistance. Going to camp might be a great way to break the rules and see what people really think, as the song “But I’m a Cheerleader” shows.
References
Babbit, J., & Brian Wayne Peterson. (1998). However, I am a Cheerleader.
Fischlin, D., & Porter, E. (2021). Sound changes: improvisation and transcultural difference. University Of Michigan Press.
Knapp, R. (2018). Making Light. Duke University Press.
Sontag, S. (2014). A Susan Sontag Reader. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Taberham, P. (2018). Lessons in perception: The avant-garde filmmaker as a practical psychologist. Berghahn.
write