100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #79
79. Megan, as seen in the film But I'm A Cheerleader, portrayed by Natasha Lyonne
So it's a running joke between my brother Ben and I that my entire family thinks I'm a lesbian and is too afraid to ask me about it. They tiptoe around it, they hint at it, they've occasionally ventured into, "If there's anything you ever want to tell us," territory, but no one will ever ask it. For the most part, I don't think my family would react terribly if I did come out, but I truly believe a person's sexuality is really nobody's business. It doesn't affect anyone else directly, and people's fascinations with others' sexuality genuinely confuses me. I don't particularly identify one way or the other; I believe the term in vogue now is "pansexual," which pretty much means gender doesn't matter, whether it be male, female, or any other way of identifying. I don't volunteer it in conversations, but I'm fairly open about it now. It took a long time for me to get there (Catholic and LDS upbringings = not particularly supportive of anything beyond straight relationships) and it's still not necessarily something I'm always 100% comfortable with. Sexuality is a complicated issue on its best day, and, innate as it is, it requires a lot of thought and reflection and, when people try to dictate it, it never goes well.
But I'm a Cheerleader! tells the story of Megan, a popular cheerleader complete with boyfriend who comes home one day to find herself the subject of a gay intervention. Using the "proof" they've collected (Melissa Etheridge posters, pillows with Georgia O'Keefe patterns, bikini pics in her locker, being a vegetarian, not wanting to make out with her gross boyfriend), Megan's parents send her to True Directions, a de-gayification camp. There she will be taught to be "straight," to "act like a girl is supposed to," and to stamp out the "lesbian" tendencies. It is not until she is at True Directions Megan comes to the realization she is a lesbian, both through the explorations of her own thoughts and feelings as well as the help from Graham, another camper at True Directions who doesn't feel as if she needs to be fixed but came to camp to stop from being disowned by her family. Megan and Graham develop a relationship, culminating in Megan's first time having sex with a woman, and she realizes she loves Graham. But when the camp leader finds out what's happened, Megan is unrepentant, getting kicked out of True Directions while Graham, afraid of being disowned, remains. The movie ends with Megan coming to the graduation ceremony at True Directions where Graham is being declared "fixed," woos her away, and Megan's parents attending a PFLAG meeting.
Though delightfully campy (how it could not be when Rupaul is the masculinity instructor?), this movie is one of the few which really gets the confusion of sexuality right, especially in Megan's character. Megan does not initially consider herself a lesbian because she doesn't believe she fits the stereotype of lesbians, which is where the title of the film comes from; in Megan's mind, lesbians play softball and wear motorcycle boots and have shaved heads. It's a stereotype that's played on later in the film when one of the other True Directions campers explodes that she isn't a lesbian but everyone thinks it because she fits the stereotype. When Megan meets Larry and Larry, ex-ex-gays, she sees that gay people can have just as happy, fulfilling lives as straight people, and it's an eye opener for her. Never once does Megan feel insincere or fake; her genuine desire to "be normal" upon her arrival at True Directions is heartbreaking and makes her decision to proudly announce she's a lesbian that much more empowering. Megan recognizes she cannot change who she is and, more importantly, she shouldn't want to just because someone tells her that it's wrong.
And that's an empowering kind of kick-ass.
(Also: everyone should see this movie because it's fucking hilarious. I give you these gifs to tempt you)
So it's a running joke between my brother Ben and I that my entire family thinks I'm a lesbian and is too afraid to ask me about it. They tiptoe around it, they hint at it, they've occasionally ventured into, "If there's anything you ever want to tell us," territory, but no one will ever ask it. For the most part, I don't think my family would react terribly if I did come out, but I truly believe a person's sexuality is really nobody's business. It doesn't affect anyone else directly, and people's fascinations with others' sexuality genuinely confuses me. I don't particularly identify one way or the other; I believe the term in vogue now is "pansexual," which pretty much means gender doesn't matter, whether it be male, female, or any other way of identifying. I don't volunteer it in conversations, but I'm fairly open about it now. It took a long time for me to get there (Catholic and LDS upbringings = not particularly supportive of anything beyond straight relationships) and it's still not necessarily something I'm always 100% comfortable with. Sexuality is a complicated issue on its best day, and, innate as it is, it requires a lot of thought and reflection and, when people try to dictate it, it never goes well.
But I'm a Cheerleader! tells the story of Megan, a popular cheerleader complete with boyfriend who comes home one day to find herself the subject of a gay intervention. Using the "proof" they've collected (Melissa Etheridge posters, pillows with Georgia O'Keefe patterns, bikini pics in her locker, being a vegetarian, not wanting to make out with her gross boyfriend), Megan's parents send her to True Directions, a de-gayification camp. There she will be taught to be "straight," to "act like a girl is supposed to," and to stamp out the "lesbian" tendencies. It is not until she is at True Directions Megan comes to the realization she is a lesbian, both through the explorations of her own thoughts and feelings as well as the help from Graham, another camper at True Directions who doesn't feel as if she needs to be fixed but came to camp to stop from being disowned by her family. Megan and Graham develop a relationship, culminating in Megan's first time having sex with a woman, and she realizes she loves Graham. But when the camp leader finds out what's happened, Megan is unrepentant, getting kicked out of True Directions while Graham, afraid of being disowned, remains. The movie ends with Megan coming to the graduation ceremony at True Directions where Graham is being declared "fixed," woos her away, and Megan's parents attending a PFLAG meeting.
Though delightfully campy (how it could not be when Rupaul is the masculinity instructor?), this movie is one of the few which really gets the confusion of sexuality right, especially in Megan's character. Megan does not initially consider herself a lesbian because she doesn't believe she fits the stereotype of lesbians, which is where the title of the film comes from; in Megan's mind, lesbians play softball and wear motorcycle boots and have shaved heads. It's a stereotype that's played on later in the film when one of the other True Directions campers explodes that she isn't a lesbian but everyone thinks it because she fits the stereotype. When Megan meets Larry and Larry, ex-ex-gays, she sees that gay people can have just as happy, fulfilling lives as straight people, and it's an eye opener for her. Never once does Megan feel insincere or fake; her genuine desire to "be normal" upon her arrival at True Directions is heartbreaking and makes her decision to proudly announce she's a lesbian that much more empowering. Megan recognizes she cannot change who she is and, more importantly, she shouldn't want to just because someone tells her that it's wrong.
And that's an empowering kind of kick-ass.
(Also: everyone should see this movie because it's fucking hilarious. I give you these gifs to tempt you)