Jamie Babbit
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
Directed by Desiree Akhavan
influenced by But I'm a Cheerleader (2000)
Themes Plot
Rather like 1999’s But I’m A Cheerleader, The Miseducation Of Cameron Post takes the non-conformist spirit of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and transplants it to a ‘conversion therapy’ summer camp.
The film, which takes place in 1993 and is based on a novel by Emily M. Danforth, feels like a Hallmark Channel version of But I’m a Cheerleader, which is to say it lacks the playfulness and sense of camp exaggeration of the Jamie Babbit film.
I could compare it to its queer cinematic matriarch — softer than But I’m a Cheerleader , the quintessential queer conversion therapy movie; sharper, too; less camp, more satire.
Such institutions still exist, and perhaps that’s why this film does, too, despite a wealth of more nuanced conflicted-orientation stories that have played Sundance over the past two decades — from “But I’m a Cheerleader,” a campy 1999 satire starring Natasha Lyonne as an all-American girl for whom boot camp backfires in a big way, to “I Am Michael,” in which James Franco played a gay activist who denounced his homosexuality and devoted himself to helping others beat the same “affliction.”
This isn’t the colorful satire of But I’m a Cheerleader, but rather an even-handed approach to what conversion therapy looks like for these specific people.
More heavyweight than But I’m a Cheerleader, the 1999 comedy by Jamie Babbit that also set its story in such a rehab camp, Miseducation benefits from Moretz in the lead.
At one point, the film decides to drive home the underlying inspiration, Mankiewicz’s All About Eve (1950), in an off-the-cuff reference to the refurbished Candy Black all aglow like Marilyn Monroe in the Bette Davis classic—but while the leading ladies from the referenced footnote are also arguably unlikeable, Davis and Anne Baxter fashioned a compelling statement about women in the performing arts whereas The Stand In ends up feeling like some of the empty-headed Melissa McCarthy-style physicality primed comedies of nonsensicality it’s paying homage to.
The Stand In should be a by-the-numbers twist on All About Eve , an evil twin kind of comedy caper.
On paper, it’s a decent, even hilarious-sounding premise: a “Trading Places”-meets-“All About Eve” comedy of sorts that switches around the lives of a megastar and her stand-in, to dissect fan entitlement, class divergence, the supposed shallowness of the film industry and all the female-specific struggles they culminate in.
Maine depicts online-fueled sexual awakening at the turn of the 21st century, and the virtuous homogeneity of youth group culture, in a way that combines the earnestness and specificity of Lady Bird with the absurdity and liberation of But I’m a Cheerleader .
At a lakeside faith retreat — recalling the anti-gay conversion therapy camp in Jamie Babbit’s 2000 comedy, “But I’m a Cheerleader” — glimpses of fellatio and furtive onanism lurk alongside the singalongs.
In a scene that calls to mind Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Alice ends up in a lesbian bar where the owner (wonderfully played by Susan Blackwell) provides wise counsel and gives her a wider perspective than the narrow viewpoints that have been torturing her.
“Yes, God, Yes” shares some similarities with films about kids getting “gay conversion therapy” (“But I’m a Cheerleader,” “Boy Erased,” “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”), particularly in the scenes showing repressed uptight adults shame teenagers for having perfectly natural feelings.
Yes, God, Yes feels right at home amongst such indie cult classics as Saved! , But I’m A Cheerleader , Summer ’03 , and The Miseducation of Cameron Post , just to name a few.
Call Yes, God, Yes, the heterosexual version of But I'm a Cheerleader, in which a teenaged girl pushes back against religious instruction to claim her sexuality.
Jamie Babbit, who directed the lesbian-themed teen comedy "But I'm a Cheerleader," discovered that Jason Biggs violating a pastry in "American Pie" got an R, but Natasha Lyonne pleasuring herself (while thinking of a girl) got an NC-17.
While competent and compelling, Boy Erased doesn't offer much that's different from The Miseducation of Cameron Post, another film on the same topic from earlier this year, although it's very different in tone from 1999's But I'm a Cheerleader, which co-starred RuPaul and gave the material a campier sheen.
Where But I’m a Cheerleader used an exaggerated representation of conversion therapy to make its point, this film uses sincerity and realism to deliver its meaning.
If you like this, try: “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” and “But I’m a Cheerleader”…
And the satirical 1999 film But I’m A Cheerleader remains the exemplar of non-documentary conversion camp dramas.
That leaves only "The Quiet," an implausible and sadistic little family-secrets film from director Jamie Babbit (she made the lesbian-themed teen comedy "But I'm a Cheerleader" ).
Is it the former neo-noir sexpot of ''Raging Bull'' or the former neo-noir sexpot of ''Body Heat''?
It can be terrifying for young kids to come out, and it can be difficult and even uncomfortable for some of those kids to identify with versions of queerness in movies like But I’m a Cheerleader or John Waters’ camp classics that others may cite as touchstones for realizing and coming to terms with their own sexuality.
The film also has a bunch of homages to high school comedies of yore (I clocked tastes of She’s All That, Mean Girls, and 10 Things I Hate About You, while But I’m a Cheerleader is an obvious progenitor), a few cute Easter eggs for anyone older who just loves the genre.
I kept wondering what Alexander Payne ("Citizen Ruth," "Election") would've done with all this.
In addition, the movie features a terrific performance by DuVall and a refreshing, Citizen Ruth-like fairness in its satirical aim (the Christian Right gets theirs, but so do those folks who buy everything Rainbow -- cups, curtains, kitchen accessories -- to decorate their homes).
Basically, this is a But I’m a Cheerleader or The Miseducation of Cameron Post retread, only crossed with Friday the 13th or The Burning to give events some additional kick.
What if “Friday the 13th” crossed paths with “But I’m a Cheerleader” or “Boy Erased”?
In addition to Moriarty, Charles, Lyonne and the scene-dominating DuVall, the cast includes -- watch fast -- Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise, Killing Zoe) and, as Megan's parents, John Waters regular Mink Stole and Harold and Maude/Brewster McCloud star Bud Cort.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Directed by Robert Aldrich
influenced But I'm a Cheerleader (2000)
At this point, John Waters should probably team the two of them in a glorious boomer-hag remake of ''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?''
Is it the former neo-noir sexpot of ''Raging Bull'' or the former neo-noir sexpot of ''Body Heat''?
The most captivating parts are when the touchy relationship between Jennifer and Needy takes center stage; the death scenes and more typical fright moments of walking through dark houses alone or being startled when something pops up are moodily shot by cinematographer M. David Mullen (2006's " The Quiet "), but pretty standard just the same.
With all due respect to But I’m A Cheerleader and rather less respect to Love, Simon , queer audiences haven’t seen themselves reflected much in a genre that, at least in its heyday, defined Hollywood’s mainstream and reinforced heteronormative sociocultural standards.
Mary believe him to be the bastion of straightness, and uses him as a model for righteousness when she's teaching her charges, teens (among them, What Lies Beneath's Katharine Towne, Heavenly Creatures Melanie Lynskey, Dante Basco, Joel Michaely, and Richard Moll) whose self-concerned parents have sent them for a month-long regimen that resembles deprogramming.
For his part, Driver is really testing the limits of how often he can deliver the exact same performance from “Girls.”
…a cadence modern enough to sound natural on “Girls,” sometimes within the same scene?
Playing seductive scoundrels has become his brand, from Girls to Star Wars to Marriage Story.
This first feature directed by actress Clea DuVall does get a bit of a cultish lift from the fact that her cast features three key players from 1999’s gay-themed “But I’m a Cheerleader”— Melanie Lynskey , Natasha Lyonne and DuVall herself.
The Intervention stars Natasha Lyonne, Melanie Lynskey, and DuVall, bringing a But I’m A Cheerleader reunion to the screen, and also adds Cobie Smulders and Jason Ritter, among others.
There’s Jessie (Duvall) and her age-appropriate girlfriend, Sarah (Natasha Lyonne, reuniting with her girlfriend from But I’m a Cheerleader), and Jack (Ben Schwartz) and his age-inappropriate girlfriend, Lola (Alia Shawkat), all of whom stage an intervention on Peter and Ruby’s marriage during a weekend getaway.
In addition to Moriarty, Charles, Lyonne and the scene-dominating DuVall, the cast includes -- watch fast -- Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise, Killing Zoe) and, as Megan's parents, John Waters regular Mink Stole and Harold and Maude/Brewster McCloud star Bud Cort.