The satire is the point
If you walk into this expecting a gritty, realistic drama about the horrors of conversion therapy, you’re going to be confused by the bright pink fences and the plastic, 1950s-on-acid aesthetic. The movie doesn't just depict gender roles; it mocks them with a highlighter. The director used a hyper-saturated, color-coded world—pink for girls, blue for boys—to show just how ridiculous the "rehab" center’s logic really is.
It’s a satire, which is a genre that can be hit-or-miss for teens used to the earnest, high-stakes drama of modern streaming shows. But the campiness is exactly what makes the heavy subject matter digestible. It turns the "villains" into caricatures, which takes away their power. For a 14-year-old, seeing these rigid social structures treated as a joke can be incredibly empowering.
Why the critics were wrong
The massive gap between the 43% critic score and the 75% audience score (not to mention the high 4.0 on Letterboxd) tells a specific story. When this came out in 1999, many critics dismissed it as shallow or "too much." They missed the forest for the trees. Audiences, especially in the LGBTQ+ community, recognized it as a rare bird: a queer story from that era that wasn't a tragedy.
Most movies about gay teens in the 90s ended in heartbreak or worse. This one chose joy and a happy ending, even if it had to go through a weird, neon-colored gauntlet to get there. If your teen is a fan of "cult classics" or movies that feel like they have a secret handshake, this is a top-tier pick.
Navigating the "R" rating
The R rating comes from frank talk about sex and some brief, non-explicit sexual situations. It’s not "Euphoria" levels of intensity, but it’s not a Disney Channel original movie either. The characters are teens, they talk like teens, and they’re figuring out their bodies in a way that feels honest despite the cartoonish surroundings.
The friction for a parent usually isn't the romance—it's the setting. Conversion therapy is a dark topic. The movie handles it by making the people running the camp look like clowns, but the underlying idea that parents would send their kids away to be "fixed" is still heavy. If you’ve already watched something like Happiest Season, you’ll recognize the "coming out to difficult parents" trope, but But I'm a Cheerleader cranks the absurdity up to eleven.
If they liked "Mean Girls" or "Do Revenge"
If your kid gravitates toward movies with a strong visual identity and a biting wit, they’ll likely vibe with this. It shares DNA with other teen satires where the world feels slightly "off" and the social hierarchies are governed by weird, arbitrary rules.
It’s also a great "history of cinema" moment. You can see the influence of this movie’s aesthetic in everything from modern music videos to current queer rom-coms. It’s a bridge between the underground queer cinema of the past and the more mainstream representation we see today. Just be prepared for the 1999 of it all—the technology is ancient, and some of the side characters are broad stereotypes that might spark a "wait, really?" from a modern kid. Use those moments to talk about how much the conversation has shifted in twenty-five years.
