Camp Cinema

When it comes to camp and movies there are definitely a lot more movies that are directed towards the gay male community than the lesbian community. This can include such movies as even Female Trouble or other movies that use male drag queens to create a sense of campiness within a film. Then Jamie Babbit comes along with a film such as But I'm a Cheerleader which I believe kind of revolutionizes the traditional definition of what Camp was considered to be in films. Instead of using main characters that are gay and making them campy, Babbit creates a main character in a campy film that is actual a female and at the same time a lesbian. Her statement of participating in the "feminization of camp" pertains to this film because the main character of Megan is portrayed as a lesbian who is trying to be cured but in a funny and campy type of way whereas there are a lot of other films who do the opposite and use gay men as the lead instead. This film, I believe, helps queer women directors because it was well received and helps change audiences viewpoints of a queer woman director's work. I believe this movie helped audiences accept the work of these women and the style of queer campiness much more.