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1[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/butima_5410.jpg]]
2->'''Megan:''' I'm not like all of you. Everyone reads Cosmo, everyone looks at girls all the time.\
3'''Dolph:''' [[ArmorPiercingResponse But you only assume that they're thinking what you're thinking when they look, but they're not.]]\
4(FlashbackMontageRealization)\
5'''Megan:''' ''([[OhCrap realizing]])'' I thought everybody had those thoughts...
6
7''But I'm a Cheerleader'' is a 1999 comedy (although it wasn't theatrically released until 2000) lampooning the idea of [[CureYourGays homosexual reform camps]] with the story of Megan, a God-fearing cheerleader who has never paid her homosexual tendencies any thought until being sent to the True Directions camp. While there, she admits the homosexuality that [[TransparentCloset everyone but her had apparently seen]], and falls in love with another of the True Directions members, Graham. The film stars [[Creator/JohnWaters Mink Stole]] and Creator/RuPaul (in a non-drag role).
8
9The film carved out an unusual niche for itself as what many have identified as a LighterAndSofter version of a Creator/JohnWaters film, combining high camp, dark political comedy and good-natured romanticism under one improbably broad yet [[PinkGirlBlueBoy tantalizingly candy-colored]] roof.
10
11The film has been [[Theatre/ButImACheerleader adapted into a musical]].
12
13Not to be confused with ''Webcomic/ButImACatPerson''.
14----
15!!Contains examples of:
16
17* AbusiveParents: Graham's are the emotionally uncaring, neglectful type. They're also abusive in threatening to cut her off unless she becomes straight.
18* ActivistFundamentalistAntics: After the kids are caught going to the Cocksucker, Mary has the kids picket Larry's house while WavingSignsAround with homophobic slurs and screaming about God.
19* AffablyEvil: Mary Brown.
20* AloofDarkHairedGirl: At first, Graham seems to fit this trope to a T - a DeadpanSnarker, cynical brunette. As the plot and the character develops, Graham [[DefrostingIceQueen softens up.]]
21* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Jan, one of the girls at the ex-gay camp, is extremely butch, and has a mohawk and a [[GirlsWithMoustaches mustache]]. In the end, she decides that [[spoiler:she was never gay in the first place, and leaves]]. Many viewers interpret her as perhaps a trans man or genderqueer.
22* AmbiguouslyBi: Joel is sent to the camp for liking boys, but seems to reciprocate Graham's supposed crush on him. However it's never made clear if he's lying to get through the program, the brainwashing got to him, or he's genuinely into her.
23* AnachronismStew: No mention of a time period is ever given, but much of the decoration of Megan's home and the True Directions camp--not to mention the opening titles' font--are rooted in TheSeventies. However Megan has a Melissa Ethridge poster on her wall and Sinead has a [[{{Goth}} style]] that would be very uncommon for that period, suggesting the film takes place in the 90's. Megan's parents drive an old-school station wagon, while the crashing of the graduation in the finale involves a more-modern Ford truck.
24* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Megan delivers one to Graham through cheerleading.
25-->'''Megan:''' 1,2,3,4, I won't take no anymore. 5,6,7,8 - I want you to be my mate. 1,2,3,4 - you're the one that I adore. 5,6,7,8 - don't run from me cause this is fate.
26* ArmouredClosetGay: Mike, a staff member at True Directions, calls himself "ex-gay". But his [[LongingLook lingering stares]] at his boss's son indicate the "treatment" he's been through hasn't worked.
27* BlatantLies: [[spoiler:As Megan and Dolph goes to the graduation ceremony to rescue Graham and Clayton, Dolph says that he's doing it for Megan's sake, causing Megan to say "Yeah, right."]]
28* TheBeard: Megan's boyfriend turns to be this when it's shown that she has been dating him for a while but she isn't interested in him romantically or sexually, let alone enjoy kissing him.
29* BelligerentSexualTension: Megan and Graham during the first half of the film.
30* BigBad: Mary J. Brown runs the camp.
31* BoyishShortHair: Jan and Graham have it (the former especially, who sports a mohawk), which feeds into [[CureYourGays True Direction]]'s belief that they aren't "gender conforming" and this made them lesbians. [[spoiler:Ironically though, Jan is really straight.]]
32* ButchLesbian: [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} quite brilliantly with Jan, the most butch girl, who realizes that she's straight.]] Graham is however a "straight" example, though a soft butch.
33* CampGay: Andre. Although almost every single gay male is some amount of camp, except Larry, one of the 'ex-ex-gay' characters. Arguably the point is to demonstrate just how worthless the camp is. [[RuleOfFunny Also because it's funny.]]
34* CampStraight: {{Inverted|Trope}} and {{gender flipped}} as [[spoiler:Jan]] was just assumed to be lesbian because she has such a strong [[ButchLesbian butch]] appearance, but she actually likes boys. She leaves the camp when she discovers this.
35* CastFullOfGay: Well, [[QueerRomance duh.]] It's why they're at [[CureYourGays True Directions.]]
36* CastingGag: Famous drag queen [=RuPaul=], in one of his few film appearances out of makeup, plays the parodically manly "[[CureYourGays ex-gay]]" Mike.
37* ChoreCharacterExploration: Graham and Megan get to know each other better while washing dishes together, establishing their roles in the social hierarchies prior to True Directions.
38* ClosetKey: Each of the characters share their story during a group therapy session of what made them realize they were gay.
39** Graham: Her birth mother got married in pants, implying that her mother is also secretly lesbian and her being gay is [[SharedFamilyQuirks partially genetic]].
40** Dolph: He spent enough time watching other boys in the locker room between varsity games that he realized his attraction was more than mere curiosity.
41** Hilary: Went to a OneGenderSchool.
42** Sinead: Was born in [[GayParee France]].
43** Clayton: His mother let him play in her [[WholesomeCrossdresser pumps]].
44** Joel: He cites a "[[CircumcisionAngst traumatic bris]]," implying that his circumcision ceremony when he was barely a week old was enough for him to realize he was gay.
45** Jan: Subverted in that her only admittance is she likes "balls," implying that she is really straight and her tomboyish nature has merely confused others and herself into thinking she's gay.
46** Ironically, the gay conversion camp itself helps Megan finally realize she is a lesbian, upon her finally reflecting on all the stereotypically gay hints she was putting off, such as not liking kissing her boyfriend, keeping pictures of girls in her locker, and thinking about other women's bodies when bathing.
47* ComingStraightStory: Played straight with [[spoiler:Jan]] who is mistaken for being LGBT+ but actually identifies as straight and is just really androgynous. Averted with Megan who eventually realizes after much thinking that she ''is'' a lesbian after all.
48* CluelessAesop: While the film obviously had good intentions, critics from both LGBT and mainstream media have noted that it was too stereotypical. The boys running in particular is ridiculous; no-one runs like that, especially not if they're running for their lives to avoid a ''hatchet'' falling on them.
49* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: A strong theme throughout the film. Aside from the PinkGirlBlueBoy enforced at the camp, everyone at Megan's school dressed in dark browns (including her parents) except for her, who stood out in pale yellow, showing right from the start how much she stood out.
50* ComingStraightStory:
51** [[spoiler:Jan]], who has been sent to "[[CureYourGays True Directions]]" camp in ''Film/ButImACheerleader'' "comes out" as straight after a while, complaining that her parents just assumed she was a lesbian because she's {{tomboy}}ish.
52** Subverted with the lead. Her family and friends send her to the camp because they think she's lesbian (with all their reasonings being humorously outlandish). Megan, however, is sure she's really straight and she even had a boyfriend. Being at the camp, however, makes her realize [[ClosetKey she actually is lesbian]].
53* CondescendingCompassion: This idea underlies film's setup, starting with the intervention confrontation at the start of the film. Megan comes home from school to be confronted by her parents, her boyfriend, some of her female friends and Mike, a self-described ex-gay staffer from True Directions. On her arrival at True Directions, Megan is put through an intense session led by camp director Mary, who strives to break down Megan's insistence that she isn't actually a lesbian and her presence there is a mistake. Megan is actually reduced to tears by the end of the session. It becomes clear that Mary thinks True Directions' program is attempting "therapeutic" intervention.
54* CoolAndUnusualPunishment:
55-->'''Mike:''' Boys! I ever catch you looking at a man like that again, you'll be watching sports all weekend!
56* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: Before ending up at True Directions, Megan was a popular cheerleader, while Graham seems to have a FriendlessBackground. They start off hating each other, but become friends [[spoiler:and then lovers]]. Of course, these social distinctions matter less in a place like True Directions.
57* CreditsMontage: The credits sequence shows a few brief clips of each actor before showing their name. Amusingly, the actor playing Megan's boyfriend's segment begins with a GrossUpCloseUp of him trying to kiss her.
58* CureYourGays. The plot of the film, in fact. [[spoiler:[[ForegoneConclusion It doesn't succeed.]]]]
59* TheCutie: Megan.
60* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Gender-inverted with Rocky and Mary. He's pretty clearly gay, and he goes out of his way to tease Mike and the other boys, while she constantly tells him to act more masculine.
61* DeadpanSnarker: Graham.
62* DisproportionateRetribution: For both Megan and Graham, if they fail to graduate, both of their parents have stated that they will not be welcome in their respective households, essentially to leave two minors in high school to be forced to live on the streets. [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, Megan's parents have learned their lesson, even attending a pro-gay & lesbian support group.]]
63* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Megan, when she tries to prove she is straight, only to look back at the obvious signs and realize that she is a lesbian. As she puts it, "I thought everybody had those thoughts...".
64* EurekaMoment: Megan, when she does the math (doesn't like kissing her boyfriend, accidentally touches cheerleaders in different places, etc.) and realizes everyone is right; she is a lesbian.
65-->'''Megan:''' Oh my god... they were right! I'm a homo!
66* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows:
67** Dolph's pajamas are a sight to behold.
68** Heck, Lloyd and Larry's ''entire house'' is festooned with this trope!
69* EvenEvilHasStandards: When Graham's father uses the f-slur to refer to Andre, Mary is quick to call him out for the language, despite being perfectly happy to put that slur on a big sign later.
70%%* FallingInLoveMontage
71* FemaleGaze: The opening sequence, and then the shots interspersed in the scene of Megan kissing her boyfriend, are basically one long series of this from her perspective. Of course, since the female in question is a lesbian, the shots are of scantily-clad cheerleaders with bouncing breasts and copious {{Panty Shot}}s.
72* FeminineWomenCanCook: In the video Megan watches on arriving at True Directions, the girl is described as "rediscovering her femininity" over a shot of her cooking.
73* FlyingUnderTheGaydar: What actually happens at True Directions. The camp doesn't make anyone straight, it just trains the attendees to pretend to be straight while under the supervision of the camp. The film is full of instances of characters completely failing at this, most notably when the boys try to act macho while playing sports or chopping wood, but instead act more {{camp}} than ever.
74* FreudianExcuse: Mary attempts to force Megan into believing she has one by saying that she has no respect for men due to her mother being the breadwinner for nine months while her father was unemployed. Megan doesn't really believe this has anything to do with her homosexuality.
75* GenderBlenderName: Graham.
76* GenderNonconformingEqualsGay: The 'ungaying' process by the [[CureYourGays Anti-Gay Camp]] True Directions invokes this trope by focusing mainly on trying to get the characters to fulfil traditional gender roles. This is especially mystifying for Megan, who is femme but gay [[spoiler:and Jan, who is butch but straight.]] Similarly, Dolph, a varsity wrestler, is pretty 'masculine' to begin with but somehow the camp seems to suggest that by becoming even more masculine, he'll magically stop being gay.
77* GetBackInTheCloset: A fluffy, lighthearted, upbeat comedy with no explicit nudity and little harsh language... rated NC-17 by the MPAA. Go figure.
78* GilliganCut: This:
79-->'''Megan:''' There is no ''way'' I'm going.\
80''(Cut to shot of Megan in a moving car)''
81* GirlsWithMoustaches: Jan has a moustache.
82* GirlyRun: When playing football, Andre tries to get the ball in an exaggerated version of this trope, swaying his hips and flailing his arms as he runs.
83* GoneHorriblyRight: Megan starts the film deeply in denial about her homosexuality, but the counselors at True Directions go to great lengths to convince her to acknowledge her sexuality so that they can help her "overcome" it. With their help, she ''does'' finally admit that she's gay--and decides that she'd like to stay that way.
84%%* {{Goth}}: Sinead.
85* GrammarNazi: Mary
86-->'''Andre:''' Shit, Miss Mary, I ain't the only one who don't got no root.\
87'''Mary:''' Andre, we don't use profanity or double negatives here at True Directions.
88* GoshDangItToHeck: Megan never says a swear any harsher than "Screw you," and she continues to wear her cross necklace throughout the entire film.
89* GreenEyedEpiphany: Megan getting angry over Graham dancing with Sinead is the impetus for them both admitting they have feelings for each other.
90* GreenEyedMonster: It's implied that Sinead has a thing for Graham and is jealous of Megan.
91* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Megan. Beautiful, young, sheltered Christian who is determined to see the good in everyone.
92* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Of course.
93-->'''Graham:''' You're really manly.\
94'''Joel:''' Thanks.\
95'''Graham:''' I like that. Manly is good.\
96'''Joel:''' I feel like the aggressor.
97* HenpeckedHusband: Megan's dad used to be unemployed for a time and his wife supported the family then. Mary is quick to jump at this example of "abnormality" and elaborate it into an absurd story of "dad losing his masculinity and Megan developing contempt for him and emulating The Mom Acting Like The Dad". But it's subtly hinted this trope is in play nonetheless: Megan's mother is the leading force in the parent's front of expressing homophobia and threatening their daughter and in the last scene it's the dad who is shown to be more open to accepting Megan's homosexuality.
98* HeteronormativeCrusader: Mary.
99* {{Hypocrite}}: Mary Brown accepts the reveal that Megan's mother temporarily took on the role of breadwinner for the family as the root cause of Megan's lesbianism that she seeks to "cure" her from, while Mary herself owns and runs the for-profit CureYourGays camp. The fact she's implied to be a working single mother to Mike also conflicts with the very restrictive gender roles the camp is trying to enforce into the kids in their care.
100* IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn: Mike occasionally has this effect on the boys.
101* IJustWantToBeNormal: Megan and a few of the others. Averted by Graham.
102* IKEAErotica:
103-->'''Mary:''' When it's time for lovemaking, Dan kisses Sue, and touches her breast. Women often find this sensation pleasurable.
104** "Foreplay is for sissies! Real men go in, unload, and pull out!"
105* IncompatibleOrientation: Megan with her football jock boyfriend.
106* TheIngenue: Megan, although it's implied that her pureness stems from her lack of attraction to guys and repression of her attraction to girls - while she stays wonderfully kind and optimistic throughout the movie, she becomes a ''lot'' less 'pure' in the traditional sense as her relationship with Graham develops.
107* InnocentInnuendo: While teaching the girls how to clean, Mary guides Jan in thrusting a vacuum cleaner forwards and backward while repeating "in and out and in and out". She doesn't notice anything unusual about the movement but the other girls sure do. Similarly, Mike works on a car with [[LegFocus legs]] and crotch on full display, also repeating "in and out"...and then asks the boys [[ThatCameOutWrong "Who wants to go down with me?"]] Almost all raise their hands.
108* InspirationNod: The whole film feels a lot like a John Waters movie, and indeed Mink Stole, a member of a group of stock actors Waters usually uses in his films, plays the main character's mother.
109* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: The gay bar 'Cocksucker'. It's quite amusing to watch the more straight-laced characters trying to force themselves to say it.
110* InternalizedCategorism: Most of the gay characters fall into this at least at some point, but Mike in particular counts, having embraced his status as an 'ex-gay' enough to be working at a camp for turning people straight.
111* InterruptedIntimacy: Graham's parents found out that she was gay when they walked in on her with her friend. Also, at one point when Megan leaves the bedroom to masturbate after a dream about Graham, she happens upon two of the guys making out.
112* {{Irony}}: If Megan's parents hadn't sent her to the camp, she likely would've gotten married to a man and had children, either never realizing her lesbianism due to the justifications she already had in place or eventually realising it but deciding to continue presenting as heterosexual; most likely, she'd have been miserable. Because they wanted that life for her, they sent her there, and instead, she thankfully emerged as a happy woman who embraced her lesbianism and who would hopefully have a truly fulfilling life. Also, the one thing that Megan cites as being evidence above all that she's a 'normal' girl, her being a cheerleader, actually forms the main outlet of her latent attraction to girls.
113* JoblessParentDrama: The kids at True Directions are encouraged to "Find their Root", the Freudian "reason" why they have gay attractions. The only thing Megan can come up with is that her father lost his job when she was younger and her mother was a sole earner for nine months, which the True Directions people think exposed her to inverted gender roles and made her a lesbian. Megan doesn't really agree, though.
114* KarmaHoudini: Several people in the film, especially Megan and Graham’s parents and Mary Brown.
115** Megan’s parents send her to a conversion camp in the hopes of making her “straight” again and immediately disown her when they find out that she is staying a lesbian. They receive no repercussions for their treatment of Megan other than the assurance that their plans have backfired.
116** Graham’s parents also get away with their treatment of their daughter alongside gaslighting her into continuing the program by threatening to take away her college funds.
117** Mary Brown gets away with not only ruining a lot of children’s lives by forcing them through conversion but also making homophobic protests towards other gay people and having her students picket and pelt rocks at others.
118* LesbianJock:
119** The film has Jan, a softball player who says "I like balls" when asked for the root of her homosexuality, although she later turns out [[SubvertedTrope to be straight]]. She's just a [[CampStraight really, really butch straight girl]].
120** Conversely, there's Megan, who uses the fact that she's a [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders cheerleader]] as proof of her heterosexuality, but she actually realises that she ''is'' a lesbian.
121* LGBTAwakening: Megan's parents and The True Directions accuse Megan of being a lesbian. However after such accusations, much thinking and conversion therapy did Megan come to realize that she actually is a lesbian but she just didn't know it yet.
122* LipstickLesbian: Megan. In the credits they actually have Julie Delpy (the girl at the gay bar who asks Megan to dance) listed as "Lipstick Lesbian".
123* LoveTriangle: It's subtle, but present: Sinead has the hots for Graham and starts feeling her up at the gay bar, but Graham denies feeling that way about her and hooks up with Megan soon afterwards. Sinead spots them and becomes jealous and standoffish. [[spoiler:All but explicitly confirmed when Megan is kicked out of the camp after sleeping with Graham, as Sinead - who was previously the most aggressively ''against'' Megan telling on Dolph and Clayton, is suddenly the one most likely to have told Mary, as she was the only one who knew Megan and Graham were together.]]
124* MaleGaze: Mike is visibly ogling Rocky in his power vest and tight short shorts.
125* ManlyGay: Rock veers between this and CampGay.
126* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: When pressed to find a 'root' for her homosexuality, Megan hesitantly wonders whether the period where her mother was working and her father took care of the house confused her ideas about the proper roles of men and women. It didn't last very long, though, and her parents are otherwise traditional - Mary still leaped on the idea, though.
127* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: Megan is explicitly shown doing this, with [[SexyDiscretionShot her hand just out of frame]]. It can be inferred that Sinead does this too, but differently (the campers are given small tasers that emit small shocks, and you're supposed to shock yourself if you ever have 'impure thoughts.' When Sinead introduced herself, she said she liked pain, and she shocks herself on purpose.)
128* MenAreUncultured: Boys are discouraged to drink decently and care about the woman's pleasure during intercourse.
129* MentorInQueerness: Lloyd and Larry are an older gay couple who met at the camp. They help sneak the characters out of the camp and into the local gay bar, and generally introduce the kids to what life is like as an out person.
130* MistakenForGay: [[spoiler:Jan is actually straight and likes boys, but due to her short hair, love of sports and extremely baggy clothes, everyone incorrectly assumes she's gay due to old stereotypes about how only gay women like traditionally masculine activities or dress that way.]]
131* MrFanservice: The 'ex-gays' Mike and Rock are absolutely gorgeous, wear fanservice-y outfits (possibly to make them appealing to the girls) and seem to be attracted to each other. [[SarcasmMode It's an absolutely great idea to parade them in front of hormone-addled teenage boys whom you're trying to discourage from being gay.]]
132* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Megan's parents are convinced that Megan is a lesbian, even though she doesn't believe herself to be, so they send her to True Directions for reprogramming so that she can be entirely heterosexual. But when the camp director insists to Megan that she is actually lesbian, Megan realises that it's true, becomes quite at ease with her own sexuality [[spoiler:and indeed gets a romantic happy ending with the girl of her choice, while her parents end up attending classes to help them come to terms with ''their daughter's'' sexuality.]]
133* NoBisexuals: Several of the characters are gays and lesbians sent to a camp by their disapproving parents to be "cured". During one of the trials, a gay boy is forced to undergo forced kissing with Graham while a woman tries to gaslight them with heterosexual thoughts and attraction towards each other. Graham is repulsed but the gay boy really seems into the kiss. Interestingly, it's only gay boys and lesbian girls being cured while there is no bisexuals in site.
134** Justified in that the people running the camp can hardly considered to be experts on homosexuality and many such people flat-out deny the existence of bisexuality. Some of the boys and girls may be bisexual, but the camp simply does not acknowledge the possibility.
135* OhCrap: Megan, when she does the math in her head and realizes that she really is a lesbian.
136* OfCorsetsSexy: The girls wear purples while they give each other makeovers.
137* OnceMoreWithClarity: Megan, as she stumbles over her words and, looking back at the signs prior to conversion camp, realizing that she is indeed a lesbian. She says it over and over again "I'm a homosexual!" with tears in her eyes.
138* OneHeadTaller: Larry and Lloyd.
139* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Taken to hilarious extremes, as basically everything is that color for the boys and girls. This includes painting the windows of a car blue.
140* ThePollyanna: Megan is always cheerful and has a positive outlook on everything in the midst of hardship.
141* PreppyName: Graham, who fittingly comes from a wealthy and unloving family.
142* PerformanceArtist: Andre, the most CampGay of all the male campers, is an actor and a very skilled dancer.
143* PeriodPiece: Averted, despite seeming like one. Looking at the cars and school fashion, it might look like the movie is set in the fifties, although the Director's commentary reveals that this is merely a metaphor about the outdated values of homophobia, and the film is actually set in a contemporary setting (the 90s, when it was filmed).
144* PomPomGirl: Megan is one of the nicest cheerleaders at True Directions, and any ditziness can be chalked up to a repressed Christian upbringing. She also takes cheerleading very seriously, [[spoiler:and her cheering is what persuades Graham to leave True Directions with her at the end of the film.]]
145* PurpleProse: Mary directing the simulated sexual lifestyle:
146-->'''Mary:''' He wants to love you, the way God intended, to be inside you, his love muscle ''thrusting''...\
147''(Graham and Rock break apart, disgusted)''
148* OnlySaneMan: Graham is the most aware of how stupid the camp is.
149* QueerRomance: Graham and Megan, as well as Dolph and Clayton.
150* RapeAndSwitch: Discussed, but averted - the True Directions staff believe that being molested would cause a girl to turn into a lesbian, [[spoiler:but the girl in question is actually straight.]]
151* RefugeInAudacity: The film takes ex-gay camps and makes them look as fluffy and inane as possible while playing up every gay stereotype in American culture to ensure that viewers get the message.
152* RightForTheWrongReasons: While all the "evidence" people give that Megan is a lesbian (her vegetarianism, being a fan of Melissa Etheridge, not being into her boyfriend's french-kissing) and the "reasons" as to why (her mom having to be the family breadwinner after her dad lost his job) are dubious, [[TransparentCloset they all figured out that Megan was gay long before she did]]. They got that right at least.
153* RuleOfRomantic: The lighting during Megan and Graham's love scene makes...well, pretty much no sense whatsoever, but ''damn'' if it isn't very, very pretty.
154* RuleOfSymbolism:
155** Everything at the Conversion Camp, from the clothes to the mattresses to the flowers on the lawn, are all made of plastic, showing that they are trying to impose arbitrary standards of living (like heteronormative values) in an unnatural manner.
156** The house itself looks like [[Franchise/{{Barbie}} Barbie's]] Dreamhouse, their curriculum simulating Nuclear Family-style domesticity onto the boys and girls not unlike how children would "play house" or "play soldier". This implies just how childish and lacking in nuance their worldview really is, as well as driving home that their methods won't work in the real world. Graham even lampshades that all they really do is teach the kids how not to get caught.
157* SarcasmBlind: When Megan tries to come up with a cheer celebrating straightness.
158-->'''Megan:''' Two, four, six, eight, God is good-\
159'''[[DeadpanSnarker Graham]]:''' God is straight!\
160'''Megan:''' ...hey, that's good.
161* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Lloyd and Larry appear like this, but [[HiddenDepths deep down Larry is just as sensitive as Lloyd.]]
162* SexIsGood: PlayedWith. Mary is actually perfectly okay with the students having sex! ...As long as it's heterosexual sex in which the man is dominant and the woman is submissive and there's no foreplay and...
163* ShutUpKiss: Megan and Graham's first kiss during an argument.
164* SituationalSexuality: Hilary cites attendance at an [[OneGenderSchool all-girls boarding school]] as causing her lesbianism and Dolph claims that he turned gay from too many locker-room showers. Of course, it's made clear these explanations make no sense.
165* SourPrudes: Graham sees Megan as this initially, but the truth is a lot more complicated.
166* SmokingIsCool: Graham smokes as part of her bad girl image.
167* StagingAnIntervention: Megan's family has an intervention to tell her that she's a lesbian and to send her off to anti-gay camp.
168* StrawmanPolitical: The ex-gay counselors.
169* StraightGay: Larry, although his brief fight with his boyfriend had him acting less than manly. Otherwise, he almost looks like a survivalist. Dolph is a smaller example of one, being a varsity wrestler.
170* TeachersPet: Although the movie isn't set at school, Hilary fits the personality type and seems to act as one towards the counsellors.
171* TearsOfJoy: Megan cries these when she finally realizes she is a lesbian, complete with a group hug.
172* ThatCameOutWrong: Near the end of the movie, Joel tries to comfort Andre by telling him he's awesome, but his compliments turn homoerotic pretty quickly.
173-->'''Joel:''' You're nice, and clean, and smart, and sexy and firm and luscious and-\
174'''Andre:''' Excuse me. The ''last'' thing I need right now is some fruit who's just proved he's straight telling my ass how sexy I am!
175* TitleDrop: Via Megan before truly realizing she is a homosexual.
176-->'''Megan:''' I'm not perverted. I get good grades. I go to church. I'm a cheerleader!
177* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Graham and Megan.
178* TomboyishName: Graham. It fits with the stereotype as she's a rather butch lesbian.
179* TooKinkyToTorture: The girls are given tasers that give small electric shocks, and are supposed to zap themselves whenever they have "impure" thoughts. But as Sinead likes pain, she uses it to get off.
180* TransEqualsGay: A big misconception of True Directions, to the point where the 'ungaying' process looks more an attempt to make all of the characters live up to their traditional gender roles more than anything else. This is especially mystifying for [[LipstickLesbian Megan]], who is femme but gay [[spoiler:and Jan, who is butch but straight.]]
181* TransparentCloset: Megan is the most prominent. Notably, ''every'' character at the camp [[spoiler:except for Jan]] is written to be in one to leave no doubt that the camp is not working. Including ex-gay counsellor Mike and Mary's son, Rock.
182%%* TrialBalloonQuestion
183* TroubledSympatheticBigot: Megan's dad seems to genuinely have her best interests at heart and at times seriously questions whether he's doing the right thing by forcing her to repress her sexuality. He seems to be falling prey to bigotry in the middle of the movie when [[spoiler:he agrees with his wife that Megan cannot return home unless she becomes straight, but at the very end of the movie there is a brief shot of the two of them at a meeting for parents of LGBT children, indicating they ''are'' trying.]]
184* TwoferTokenMinority: Mike, the only black person in the film, is gay (he insists that he's "[[CureYourGays ex-gay]]").
185* VisualInnuendo: Rock walking out onto the grounds with a broom handle in between his legs, [[SomethingElseAlsoRises rubbing it up and down...]]
186* VisualPun: After Dolph and Clayton were caught making out, Mary exclaims that "[Clayton] will be in the doghouse!" The next time we see him, Mary lets him out of a literal doghouse.
187* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
188** Megan didn't break up with her boyfriend either before the camp, nor meanwhile through phone or a message. She even mentioned having said boyfriend during their group therapy. Was he waiting for her during the camp? Was she practically cheating on him with Graham?
189** What becomes of Hilary, Joel, and Sinead after Megan and Dolph run away with Graham and Clayton? Do they keep pretending to be straight for the rest of their lives?
190* WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame: The Cocksucker. The kids break out of True Directions to go dance there. [[spoiler:This is also where Megan and Graham have their first kiss.]]

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