It seems that in todayÃÂs society it is acceptable to be a liar and a Christian, its acceptable to be an adulteress or a thief and still be a Christian, for all have sinned and struggle with sin. But is it acceptable to be a homosexual and a Christian? In the past decade homosexuality has drawn an extreme amount of controversy. The movie But IÃÂm a Cheerleader leaves no clear cut answer to this question, but it covers many issues that deal with homosexuality and Christianity. There is a large amount of symbolic interaction in the movie. Much of it is straight forward, and other parts are hinting feelings; such as how Megan views the world, and how the rest of the world views her.
We can tell from the beginning of the movie that Megan has grown up in a Christian home. From the family praying before a meal to the cross hanging in their house; when Megan walks in to be confronted about being a homosexual, it is evident that this family was built on a Christian foundation.
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...
English: A cross close to the church in Grense Jak...
Graham and Megan attempt to reinforce their gender...MeganÃÂs family, who are easily the agent of socialization (Henslin) in her life are seen as supportive, but in a somewhat pushy way. When Megan's father prays for the meal he asks God to help direct them to play the roles laid out in front of them, which is in reality a sneaky way to make Megan feel she should follow the Christian perspective.
Megan is used to following the Christian perspective, especially since she is not aware that she is gay when she came to the camp. The producers of the movie try to get a major point across that Megan is reflecting Christianity when she wears her cross necklace everywhere, especially in the last scene when she...
But I'm a . . .
This essay contains a number of incorrect word usages: "straight forward" should be "straightforward"; "life style" should be "lifestyle"; "surly" should be "surely."
More seriously, the writer exhibits a stilted understanding of the movie "But I'm a Cheerleader." The writer says " Megan's family . . . are seen as supportive, but in a somewhat pushy way." More accurately, her family ship the girl off to a camp to "reform" her on the flimsiest evidence that she is gay. The writer says of Megan, "she is not aware that she is gay when she came to the camp." A more insightful view of the movie is that Megan may not have been gay at all before she was thrown into the camp environment, but accepted homosexuality in reaction to the oppression of the camp and the hostility that she encountered.
This essay also fails to consider one of the most profound questions that the homosexuality issue raises: is being gay a matter of lifestyle or of genetic predisposition? If homosexuality is a matter of predisposition, then the gay individual is faced with a grim choice: he can deny himself, with the attendant consequences of internal conflict, or he acknowledge his homosexuality, and face social ostracism.
And if a person is "born gay," how can a church condemn them for being gay, because the individual chose nothing?
In short, this essay fails to deal with the movie "But I'm a Cheerleader" in a truly meaningful way.
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