Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story

For those of you who wish to condemn gay and lesbian relations, shame on you. This movie, although not the greatest quality had a lot of meaning behind it which I admire and is greatly needed in today's society to teach the bigots of the world that society is changing. How long ago did we separate church from state anyway? As the story shows, the rights of every human being is the first priority ahead of the priority of the church and this is as it should be.

I would like to thank all of those that participated in this film as they helped to send a message that all people regardless of their sexual preference, are equal.

Marc Hall is an openly gay teenager in a private Cathloic high school. His conservative school requires students register beforehand any date they plan to bring to the prom. Because he wants to bring another male his request is denied. Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story portrays his struggle to take his boyfriend to the senior prom and the legal, emotional, ethical, and personal issues this journey entails.

With that plot summary out of the way, this movie really typifies the poor standards for film in the gay genre. It was made for TV release so I'm trying to take that into consideration, but with every turn there is another cinematic pothole to fall into. Like too many other gay themed movies, Prom Queen has all the hallmarks of bad storytelling. If this were made back in the 80's then perhaps it would have been more acceptable as in those days anything that touched on homosexual topics, especially in a positive light, was treasured by the gay community because there was so little out there on the subject. But now the bar has been considerably raised and movies such as Prom Queen only drag the gay genre down and further the idea that because a movie is on a gay subject it shouldn't be held to the same light as a mainstream film that we'd expect more from.

The most glaringly obvious mistake of this film was that it largely trivialized the subject matter. While they could have gone the very dignified and professional route of analyzing issues of religion (since Marc Hall attended a Catholic school), teenage homophobia, educational homophobia, general intolerance of gays by society, and various other issues, they instead opted to make this a light-hearted inspirational movie apparently aimed at gay teenagers (the American Pie type subplots, like the three straight boys trying to book a hotel room for prom night, gave a clear indication of the audience they hoped to appeal to). Some of the aforementioned topics were touched on, but only in a very superficial manner and with 2-dimensional characters that formed very dichotomous themes, such as the Catholics being the bad guys and the pro-gay individuals being the good guys. I'm not Catholic but I'm open-minded enough to know that a good movie on what should be a serious topic should portray the struggles of both sides of an argument and not dehumanize/marginalize either party.

The irony of this movie is that it's based on a true story and yet is completely unrealistic. In real life there was little support from any of the straight students, no inspiring rally by the student body around Marc Hall, no students running through the school with rainbow flags, and no heartfelt limousine scene to carriage the boyfriends away. This story was dowsed in fairy dust and veers far away from what really happened in all but the most basic details.

Additionally, the acting was mediocre (at best), though as previously mentioned this was a made for TV movie so you can't really expect Oscar winning performances. One element of Prom Queen that no one else has commented on is the CGI added eye twinkle that the characters get when they have overcome a milestone or come to some important realization (and the accompanying tinkerbelle chime). Why was this included? It's at best unneeded and amateurish and at worst insulting to the viewer as it attempts to spell out the fact that a character has had a revelation or turning point.

The user 'directsci' on here commented that, "The gay boyfriends did not look gay in any way. They were both heterosexual actors playing gay roles." Aside from this comment being insulting (most gay people do not "look gay"), it's also inaccurate. The actor that plays Marc Hall is Aaron Ashmore, who is gay in real life (he is an out actor and I've also seen him at various Los Angeles gay establishments). His twin brother, Shawn Ashmore, is straight in real life and plays Iceman in the popular X-Men movie trilogy.

I also have to comment on something else that same user said: "They were masculine and extremely good-looking. Most people in general are average looking. I know that it's wrong to stereotype, but most gay males have feminine qualities." Yes, Directsci, it is wrong to stereotype when you have no idea what you're talking about. First, I didn't find any of the actors that played gay characters in this movie to be extremely good-looking… perhaps average to moderately attractive at best (but to each his own on taste). Second, I don't know what your background is but it seems fairly obvious that you've had very limited contact with gay males. Most gay males are not effeminate, and you probably unwittingly know many gay people that are masculine (thus you do not know to identify them as gay). Not only are all of my gay friends masculine (enough to be completely indistinguishable from straight males in casual conversation), but at the many gay establishments in my city I've found effeminate males to be the minority of the crowd. So please don't assert points that you have no backing for.

If you really want to see some great gay cinema that focuses on gay teenage/high school/college issues then I highly suggest Edge of Seventeen, Get Real (1998), Sommersturm, Denied (2004), and to a lesser extent The History Boys. I also recommend Torch Song Trilogy (1988) and Longtime Companion simply because they're good gay themed movies (though not teen related) and The Celluloid Closet as a wonderful documentary on the history of homosexuals in cinema.

Hey there! I happened to stumble upon this page doing some research. For those of you who left comments, this is Marc. I thought I would leave some replies to the comments. I am currently attending the University of Waterloo....I'm a psychology major. My life is pretty much back to normal....except for the random event of a movie screening or something. As for that song name...I remember talking about it with someone before....but I really can't remember what it was called...haha. OH, and the guy that said I was on his MSN, message me...I don't remember your screen name, whoops. Anyways, life is good, and thanks for watching the movie, it was a blast making it happen :)

Student at a Catholic school, gay teenager Marc Hall (Aaron Ashmore) is denied permission to attend his school prom with his boyfriend. Marc sues the Catholic church in an attempt to overturn the school boards decision, in time for the prom...but will he, or won't he make it to the ball?...

If nothing else, at least a film like this get's people posting comments....and after reading some of them, i feel disheartened by the progress society has apparently made in the acceptance of homosexuality. One person wrote that the male couple (Aaron Ashmore and Mak Fyfe) were 'too good looking to be gay...as it is a well known fact that most gay people are average looking and a little effeminate' There were also comments suggesting that the roles have been wasted on heterosexual actors, and whilst i support the the advancement of gay actors in the movies i find it ridiculous to expect 'only' gays to play gay roles...after all that is why they call it acting!...should we then deny gay actors roles in films were they must kiss a female?...i think not On the subject of this particular movie, there were a number of things that frustrated me number 1...was the complete lack of affection between Marc and Jason, which for me just didn't wash. There was nothing remotely 'couple like' going on. number 2...there were a couple of pointless 'people' and stories, fitted in around the main structure which had no conclusion and no purpose other than to fill the gaps along the way. primarily the '3 girls' and the boys arranging the hotels for getting laid on prom night...it's a sign of bad story telling and one of my pet hates! number 3...whilst i would normally argue that a fictional piece of work carries very little responsibility to represent the group it is portraying...this film is a little different as it does represent actual events...therefore i was disappointed by the lack of any real or deep argument relating to the catholic church, it's teachings and homosexuality...this subject was skimmed over at best and left this a very mild and unoffensive movie (some may say uninteresting).

Overall the film moved along reasonably well, was not especially taxing on the brain (as nearly all of the legal process was omitted), and passed a couple of hours. It could have been so much better...and of course so much worse!

Greengoose: You are most definitely entitled to your opinion, but I think there's a limit as to just how harsh one can be. Considering all the negative things you said regarding the film, I'm actually pretty surprised you managed to watch the whole movie. I actually enjoyed the film. You said that the characters were poorly and inaccurately represented...that Aaron Ashmore was too old to play Marc; what you're escaping to keep in mind is that teens in movies are rarely ever played by teenagers anymore. You also said that they made a mockery of the story and the people in which it is about...I don't think it is a mockery--I think the film makers wanted to portray the story in a less intense light. And those three girls--the bimbos--you were talking about, I happen to be friends with one of them.

If this seems abrupt, I am sorry...I just think you should have thought a little more before posting what you posted. You didn't like the film, alright, that's your right. You don't have to like it; but please give those who worked on the film credit for doing so.

~Pastoila