Review: The Prom
by Isabella Zollner
As a Queer girl living in Indiana who was subject to homophobia in school, The Prom really hits home. It’s a beautiful story with just the right amount of hopeful cheer. The range of characters — from the boisterous Dee Dee Allen played by Meryl Streep all the way to the soberingly homophobic Mrs. Greene played by Kerry Washington — gives the musical an uncontrolled and honest feeling. Everything is thrown at Emma and her girlfriend Alyssa. Cruel PTA moms, Broadway actors invading a small town’s business, and any number of scenarios ranging from wildly unrealistic to the daily struggles of a Queer Hoosier.
This all gives The Prom a very real and honest tone. Sure, most of us aren’t ever going to have Meryl Streep and James Corden save the day, but even Emma didn’t have it that easy. Everyone in The Prom had their own problems that they inflicted on themselves and others and maybe that’s why this musical is so inspiringly direct.
There were a couple of highlights that made The Prom’s storytelling so much more beautiful and fun. If you haven’t watched the musical or read the book yet, now is the time to go do that because I’ll be discussing some major spoilers ahead. Come back and read the rest of this when you are done!
The first scene in The Prom that really caught my attention was right after Emma shows up at her prom and finds no one there. Mrs. Greene, the orchestrator of this cruel and childish plan to exclude Emma in the worst way possible is giving interviews outside of the school. When asked about why there were two proms and if Emma was tricked on purpose, Mrs. Greene gives an all too familiar response:
“The James Madison High School Parent Teacher Association felt Emma would not be safe if we allowed her to attend prom with the other students because the uncomfortable truth is there are people in our community who are offended by her life choices.”
This superficial attempt at blaming Emma for an attack clearly focused on her is very reminiscent of excuses all minorities have heard. Essentially, Emma was just victim-blamed by the same woman who caused the problem in the first place. And not only that, Emma was barred from doing something because someone else might hurt her. On the surface, that might seem like sound logic, but in Emma’s case especially, it isn’t. Instead of punishing the people who want to hurt Emma, instead of preventing that hurt from ever occurring, the PTA decided it was best to punish Emma instead. They choose the easy and conventional way out of a situation like this.
The excuse, “We won’t let them do it because someone else will hurt them” has been used over and over again to justify why civil rights of various groups should not be granted. The Prom does a wonderful job of explaining why this logic is rotten and based solely in victim blaming.
I also loved that despite the overall optimism of The Prom, everything wasn’t perfect in the end. Barry’s father still is not ready to speak to his gay son. Alyssa’s mom isn’t okay with Alyssa’s sexuality even if she decides to support her daughter. And most of all, there wasn’t a sob scene at the end where Emma’s parents come running back in to beg for her forgiveness. There is still a lot of sadness in this musical and we get the really honest feeling in the end that not everything is going to be healed, but life still goes on. The idea that you can still have an amazing life full of joy and acceptance even if your past is left with several loose threads is the prevailing theme in The Prom.
Overall, The Prom is an inspirational story and much like Principal Hawkins sings,
“The worlds you create make the real ones seem less sad.”
About the Author:
After being subjected to homophobic harassment in the classroom, Isabella decided to try and use her writing to encourage others to stand up for each other and themselves. Isabella is a high school student in Lafayette, IN.
