Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (2004)

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.

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!

I put this movie as a 10. it really depends on your taste in GLBT movies. If you are all for the sex, then yes, this show was awful. I personally enjoyed the story. This movie reaches out to ALL AGES (notice some oldies songs), and is a great learning tool. Even though this movie did not stick to the complete story, it is still enough to get you interested in what happened. The music...It gave the film a campy, fun feeling that the director was looking for. Even in the worst of times, it had the emotional aspect linking the music to marc's or anyone else's emotion. The people in marcs house...yes I would say that was a bit over stereotyping, but Church St. was portrayed accurately. And finally, the bimbo girls. If you take a look in High Schools today, you will find that a lot of this movie is exactly like school. We even have those girls at my school.This is a great movie for enjoyment. It had me laughing and crying. Aaron Ashmore is a superb actor, and this only shows of his abilities. This movie was WELL ACTED! Oh, Jason in real life wasn't out fully also. And what happened with their fight, it was very possible. I have seen closeted relationships break-up because of moving too fast, in what case Marc and Jason were. This is a great movie to watch whenever you are feeling down and need inspiration. "An after school feel-good movie"Oh, by the way, The Hall Family loved the movie.

"Prom Queen" is indeed a modern-day "fairy" tale, complete with the happily-ever-after ending. And the film regrettably has all of the depth of a fairy tale.The film tells the story of Marc Hall, the Canadian gay teen who fought the Catholic school system for the right to take his boyfriend to his high-school prom. Hall is presented as a knight-in-shining-armor hero slaying the fire-breathing dragon of archaic church doctrine. Needless to say, in this "fairy" tale, there are no damsels in distress.The film is deliberately calculated to offend Catholic sensibilities. Title cards at the beginning of each segment make direct reference to articles of Catholic faith. For instance, Marc's coming-out is called "Annunciation". There are crucifixes, plaster statues and holy pictures everywhere, and Marc himself is shown (not once, but twice) framed by a crucifix of light, thus casting him in a saviour role.A telling detail is that a rosary hangs from the mirror in Marc's room, with little evidence that it serves any more than a purely decorative purpose. Even more telling is that the rosary is juxtaposed with photos of Marc and his boyfriend, not to mention the mirror itself, as if to suggest where Marc's real interests lie.There is never any indication that Marc has never struggled with his own sexuality, or that his spirituality has ever been anything but skin-deep. Indeed, the "good guys" in the film are all stoutly secular and anti-clerical, and all the "bad guys" (read: pro-Church) are pained, cramped and anal-retentive.Curiously absent is any reference to Dignity, the gay Catholic organization with chapters in Canada and the United States.To be fair, "Prom Queen" does show a few bumps along the road to Marc's newfound gay freedom. His boyfriend is closeted and not terribly supportive. His lawyer (played by Scott Thompson of "Kids in the Hall" fame) is probably using Marc as a stepping-stone in his career. To Toronto's gay newspaper, Xtra!, Marc may be nothing more than a front-page poster boy.The film is also reductionist in its vision of what it means to be gay. Marc's mother (played by Quebec actress Marie Tifo) sums this vision up in a nutshell when she responds to Marc's coming-out by saying, "Your hair is blue. You have a poster of Celine Dion in your bedroom. We know." Ah, if only coming out were so easy for us all!The Marc Hall story made me uncomfortable at the time, and the film version leaves me with the same feeling. It seemed like such a trivial matter in the broad scheme of things, and it was trivialized even further by the media circus/feeding frenzy/cult (gay and straight) that developed around Marc Hall. And where is he today? Did he -- or anyone else involved, for that matter -- really live happily ever after? Somehow, I doubt it.