Jerry Flack continues his reviews. This
time of the DVD, Prom QueenSee his review of Noble Lives on Page 6
Prom
Queen (DVD)Director: John L’Ecuyer
Produced by Tapestry Films (Toronto) and Canadian Television, 2003
Distributed in the United States by Wolfe, 2005.
Marc Hall is an out and proud gay high school senior in a Catholic School that required registration of and prior approval for all dates to the highlight event in the lives of many teens – their senior prom. While many of Marc’s peers are over the top in the hormones department and facing the seemingly daunting task of selecting the best motel to take their dates to after the prom, Marc just wants to take the person he loves, his boyfriend Jason, to the prom. Period. The crux of Marc’s dilemma rapidly becomes apparent. The Catholic high school he attends in a small Ontario, Canada, blue-collar town does not accept same-sex couples as viable dates of choice for the senior year’s main event.
Marc turns in his prom date’s name for the school principal’s approval only to be shocked that the principal thinks his act is not only a sick joke but an affront to the church. Marc needs his parents’ help to fight injustice, but a central problem is that he has never come out to them. Shocked that their son is finally telling them a truth they had figured out long before, they become his closest allies in his fight to do what other students in his class are not only able to do, but encouraged to do, take a date to the prom.
The film is fictionalized but based on the real-life story of Marc Hall who in 2002 went to the Canadian courts to seek an injunction allowing him the right to go to his Catholic high school prom with his boyfriend. First-time viewers may believe the film, originally a Canadian made-for-TV movie appears too much like “Cinderfella Goes to the Prom” but the DVD is bolstered significantly by an added documentary complete with video footage that features the real Marc Hall, scenes from actual school board meetings, 2002 TV court coverage, and scenes filmed inside the Hall household on the day of the anxiously awaited court decision.
The Catholic Church is one of the oldest bureaucracies in the world and is slow to move. Marc’s original steadfast mentor and female teacher, a liberal Catholic, informs Marc that the principal’s decision is not final and may be appealed to the Parish School Board of Catholic Education in his community. Not surprisingly, the school board puts up every conceivable roadblock possible and unanimously upholds the principal’s right to forbid Marc to bring a same-sex partner to the prom.
The Ontario gay legal machinery as well as the Canadian Auto Workers (Marc’s father is a factory employee) are equally impressed with the courage of Marc Hall in speaking up for his right to be treated with dignity, to be himself and not live a lie for the church’s convenience. They form an unusual alliance that puts forth the case that irreparable harm will be done to the young man if he is denied the same rights as his classmates to attend the prom with his chosen date.
The film is well written and paced and complete with enough supporting teen stories to be generally funny and enjoyable, yet at the same time touching and disturbing even to straight audiences. One of the film’s less successful features are short animated cartoon segments that presumably act as transitions at critical stages in the film. Unfortunately, they tend to trivialize rather than enhance the film’s serious content, subject matter, and the real importance of the film’s overall messages and impact.
“Prom Queen” is rightfully listed as a comedy and it has some deliciously funny moments, a dynamic soundtrack (especially Melanie Doane performing what appears to be the film’s theme song), and plenty of teen-age rebellion. Writers Michael MacLennan and Kent Staines also reveal the truly ugly side of prejudice and power. Most especially there is the pathetic and especially sad betrayal of Marc by the teacher, Miss Lawrence, whom he had come to love, trust, and admire. While the movie does not say so, it is obvious that she has been told by the religious powers that be that she will be dismissed if she speaks of Marc’s sterling character and admirable behavior on the witness stand in a court of law. She is compromised by people who show no evidence of Christian love, compassion, or charity. They do not even want to allow the truth to be voiced. Victoria Adilman plays the role to perfection.
Although many student and community audiences cheer for Marc, the attendant publicity, disappointments, a break-up with Jason (who was not even out of the closet when the story broke nationally) all conspire to cause enormous pain for Marc Hall who never wanted to be a media star or gay hero. He just wanted to go to his prom with his the date of his own choosing.
Courtroom battles as well as public hysteria become integral to the evolving story that began with such a seemingly simple issue. For one thing, two prominent Canada statutes come into conflict with each other in the case of Marc Hall v. the Catholic Parish School Board. For 135 years, the Canadian government has allowed Catholic schools to act in accordance with their own church beliefs. But, a newer national statute, the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedom, demands the protection of dignity for all Canadian citizens, including freedom from discrimination because of sexual orientation (Section 15).
Director John L’Ecuyer plays much of the film for laughs, but there is still plenty of tension and the ultimate outcome of the court’s decision is not known until the final moments of the film. The acting in “Prom Queen” is fine and the candor and freshness of the cast is admirable. Aaron Ashmore may first appear a bit too old for the part of a high school senior, but he turns in such a deeply moving performance revealing from scene to scene his ability to portray love, humor and wit, anguish, confusion, hurt, disappointment, and righteous indignation, all with equal aplomb and conviction that he becomes the movie’s primary asset. While at first Ashmore and Mac Fyfe as Marc’s boyfriend, Jason, seem an unlikely match, the quiet moments both between them and solo add up to a believable love story by the end of the film. The teens are refreshing and seemingly unflappable, and the adults, most especially Marc’s mother and father are outstanding portrayals. The one false note is the high school principal as depicted by Dave Foley. He appears to be more of a caricature of an officious school principal than a real person. One of the truly stellar performances is turned in by Trevor Blumas who portrays the frustrated boyfriend of Marc’s best girl friend and straight soul mate, Carly, who takes her own stand of solidarity and announces her refusal to go to the prom herself if Marc is denied. Trevor Blumas is a real find as Carly’s wonderfully clever boyfriend Beau who reveals both his real love for his sweetheart Carly, and his willingness to do virtually anything to help Marc triumph so he and Carly can get on with their lives. His behind-the-scenes negotiating with the school computer whizzes and their subsequent promotion for Marc’s case on the Internet is an amusing feature of the film.
It is vital for LGBTQ citizens in Canada, the USA, and throughout the world to have access to heartfelt and joyous movies, especially when there are so many tragic films such as “Boys Don’t Cry" (Fox Searchlight, 1999), but there are also some important issues that viewers, especially United States citizens, should note from viewing “Prom Queen.” Marc Hall’s petition for a court hearing allowing him to seek an injunction banning his Catholic Parish School Board from denying him his dignity and his right to be treated equally would have never surfaced if the words “sexual orientation” were not a part of Canada’s constitutional codes.
In far too many places in the United States, pleas for such legal equality are perversely twisted and labeled “Special Rights.” Law and the language of the law were Marc Hall’s most formidable allies in his court battle for justice. Without constitutional language, GLBT citizens have essentially no rights regarding sexual orientation and will forever be at the mercy of bigotry and patronizing officials.
(Incidentally, homophobia is all too alive in Canada. The offices of the production studio, Tapestry Films, were trashed the week the film first appeared on Canada television and both the real Marc Hall and Aaron Ashmore who portrays Marc in the film were accorded police protection.)
Enjoy the prom, but afterwards join the campaign for human rights for all.
—Jerry Flack, Denver,
Colorado