ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Xeridian 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.

mystemo Tell me, what do you get when you squeeze as many cheesy clichés into a movie as possible? Answer - Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story. I am gay and I was very embarrassed by this film, how it deals with a very topical issue regarding religion and homosexuality and, more to the point, Marc Hall's struggle through this ordeal. The humour (or attempt at such) dominated the film, so by the time we reached an emotionally exhausted Marc at the courthouse we have not had much of a chance to empathise with him because of the annoying crap inserted everywhere. This means what could have been a moving drama with light comedic elements, now becomes a farce. On many occasions gay people are shown as the token butch lesbian, the highly effeminate hand-model, the bear, the P-Flag Mother, the twink - all superficial stuff and totally misses the point the film is trying to make that no matter who you are, we all have the ability to love and be loved for who we are (my favourite bit at the end when the schoolkids leave the school to support Marc, they all seem to find a huge crate of rainbow flags at the Catholic school and run out of the school carrying them - PLEASE!). The perception that could be taken is that gay people are so far stretched from the average joe that they are freaks and are completely different to you and me. So many other films have covered the innate meaning of being gay so much better and this film is so very naive in terms of this. I felt for the actor portraying Marc because as his character was getting so fed up with all the pressure from the public, I could see he was the only one who got the message at all and getting frustrated too. All I can say is, try again and let's not continue to push the tired stereotypes of what it is to be gay.

bcbabe5 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.

p999c For those of you not privileged to live in Canada, or for those of you who haven't heard of or haven't seen this movie, you have certainly missed out. Marc Hall, a young man living in Quebec, registers his prom date as per his Catholic school's rules. He is denied his request, because his prom date is a boy. Marc Hall is an openly gay teenager in a very conservative Catholic school. This film documents his struggles (legal, emotional, ethical and personal) to be himself and to live his life the way he deems best. With the help of friends, family and supporters, "Cinderfella" makes it to the ball, With his Prince Charming. 9/10 because it is a fabulous story, and a very important social issue, but the acting and cinematography is a little lacking at times.