This uplifting comedy-drama is based on the true story of Marc Hall, the Canadian gay teen who sued the Catholic Church for not letting him bring his boyfriend to his High School Prom. Like a homo-positive "Afterschool Special," Prom Queen has a terrific cast which includes openly gay "Kids In The Hall" comedian Scott Thompson and rising star Aaron Ashmore as the blue-eyed, blue-haired rebel who boldly confronts the homophobic school board, and ultimately takes on the Catholic Church. This heartfelt story inspires and entertains as it offers up a heroic portrait of gay teen activism and portrays the true courage of his straight friends and family as they rally together to send Marc and his boyfriend to the prom.
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jenniolson19 April 2005
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gradyharp21 July 2005PROM QUEEN succeeds not only because it is a controversial subject based on a true incident, but because of the light touch director John L'Ecuyer adds to the dimension of storytelling. Writers Michael MacLennan and Kent Staines have pieced together the facts from a now famous 'hearing' in Quebec concerning one teenage boy's challenging the Catholic Church school policies about sexual preferences in preventing him from attending a high school Prom and have fleshed out the characters to make the story not only meaningfully important but also entertaining.
Marc Hall (Aaron Ashmore) is a fun-loving, blue-haired gay lad who has a partner Jason (Mac Fyfe) and is comfortable in a semi-closeted way, and who attends a Catholic high school in Quebec. He is fortunate to have a band of accepting and supporting friends like Beau (eye candy actor Trevor Blumas) and Carly (Tamara Hope) among others who encourage Marc to bring his boyfriend to the upcoming Prom. The school officials - principal and school board - are adamant that the Catholic Church regards sames sex relationships as sin and refuse to allow Marc to consider attending the Prom with Jason.
Marc decides to 'come out' to his parents Emily (Marie Tifo) and Audy (Jean Pierre Bergeron) and they warmly assure him they have known for years ("Your hair. It's blue. And you have a poster of Celine Dion on your wall. We know.") With the support of his friends and a gay lawyer Lonnie Winn (Scott Thompson), Marc agrees to challenge the school/church stance and in a touching courtroom drama Marc pleads his case. Though due to the familiarity of the case the audience knows from the beginning that Marc Hall won his right to attend the Prom with Jason, it is in the telling that the story takes flight.
Though 'made for TV' budgetary constraints and format are obvious, PROM QUEEN boasts some fine actors and manages to bring to the screen another important hallmark in the Human Rights field. While some may avoid this film for fear of its being a 'gay movie', rest assured that the content is handled in a touching and realistic way. Recommended for all audiences, especially the teens who need to see both sides of a bit of history. Grady Harp -
This movie was made for Canadian television, loosely based on a real-life event. It's sappy and sentimental and manipulative... and thoroughly wonderful. Two things make it better than one might expect from a television movie: a script that's better crafted and more sophisticated than the usual TV-issue-of-the-week product, and a bunch of wonderful performances. In its character development, the script subverts a number of expectations associated with stories centered on gay rights issues. The taciturn blue-collar father unquestionably loves and supports his queer son, the gay lawyer turns out to be less generous and more self-serving than his nominally "pro-bono" work initially suggests, the main character's boyfriend has doubts and depths that keep him from being the perfect prince we want for our prom-queen hero, and the hero's high school companions aren't the homophobic doofuses commonly encountered in gay-teen stories. The movie slyly suggests that a true gay-straight alliance can work to the advantage of the straight folks as well as the gay folks. Aaron Ashmore is handsome, sexy and charismatic as the central character. Jean Pierre Bergeron as the father and Mak Fyfe as the boyfriend bring complexity and sympathy to two roles with few lines, and really stand out in a cast with all the minor roles beautifully played. (Trevor Blumas and Tamara Hope are charming as Marc's straight supporters, as are the guys who play the high school media geeks). I can't imagine any gay guy not being moved by this story, and I hope straight folks would be as well. The DVD extras contain some brief documentary footage of the real-life Marc Hall that's worth looking at. The real Mr. Hall is nearly as articulate and charismatic as his cinematic counterpart, and there are a couple of moments of press footage in which he attempts to defend his dignity and equality as a gay man that are pretty near heart-breaking.
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bcbabe53 September 2004For 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. -
museumofdave7 April 2013This is an admirable tale of a young gay man who stands up for his simple rights--to be treated just like everybody else. In this case, David's Goliath is the Catholic Church and a typical school board that's mired in another century, stuck in the "love the sinner, hate the sin" shtick that we hear all too often in the United States.
That the Canadian Government would actually help to finance a tale encouraging diversity is such a contrast to our own, still stuck in a rather primitive morality based on fading stereotypes.
No doubt that Prom Queen begins as a rather silly teen flick, rife with stereotypes, but about half way through, the endearing, committed performances and persuasive plot line make it work. A few nights ago, I watched Brokeback Mountain, and the films make an interesting pair: one a haunting examination of repressed passion, and the other a joyful celebration of individuality. One is a groundbreaking work of art, however depressing, and other a joyous celebration of letting it be. -
p999c2 June 2004For 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.
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actingkid200330 June 2005I 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. -
Xeridian24 September 2007Marc 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. -
I was expecting something a bit above mediocre. I was expecting the gay issue not to be taken seriously. I was even preparing to be disappointed.
This dramatization of the Marc Hall story has risen so far above my expectations, I can't even measure it. It was delightful. Witty, funny, dramatic, touching, and moving are all words to describe this picture. It was definitely a feel-good film.
I was especially scrutinizing Aaron Ashmore's performance. Assuming, of course, that he's straight, I watched his ability to genuinely play a gay teenager. I watched the gay part, and the teenager part. Both were just about flawless.
He had a youthfulness in his eyes, and he moved with the energy of youth. The smiles were bright and genuine. But maybe I'm just gushing. :)
The gay part wasn't perfect, obviously, but it was pretty damned near so. Every time his character was supposed to be looking at his boyfriend with love in his eyes, I could see real joy in Aaron's eyes and a genuine smile on his face. It amazed me, really. He was very happy-go-lucky, and played his part very sincerely.
I guess that's what pleases me most. I was really able to believe that Aaron was a very tall, very nicely built, very studly, gay teenager fighting for nothing more - and nothing less - than his right to be equal. And, of course, his right to dance with his boyfriend at his prom.
I thought the ending was perfect. It wasn't missing anything, except maybe the prom scene could've been shown in more detail. Maybe have a few conversations with people during the prom.
All's well that ends well, and this fairy tale certainly ended well.
Aaron, if EVER you read this, you did an awesome job. You played someone guys could easily fall in love with. And fall I did. Call me! :) -
issey_2114 May 2006Student 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! -
"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. -
I inadvertently turned on the TV today, and saw this Marc Hall story. (Aka Prom Queen) ... It is the most inspiring movie I have ever seen. It's a Canadian film in which a gay student wants to take his male partner to his prom. Against all odds, the church, the school board, and media, he is finally able to go. I was glad they included the part of the Canadian Auto Workers Association giving Marc the scholarship at the end. It was the sort of movie that you know how is going to end, but it still had enough twists and turns to keep almost everyone attentive. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone, except of course, people who are homophobic. (No movie can save them!) It has such a true life feel. Definitely not the Hollywood regular sort of movie. Thanks to everyone who was involved in creating this film.
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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.
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greenrose1 June 2004I remember cheering & tearing up when Marc Hall won his case in court. I also recall seeing his parents as being a bit media shy on TV news, but still way more articulate than the actors in this poor excuse for a film. It had nothing going for it, which is a shame and a waste of money and effort on an issue that is so vital.
The actor playing Marc was way too old for the part, and his hair looked grey, not blue, through most of the film, unlike the real-life character. I gasped when I saw a thinning circle at the top of his head. Yikes, this was supposed to be a high school student? The target audience was obviously around 13-17, which was silly since this story also involved parents and teachers, and still does. The music mostly sounded like something from a child's play program at a circus, adding to the horrible comedy made out of some of the more serious elements of Marc's story, i.e., when coming out to his parents. I could barely hear much of the dialogue with it blaring in the foreground. While Marc gave his key court speech, the music turned horribly clichéd, full of sobbing violins. Of course, the music hardly mattered when Mr. & Mrs. Hall were on, since they were portrayed as unable to speak 99% of the time.
Marc's boyfriend is given an attitude that makes us wonder why they even have a relationship. We know they did split up some time after the court case and the prom, but jeesh, they showed absolutely no affection or support for each at all.
It's one thing to show viewers how stereotyping does exist, but the goofy gay males at the Hall home meeting were inexcusable. Marc's lawyer preening in the car mirror and manipulating Marc, rather than firmly supporting his case, was another item that helped push my vote way down. What really helped to plunge it down to 1/10 for "Awful" were the 3 female students who did their best to live up to the Bimbo label. Ugh, and Why?
Oh, and there was no acting done at all during this film. What a waste. Canada - we can do better than this! -
gay-boy-118 December 2005Hey 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 :)
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pastoila4 September 2004Greengoose: 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 -
This entire movie is based on personal interests and one way thinking. It presents the catholic church as the one who dose not accept other's thoughts but still the movie does not give place to the catholic way of thinking.
I'm not a catholic and I'm not homohsexual but still how a case can be build by laughing at other's beliefs.
Therefore the movie is really unbalanced and does not prove why shall Marc be allowed to attend the prom.
It's really sad to see that we became so blind and that we do everything we can in order to destroy our culture.
Thank you for reading.