"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.
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.