The Prom: The Impact on LGBTQ+ Teens | Teen Ink

The Prom: The Impact on LGBTQ+ Teens

January 31, 2021
By lesbianage BRONZE, Britton, Michigan
lesbianage BRONZE, Britton, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
I can run home and call it a day or say these goddamn girls won't get in my way. -Sydney Parra


On December 11th, the stage musical The Prom came out on Netfliz, directed by Ryan Murphy. This story follows two small town girls, Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene, as they battle their school's PTA cancelling the prom. While Emma was out that she wanted to bring a girl to her prom, nobody knew who her date was: Alyssa, daughter of the PTA leader. Enter Dee Dee Allen, Barry Glickman, Angie, and Trent Oliver. 4 Broadway stars who elect Emma and Alyssa's story to rebuild their broken reputations after the failure of their show, Eleanor! 

This show combines humour and seriousness. You can go from laughinbg at the Broadway star's antics, to being angry at the bullies who follow Emma, to 'aww'-ing at Alyssa and Emma's declaration that they "just wanna dance with you." However, the show comes to a climax as Alyssa's mother stages a fake prom for Emma, and as Alyssa's friends declare that they've know that Emma and Alyssa were together. In the showstopping number, Love Thy Neighbor, performed by Andrew Rannells of Book of Mormon, Trent talks sense into the kinds by declaring that their everyday activities are against the Bible. The movie comes to a close with Alyssa publicly coming out to her mother. From there, the inclusive prom Emma and Alyssa didn't get goes on!

This movie is a must watch, wherever you fall on the LGBT spectrum -- or not at all. Some outstanding subplots include LAyssa's struggle to be her own person, and not just what her mother wants her to be, Principla Hawkins and Dee-Dee's romantic story, and Barry's struggle over talking to his mother, who cast him out when he told his mother he is gay. All of these elements, along with a showstopping performance by Jo Ellen Pellman (Emma Nolan), Ariana DeBose (Alyssa Greene), Meryl Streep (Dee Dee Allen), and James Corden (Barry Glickman.) I'm just as impressed with the Netflix version of The Prom as I was with the Broadway version.



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