Review of Disney's Prom

I just finished watching Disney's Prom. I thought it was adorable. I think I may stay away from posting photos of movie stills though because they don't belong to me, and this whole Internet censuring issue has me hypersensitive. I am sorry for no movie stills. I will post photos of what I might wear to prom if I dropped three or four years from my age and went to a physical school...ha!
                                                     
I know real prom is frequently R-rated, and this movie candy coats relationships in the movie to be more innocent than those of the average middle schoolers; nevertheless, those of us that were raised to value innocence and adore sickly sweet romance can enjoy it. I can somewhat understand the excitement of prom, but it is really rather insignificant; after all graduation of high school is the most basic of graduations since  you  really should graduate. Adult events that are for something important or are during college are the "real deal" to me, but there is not the hype over them as there is over prom as far as I know, and it would have been fun to attend a home school or Christian school prom.
                                                   
There are several separate story lines throughout the movie. All of them are linked in some way by friendships/relationships (for example Nova is friends with Mei and Jordan), and I liked this aspect, but I felt that the movie needed more of a central storyline which I felt that one of the story lines (the Jesse/Nova one which was my favorite and don't you just love those names?!) was perhaps intended to be, but it did not turn out quite central enough.
                                                              
There was the Jordan-Tyler-Simone triangle which was creepy because Simone was played by a teenager (one of the few characters in this movie played by actual high school age kids, I think), but Tyler was played by an adult...and looked it. I hated Simone; this actress must have a thing for playing brats that are portrayed as special girls. I watched her in Star Struck which I hated because of her part. She acted poorly in both movies. Tyler was publicly humiliated by both Jordan and Simone which I did not like; private matters do not need to be made public, and public humiliation like that smacks of pettiness and spiteful revenge.

Tyler is a jerk that seemed to want two girls at the same time and treated both of them poorly, but only one of the girls was actually a nice girl: Jordan. Jordan believed his lies which showed that she was trusting and not suspicious, but when she was faced with the truth she broke up with Tyler for good and let it all go except for the public humiliation part; I think she might have danced with him to show she really was over him and was not bitter. She attended prom alone and enjoyed herself; the romantic side of me was not satisfied with this, however, I wanted a boy, perhaps Brandon, to have approached her for a dance.

Simone stupidly believed Tyler the first time when he said that he and Jordan were over-they were the "it" couple, so she should have waited and watched a little before she agreed to have any sort of relationship with hi,. The movie does indicate who exactly ended their first little fling, but it became clear that neither one were emotionally over it. I really don't like the Senior/Sophomore "romance" concept which combined with the age of the actors made it more disturbing. Simone flirted with poor smitten Lucas, but told him he was the substitute...and then broke a promise to him TWICE because of Tyler. Tyler told Simone that he would break up with Jordan for her after prom, so Simone was obviously okay with being a cheater herself. When Jordan broke up with Tyler, he told Simone that he broke up with Jordan. Simone then turned her back publicly at prom on Tyler when she found out that Jordan was the one that broke up with Tyler. Apparently she wanted to be treated perfectly even when she broke promises and basically cheated with Tyler. Lucas welcomed her with open arms after she dumped Tyler at the prom. Simone is just as much a jerk as Tyler; she did anything to get what she wanted and expected to be treated like a princess. She never really repented. I hated her.
                                         
Lucas is a cute little kid that in his turn was unkind to his best friend Corey, but he apologized. His apology comes after Simone had left him in the dirt for the second time which makes me question his sincerity, but at least he apologizes. There is a creepy smelling-the-breath moment between Corey and Lucas that was played for laughs, but I found it disgusting especially in light of Corey's rather androgynous hair cut.

Mei and Justin had been together since middle school, but Mei had a secret that she was keeping from Justin which made her emotional, and she took out her feelings on him. He thought she did not want to go to prom with him which really hurt him, so he told her that they were not attending prom. She eventually explained everything, and he was really sweet about it. She should have apologized for treating him so poorly even though he forgave her instantly. He was the perfect boyfriend.                                            
Lloyd was a friend of Justin's, but for most of the movie he seemed random. I find it impossible to believe that he could not find any girl in time for prom. I think almost any boy would find some girl that would say yes to him unless he was seriously repulsive. I suppose his part was for comic relief, but I really thought it was silly and annoying; the movie would probably be better without it.
                     
I think the movies steers away from strong stereotypes or at least gives us believable ones. Jesse appeared at first to be the bad boy. He did have a harder life than Nova, but I still think that he had some small issues that were not right. He is revealed to not actually fit the "bad boy" stereotype. I thought Nova's father was quite cruel to him, and at least in the version I saw Jesse was not given the apology he deserved even after it appeared Nova's father was somewhat aware of his crime after Nova told him that he ruined her day.

Nova did not dress very modestly (although there was a humorous part where Jesse gave her a risqué prom dress to try on...and she did not even come out in it; she obviously had some limits), but she was a very sweet girl. I liked that she was the good student and not the popular diva girl. Her devotion to prom was ludicrous even though it may be somewhat realistic (my sister has said that girls at her school would tan starting in January to prepare for prom). I thought the movie was harsh on her first crush, Brandon; he was not a jerk-he was clueless, and he did not have to like her! When Nova was upset about Jesse, she took some of her turmoil out on Brandon-none of it was his fault!

I loved the Nova and Jesse story. The movie ended happily for almost everyone. I really enjoyed it, and I believe I would watch it again.

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