Nerd Friday: The Importance of the Prom/Ball Scene in Teenage Films

The importance of prom scenes in the teen film gives an unrealistic image of what the Prom/Ball is like. Most of these films are set in America so i cannot say if they are genuinely like that or if it is just different in the UKbut I have never watched a prom and thought it was anything like mine. I have racked my brain and the memories of all of the films i have seen and tried to think of examples of film scenes which have a prom in them. So here they are 4 films/TV episodes which have prom in them and which feature varying ranges of fakeness:

1. Mean Girls
The final scene is the prom scene and everything leads up to this moment. Not only does Cady get the man of her dreams but she gets redemption from everyone at the school and all the things she had done wrong whilst she had been at the school. Firstly i would like to point out that no one truly has mean girls in their school like Regina George but it is very rare that someone would have done something as bad as Cady has that the WHOLE year is annoyed. This sort of thing rarely happens and whilst i was at school there were bitchy girls but no one on the scale of the Mean Girls.

2. Glimore Girls
In season 1, episode 9 Rory goes to her prom at her new posh school, Chilton, and she invites her new boyfriend, Dean to accompany her. Her feelings towards prom consist of fear which is the the feeling that most people feel before they attend such an event but once again drama is the main attraction of the prom in this episode. Two boys fight over Rory and lets face it that is kind of the dream for any girl and her enemy, Paris embarrasses herself. Rory has the dream prom so you definitely should not compare your prom to hers.

3. Twilight
Despite the prom scene being very short it shows Bella and Edward as normal people. They take part in a key part of school life. It is all very romantic and if the setting of my prom has looked like the part where they are outside i probably would have enjoyed it more. It is the most realistic of all of the proms as there is no real drama and they have a good time with each other and their friends.

4. 10 Things i Hate About You
Once again this film has a Mean Girl feel about the prom, it is very dramatic and provides redemption and realisations for the characters. This is my favourite prom scene as any prom these days would not be anything like this Prom as it is a film from the 90s and looks so dated but awesome at the same time. There are fights, kissing and lame dancing, all the best things about prom.

The point is that as a teenager you see all of these films and prom is built up to be such a big deal but in reality it is a big deal but nothing interesting really happens, you have a good time with your friends and maybe your date. Just remember it will be over as soon as it starts and slowly it will become an old memory in your life which is a bit more bland than the memories you create when you start Uni or get older in life. Prom is good and important at the time but it is not the end of all parties so even if it sucks you will have the opportunity to go to more Balls and parties.

This concludes the week of posts about Prom/Ball, i hope you have enjoyed all of the posts for these week and have found them useful and next week will be back to regular posts.