During the Christmas break, I watched the hit Broadway musical called the Prom with my mom and younger sister. It came out on Broadway on Nov.18, 2018, but with COVID-19, the Prom’s last Broadway performance was in August of 2019. Recently, it came out on Netflix on Dec. 4.

This American comedy musical film follows a young teenage girl named Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) from Indiana who just wants to be able to have the chance to go to the prom with her girlfriend Alyssa (Ariana DeBrose), but because she is a lesbian, the head of the PTA announces that prom will be canceled due to her personal beliefs and how they should have a traditional prom instead. Emma starts to get harassed and bullied at school because she was believed to be the reason that prom got canceled. Two narcissistic Broadway stars, Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Step) and Barry Glickerman (James Corden) along with Trent Oliver, a Juilliard graduate (Andrew Rannells), and Angie Dikinson, a performer ( Nicole Kidman) come to find out about Emma’s story and go to Indiana to help fight for Emma to go to prom as Dee Dee and Barry believed that if they help fight for such a big cause, it will make them look more caring and selfless. 

Emma started having a special friendship with these four performers, and together along with Principal Hawkins(Keegan Michael Key) they all helped Emma with her case and fought for her right to be able to go to prom and be able to live like a normal high school girl, even if she happens to be a lesbian. By the end, Emma gets the chance of a lifetime and actually gets to go to prom. 

What I liked about this movie was that it was based on a civil rights act and that all people are equal, and that everyone deserves to go to prom even if they have different beliefs on sexuality. I also liked how Alyssa was able to come out to her mom and tell her that she was gay and even though her mom didn’t accept her at first, she soon came to realize that she would always love her daughter no matter what and that she just wants to see her happy. I also liked that people- like Emma’s classmates- realize that being gay is not a bad thing and they end up apologizing to Emma for bullying her and making fun of her, as well as to Alyssa, for not accepting who she is as a person.

One of my favorite songs from the movie was probably the song that Emma sang when she came out online which was called “Unruly Heart.” When Dee Dee told Emma she got her on a TV show, where she would’ve come out and told her story to a wide world audience, Emma rejected the offer and said she wanted to do it her way. The reason I liked that song was because throughout that song, people in the LGBT community were not feeling as embarrassed as they were before about who they are, and I felt like Emma’s song inspired these people to accept themselves and not have to feel like they have to hide who they are or lock the feelings away. They should love themselves for who they are, even if other people can’t. 

Overall I do recommend that you should watch this movie. Even though I didn’t really understand the beginning at first like I thought it would always just be about Emma and not the performers, but as I continued watching, I came to understand that they were people on Broadway who just wanted to help Emma. If you are a fan of musicals or not, this movie has such great music as well as an amazing storyline with a happy ending, so I highly recommend you give this movie a shot.