TV Prom Moments vs. OCSA

Sophie Bradecich

OCSA seniors have finally experienced their last prom. It is probably healthier to move on and let go. Look towards a future filled with college parties and sorority formals. But, with senioritis comes nostalgia, so let’s compare our experiences with the Prom moments from film and TV that set our expectations so high.

One of the first and most memorable Prom moments I saw was an older pick. “Grease”’s Prom scene did exactly what a Prom scene should. The dancers on the cast made Prom look much more like a professional ballroom competition, filled with drama, man-stealing and jealousy. Though the choreography gave a more flash mob-y quality to the movie, the skilled dancers don’t stray far from OCSA’s reality. Although experiencing school dances alongside insanely talented CMD, BCD, BF and BR students has been extremely humbling for “strong” movers like myself, it does give our proms more of that movie-like quality.

“High School Musical” is a similar case to “Grease.” Though their “Prom moment” is a performance rather than an  actual dance, it feels neglectful not to include the movie that produced the best Prom song of all time. “A Night To Remember” should be added to DJ Josh Kim’s rotation—chock-full of all the perfect cliches, I feel it does an especially good job at capturing the overwhelming nature of all the prom necessities: corsages, unique but trendy dress, sharing a bathroom with siblings or friends also frantically getting ready and more.  

One of my personal least favorites is the “Mean Girls” Spring Fling. It may be because I am more partial to watching Proms that create drama instead of solving them. We don’t see a whole lot of the dance itself, but many seniors this year may have been able to relate to Cady’s dash from her Mathlete competition to Prom, as many seniors came from college Welcome Days which, of course, were all planned for the same day. 

A Prom moment I hope nobody relates to or tries to recreate is the final scene from “Twilight.” Bella shows up with a broken foot after being attacked by another vampire and attempts to get Edward to turn her into a vampire as well. They do go outside and awkwardly slow dance to “Iron & Wine” in a gazebo, which I hear Prom this year had as well. Maybe there would have been more “Twilight” re-enactments had the weather permitted. 

Though each OCSA student has their own experience with Prom, these were the movies that filled me with both excitement and fear. Now that I am officially done with school dances, I will have to cling to these movies to relive the best and worst moments of high school. Some other honorable mentions for great Prom scenes are from “Glee,” “Ladybird” and “10 Things I Hate About You.”