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For the Fandango Family Filmgoer: A Parent's Take on 'Prom'

By: Tara McNamara on April 29, 2011 at 3:38PM Comments (9)

Tara McNamara, editor of KidsPickFlicks.com, guests on our Fandango Freshly Popped Blog with her mom's take on Prom, and why a Disney-fied version of the big night might be a good thing, at least if you're a parent of said teen moviegoer…

PromProm should be mandatory viewing for teenagers. If we parents band together, perhaps life will eventually imitate art as depicted in this Disney-fied version of prom night.
 
In Disney's Prom, the kids aren't thinking about hotel rooms, hiding flasks or getting under a girl's hoop skirt. They're just concerned with whom they'll be taking to prom. That's it. And that's awesome.
 
When I think of prom in the media, I think of horror movies like Carrie and Prom Night, and television episodes like "90210" where Donna gets drunk and this season's "Parenthood" where Hattie loses her virginity. With the media's consistent depictions of prom as a night of debauchery, high school students practically have society's permission to stay out all night and get hammered in hotel rooms. Yikes!
 
My prom back in 1988 involved a group hotel room at the La Quinta, stashes of Strawberry Hill and sneaking over a fence to get busy behind a pool house. A recent high school grad told me her prom night involved the majority of her senior class being chased through a hotel by cops. As the mother of a 16-year-old, American parents have disappointed me by not getting this cleaned up by now.
 
If life imitates art, then I propose an experiment. Only let kids see movies that show a more innocent prom night. Let's reprogram our teens to think that the extracurricular activities of Prom Night are similar to, say, Back to School Night. Are you in?
 
Start the brainwashing this weekend with Disney's Prom! Follow it up with some High School Musical 3, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and any other prom thrown by Mickey Mouse. Teens can watch more realistic portrayals of prom once they graduate high school. I want my kid to think that once the Prom King and Queen are announced, it's time to take the date back home…sober, chaste and in my parental eyes, perfect.
 
To read what kids think about Prom, go to www.KidsPickFlicks.com.
 
And for more upcoming Family Films, click to our Family-Friendly Guide.

 

Categories: Family Films

Comments (9)Leave a Comment

  • May 6th 2011 9:24AM

    Venom400  said...

    This is funny and so typical . So you are telling me (the reviewer) that you got drunk on your prom night , got laid in the back of a pool house and you don't want your kids doing the same thing ? I think you came out to be ok , instead of brain washing your kids why don't you advise your teenage daughter that if she does decide to have sex (trust me if she does there is nothing you can do about it ) to have safer sex with condoms and pick the guy she wants to be with intelligently instead of some jock . As you may remember when you were her age you didn't necessarily asked your mom what kind of movies you could watch , and in 2 years she will be a legal consenting adult , so you can't hide her forever .

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  • May 5th 2011 6:51PM

    meatthemovies4  said...

    Great insight to a good movie. Maybe I should home school???

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  • May 2nd 2011 11:00AM

    jules2c  said...

    As parents it is our responsibility to guide our children in the process of decision making and life choices. As great as these movies are, I also think it's important to teach our children that the debauchery does exist and how we expect them to behave in the presence of bad influences. Exposing kids to both sides of the coin is the only way they can learn to make truly informed decisions. Thank you for sharing your view and prompting some deep thought!

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  • May 2nd 2011 10:03AM

    trailerfan  said...

    I like the tongue-in-cheek comment about so-called "brainwashing" of your kids...at least i hope it's tongue-in-cheek...but if you want to protect them from most of the junk out there and put them in a pop culture bubble, you'll need to start from 4 or 5...good luck!

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  • Apr 30th 2011 4:45AM

    lovestalentmoviefan  said...

    Nicely written...and needed.Don't give up hope

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  • Apr 29th 2011 4:20PM

    mman  said...

    This is a good review.

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  • Apr 29th 2011 4:26PM

    mman  said...

    Movie tickets: $8.00. Popcorn: $10.00. Candy: $5.00. The reaction to that idiot that posted the same comment too many times on Fandango: Priceless. (My computer spazzed out. Again.)

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  • Apr 29th 2011 4:46PM

    Cookie-Chan  said...

    It's not your computer, it's fandango's website because it happened to me today. So unless both our computer's are flipping out which is highly unlikely it's the website, plus I'm using facebook and comingsoon.net at the same time and they are both fast and working without hiccups. So it's all good.

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  • May 2nd 2011 3:21AM

    gia421  said...

    MINE HAS DONE THAT TOO!!!! I WROTE ONE TIME IT CAME UP 3 TIMES WTF !!!!!

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