Prom Date film

So we’re getting close to the weekend again and you’re probably thinking, “Gosh, I’d like a new fun gay movie to watch. Are there any?” Well, might I suggest the mostly ridiculous, but also generally enjoyable “Prom Dates” on Hulu. Yes, it’s another high school comedy. Yes, it’s kind of like “Superbad” but for teen girls. Yes, there are two best friends – one straight and one lesbian. Yes, there is some uneven writing and plotlines but, again, no worse than a lot of the entirely straight programming I’ve sat through. The plot, such that there is one, involves both teens finding themselves dateless right before prom and their subsequent quest to find dates for prom. Look, it can’t all be Shakespeare. The two leads, Julia Lester and Antonia Gentry, are pretty likable. The story moves at a pleasant clip (and at an hour and 25 minutes is The perfect length). The coming out storyline isn’t the queer teen’s only personality trait. And they even work to humanize said queer teen’s recently dumped boyfriend (he was just the dorky Asian guy punchline for a while, but they managed to mostly save it).

I would say “Prom Dates” fits comfortably into the “Booksmart” (an admittedly better movie about one gay and one straight high school besties), “Crush” (criminally underrated) and “Blockers” (also pretty underrated) genre of smarter than they seem teen comedies with prominent lesbian leads. Also, three out of those four are all on Hulu (“Booksmart sadly doesn’t appear to be streaming for free anywhere which RUDE). So, if you want to have a crazy queer lady weekend I suggest binging all those teen films and then ending your night with the adults and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (also available on Hulu). You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel super gay. And that’s a good thing.

p.s. [MILD SPOILER] My one quibble is what’s with lesbian teen comedies where the lesbian teen vomits on someone’s chest and/or has her chest vomited on? Like this has never once been a problem I have encountered in my several decades as a gay woman. Not. Once. But it happens in “Booksmart” and “Prom Dates.” Who can we talk about this unwanted queer stomach content representation?