Homework #57: Initial Thoughts on Prom

Prom has always been an event in the future, something that I never really thought about. It was always going to happen and I gave no thought as to why. When our prom was almost cancelled this year most people were annoyed, upset, or scared they were going to lose money, but why? Why is it so important to us that we have this event? It celebrates the end of our high school career one might say, but then, what is graduation? When actually asked for the reason for prom’s existence, I would not be able to give a concrete answer. It is simply a celebration where students can come together with the people with whom they have spent the last four years of their lives and experience a couple last moments together. In class today we talked about how it is a transformative experience, that we enter one person and exit another. I do not agree with that ideology, or at least in modern times. Nobody seems very different after prom at all, even if they have secretly glimpsed the “lives of adults.” I do not think prom is quite as transformative as it perhaps used to be. Teenagers now have more access to adulthood, or at least living in New York City. While for someone living in a small town in Iowa, it might be nice to feel like an adult for one night, I doubt that it has quite the same significance to someone who has grown up in such a vibrant city. Prom has become a night where we might indulge ourselves more than usual, but does not necessarily give us a feeling of transformation. The alcohol that might have been for the special occasion is now part of every week, losing its significance. Buying an expensive dress is not out of the ordinary because everything has become so expensive. Prom is still a significant event, but not necessarily a transformative one.

Like everything we have studied, there is an industry behind the pivotal moments of prom. Girls feel the need to dress up, wearing exotic gowns and high heels, while boys are pressured into buying suits. Of course the night is topped off with a stretch limo for transportation and the infamous after prom. Let alone the extra necessities, the actual venue, food, music, all of it adds up in cost. For perhaps a four-hour event, millions of dollars are being made by the prom industry. Therefore one might ask, is this the sole reason for prom? Simply because of the profit it provides? I do not think so. The money gain was not the initial intention in creating the ceremony, however the celebration has become much more profit-oriented. At the beginning I am sure there was some special significance, which then slowly withered away as society developed industrially. This also probably attests to why it is not as transformative of an experience as before. The morals and ideology behind prom have dissolved, thus people do not go into the event expecting anything in return, besides a good time. Paying all of this money seems almost a waste, for should it not change you in some way? Prom I am sure would be just as fun of an experience without the dresses and limos, but of course they are firmly woven into the expectations for the occasion.

While it may not be transformative anymore, prom is clearly a significant moment for many people. Today the article about the adults who were “re-living” their proms clearly demonstrated the impact of the event. I find the whole idea ridiculous. Prom has lost any internal value; therefore I see no reason to continue to re live it. Its whole appeal now is that it is this once in a lifetime celebration, with the people whom the person has spent four years of their life with. By recreating it as adults, one, the event is repeated and therefore not as special and two, you might be with your date but otherwise your with a roomful of strangers. It is simply impossible to mock the celebration of prom. The way you might have changed when you were 17 or 18, if the experience were to be transformative at all, would differ entirely from the experience as a 25 to 60 year old. Prom holds esteem only among teenagers. For adults to feel the need to dress up and treat themselves to luxury, they might as well spend the money on a relaxing vacation, or something that could actually be effective in transforming them. It seems foolish to again indulge themselves in a celebration that holds nothing in it for them. The truth is, the night cannot be recreated, which is why it has become such a special day, even if it is lacking in transformative experiences.

- Why do we have prom?
- How did this image of being adult come to be?
- What would happen if a school were to not have a prom? Would this have some unnoticed impact on the students?
- How does prom differ now from what it used to be? Is this a bad development?