As a kid, one of the things I most looked forward to in life was going to prom, just like all of the girls in the TV shows I loved to watch. It’s one of those things that you count down the days to and romanticize in your head when trying to fall asleep at night. But when you actually get there, it can be sort of a let down. Every year, the Junior class student council picks two themes and has the student body vote for which one they like the best. This year, the prom theme is “The Great Gatsby,” which is centered on the 1920s with a black and gold color palette. There are quite a few mixed opinions about this theme, but I personally think that they should’ve picked a different one.
At first, the prospect of the prom’s theme being based off of the book juniors are reading in AP Language Composition (AP Lang), seemed cool and fun. However, getting into the book, I have realized how unfortunate it actually is. The theme itself isn’t bad. However, mixing something as fun as prom with the memory of my English class is not ideal. To be honest, the book itself isn’t bad either, but I will forever be confused by all of the symbolism our teachers make us look for while reading. The main problem is that “The Great Gatsby” unit and prom season overlap in a less than convenient way, as we have our last reading check the day before prom and have to go into the next week thinking about writing essays and answering socratic seminar questions.
Even if I manage to separate prom from the past few months of reading in English, I still have a few concerns. Number one is that it will be very hard to make the theme feel authentic. One of the things I think can make or break a theme is how everyone dresses up to fit said theme. Naturally, high school students don’t care that much about dressing to the theme as long as they find a pretty dress or suit, but this is especially true for a theme like “The Great Gatsby.” It is way harder to find a 1920s style dress than it is to match your outfit to the color scheme and vibe of something like “Starry Night” or “Enchanted Forest.”
The lack of on-theme attire leaves only the decorations to convince me that I’m transported back in time to Gatsby’s mansion at one of his extravagant parties. The student council prom budget most likely does not have enough money to pull this off. The upside of this being the prom theme instead of the homecoming theme is that, rather than having this dance in the school cafeteria, we have it at a nice venue, the Hyatt Regency. However, I can’t look past the fact that a hotel is most definitely not Gatsby’s mansion, no matter how hard it tries.
In any case, I’m definitely not the type to think prom has to be perfect or that when I walk into the room I’m suddenly going to see Leonardo DiCaprio walking around in a suit and tie. However, I do think this prom theme leaves too much room for error. It will be hard for students to imagine themselves back in the roaring 20s and will most likely just remind juniors about the In any case, I’m definitely not the type to think prom has to be perfect or that when I walk into the room I’m suddenly going to see Leonardo DiCaprio walking around in a suit and tie. However, I do think this prom theme leaves too much room for error. It will be hard for students to imagine themselves back in the roaring 20s and will most likely just remind juniors about the essay they have to write next week. All in all, this theme could be great if it didn’t directly co-habitate with my English assignments, and if students had an unlimited budget for decor and actual theme-appropriate outfits.
