Unsurprisingly, Ryan Murphy’s Netflix adaptation of The Prom has been bogged down with controversy over the past few weeks due to James Corden’s – in the words of one critic – “gross and offensive” portrayal of a gay man.
While we don’t disagree, there’s so much to enjoy here – and Corden, a heterosexual, shouldn’t be the focal talking point in a film that celebrates same-sex romance and acceptance.
Based on the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical of the same name, The Prom follows struggling four actors as they travel to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana, to help a lesbian student (Jo Ellen Pellman), who has been banned from bringing her girlfriend (Ariana DeBose) to prom.