This American Life - 186: Prom

While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. When they emerged from the dance, they discovered what had happened, and in the weeks that followed, they tried to explain to themselves why the tornado hit where it did. Plus other stories that happen on Prom Night. Prologue: A high school boy explains how prom is the culmination of his effort to get in with a cool group of people. (5 minutes) Act One: Susan Burton reports on Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas, a town of about 3,000. While the seniors danced, a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. When they emerged from the dance, they discovered what had happened, and in the weeks that followed, they tried to explain to themselves why the tornado hit where it did. (25 minutes) Act Two: Host Ira Glass talks with Francine Pascal, who's written or invented the plot lines for over 700 books for teenagers in the various Sweet Valley High series....Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley University, Sweet Valley Senior Year. She explains why a prom story is a must for teen movies and TV shows. (6 minutes) Act Three: For a more typical view of prom night, we hear prom night at Chicago's Taft High School. (9 minutes) Act Four: In this act, we argue that the epicenter of prom genius—the place where America's prom future is being born—is the town of Racine, Wisconsin. In Racine, they've added one ingredient to prom that takes it to a whole new level of intensity. Reported by Wendy Dorr. (10 minutes)

Duration: 58m
Broadcast on: 05 May 2024
Audio Format: other

It was junior prom, David stayed at Ditchdom, and he wasn't doing so great. As he walked to get some cigarettes, he explained to me that the prom was the culmination of a three-year campaign on his part to get him with a cool crowd, a mostly white crowd. It began when he arrived at Lincoln Park High School. See, this is the story between the right... Since I was a freshman, when I first came to Lincoln Park, I was like, total nerd, eco, right? So, of course, I see all these glamorous, beautiful girls, and I'm like, damn, I'm only a dream of having them, right? Or just even taking them out on a date and even doing anything physical with them, right? Third year, first junior prom at Lincoln Park, the most gorgeous girl in school, I asked her to prom. She says, "Yes." So, well, goddamn, you know, I changed a lot. Since sophomore year, I got into this crowd and stuff, and they just changed my speech, my dress, and all that stuff. I'm still the same person, I just changed. I'm just, this is a popular crowd, and I'm just popular now. So, I end up going, right? I know she has a history of being incredibly moody. She's so gorgeous to take her anyway, you know, just, because, I mean, if I go with her this year, and she's so gorgeous, then all these other girls will say, "Damn, I have to go with him now." If she, if he's good enough for her, he's definitely good enough for me. I'm like, fine, that's going to boost my rep a little bit. And I'll tell you this, I wanted something physical. I wanted to either just fool around with her, meaning kiss her, kiss her, feel her up or whatever, be even more, you know, go all the way or whatever. I wasn't counting on that, I was here to have fun, and that would be like a nice feature to it. That'd be a bonus, you know, if I wasn't pushing anything. Sure enough, her and her alleged best friend get into a fight, and here I am alone, with my drum and coke. The prom, we don't make kids go into the army in this country, we don't make them go to college, we don't make them get married. But if they're still in school when they're 18, they collide with the impenetrable fact that is the prom. If they go to a school with a junior prom, they get it twice. And then they have to take a stand, go, not go, have some kind of experience, use it to try to climb to a new group of friends, use it to try to get the girl, just try to get through it. The stakes are weirdly high for a one-night thing. Good luck. As we get older, I think a lot of people tend to roll their eyes at the idea of prom. 'Cause years later, there's something about it that just feels embarrassing, especially if you went. The clothes and the corsage, the corny music, just the whole thing. I speak for myself, it's embarrassing to think how thrilled I was to go out that night, how the whole thing seemed fraught with possibility. To me and to a lot of us. And so today, we're in the midst of prom season right now. We bring you four stories of the prom. Let us understand it as adults. Like one of our programs today, tornado prom. What happens when a natural disaster strikes the same night as the unnatural disaster that is the prom? Act two, save the last dance for me. Again, Francine Pascal, the nominal author of 700 Books for Teenagers, including the Sweet Valley High Books, explains why teen stories always have to end at the prom. Act three, only two things are certain in life, death and tuxes. In this act, you can experience over the radio a complete, typical prom. And oh, just look at the time, that only gives you half an hour to find a date. Act four, only one thing missing is the epicenter of prom genius. Is the place where the prom future is being born? The town of Racine, Wisconsin. They have added one ingredient to the prom that takes to a whole new level of intensity, one magic ingredient. To find out what it is, stay with us.

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