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destressjournal · 3 years

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DCOM Rankings #61: High School Musical

Confession time: I did not see this movie when it premiered and I thought it was going to be lame. The only reason I ended up watching was because I was over my friend’s house and she just happened to have it on her TV. It was probably a few weeks after it premiered. Who knew it would be the pop culture phenomenon it is today, and that there is STILL content being released by Disney based on this movie. (HSM:TM:TS, which I have seen the first season btw, and I honestly thought it was really cute, like, I was invested, AND they take on harder-hitting topics and they swear! I mean they say “hell” which is a big deal in my book for shows like this).

ANYWAY. To save you all the trouble, I put this at the top of my A+ list. Shocker to no one. Like, it’s one of the most popular DCOM’s of all time for a reason. But I’m gonna break all my personal reasons down for why I put it on top, and I’ll vocalize it’s flaws as well.

I’ll do the flaws first, as always, because it will be a short list.

- I think the biggest flaw is the fact that older audiences may be a little more turned off by this movie. And it’s because of the themes and how the characters react to their classmates doing something outside their comfort zone. The high school in this movie (and in most other teen movies like mean girls) is portrayed as this toxic culture where people are put in specific groups and labeled certain things. Everyone has their “place” at the top or bottom of the food chain. There’s the populars, the jocks, the geeks, the skater dudes, the punks, the drama kids, etc. I think most of us know American high school is not really like that in real life. Yes people have their cliques and I’m sure there is some bullying, but nothing like this.

I’m getting off track. The flaw isn’t that the high school isn’t portrayed accurately (I mean, its just how high school is portrayed and we kinda just accept it). I’m saying that teens need the message of “do the things you’re passionate about” and “be yourself” and “don’t care about what others think” a lot more than adults do. Teens are normally more insecure, and may not want to do something they like because it’s “weird” or “not normal for them”. This kinda reminds me of Eddie’s million dollar cook off. Eddie loves to cook and he spent the whole movie being scared of what others might think. At least when I was a teenager, I didn’t want to stand out, I just wanted to fit in like everyone else. And the message of the movie targets kids like me and says “it’s okay to like other things! It’s okay to be passionate about something that others might think is weird. It’s okay to just be your true authentic self.” Now that I’m an adult, I know this already. People don’t care NEARLY as much what others think. So adults may not care as much about the message because normally they don’t need it. The message mostly applies to teens and pre-teens, and I just have a hard time relating to the characters now that I’m in my 20’s. I really just could have said that last sentence instead of going off on a tangent but hey, it’s my post.

-the logic. Again, not 100% what would happen in real life. And I’m not talking about the spontaneous breaking-out-into-song. It’s mostly when both the scholastic decathalon team and the basketball team create a diversion so that Troy and Gabriella can make it to the audition in time. I mean how much effort do you think it would take to “hack the mainframe” in real life?? Also, how sharpay and Ryan (mostly sharpay) is just totally fine with being the understudy and is singing along with the rest of the group at the end. I think if this was a trilogy from the start, they would have kept sharpay angry and the 2nd movie would be about revengeeeee!

-gabriella’s solo song...the song is fine! It’s just the whole “misunderstanding” scenario is pretty overused and it’s the weakest part of the movie, which i think everyone agrees with. And then as soon and she sings it and taylor and Chad realized they made a mistake, they apologized so quickly it made my head spin. Like woah that was quick, like. C’mon we need to get the plot moving! I feel like it would have been more realistic for them to continue sabatoshing until they hear Troy and Gabriella at the audition. But I understand why they went this direction, is because they wanted to showcase how people from different “groups” can work together and achieve something.

Okay that’s it. Everything else ranges from super cute to flawless. Let’s explore that, shall we??

-zac efron and vanessa hudgens really know how to make great chemistry with these characters. Wow! All their interactions are just the most adorable I’ve ever seen...like you just can’t help but root for these guys!

-sharpay as an antagonist is pretty good and still likable! She poses a real threat, actually tries to sabotage their chances of auditioning, and represents the need to keep things as they are. She doesn’t want things to change because in her world she is on top. But you can’t help but marvel at her presence. Ashley Tisdale nails it in this movie (and in the following movies as well)

-even though I think the theme isn’t something adults can relate to, I think it’s a GREAT message for teens. I already explained me reasoning so I won’t go through it again, but high school is the time where you can explore anything you want and find out where you’re true passions lie. Even though I work in public health now, I’m glad I didn’t do that stuff in high school. I did what I was passionate about, which was, oddly enough, singing, but more choir and less musical and stage shows (although I did stage crew and love that as well). But you know...gotta make that money, and I’m still kind of a chicken singing solo so, wouldn’t have been a good career path for me. Still, in high school, just do what you want, but at least do SOMETHING. Don’t just zip by without participating in any clubs or organizations! That’s my advice for you high schoolers.

-the fact that it is a musical because I love musicals. And the songs are amazing!!! Everyone knows them at this point. I remember getting the cd and playing it on my portable CD player and just jamming out!

- story-wise, I think the plot moves along nicely! The characters dynamics feels natural within the context of the movie. Every scene is important, although having Chad talk to Troy about his singing a total of 3 times was a bit much. Maybe twice was good enough. But also, they left a deleted scene in the movie! No wonder it was an hour and 38 minutes (normally DCOM’s are an hour and 28 minutes) I’m kind of glad they kept it in, it was just another cute scene between them.

- the acting is just so great! The choreography is also fansastic. And yeah...Kenny Ortega.

-the movie is just a good time. It doesn’t have any extremely deep themes but it has important ones, and you get invested in the characters and the story really easily. It’s such an easy watch and now I have all the songs stuck in my head. Even 15 years later, this DCOM still bangs hard. Can’t wait to review its sequel (I will not be reviewing the third movie as a DCOM but I plan to review it as part of my high school movie genre ranking, which I’m doing after the DCOMs.)

I think that’s about it, really. I just love this movie so much. And nostalgia was obviously a huge factor on why I put this on the top. I have no shame.

The next movie is one that all my friends love but I really haven’t seen the whole thing, so this will be interesting!!

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