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deborahdeshoftim5779 · 7 years

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The Marvel of Trelsi (Part XIII)

Man, I’m beat at the end of THIS week. So much stuff to do, and so little of it based on writing. A rich husband would be much appreciated.

Anyway, let’s return to Trelsi. In the last instalment, I did an analysis of three Kelsi Nielsen songs in order to demonstrate the kind of person that would interest Kelsi romantically in an ideal situation. I alluded to the fact that Kelsi’s expectations are idealistic, because the reality of her situation doesn’t bear much resemblance to those poetic lyrics and catchy melodies. Like I’ve said, I’m adding questions as they occur to me; I’m not just interested in examining Trelsi, but understanding Troy Bolton and Kelsi Nielsen as people, and that means discussing their interactions with others. My next question is as follows:

Question-- What can we learn about Kelsi Nielsen from her canonical relationships?

Disclaimer: No “Ryelsi” will be discussed.

This is fascinating to me. First of all, let’s get to the bottom of Kelsi’s canonical relationship with Jason Cross and the implications thereof.

I’ve just been rewatching some of HSM I in Google Play, just to see whether there is any avenue for Jason Cross to have known about Kelsi prior to meeting her in the gym. I’ve scrolled as slowly as I can, but was unable to find such a place. It might have made sense for Jason to notice her during the performance of “Breaking Free”, but that would be impossible, given that Kelsi’s back was to the audience, and she only seemed interested in either the music or in Troy blossoming onstage. I’ve rewatched the scene where Jason formally and silently introduces himself, and it looks, for all intents and purposes, to be a spur on the moment decision to help her sink a shot. I like this scene. Even before shipping Trelsi, I considered it sweet, even though heavily in line with every other character being paired off for pairing’s sake. Even at this stage, Kelsi is still so often overlooked in favour of other girls (the gym is full of cheerleaders) that the decision to get to know her better often comes on a whim. I still can’t decide whether Troy intended to make friends with Kelsi earlier in HSM I, but if he only did so after she tripped over, then that would be a mirror to how Jason is later introduced to Kelsi. And once again, Kelsi’s surprise is a sign of how she is not yet used to being noticed by others, let alone boys (and a jock like Jason!). However, since being introduced to Troy, she has grown in confidence and thus she most notably does not react with the dumbfounded astonishment of before. In fact, her smile is more confident as Jason helps her shoot a hoop, which she appears to enjoy.

Contrary to what the movie wishes for us to believe, I do not think that Jason and Kelsi instantly hit it off after this encounter. I am making assumptions here, but given what we know of Kelsi’s serious attitude towards love and relationships, I cannot see her deciding to put her trust in Jason before they had spent more time together. Fortunately, they had the rest of the school year to do so, and by the summer (HSM II), they are established as an item. By the beginning of HSM III, however, we are to infer that they have broken up and this raises a number of important questions and issues. First of all, what made Jason choose Kelsi out of all the other girls he could have easily had? Remember that Jason is a jock, and therefore from the Supreme Class, according to the Philosophy of Danforth. I assume that he saw something in her that other people didn’t, or maybe he was intrigued by her shyly and awkwardly clutching a basketball, and decided to help her out. I don’t pretend to know the answers here, because we’re just not given that information. What does seem apparent is that Kelsi was still shy around boys-- notice her somewhat hunched shoulders when the basketball team cheered around her. Of course, we didn’t see that kind of shyness around the boys of the Drama Club, so I’m assuming that this was caused by 1)- the social status of the basketballers, 2)- possibly their physical stature, 3)- the shyness possibly being provoked when close to people she was attracted to. Either way, it appears that Jason knows what to do in order to lower Kelsi’s walls. She doesn’t seem to mind as he tosses her hat side and allows her hair to flow free, as is the clichéd method in romantic comedies. From around HSM III, Kelsi wears fewer hats (and even then, only as an accessory, rather than to hide her face) and wears her hair longer, perhaps a testament to Jason’s influence on her. What’s interesting about this is that Jason is pretty awkward himself, so perhaps he saw a kindred spirit and decided to work up the courage to introduce himself.

Kelsi and Jason scenes are so tiny as to be almost invisible, but we can get some idea of what their relationship might have been like. I think the key thing to note is an easy affection between the two of them. I would not describe either of them as being in love, but just having the typical teenage feelings associated with one’s first relationship. I am almost certain that this is Kelsi’s first relationship; there is no way you can be that shy and have a boyfriend prior), and I think the same might be true for Jason, but not necessarily. Why is this significant? Because it’s nothing like what Kelsi either really expects or wants in a relationship. I have mentioned the danger of lofty expectations here and here, stating that this might lead to dissatisfaction on Kelsi’s part when she inevitably did not receive what she wanted. However, given this contrast, I do not think that Kelsi was intending to “settle” for Jason at all; it takes a lot for her to break down her walls, and I think that she would only invest in a relationship that she considered worthwhile. Like I’ve said in my song analysis, Kelsi does not half-step when it comes to relationships. Unlike Sharpay, she doesn’t view boys as sport, and unlike Gabriella, she does not take the business of being in a relationship for granted. Once inside the relationship, Kelsi would have committed completely.

What does Kelsi see in Jason? Well, he seems kind, often fumbles and bumbles around, but in a well-meaning way. He seems thoughtful and doesn’t need her to impress him with sports skill before he notices her. Without even asking, he helps her sink a shot through the hoops and smiles at her as though this was her victory.

So why, by the beginning of HSM III have they not only broken up, but Jason has jumped ship immediately to the popular head cheerleader Martha? Well, the seeds were sown during HSM II where, on at least two or three occasions, you can see Jason either hugging or putting his arm around Martha. In fact, after the kids have finished dancing outside of East High to mark the summer, Jason turns and hugs Martha first before Kelsi. Later on, he has his arm around Martha as he comes into the practice room to sing “You Are The Music In Me”. Because the film narrative pays little attention to Kelsi when she isn’t either composing music or with Troy and Gabriella, we don’t know anything about these little scenes beyond their mere existence, and thus we know very little about Kelsi’s reaction. Fortunately for you guys, we can rely on my musings in Google Docs to fill in the gaps. There are two ways that Kelsi could have reacted to this: either by confrontation or in silence. I base the confrontation theory on her ability to confront people when sufficiently agitated, like during HSM I, when she angrily told Troy why the callbacks had been rescheduled, and when she stood up to Sharpay before said callbacks. I base the silence theory on how Kelsi hides more of herself than she shows to other people (except perhaps Troy) and how, given that she is in her first relationship, she is most probably besieged by doubts on how she should behave.

Out of the two theories, I think the silence theory is more likely, because the signs that Jason is becoming more attached to Martha are subtle. In which case, Kelsi would most probably be lingering and doubting whether she was simply imagining things, or whether she had reason to be worried. Her low self-esteem, which she has had most probably since childhood, would flare UP again. In my notes for my mega Trelsi fic, I speculated that Kelsi might be the kind of girl to compare herself negatively to other girls, particularly when one is competing with her over the same guy. She is nothing like Gabriella, who, confident in her own looks, would stare down the rival and then punish the guy if he dared look too interested in someone else.

In fact, Kelsi can’t have confronted him, because later on in the movie, you can see Jason leaning at the breakfast table next to Kelsi (shortly before the infamous Silent Treatment scene), which wouldn’t have happened were things frosty between them. At the end of the movie, during the quieter version of “You Are The Music In Me”, she seems happy hugging him and running around the hills. This appears genuine to me (I was rewatching it before writing this paragraph). So this may suggest that Kelsi was more likely playing it silent, perhaps believing that either Jason would not take Martha seriously (if so, a massive miscalculation on her part), and/or that she could/should focus on the positives in her relationship. It’s not like Jason was completely cold and unfeeling towards her; they obviously shared happy moments together. Clearly, she had strong feelings for Jason, or else none of this would make sense. Another reason that I don’t see Kelsi being confrontational is that Martha is/was her friend. Not only this, but Kelsi continues being either friendly or at least civil with Martha AFTER she broke up with Jason, even sitting at the same lunch table in HSM III (shortly before Chad asked Taylor to prom). This adds an astonishing twist to the tale. Why does Kelsi continue to maintain some semblance of friendship with someone who 1)- appears quite flirtatious, 2)- shows no canonical interest in Kelsi’s relationship with Jason and 3)- shows no embarrassment about dating her friend’s ex right in front of her?

I have puzzled about this in my current Trelsi one-shot. Up til now, I don’t yet have a concrete answer. Does Kelsi, once again feeling that other girls are more attractive then her, feel that it’s all for the best, whilst trying to quash her own hurt? Does she politely pretend not to notice? (It does seem that way in some of the scenes; when Jason hugs Martha before her in early HSM II, she simply nudges him and waits for her turn!) Or is Kelsi merely displaying a show of civility, whilst hiding her bitterness? As we know, Kelsi is capable of deeply-rooted bitterness, and of holding grudges against other people. We are shown her grudge against Sharpay (understandable, but later heavily exaggerated), and her former grudge against Ryan, which she overcame. The movie narrative would never have us see any inkling that things weren’t always sugary and nice between the Wildcats, but perhaps Kelsi’s relationship with Martha became increasingly strained. After all, it’s not like Martha ever played it cool with Jason out of respect for her friend’s relationship. No, even by the beginning of the summer, they were on regular hugging terms, if there’s such a thing. The seamless way in which Jason runs straight into Martha’s arms (literally as well as figuratively) by the beginning of HSM III suggests a closeness that has to have been nurtured over time. And that time was when Kelsi and Jason were dating.

Judging from that scene in HSM III, where the Cool Girls are sharing a table (Taylor, Gabriella, Martha and Kelsi), we can see Martha giggling over something. Taylor and Gabriella are laughing, and Kelsi is smiling, but focused on her manuscripts. Her reactions appear somewhat reserved here. We know that Kelsi and Martha at least were close, because at the beginning of HSM II, she gives Martha a hug (perhaps they were introduced after the Winter Musical?), and later on, she is happily pretending to scratch turntables whilst Martha breaks it down on the kitchen floor. I can’t help noticing that Kelsi and Martha are on opposite sides of the same table in HSM III, although this is not necessarily significant. Personally, I think that her reservation here is thanks to a tireless devotion to her work, but if Kelsi really did feel resentment towards Martha, then her smiling, whilst focusing on her work might be a plausible demonstration of this. That’s a possible headcanon assumption and not necessarily one that I hold.

I suppose the next question is whether Jason cheated on Kelsi with Martha? I think not. The fact that Kelsi continues to maintain communication with Martha and even Jason to some extent seems sufficient proof that that wasn’t the case. Remember that at the beginning of HSM III, Kelsi signed up “almost the entire home room!” (Ms. Darbus) for the next musical, and we can see that Jason objects to this. In other words, she signed him up. Given the “almost” part, I assume some members were left out, therefore Kelsi had every opportunity to leave out Jason were she angry with him. Kelsi signed up the people she could most easily persuade to participate. Later on, she begs everyone that she presumptuously signed up to participate, and again, this includes Jason. These are not the actions of someone wishing to put as much distance between her and her ex-boyfriend. It’s worth noting that Jason doesn’t speak to her with any reluctance or embarrassment, which is both astounding, given him jumping straight to Martha, but also indicative perhaps of a (somewhat) amicable breakup. And by amicable, I mean they both decided to part ways, not that Kelsi was patting him on the back for being chummy with her friend whilst they were dating! So, what I think what happened was that Kelsi couldn’t deal with Jason’s emotional infidelity any longer, and either she broke up with him to maintain the upper hand, or he broke up with her when he could no longer conceal those feelings.

The implications and consequences of this breakup are not pretty. I am going to make a lot of assumptions here to fill in the gaps, but it strikes me that Kelsi would feel inadequate if her boyfriend (a jock, no less) left her for a confident and bubbly cheerleader. Bear in mind that not long after splitting up with Kelsi for Martha, Jason goes to the trouble of getting a T-shirt painted with a proposition for Martha. You can see this T-Shirt shortly before “Night to Remember”. Jason never did such a thing for Kelsi. Furthermore, he isn’t at all embarrassed to be wearing this in front of Kelsi whilst he performs HER song for the Spring Musical! Would this make Kelsi feel as though Jason was never as invested in their relationship as she was? In my last post, I alluded to a possible period of unhappiness for Kelsi prior to writing “I Just Wanna Be With You”: “You know how life can be/It changes overnight/Sunny then raining/But it’s alright.” Could the “rainy” period in Kelsi’s life be an allusion to Jason? Again, I do not present this as canonical fact, but it is definitely plausible. And I would go even further than that; could Kelsi’s appearance during “Night to Remember”, in which the guys say “Who’s that Girl?” be her response to Jason and Martha? During this scene, Kelsi appears as the “mystery girl” whom the guys (including, ironically, Jason) has to admire during the song. I don’t think this was Kelsi’s idea, but perhaps Ryan’s. He is the choreographer, and Kelsi was previously awkward and clumsy in HSM I, didn’t appear to be very fond of water in HSM II. But presenting herself as confident and carrying off the ballet steps without a hitch would be a great way for Kelsi to re-assert her confidence. We then see her invest her energy into writing one hell of a love song “I Just Wanna Be With You”, which I discussed in the last post.

All in all, the trajectory of Kelsi’s relationship with Jason is quite sad-- for Kelsi. She most probably had such high hopes, and definitely put more into her relationship than Jason did. Perhaps she felt somewhat betrayed. However, I don’t think that even this quashes her sense of optimism, her hope for a better future. If there’s one reason why Kelsi is such a compelling story hero, it’s her ability to try, try again. I think that there would be a down period, but perhaps by the time it came to preparing the third musical, she threw herself into her composition work in order to keep the pain at bay. Her music is not only her sole passion, but also her escape from real life. Hence why she can be present in the moment and yet lost in pages of notes.

This brings me onto my next question:

Question-- Did Kelsi have a crush on Troy? As a supporter of Trelsi, should this not be part of the default headcanon?

When I first watched the High School Musical series (a couple of years ago), it never crossed my mind that Kelsi could have had a crush on Troy. Only when I became more interested in the movies at the end of last year did I start seeing this proposed by a couple of fans. Again, I was sceptical, because at that point, I was more interested in the friendship, until that moment when I watched the Trelsi introductory scene and something clicked in my head. This could be a couple. But even THEN I wasn’t thinking about the potential of Kelsi’s astonishment being based on a crush, and I didn’t begin shipping Trelsi for real until HSM III. I think I gradually began accepting this interpretation simply by virtue of having read several meta’s where the author said so. Fast forward to now, when I ship Trelsi romantic and platonic fashion, and I’m actually ambivalent towards this theory. I will explain why, and how this relates to Kelsi and Jason as follows.

Now the Crush Theory appears to take hold from the moment where Kelsi is introduced to Troy, and we see her astonishment that the King of East High is actually speaking with her. Along with other evidence, mostly centred around Kelsi’s stronger affection and attachment to Troy than to Gabriella, the belief is that this proves she had more than platonic feelings towards him. I may have oversimplified this somewhat, but I think that you get the gist. Now don’t get me wrong; the Crush Theory does serve one particular angle of the Trelsi ship that I will discuss in future instalments-- that of unrequited love. I’ve read some great Trelsi fics with this angle, and it starts from Kelsi having this secret crush. And for the purposes of the movie canon, it would be far more interesting for the central narrative, as well as giving Kelsi some depth, because since she shows a great capacity for self-sacrifice, she is unlikely to ever act on such feelings. This would be far more interesting for the viewer than Troy’s trite and unhealthy relationship with Gabriella.

However, there are several problems with this theory.

Firstly, throughout the movies, Kelsi becomes more comfortable with Troy, something that surely could not happen if she had a persistent crush on him. By the summer, she thinks nothing of holding his hand, and does this again in HSM III. She gives him a hug when he’s feeling down, which suggests a level of familiarity not possible for a shy girl who has this all-encompassing crush on East High’s Primo Boy. I see Kelsi as becoming more open and more mature throughout the movies, not forever repressed by her feelings. Her song lyrics in HSM III are a reflection of this positive change. I struggle to reconcile this with the Crush Theory.

Secondly, the Crush Theory undermines the importance of Kelsi’s introduction to Troy. There’s far more to that scene than physical attraction; it’s about finding a kindred spirit, acceptance, about Troy building up her confidence and revealing the girl within who always wanted to shine but never could do so. I find the Crush Theory problematic in that it would imply that Kelsi’s feelings of friendship towards Troy were at least partially motivated by attraction. This demeans the friendship to me. This introduction definitely leads to friendship first. A common understanding and chemistry in the sense that they communicate so effectively with little to no words, and are always by each other’s side no matter what.

Thirdly, the Crush theory is short-lived. Kelsi is one of the first to see that Troy at least, is heavily invested in Gabriella. If Kelsi did have this crush, then she would have had to shelve it pretty fast once she saw that it was completely pointless. Troy Bolton is King of East High and unattainable for 98% of the female population. Kelsi may be an idealist, but her persistence shows that she has a realistic side. I can’t, especially in light of Kelsi’s increasing comfort around Troy, see her continuing to hold a flame for someone who is resolutely unavailable, knowing full well that such feelings are unlikely to be returned. That would put a whole depressing aspect to the Crush. If it happened, perhaps it ended quickly. Furthermore, I have already stated that Kelsi has a strong investment in people: a crush is not a strong investment. It is fleeting, and changes like the wind. Kelsi is deeply emotional and would need to feel as though the object of her affections was as deeply connected to her in return; canonically speaking, Troy is not. So why would she suffer in silence? Given her ability to find another path when one isn’t working for her, I can’t see Kelsi in a constant state of Purgatory here.

The most important reason why the Crush Theory is lacking is that Kelsi dated Jason for a significant period of time and seemed perfectly happy doing so. I have already explained why it is not in Kelsi’s nature to “settle” for anything. Her interaction with Jason was affectionate, and for the period where he was actually invested in her, he reciprocated that affection. It would be easy to see why Kelsi might have a crush on Troy; he is gorgeous, charming, lovely, smart, dorky, sweet and romantic. Jason on the other hand, is awkward, handsome in a boyish kind of way and definitely not the brightest spark at all. And even though Kelsi looks incredulous when Jason fails to respond to Mr. Fulton’s prepping on how to treat “Miss Evans”, she appears not to take issue with Jason’s penchant for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Jason doesn’t seem to care much about his style, pairing shirts and t-shirts and baggy jeans. (Not unlike Kelsi’s sense of fashion throughout HSM I and II! :D) His hair is always wild, and he chews gum, has the co-ordination of a toddler learning to walk and is no way near as mature as his composer girlfriend. Still, Kelsi chooses to be with him. If she preferred Troy with his effortless romantic gestures, smooth-talking, intelligent conversation and so on, then she had every opportunity to seek out such a romantic partner. She is often shown in HSM III with some other members of the school band, and we are to assume that she was keeping them in order for the musical. There were plenty of other boys she could have dated. However, she maintained a relationship with Jason despite him not being Greek God material. And Martha’s flirtatiousness with Jason is testament to his own appeal to girls. The length of time that Kelsi dated Jason would be sufficient for her to shelve any such crush feelings, should they have existed. From Kelsi’s song lyrics, she seems to value honesty and genuine commitment in a relationship, thus making it unlikely that she would knowingly date someone with whom she had little to no connection, let alone whilst thinking about someone else.

So no, I don’t consider it mandatory in the Trelsi ship to believe that Kelsi had a crush on him. Unorthodox? Yes. But hey, I love that.

That being said, did Kelsi write her songs for Jason? I don’t think so. Their relationship did not strike me as having the quality that she longed for in her songs. Those songs express an ideal state. Will Kelsi attain it? That is entirely for her to decide, and I don’t know whether she feels her songs are truly representative of romance or maybe just part of her escapism.

In the next instalment, I will discuss the superior potential of Trelsi romance, particularly where it might have worked in place of the canonical narrative.

TO BE CONTINUED

#Trelsi #OTP #Playmakers #TroyBolton #KelsiNielsen #JasonCross #WroteALotOfShit #HighSchoolMusical3 #TrelsiUpcoming #LiterallyTroyandKelsiForever

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paceunknown · 7 years

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high school musical, often abbreviated “hsm”,

is quite literally one of the best musicals ever released. it draws on old, often overused tropes that any audience would recognise and be able to identify with (chance meeting/running away at midnight - cinderella; main characters on opposite sides of the tracks - romeo and juliet; etc). said tropes tug on memories and expectations that make the movie interesting enough to want to see through to the end but aren’t boring and predictable enough to steer one away, as the plot itself can play out in a multitude of ways with the promise of a cute and happy ending still present.

troy bolton’s characterisation is the one of the driving forces behind why the franchise as a whole is so successful and you can fight me on it. he’s just… so nice, so thoughtful, his character breaks all the stereotypes and makes you love him and therefore the whole movie because you’re rooting for him to open his eyes and be himself. he’s the typical jock, yes, number one star player with narrow, one-track minded friends and a pushy dad, and that’s how he’s introduced in the exposition. but that’s quickly broken during the countdown to midnight scene where he’s honest with gabriella about having enjoyed singing and how he’s genuinely, earnestly interested in keeping in contact (and absolutely solidified when he does everything in his power to ask for gabriella’s forgiveness). completely off trope, he’s nervous and awkward with her instead of cocky as expected, and we immediately understand that troy is a lot nicer and conflicted than we’d originally thought; when we see him back at east high laughing at chad’s dig at sharpay it’s confusing, as it should be, since he’s been established as a Good Guy™, but it makes sense because we also know he has an image to uphold (see: “why are you whispering?”). further, though gabriella coerces his love for music out of him, troy ultimately comes to the conclusion for himself. she made the joke about auditioning, but it was him who lingered on the poster, let the idea of singing influence his basketball practice, hid at the back of the theater, and decided to do the callback. that’s something we don’t usually see in these kinds of love stories: the boy didn’t need the girl to be his end-all-be-all savior—all she did was give him that little push which he used to make his own decisions.

and while we’re on the topic, let’s talk about troy and gabriella’s relationship that has set my standards high since 2006. first of all, even though gabriella is sweet and soft spoken, she doesn’t take any shit (“nice penmanship” blew my eight year old mind; when she came for sharpay in hsm 2 I lost it). from the jump she’s interested in troy, clearly, but she doesn’t go all goo-goo over him like I’m sure he’s used to: running away to find her mom at the party, basically ignoring him to find her classes, not being so willing to accept it when taylor revealed the webcam thing was plotted. it’s not something that’s been unseen, but it’s definitely out the norm to see the nerdy girl not let the cute jock engulf her life. in fact, it’s pretty much the opposite way around: troy asks for her number, troy risks getting in trouble to call her in class, troy is the one off his game when gabriella stops speaking to him whereas gabriella’s sad but she keeps on keepin on. this role reversal is key in not only further establishing how much he’s unlike his stereotype but cementing hsm’s Groundbreaking Originality. on this as well, it ends up being troy who convinces gabriella to do the callback (both times, pretty much) which again breaks the stereotype. also, they’re just so fucking cute together it makes me wanna die?? it’s natural cuteness (probably because zac and vanessa had that real life chemistry but), not “these are our love interests and they’re supposed to be in love” cuteness. they’re goofy together (practice room with kelsi, detention when they’re humming breaking free, when they're on the court together), honest with each other (rooftop garden, scene after darbus’ class), genuinely care for one another (gabriella’s pushiness to get troy to do what he enjoys and not what’s expected of him, troy’s understanding of gabriella’s stage fright and taking the first verse of breaking free/telling her to just look at him). their entire existences don’t become all about each other, which is so incredibly refreshing, but we still get to see their relationship happen over the course of something longer than a three-minute song. and it’s apparent that they aren’t even technically dating/haven’t had That talk yet by the looks on their faces when troy kisses gabriella’s cheek after breaking free. that’s what really gets to me: we were supposed to assume they were together but ,, they weren’t! and that’s due to good world building and character progression! are y'all hearing me the ENTIRE MOVIE we #thought but they were still in the beginning stages of their relationship! when has any romcom ever! talk about slow burn I LOVE that their relationship actually grew and wasn’t just written to have happened spontaneously WHEW BOY okay.

let me also discuss the whole webcam incident. what troy said was dumb and inexcusable, definitely, but the fact that both sides realised what they did was wrong and conspired to fix it not even for their personal gain (the upcoming game, the decathlon) but because they genuinely cared about their friends’ happiness and even helped to devise this ridiculously complex plan to help get their friends to the callback!! everyone changed, it wasn’t just troy and gabriella. even though troy still struggled internally with his love for singing all the way up until the end of the last movie, it was never a thing where their friends continued to conspire against them or they had to keep proving their worthiness to be on stage. they realised their friends were more important and that was it, and that’s such a beautiful message and, again, one you don’t see too often: typically the leads have to be together in secret, or run off together, or only one or two of their close friends accept them. like I said! Groundbreaking Originality!

now onto the music. I was listening to the rent soundtrack a few weeks ago and recently bopped the hsm soundtrack, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the former. not because of content, obviously, but the range of styles and a lot of the styles themselves were reminiscent. the hsm soundtrack wasn’t your typical disney musical, it wasn’t all bubblegum and legato and, just, old school disney. it’s like rent, it’s new and fast-paced and used fuckin guitars and one song literally made a beat using basketballs like bro. so many different influences went into the music. hsm was ahead of its time, at least where made-for-children musicals were concerned, and it’s success musically has been copied so many times but never to the same level, there can never be another musical like hsm. it’s just impossible. you had your typical musical theater-esque tunes, you had your modern tunes, you had your ballads, you had a little bit of everything, everyone can find at least one song they like because there wasn’t a strict motif being followed (like rent wow). not only that, but the songs are BOPS and I’m genuinely not being biased. there aren’t many songs that can hold the test of time, especially not songs from musicals, ESPECIALLY not when those songs were everywhere due to the massive commercial success of said musical (prime example: frozen) and the fact that hsm’s music can still be enjoyed with just as much fervor as it was 11 years ago speaks volumes. not to hate on 2 and 3 because I would die for those movies too, but out of all three soundtracks, the first is the one most would pick for replayability (that’s not a word I know but it works). there’s just something effortlessly timeless about it, catchy but not annoyingly so, nostalgic but not saddening, something that forces you not to hit skip and just belt out the lyrics. I’ll skip you are the music in me (reprise) all day but let what I’ve been looking for (reprise) come on. I just wanna be with you could catch that swift next but my finger will never come near that button when breaking free is on. it’s like the second two movies worked too hard to continue to capitalise off the commercial success (for example, hsm 2 made sure to have multiple easy-to-learn dances because of the reaction to we’re all in this together) whereas the first movie didn’t have anything it clung to or had ties to so it was free to just exist. please don’t get me wrong: the entire trilogy owns my ass, music and storyline alike, but the first one just has a special touch musically.

I could quite possibly go on forever but moral of the story: high school musical is a masterpiece, deserved a grammy, deserved an oscar, deserved a golden globe, deserved a vma, deserved a brit award, deserved a people’s choice, deserved an AMA, deserved a much music award, deserved an ARIA, deserved a SAG award, deserved a critics’ choice, deserved an emmy, deserved five stars on imdb and a 100% on rotten tomatoes,

#hsm #thoughts #this is nearly 1600 words #also idk how to do read mores #so sorry!

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deborahdeshoftim5779 · 7 years

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The Marvel of Trelsi (Part IV)

Welcome back, people. I need a Restraining Order against Real Life, which has taken up so much of my time. But let’s get back to Trelsi, because Trelsi is just life.

Just a recap of this series: I’m getting to the bottom of Trelsi (Troy Bolton and Kelsi Nielsen) throughout the movie canon, as well as adding my own headcanon musings and commentary. I want to explore what makes them so compulsively rewatchable as a duo, and the potential of their relationship. So far, I’ve:

1- Introduced the duo

2- Answered my first question, “Who IS Troy Bolton?”

3- Answered my second question, “Who IS Kelsi Nielsen?”

4- Examined the opening scene between Troy and Kelsi during HSM I.

For the last couple of days, I’ve been torn on what post to do next, as several of the next scenes between Troy and Kelsi reiterate much of what I said in Part III. Since the first scene between them is so emblematic of who they are and what they will become, we need to understand why their friendship from this point onwards, just WORKS. During this time, I can incorporate some of the scene analysis from HSM I and II for examples. So this will answer my question from the introduction:

Question: What makes the Trelsi friendship and dynamic so friggin’ special? Why does it make me want to weep and write poetry?

There are two major ironies in the HSM franchise. The first, as I will discuss in later instalments, is that the main couple are supposed to represent an ideal romance (there is no such thing), and instead represent a shipwreck. The second irony, relevant here, is that unbreakable bonds of friendship are ostensibly said to hold the cast of characters together. In Troy’s graduation speech, he says, “East High is making friends that we’ll keep for the rest of our lives.” If one watches the movies uncritically, this may appear to be the case: Sharpay repents at the end of each movie, warming up to Gabriella, Gabriella makes friends with Ryan, Chad and the Wildcats stop deriding Ryan as “Sharpay’s poodle” and make friends with him, Troy and Chad have been friends since play-school and so on. This is what the movies want us to believe.

The reality is that none of the above cited examples come even close to the quality of friendship that Troy and Kelsi share. Not even close*. There are of course exceptions. Taylor is a very good friend to Gabriella, and the only person to whom Gabriella actually shows some genuine affection and loyalty. Troy and Ryan have a strong friendship: Troy didn’t need Ryan to undergo some silly contest to become his friend.** Kelsi is eventually willing, by the beginning of HSM II, to push aside her grudge against Sharpay and become friends with Ryan (”Kelsi’s got some great new ideas to spice up the Talent Show!”): if not for the Royal Sham conjured in HSM III, things would have gone well for these two. However, the vast majority of friendships in the canonical franchise only represent a hollow echo of the word. Yet it is precisely these relationships that receive more airtime and are aggressively touted as commendable, whilst the genuine and wonderful friendship between Troy*** and Kelsi is lucky to even get four scenes out of movies that span almost two hours each. It’s unjust. It’s inexplicable.

In order to DEFEND Troy and Kelsi’s friendship, I need to deal with my main contention: how Troy is treated throughout the series. Kelsi is, for the most part, fortunately spared of dealing with absurd levels of pressure, both professional and social, harsh criticism, staggering levels of hypocrisy, betrayals of trust, mockery and downright cruelty that Troy faces throughout from people alleged to be his friends. It is honestly depressing to see how little Troy gets in return for his own decent and kind acts towards other people, and how the script expects the viewer to ignore or worse, celebrate, this. I’ve done some reading on the Internet to find a comprehensive article explaining what makes a good friend-- in particular, a good friend to Troy, since he suffers more. Using this, I will demonstrate how Trelsi wins and many of Troy’s other friends fall far short of the mark. I will try and keep references to Gabriella’s behaviour to a minimum here, as she will be discussed when I examine the potential of Trelsi romance.

You can find the link source I’m using here: 11 Signs of A True Friendship

1- “They accept everything about you, including your flaws.”

In my post about Troy, I discussed his dorky personality. Prior to Troy’s significant overcoming of social hierarchies and stereotypes in HSM I, it appears certain that dorks and nerds were viewed with disdain by the jocks. So the fact that East High’s Primo Boy and Playmaker is also a King of Dorks is social heresy. This is why Troy was at pains to hide his rooftop hideout from his friends: “Thanks to the Science Club, which means my buddies don’t even know it exists!” In other words, Troy was essentially telling Gabriella that his buddies don’t accept the real him. They’re in love with the image. Playmaker, Hoops, The Basketball Guy. This is what guides and motivates them. It’s only much later in HSM III that Troy tells Chad, “The Gardening Club is ready for you,” but even that is punctuated by 1)- Chad laughing at Troy for potentially getting into Juilliard, 2)- Chad barely attempting to understand any of Troy’s chronic indecision until the very end, 3)- Chad imposing his own view of who Troy should be upon Troy all the time.

Furthermore, the Wildcats have no patience for Troy’s flaws. In HSM II, his weakness for trying to please all the people all the time is treated as a sign of arrogance and selfishness, rather than partially motivated by the insane pressure that THEY (as well as others) place upon his shoulders.**** In HSM III, Troy’s significant flaws for taking his relationship with Gabriella too seriously, of over-investing in it and not expecting anything in return, of taking each setback personally to the point of being unable to function properly, of refusing to see reason or be objective in said relationship or his friendships, are virtually ignored by the Wildcats. In fact, it appears they are irritated by his upset. I base this on Chad’s irritation with Troy for messing up the dance moves and songs in rehearsal.

On the other hand, Kelsi completely accepts Troy as he is. No questions, no judgements, no mockery. As I stated in my analysis of Kelsi Nielsen, the crux of her innate understanding of Troy as a person is communicated in song. BoltonEvans has helpfully pointed to lyrics from “You Are The Music In Me” that demonstrate this, which I will reproduce here: “As I am/And you understand/And that’s more than I’ve ever known”. My personal favourite is from “I Just Wanna Be With You”, which really demonstrates Kelsi’s philosophy on friendship and what it SHOULD be: “A friend like you/Always makes it easy/I KNOW THAT YOU GET ME EVERYTIME” (Capital emphasis my own). Kelsi never requires Troy to change who he is, or to fit some model trope. A significant reason is based upon Kelsi’s personal experience; given that she has been treated as not socially acceptable enough to be considered cool, and knows how this feels, this has given her more incentive to be empathetic and non-judgemental towards others. Furthermore, Troy treated her as a human being and an equal, and thus Kelsi returns the favour, also seeing him in the same way.

As is always the case with Trelsi, this works in the reverse, too. Although many movies that use the Cool Guy and Nerdy Girl pairing often make the Nerdy Girl become “cool” before she can be with the Cool Guy, this trope does not exist when it comes to Troy and Kelsi. She’s still wearing her funky clothes, bandana’s (that bandanna in HSM III is so Jimi Hendrix), cut-offs and converses. She’s still got that sarcastic humour, likes to poke fun of things. She leaves a half-eaten apple on the piano. (This is sacrilegious. My mum always told me, don’t bring food to the piano. And tea! Honestly!) She whistles and sticks her hands in her pockets, and rolls her eyes at Sharpay. She still wanders around with wads of manuscript paper in her bag, and tunes out of her friend’s conversation at lunchtime to finish her songs. She’s between 16-18 and writes songs like an adult. And Troy totally accepts that. He does not change a single thing about who she is to make her socially acceptable for him. After all, he is Jock Supreme. Playmaker. Hoops Man. And he hangs out with a girl who knows NOTHING about sports (”basketball class”-- seriously still not over that one), probably doesn’t talk about “cool things” (I have learned that cool things include who slept with who and who tried E last Friday night) and has zero sense of fashion! :D Okay, that was my own insert. But you get the picture. East High is HIGHLY HIERARCHISED. The significance here is enormous, which begs the question of why we didn’t see MORE of this.

Oh-- also, Kelsi is a girl. Troy’s buddies up til now are all boys and all part of a brotherhood in basketball. (”Buddies” always has the connotation of male friends). And he breaks away from them to make friends with a socially inept girl miles away from him on the social spectrum with NO EXPECTATION of sexual/romantic consequences. Given the tough-guy attitude of the Wildcats players, they seem to see girls as being there to be conquered. Chad in particular does not have a girl who is just his friend until the end of HSM I onwards. Yes, he likes Gabriella, but previously, he had called her a “temptress” because she was interfering with Troy’s “true” calling. (Damn the “female mind”! :D) He likes Gabriella because he approves of Troy’s relationship. And before Chad got on with Kelsi, he made a comment about her looks: “Do you know something about this? Small person?”, not even taking into consideration the fact that Kelsi was upset about the callbacks being re-arranged, too. But Troy just likes Kelsi because he likes Kelsi. He’s not interested in her looks, her relationships, her social status. He just likes her. What she DOES (i.e her mind/her skills) is “really cool”. He takes an interest in her life with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. That’s just SO awesome to me.

2- “They stick with you through both the good and bad times.”

Oh, this one will be a BIGGIE when considering a certain lady, won’t it? :D

During HSM I, Troy gives a completely contrived speech (these seem to be a speciality of his) during which he says, “I thought that you’re my friends! Win together, lose together. Team-mates.” There is a laughable irony in these lines, given that the Wildcats rarely display ANY of these basic requirements for friendship. Yes, they repent after seeing Troy downcast and hurt by Gabriella refusing to speak to him. But during HSM II, they quickly abandon him as a lost cause when the pressures of his job mean less time spent with them. Instead of reaching out, Chad yells at Troy then stops speaking to him. Only through Kelsi’s intervention does he decide to bury the hatchet-- and even then, not before Troy is forced to admit to being a jerk, whilst Chad makes no apology on his part. So no matter how frustrated and isolated Troy feels, he gets no sympathy from The Wildcats. No, he is the problem. He is arrogant and selfish by not devoting 110% of his time to them. (By the way, another website says (point #1) that real friends don’t make you feel like crap for missing social times to attend to work/career concerns. Take note, Wildcats. And a certain lady). During HSM III, they are rarely on hand with positive encouragement when he is 1)- struggling to make career decisions, 2)- struggling with Gabriella’s absence, 3)- struggling to stay motivated in rehearsal. Remember Troy sitting ALONE in the auditorium, staring into the nothingness? All the chairs next to him are empty, because the Wildcats are too engrossed in their own conversations to check on him.

Kelsi is one of the few characters who truly exemplifies the loyal friend. Once she has become friends with Troy, the deal is sealed. Her loyalty is one of her best assets. In HSM II and HSM III, the key moments of encouragement for Troy come when Kelsi either stands by his side, or when she tries to cheer him up.

By far my favourite scene in HSM II comes when Kelsi is the only one not to turn her back on Troy or freeze him out. Think about the significance of this. The Wildcats, upon hearing that Sharpay had banned employee participation, had most likely planned not to speak to Troy. What were their objectives? I think it was either to punish him. If they wanted him to change, they would and should have communicated their displeasure to him. The fact that they didn’t even have the decency to explain their anger shows that their motivations were vindictive. Given that Kelsi was, by this point, considered one of the Wildcats, she would have been expected to follow suit. After all, Troy was betraying the team. He was getting privileges whilst they were washing plates. (Obviously their interpretation, not mine). Can you see why Kelsi’s actions here are not only important, but downright HEROIC? Firstly, Chad glares at Troy and then leaves when Troy comes to sit down, which is insufferably rude. Then Jason makes eye contact with Troy, glares and turns his back on him. The hurt on Troy’s face makes it difficult for me to watch this scene. But look at Kelsi’s reaction: she is shocked and embarrassed by Chad and Jason’s behaviour and doesn’t know how to react. This may make it seem like Kelsi perhaps didn’t know about the Silent Treatment plan, but she was DEFINITELY there when Chad yelled at Troy (I rewinded to make sure), so perhaps she might have expected this. Then we see Troy turn to Kelsi, as though expecting her to just up and leave as well. He is confused. There is a cold silence in the room. What has he done wrong (this time)? Instead of leaving, Kelsi passes him the announcement and watches his reaction. Troy is stunned and shocked by this (because he had NOTHING to do with this!!!) and looks at Kelsi, presumably for an explanation, as he begins to realize why everyone is silent. And it’s the look that Kelsi gives him which clinches this scene as a classic Trelsi moment: it’s a silent “It’s not your fault”, and then that shrug, which seems to imply that she knows why everyone else is angry and doesn’t agree with their actions AND that he shouldn’t worry (perhaps not very helpful) AND that she is trying to downplay her own disappointment at Sharpay’s behaviour. (Although not successfully). But the main point here is that she does not blame Troy. She’s silently demonstrating loyalty to him, not freezing him out, not blaming him, whilst everyone else literally turns their back. It’s a silent act of rebellion that could have cost Kelsi herself, given that she was disobeying the Wildcats unilateral decision to punish Troy. But she still does it, once again demonstrating that she is no wallflower. She can resist. If that’s not true friendship, then I don’t know what is.

I have already discussed the BEAUTIFUL, SQUEE-WORTHY Trelsi hug in HSM III at length here, but I will add that even though Sharpay commands Kelsi to get to the piano, she rebels, and instead goes straight to Troy. He is her first concern. She holds his hand, helps him to stand and then gives him a hug. He smiles back at her, and she smiles too. Once she knows she has lifted his spirits, she makes her way to the piano. Think about this. Kelsi has poured her heart and soul into the musical; the last thing she needs is a miserable and lifeless lead actor pining over his girlfriend. But the fact of her checking on him first sends a powerful message; that friends come first. Songs can wait. That even when Troy is at his lowest, she is RIGHT THERE BESIDES HIM. (”It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see that you were always right beside me”/ “Through every up, through every DOWN, you know I’ll always be around”). Those lyrics are Troy and Kelsi in a nutshell. And again, there’s no need for dialogue here. There is a great reversal in roles between Troy and Kelsi in this scene, demonstrating that they are equals: in the first movie, Kelsi was down (both literally and emotionally), and Troy picked her up. In the third movie, Troy is down (literally and emotionally), and Kelsi picks him up. It’s “I’ve got your back, you’ve got mine.” 50-50. Partners. Equals.

*squees and weeps* :D

Now if the movies had been more interested in Kelsi’s life outside of music, then I’m sure we would have had some scenes where Troy did the same for her when she was down. For example, a possible scenario could have been when Jason broke up with Kelsi (if that’s what happened) for Martha. (A possible theory proposed by BoltonEvans). I 110% believe that Troy would be there for Kelsi first, and NOT his basketball buddy for all the reasons I have illustrated. That would have been a GREAT scene. You see the enormous disadvantages in limiting Trelsi scenes, but inflicting us with the Bubonic Plague of Wildcat hypocrisy and calling it friendship.

Okay, I have written enough today, but I will be back soon with more!

(*FOOTNOTE-- On Gabriella believing Troy’s performance on the videotape. As a scientist, shouldn’t she have a bit more of an enquiring mind? :D If the direct WiFi streaming wasn’t suspicious enough, she could at least have sought Troy’s side of the story. To be fair, I have less of an issue with Gabriella’s behaviour in this movie as compared to the next two. Although, as I have stated before, if Gabriella could be so swift as to quit the musical in front of Troy, I very much doubt she bothered to tell Kelsi. Why? Because in HSM III, she quits the musical, and we have no choice but to assume that Kelsi was not in the know. These things may not be significant, but they do show how little respect Gabriella actually has for Kelsi’s time and effort. Look at her face in HSM III (top picture), when Troy reminds her that they’re doing a musical together. Like I said in the last instalment, it wasn’t as though she was eager to help Kelsi after her fall in the first place, was it? It’s insane and quite sad, given how much Kelsi (unfortunately) respects Gabriella).

(**FOOTNOTE-- Another reason why Chyan is a nonsensical ship and another example of Wildcat insincerity. Though Chad does genuinely like Ryan by the end of HSM II and HSM III, it’s clear that Chad had to check if Ryan was good enough to be his friend. Once he “approved” Ryan (almost entirely based on sporting ability and not character), then the Wildcats presumably stopped deriding him as “Sharpay’s poodle” behind his back. Eventually, in the third movie, Chad admires Ryan’s choreography. But when Chad laughs at Troy’s potential chance at attending Juilliard, he is demonstrating a lack of respect for Ryan’s passion (the Performing Arts), which makes it implausible that these two would ever work as a pairing).

(***FOOTNOTE-- It’s worth noting that every friendship with Troy in is either 1)- exemplary, or 2)- completely one-sided because the other person doesn’t put in half as much effort as Troy does. This underlines the innate value of Troy as a hero, and demonstrates how seriously he takes the matter of friendships and relationships. There’s no half-stepping with Troy, as I will discuss when examining the potential for Trelsi romance. He’s in 110% or he’s out. The only person with whom he wavers is with Sharpay, but that’s only because Sharpay pursues him to the point of active inconvenience/discomfort/annoyance. Even then, he was willing to put aside his annoyance with her in HSM II out of compassion and a sense of duty. Hence why, in a rare moment of likeability and humanity, Sharpay said, “You’re a good guy, Troy.” )

(****FOOTNOTE-- I have to seriously question how good the East High Wildcats are as a basketball team. Forget the catchy slogan. I’m a sports fan, and like Troy said, it’s a TEAM effort. (Clue is in the name). If they could, according to the ever-helpful Chad, fall apart just by the idea of Troy auditioning for a musical, then what does that say about their game plan? To be quite frank with you, I’m surprised they hadn’t lost more games given the pressure they put JUST on Troy to deliver. Chad’s claim that the Wildcats would “get their sorry butts kicked” if Troy was auditioning seems a declaration of general incompetency. What did they do if Troy is ill or injured, as I’m SURE he must have been in the past? They might as well not show up! There are perfectly brilliant players who perform poorly in a particular team because their team-mates don’t put in as much effort, or aren’t co-ordinated together. I think Mr. Bolton is a capable coach, but even he admits that he puts too much pressure on Troy! “And without you, COMPLETELY focused, we’re not going to win next week.” Why only Troy? From what we can see, Chad is integral to the team as well; Troy relies upon his assists to score. Isn’t this what Troy said in HSM II to Mr. Evans? Jason has the same value. “There’s twelve people on this team, not just me,” said Mr. Perfectly Reasonable. Alas, no one ever listens to him).

#Trelsi #OTP #Playmakers #TroyBolton #KelsiNielsen #LiterallyTroyandKelsiForever #HowCanAnyoneNotLoveTheseTwo #EvenYouOtherShippersLoveThem #TrelsiScenesAreLife #TrueFriendship #IJustWannaBeWithYou #Kelsi'sLyrics

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