I’m just gonna come right out and say it: Zac Efron, you stole my career sir!
It should’ve been me as Troy Bolton in High School Musical.
We both dance, act, and sing...except one of us doesn’t need autotune *cough cough*
who performed as kids, we were born less than a year apart, and we can rock the short and
the long hairstyles.
And look at that steely gaze!
We are EXACTLY the same!
We are MOSTLY the same!
Hello internet, welcome to Film Theory, the show that encourages viewers to getcha, getcha,
getcha, getcha head in the game, if the game is reinterpreting beloved franchises.
If you’re not onto it by now, you probably don’t even Disney Channel original movie,
bro, because today’s episode is all about High School Musical.
That’s right, here on Film Theory, we only tackle the freshest, hottest movie series
that haven’t had an installment in nearly a decade (unless you count Sharpay’s Fabulous
Adventure, which I obviously do).
When I was still acting in theater, I was in a big regional production of High School
Musical as Troy’s understudy, and that gave me plenty of time to overthink the plot.
Inbetween bouts of icing our vocal chords.
I mean this kind of thing was my life when I was a teenager: musicals, theater, show
choir.
You name it, if there was a chance to perform onstage and not have to interact with popular
people, well boy howdy was I involved.
And after spending so much time studying the show, I’ve ALWAYS had a bone to pick with
HSM.
Well, a few bones to pick because there’s no way Juilliard is really going to send acting
scouts to a random public high school in Albuquerque to watch a show written by a student.
Anyway, the movies bend over backwards trying to convince you that Sharpay, the quote-unquote
spoiled, rich, theater diva is the villain of the story...but she’s NOT.
In fact, when you stop and actually look at the series, Sharpay is the ONLY one with redeemable
qualities.
You hear that Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron!
Your empire of fame is built on LIES!
Lies I say!
Think it’s just a chip on my shoulder?
Well let’s look at the evidence and “Bop-bop-bop, bop to the” bottom of this case.
Now in case you need a cram session before this High School Musical final exam, here
it is in a nutshell.
In the original High School Musical, our heroes Gabriella and Troy meet when they do karaoke
together at a New Year’s Eve party, conveniently finding out shortly thereafter that Gabriella
is transferring to Troy’s school.
She’s a science nerd who wants to find a new place for herself at this school, and
he’s a star basketball player who wants to find a new place for himself in Gabriella’s
pants.
On a whim, they decide to audition for the high school musical...oh I get the title now!
Even though they’re rejected for being too late and don’t prepare anything, they get
a callback for the lead roles.
This doesn’t sit well with Sharpay and her twin brother Ryan, who are the diehard members
of the drama club...which, now that I’m writing it out, when the villain of your movie
is supposedly a THEATER KID, you should already be asking questions.
Oh no!
They’re going to shame me with their BOX STEPS!
Don't you do that in my direction!
Oh they're pulling out the viewpoints! She's commenting on my stance!
Sorry the theater kid is coming rushing back to me!
Anyway, Sharpay and Ryan convince the drama teacher to move the callbacks to the same
day as Troy’s basketball championship and Gabriella’s scholastic decathlon.
Troy and Gabriella’s other friends think they should choose between the activities
they’ve already committed to or this musical, but NAH, they’re the hot protagonists in
a made-for-TV Disney movie, so they don’t and Troy and Gabriella win everything, including
the leads in the musical, the decathalon, and the last shot of the basketball game.
Wow, growing up is so difficult when you're young and beautiful.
High School Musical 2 is pretty much the same thing but over the summer and with a country
club talent show instead of a musical, and High School Musical 3 is pretty much the same
thing as HSM 1 but now they’re seniors and focused on college.
Got it?
Good.
So what makes Sharpay the villain?
Well, ask anyone who knows these movies, and their arguments fall into one of three camps:
1) She’s a diva who won’t share the spotlight; 2) She’s trying to steal Troy away from
Gabriella; and 3) She’s a spoiled rich girl who expects everything to be handed to her.
That’s what these movies want you to believe, but if you actually stop and objectively look
at her actions across these cinematic masterpieces, you see that this couldn’t be further from
the truth.
Complaint #1: Sharpay is a diva who won’t share the spotlight.
Very early in the first High School Musical, we establish that Sharpay is super mean.
Just look at this conversation: “Oh, were you going to sign up, too?
My brother and I have starred in all the school’s productions, and we really welcome newcomers.
There are a lot of supporting roles in the show.
I’m sure we can find something for you.”
Okay, there’s definitely a tone issue, but let’s think about what she’s actually
saying.
She isn’t discouraging the pretty new girl from auditioning -- in fact, she even says
that they WELCOME new people into the club, going so far as to say there are lots of roles,
so she’d be likely to get in even if Gabriella’s a complete newb to performing on stage...which,
let’s not forget, SHE ABSOLUTELY IS.
This girl is so inexperienced she freezes up at the freaking audition: “I can’t
do it, Troy.
Not with all these people staring at me.”
Oh you can't do it can ya?
Well, it’s not like people are going to be staring at you if you’re the lead
character in a musical or anything?
Sharpay is definitely full of herself to assume she’ll be the lead, but then again, no one
else signs up to audition FOR the lead.
We see the sign up sheet.
And even if they did, look at the other talent she’s had to go up against!
East High... Not quite the strongest arts program.
And yes, at first, it might seem underhanded that she convinces Ms. Darbus the theater
teacher to change the callbacks to the same day as the basketball game, but Sharpay is
just testing Gabriella and Troy’s resolve to see if they’d really be committed to
the show.
Because let’s face it, Gabriella and Troy have other activities, other friends, and
each other; what else does Sharpay have besides theater and a brother who wears stupid hats?
Now, the idea of testing their commitment may seem absurd, but her fears are well-founded:
In High School Musical 3, Troy actively ditches out of the first act of his senior show so
he can drive to visit Gabriella when she’s away at another school.
Troy Bolton just sent me a text.
‘Been driving all night.
I’ll try and get there for the second act.
Break a leg’ Break a leg?
What does that mean?
Dude, I think it’s showbiz for ‘you’re going on’.”
“Yeah guys, sorry for completely trashing the months of work we put into this thing...I
had to go make out with my girlfriend.
Don’t worry, I’ll be there to grace the show with my six-pack abs in the second act”
But let’s not forget, a true diva would rather not be a part of the show at all instead
of playing second fiddle to someone else.
Well in NONE of the High School Musical movies does Sharpay get the glory, but she comes
around in all three!
After Gabriella gets the lead in High School Musical, Sharpay is cast as her understudy
but still congratulates her and tells her to break a leg.
"Well congratulations... I guess I'm going to be the understudy in case you can't make one of the shows, so break a leg."
And we find out in the beginning of HSM 2 that Sharpay even gave Gabriella vocal exercises
that helped her in the role.
"Sharpay we got off to a rough start, but you really came through. I mean you helped me with the winter musical.
Those vocal exercises..."
That’s...surprisingly gracious for someone who is supposedly so egotistical.
Now look at the end of that movie: Sharpay and Troy are slated to sing together at the
country club’s talent show.
Her brother Ryan and his stupid, STUPID hat betrays his sister by giving Troy a new song to sing
with Gabriella so that Sharpay can’t participate in the one thing she was hoping for the entire
summer. So what did she do?
Instead of making a scene or wrecking the show, Sharpay recovers, chooses to sing as
part of the group, wins the Star Dazzle Award as best performer, then GRACIOUSLY gives the
award to the brother who just stabbed her in the back!
“And this year’s Star Dazzle goes to...of course...my brother Ryan Evans.”
And at the end of High School Musical 3, when Sharpay isn’t chosen for one of the scholarships
to Juilliard--even though her brother is and his stupid hat is--we learn that she’s going to help run the high
school’s drama department the following year, a role for which there will be zero glory.
Sharpay is just committed to making her school’s drama program great.
She always wants to be the star, but are we really faulting someone for wanting to be
the best?
A true diva wouldn’t let anyone near her spotlight, and clearly Sharpay is still along
for the ride even if she isn’t getting all the glory.
Complaint #2: Sharpay is trying to steal Troy away from Gabriella.
So perhaps a bigger sin of Sharpay’s is that she has goals to date Troy who is (sometimes)
happily in a relationship with Gabriella.
So what nefarious deed does she do to win him over?
Does she kiss him?
Push Gabriella off a cliff?
Drug him and shave off that mop of hair so she can swim deeper into his cool blue, winter
crystal eyes?
NO!
Sharpay’s evil plan is to get Troy a job at her family’s country club, get him promoted
so he’ll be paid better, and then also introduce him to members of the University of Albuquerque
basketball team so that he’ll have a better chance of getting a scholarship the following
year.
“What a shame that Troy is only washing dishes all summer given that he is a potential star for Alma Mater daddy."
"The Red Hawks would be very interested in him."
"Troys very concerned about college." "Really...? How's coach Bolton these days?"
How DARE she?
And what insane favor does she ask of him in return?
That he perform with her in a talent show...
"She's basically offered you a college education just to sing with her in the talent show."
which, it probably should be mentioned when push comes to shove, he doesn’t do.
Meanwhile, let’s look at what some of the “good guys” do back at High School Musical
1: In order to get Troy and Gabriella’s heads back into the game, their best friends
trick Troy into saying he doesn’t care about Gabriella in front of a hidden camera and
then they force her to WATCH IT!
Who’s the bigger villain: the person trying to win over a guy in a relationship by being
nice to him, or the people using hidden cameras to break up their friends’ relationship
when it doesn’t serve their needs?
But oh, it’s okay for them.
But Sharpay’s actions are unforgiveable?
Yeah... I don’t think so.
And complaint #3: Sharpay is a spoiled rich girl who expects everything to be handed to
her.
Now, the rich part is right: Throughout the High School Musical movies, we learn that
Sharpay’s family owns a resort and uses a private helicopter.
But expecting everything to be handed to her?
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In the straight-to-DVD classic, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, Sharpay moves to New York
City to try to make it as an actress, and her doubting father gives her one month to
make a career for herself or else she’ll have to return home.
Does Sharpay kick and scream about it?
No, she actually goes and tries to make the best of it, and tries to network with a director
who voiced interest in casting her.
"I'm going to meet with that casting director, get the part, be a star, and have a palace."
And when she finds out that director was actually interested in casting her dog and not her,
sure it sucks, but she seizes the opportunity and gets hired as the personal assistant to
the star of the show, who then makes her run errands all night and scrub toilets.
Does Sharpay refuse and resolve to destroy the star’s career?
No, once again she recognizes that getting an in with someone in the industry is how people get
a shot in show business, so she does all the star’s menial chores...THEN destroys her
career.
The point is, across all four installments of the franchise, Sharpay gets knocked down
time and time and time again...losing the lead role, getting betrayed, not getting into the
college she wants, getting passed over for a dog...but she never once gives up on what matters
to her, she never stops believing in herself,
"What about your dream of being a star." "It's still there."
"It's just a little bit more of a dream than a reality."
and she’s even gracious enough to help others out like Gabriella
and this weird snooty kid with a performing King Charles Spaniel in Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure.
By the end of the series, she gets the satisfaction not only of coming out on top but also of
doing it entirely on her own.
And that my friends the most noble, hero-esque arc we see from anyone in the whole series.
Zeke had it right all along: “If you actually get to know her…”
And the heroes of these movies don’t even let him finish talking about keeping an open
mind to a fellow classmate...well done Wildcats. Well done.
"That's all well and good MatPat" you're probably saying right now.
But HSM needs a villain...
So who then IS the villain?
Well, you’re in luck, because the series does have someone who is truly spoiled, someone
who doesn’t deserve the things they have coming to them, and then is ungrateful for
the opportunities that come their way.
It’s none other than the six-packed, autotuned wonder, Troy Bolton.
I mean, it starts all the way back in the first movie: When the time comes for Troy
and Gabriella to audition, they chicken out, and only gather enough courage after it’s
too late.
“We take these shows very seriously at East High.
I called for the pairs audition and you didn’t respond.
Free period is now over.”, but apparently not seriously enough since Ms. Darbus hears
them singing and gives them a callback anyway.
"Bolton, Montez, you have a call back."
And if you want to talk about someone who won’t share the spotlight, look no further
than Troy Bolton in High School Musical 2, when Troy is invited to play pick-up basketball with the players
on the University of Albuquerque’s team, an opportunity I should mention he only gets
thanks to Sharpay.
His friends on his high school team ask to go and Troy doesn’t even consider it before
he refuses.
"Hey hey, Bolton, come on!" "Hey! Why don't you tell them to come over here and mix it up?"
"Show em' some game." "I don't think that's how they roll. It's a closed practice."
"But we can play two on two after work...?"
Just flat-out ditches them.
Speaking of being a bad friend, he breaks pretty much every promise he makes to his girlfriend Gabriella
in HSM 2, then uses Sharpay’s affection to get more money and access to people who
can help him out
"An entire table of university boosters are coming to see you... THANKS to me!"
"So I'll be their waiter, they'll be thrilled." "Troy, Troy this could change your life!"
"I'm more interested in what my friends think of me."
All in return for singing a song in a talent show with Sharpay that he acts like is a huge chore
the entire time and ultimately doesn't deliver on.
"You'll sing some other time though... With me. Promise?" "Promise."
Well sorry, Mr. Swoopy Bangs, didn’t mean to give you an opportunity to pay for the
college you say you can’t afford.
"Troy's very concerned about college." "Really? How's coach Bolton these days?"
"Oh, fantastic!" "Outstanding"
"Next time I see country club princess I'm gonna launch her and her pink car straight into the lake."
"Build the ramp buddy."
Speaking of that job, Troy spends most of the movie worried about money, but then spends
most of his time at the job getting others to completely ignore their duties.
"I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Fulton."
Or just slacking off with his friends: "Mr. Fulton this was my idea she had nothing to do with it."
"I generously overlooked your previous break violation, but then came the golf course incident."
"And now... this. Two strikes."
It’s a JOB!
You gotta do your job
to EARN the money. You're going to have to earn your way into that college, Troy!
Or maybe you don’t...because life hands Troy Bolton whatever the eff' he wants.
At the end of High School Musical 3, it’s announced that Troy will attend UC Berkeley
because he chooses “basketball...but I've also choosen theater”.
Yeah, Troy?
Are they letting you play basketball at Berkeley?
Who did you Coach father have to pay off to let that one happen?
Because THAT’S a big time, Division I sports school -- which, for everyone who doesn’t
talk sports translates to, these guys are SERIOUS about their athletics.
In the 2017-2018 college basketball season, no starting player on their team is shorter
than 6 foot 3.
Zac Efron is 5 foot 8.
He is shorter than me!
Which begs the question: How is Troy Bolton, the theater-basketball double-threat able
to manage that?
Could it be because things just get handed to him?
His spot on the basketball team, his job at the country club, and let’s not forget that
he never even formally auditioned for the show in the original High School Musical!
If you’re looking for somebody to hate, maybe look away from the hard-working rich
girl and look more at the popular kid who always gets whatever he wants whether he deserves
it or not.
I guess good things come to those with abs….I’m gonna go do some crunches.
But hey, that’s just a theory.
A Film Theory! Annnnnd...
You know, as hard as I tried I couldn’t figure out how to prove that High School Musical
was in the same universe as Breaking Bad (even though Gabriella is a science whiz who has
been moving every year and might be being chased by the DEA or Gus Fring’s daughter
or something; hey, if you can make an air-tight connection, let me know because that would be the best theory ever).
High School Musical is the prequel to Breaking Bad?
In the meantime, hit the subscribe button to ensure you get more theories sent to your door
that will ruin your childhood.
You can bet on it, bet on it, bet on it...bet on ME!
And if you want MORE Disney ruined for you, check out how Moana and Maui are secretly
related...along with her pig.
That’s the box to the left!
Now if you'll excuse me, I do really need to do those crunches.