The High School Club

[Valerunner]

Out of all people here, I would be starting this.

Anyway, this be the High School Musical club. No signups, I can't be bothered with that.

 

[Evolutionary]

*joins*

HSM!

Ryan is made of awesome.

What are your favorite songs?

 

[Dannichu]

Hehe, yeeeeeeeah.

Ooh, I absolutely adore I Want It All. It's (slightly embarassingly) my second-most played song, according to WMP X3
I also really like Breaking Free, Bop to the Top, I Don't Dance, Night to Remember and Now or Never. I also think the video to Bet on It is the funniest thing ever.

Am I the only one who thinks it's funny how Kelsi has at least double Taylor's screen time and contribution to the plot, but she doesn't get in on any of the official pictures and stuff?

I don't know if any of you kids have seen Rent, but it's also pretty funny how you can almost perfectly match up the characters in Rent to those in HSM; Troy as Roger, Gabriella as Mimi, Ryan as Angel, Chad as Collins, Sharpay as Maureen, Taylor as Joanne, Zeke as Benny and either a genderswapped Kelsi or Jason as Mark X3

Chad/Ryan = OTP Y/N?

 

[Valerunner]

I'd have to say Status Quo(the number in the cafeteria.)

Also, Kelsi is too awesome for merchandise. :)

 

[Jason-Kun]

*Shakes head slowly.* I came in here expecting something good and now I'm off. You disappointed me greately.

 

[Evolutionary]

Yes, I want it all is most awesome~

And I also like Breaking Free, Bop to the Top, I Don't Dance, Night to Remember and Now or Never. But then again I like mostly all of the songs anyway :)

I also rather like Fabulous and Bet on it.

 

[Tailsy]

I decided that any future partner of mine will need to be able to sit through all three High School Musical films without becoming suicidal at any point or they're out.

[IS COMPLETELY SERIOUS.]

 

[Valerunner]

I decided that any future partner of mine will need to be able to sit through all three High School Musical films without becoming suicidal at any point or they're out.

[IS COMPLETELY SERIOUS.]

Nice; it roots out the chavs, methinks.

 

[Tailsy]

Nice; it roots out the chavs, methinks.

And pretty much everyone else, really.

 

[Bombsii]

Yes, I want it all is most awesome~

And I also like Breaking Free, Bop to the Top, I Don't Dance, Night to Remember and Now or Never. But then again I like mostly all of the songs anyway :)

I also rather like Fabulous and Bet on it.

Theres only 2 or 3 songs I kinda like. Bet on it and Everyday but the best one by far is Now or Never.

(BTW I want to join)

 

[Dannichu]

I don't want this falling off the page, and I found this earlier and thought I'd share.

It's from a list here about the "Top 10 Things About HSM", but I especially loved the top 4 (and their sociological connotations!), so in order to not stretch the page to epic lengths, I'll only post those.

Here we go!

. 4. The ultimate message: it's totally cool to be who you are, no one has to live in a single little box, and we should embrace our differences and still be BFF

Becky: HSM has been referred to as a new generation's Grease, but there's one major difference. At the end of Grease, Sandy gives up on who she is and what she believes in so she can get the dreamy boy (at least, if you're willing to believe Travolta is dreamy). So to give credit where it's due, HSM is much better -- if for nothing else than because at the end, it's all about being true to who you are.

Jess: We refer here to the first movie, of course - the message of the second movie seems to be "Don't do drugs, because you'll turn orange and start seeing giant clocks and crazy girls in wedding dresses and stuff."

3. Gabriella's understated independence

Jess: Vanessa's no great shakes as an actress, and I went into HSM2 not liking Gabriella very much at all. That changed when I saw her behavior towards Troy.

Becky: I'm now going to project my own issues wildly onto Gabi. See, when I was in high school, I had a boyfriend who I was desperately, passionately in love with, and he with me. Except he was extremely jealous and possessive, and as a direct result, I was miserable for well over a year. But I didn't get why, or what I could do about it -- hey, I was 15. And when the thought did flicker through my mind that maybe I would be happier without him, I was overwhelmed by guilt: I loved him, why wasn't that enough? He'd feel awful if we broke up; I couldn't do that to him.

So it actually means a lot to me to see Gabi as a role model for girls in the second movie. Because Troy is a complete tool, and blows her off, and treats her really badly. And she breaks up with him, because she knows that she deserves to be happy. Their exchange in "Gotta Go My Own Way" is actually really brilliant in that regard. She knows what's right, and she does it. She doesn't need Troy to be happy. And yes, that is what I want girls to see on TV.

Also, when refusing to buy into Sharpay's games, her disgusted delivery of, "What's the prize? Troy?" is pretty much accidental genius.

2. An ethnically and visually varied cast

Jess: Oh, and hey, speaking of good role models, how about a Latina heroine (Vanessa's multiracial but Gabi seems to be straight-up Latina, not that it matters) and two interracial couples (Troy/Gabi and Sharpay/Zeke, if the latter counts as a couple)? That's pretty cool. I hear Martha gets to be head cheerleader in HSM3, as well - that's pretty freaking awesome, even if KayCee kind of gives me a headache.

Becky: HSM actually has a cast that isn't 100% caucasian, heterosexual, and skinny. That shouldn't be an accomplishment, but you know what? It is. Let's hope the rest of TV follows.

1. Ryan Evans

Becky: We snark about how incredibly, mind-bogglingly gay Ryan is a lot on this blog. We have an entire category dedicated to it. And -- okay, we mostly do it because it's funny. But the punchline isn't, "Heh, heh, he's gay." The punchline is that Disney, a corporation not exactly known for taking progressive stances, has provided a beloved, respected, positively-portrayed character, who happens to be flamingly gay. And has aimed this character to kids -- kids who are still forming opinions on what is normal and socially-acceptable behavior. And I want to live in a world where no one thinks real kids who happen to be like Ryan Evans are anything but normal.

Jess: Yes, Disney will tell you that they're not dealing with sexuality in these movies and jump through endless verbal hoops to keep from admitting that Ryan is gay. And yeah, it really, really sucks that they can't just have him be gay and have that be the end of it (let alone let him have a love interest. I mean, outside of "I Don't Dance"). But hey. Ryan Evans loves what he does and who he is. Everyone should have a role model like that.

From here - and their other Top 10 lists are fantastic, too.

 

[Minish]

Joining~! :D I loved the first film, and sort of love-hated the second film. I agree with that list, that Gabriella is pretty much really really really freaking awesome in the second one, compared to the first. XD

My favourite songs... probably Status Quo, Breaking Free, I Don't Dance and Gotta Go My Own Way.

 

[Dannichu]

I agree that Gabi improves hugely between the first and second films. As does Chad and to an extent Ryan - in the sense that they're given personalities and roles larger than "playing sidekick to Sharpay/Troy". Troy is a horrible person in the second movie, but I never really liked him to begin with.

I absolutely love Gotta Go My Own Way, if only because my best friend and I can get a near-perfect score when we do a duet of it on it on High School Musical Singstar. That is how cool I am.