Is ‘High School Musical’ Good?

Is High School Musical Good?

By Eric Dahlinger

Yes… I ask the hard questions. Well a few years ago a few friends and I at school were listening to music and all of a sudden a High School Musical number came on. I expected the song to be changed almost immediately. I also expected the guy who was playing the music to get all embarrassed… but no, that didn’t happen.  Most people in our small gang started to sing along and even dance.  We then continued to listen to other HSM, HSM2, and HSM3 songs.  Then a 3rd year student walked by and disapprovingly shocked her head and told us to “turn that shit off”.  The best moment followed, our voice teacher walked by and said “what a beautiful song. Where is it from”. We answered “it’s from HSM3”.  She replied with “Well I take it back then”.  This lead me to ask myself the question ‘was high school musical really Bad or was it actually a entertaining movie that some don’t care for?’. Skip to present day and 2 of my best friends and I love High School Musical but our other friend HATES it. I still ask myself that same question.

 Its Audience

I hear many 14 year olds (and older) say that they hate HSM… but let’s be honest IT’S SO NOT FOR THERE AGE DEMIGRAPHIC, It’s for 8-12 year olds.  Contrary to popular belief, High School Musical was never really meant for high school students, it was meant to inspire elementary school kids.  Many people say it’s cheesy but 8-12 yr olds love that kind of stuff, people say the acting is overdone, 8-12 yr olds think it’s fun and entertaining.  “The story is too innocent”… well it’s for children… do you want to put sex, and drugs on TV for them, NO it’s not appropriate.  So if you’re an adult or teen who dislikes HSM remember it’s for children.

 The Message

To be honest, the message of the movie is very positive and encouraging, and sets a good example for young kids who are still in elementary school.  It teaches us that we should not let what other people think of us get in the way of what we want or who we are.  On the other hand, the movie does show an unrealistic view of high school, you’re not always going to be widely accepted in the end if you go against the “status quo”.  Its TV counterpart, Glee at least showed the down side to not fitting in.  But as previously stated it’s for kids, we want to tell kids to reach for there dreams.  And in a way it is preventative, if we teach kids to understand and accept each other early on, then bullying becomes less of a problem (I know that  was a major over simplification)

The Story

This is going to be fast… If you hate HSM for its story you must also hate Grease because they are the same (without telling young girls to give up who they are for a boy).  And before you say ‘Yeah, they copied Grease’… lots of great works of art borrowed from the classics… West Side Story is Romeo and Juliet, Lion King is Hamlet, and Avatar is Disney’s Pocahontas. 

 The Music

If you hate mainstream music then I can understand why you might dislike the music in this movie.  However if you are into Brittany, Miley Cyrus, or anything on the hot 100 chart (back in 2006) then you really can’t dislike it too much?  All the music is based upon pop music of its day, and was written to be light and catchy.

To break it down…

Love mainstream music, then you should like HSM

Hate mainstream music, then you should hate HSM

 Conclusion

Is High School Musical unrealistic, cheesy, and juvenile… yes it is? Is it also one of the highest grossing TV/film series… also yes?  In the end, High School Musical has brought great popularity for Musicals to the younger generation, and without it we probably would not have Hairspray (or the new Live version), Glee, Grease Live, or even the upcoming La La Land.  So all I have to say is that I actually like High School Musical and am not afraid to say it.

P.S. Ryan Evens is the Best, and bring on High School Musical 4