What Team?!!!

In recent months I have become a full-fledged High School Musical fan. For those who think HSM is for kids and wonder what the heck has gotten into me, I feel the need to explain. First of all, let me say that I resisted for a long time. Despite working at Walt Disney World in 2006 when the first movie was released, I didn’t catch wind of its momentous impact. It was there, trying to creep through the back of my mind but I rejected it outright telling myself it was ‘dumb’, and nothing like the really good stuff that Disney produced when my generation was growing up. The overly catchy songs and dances were nothing I hadn’t heard before. In fact, they seemed a little hyper and overdone for my taste. But how often are the very best stories the ones we have heard before, but told in a completely fresh and wonderful way?




High School Musical is the story of Troy and Gabriella, two characters you know all too well. They could be Danny and Sandy in Grease, or Baby and Johnny in Dirty Dancing. But in this story they are modern day high school students who meet at a ski resort over winter break and get paired up for a karaoke duet on New Year’s Eve. What transpires during their song is a rare kind of chemistry and attraction that will warm your heart and captivate you and becomes even sweeter when you learn the actors were falling in love in real life as well as onscreen. The “Start of Something New” number lifts you up off your seat onto a journey you can’t help but give yourself over to. All three films are dressed in cheesy lines, exaggerated character depiction, and feel-good songs that will leave you sneaking your kid’s soundtrack in the car so you can have your own private HSM sing-a-long as you drive home from work.




After the first movie, the two sequels are practically prescriptive but highly enjoyable nonetheless. The music and dancing only get better and better. But what's it really about? High School Musical is about supreme possibility. It indulges us in the high school experience we all should have had but far from what most actually experience. Still, it creates a sense of nostalgia in us. It is about the innocence and purity of young love and the sacredness of close friendships. Most importantly, it reminds us that if we are able to overcome the major obstacles so many adolescents face like social cliques, insecurities, and the uncertainty of our futures, and learn to be ourselves and follow our hearts, we truly are unstoppable. A simple message but an invaluable and inspiring lesson. Go Wildcats, Game On!!



So which is the best movie of the series you wonder? Well you might just have to watch and find out..