High School Musical: 5 Times The Movies Were Ahead Of Their Time (& 5 Moments That Didn’t Age Well)

High School Musical was a phenomenon of its time, but some parts of this beloved trilogy don’t hold really hold up.

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There’s no Disney movie franchise that took off the way High School Musical did. The trilogy was an overnight sensation, the soundtracks played on at middle school birthday parties, school drama classes did the musical, and families sang their favorite tunes on karaoke games. Simply put, High School Musical is a Disney phenomenon.

The movies are just as big of a hit now, if not bigger. Some of their plot points are timeless, and most of their songs are fan favorites. Since many years have passed since all three movies released, a few details are starting to show the films’ age. These don’t detract from the movies’ impact and fun, but they do show the changes in society since Troy first tried to sing. Here are five High School Musical moments that are ahead of their time, along with five that already have not aged well.

10 AGED WELL: Singing is Cool

It takes a while to get there, but the three movies collectively say that singing is cool. Better yet, they reminded kids that it can be possible to excel at more than just one creative talent. Fast forward more than a decade later, and many kids are over-extended.

It’s normal to sing in the choir, play on the basketball team, join the cooking club, and learn a musical instrument. What kids and adults could really take away from these movies is a reminder to do things that they love, and to stop and enjoy the journey instead of trying to fit in.

9 DIDN’T AGE WELL: The Status Quo

“Stick to the Status Quo” is a double-edged sword in the first High School Musical film. In efforts to be subversive and challenge established social orders, the song actually does some work to reinforce those conventions. The biggest naysayers of social change in the high school, according to this song, are Sharpay and then Chad.

Sharpay sings her discontent: “This is not what I want, this is not what I planned.” Chad approaches Troy immediately after the musical number to say, “Even the drama geeks and the brainiacs suddenly think that they can… talk to us… Suddenly people think that they can do other stuff, stuff that’s not their stuff!” Chad’s derogatory language (calling people “geeks”) and his condescending thoughts negate everything the kids just sang about. Not cool.

8 AGED WELL: Taking Responsibility

The second movie takes the Wildcats to the country club. Sharpay wants to keep her paws on Troy for the summer, but it seems like the whole high school is part of the deal. To get Troy on her parents’ club property, all the Wildcats get summer jobs, too.

However, it doesn’t take long for Troy to get the special treatment Sharpay orders. Troy certainly lets the perks of Sharpay’s machinations go to his head, but the other students work pretty hard. Despite the conflicts in the plot, the movie does a good job of balancing work and play for the East High country club crew.

7 DIDN’T AGE WELL: Mister Popular

Troy’s haughtiness in the first sequel is a more pronounced example of his superiority complex. Yes, he’s one of the leads, so he’s automatically a central focus. But think about it.

His face is plastered all over the school on basketball banners, his future is always number one, and he gets two full-blown solo numbers (“Bet on It” and “Scream”) about how conflicted he is and how little sense he can make of his life. To say that the center of Troy’s universe is Troy would be an understatement.

6 AGED WELL: Miss Independent

To counter Troy’s displays of machismo and self-exploration, Gabriella sings a couple of her own power anthems. In the first movie, she strolls through the school singing “When There Was Me and You” as an expression of her disappointment with Troy. In the third movie, she amps it up with “Walk Away.”

Sandwiched in between these is the real masterpiece: the second movie brings a Troy and Gabriella duet called “Gotta Go My Own Way.” The bottom line is, Gabriella knows when it’s time to do her own thing and let Troy attempt to grow up.

5 DIDN’T AGE WELL: Diversity

When it comes to diversity, High School Musical misses the mark in a couple of ways. There is racial and ethnic diversity in the cast of characters, although no one’s background is explored at all.

It would seem that there is diversity in the interests and skills of the East High kids, but there is also a certain uniformity to them. This is expected in a Disney film, but the more time goes by, the more noticeable it is.

4 AGED WELL: Breaking Free

Ryan Evans needs a little more attention in discussions of these movies. In the summer-themed sequel, he slowly starts to detach a little from his twin, Sharpay. This is a good thing because she treats him like her sidekick all the time.

Because of their distance, Ryan starts to build relationships with the other kids, and he really enjoys it. The third movie explores this a little more, but the biggest and best changes are in the second movie.

3 DIDN’T AGE WELL: Greed

Sharpay is a highly entertaining character, and the movies wouldn’t be the same without her. Her bottomless greed is not a timeless trait, though.

Her desire to constantly have more is made explicitly clear in her songs. Cases in point, she reaches for the top with Ryan in the first film’s “Bop to the Top” and proclaims that she needs a little “Fabulous” in the second movie (try a lot of fabulous, not a little). Then, she duos with Ryan again in the third movie to sing “I Want It All.”

2 AGED WELL: Its Pop Culture Explosion

The fact that the High School Musical became so popular with virtually zero social media is remarkable. Sure, the Internet knew what it was, but it seems like nothing explodes like that these days without some heavy-duty social media marketing.

The movies did so well because they were a fun, musical escape for the huge age range of viewers. Disney also knew how to hype people up for the films with lots of promos on their network.

1 DIDN’T AGE WELL: Senior Year

It was so exciting to go see the third High School Musical movie in theaters. Though the movie would be followed by the direct-to-video release of Sharpay’s Excellent Adventure, High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the last piece of the original trilogy.

Senior year is a timeless topic; everyone who finishes high school goes through some kind of senior year. While the Wildcats are presented with a fair amount of challenges in the final movie, their high school experience is much glitzier and more exciting than that of the average person. All in all, many still love the magical third film, even if it did get a bit saccharine at times.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/disney-high-school-musical-aged-well-didnt-comparison/