Review- Expectation vs. Reality: My Journey Through Highschool Musical

By Kaiya H.

As it turns out, concocting a harshly negative review is difficult when you’ve never actually seen the movie you’re trying to ridicule. However, this could not stop me from pre-meditating on hilarious and hopefully clever insults I would write once Highschool Musical began. Pencils and sheets of paper were placed by my side. Setting up this way would be the most effective way to allow the whole devastating review to flow freely from my hand. Maybe I would patronize the cliché social hierarchy that these teen musical movies are bound to have, or I would end up believing the movie allegedly has no plot and the “insanely talented” leads can’t sing. Most of these prejudices bore from the basic theatre kid who expects everything they watch to be something out of an Aldus Huxley novel. Admittedly, I wanted to hate Highschool Musical.

Sure, the elements of social hierarchy and teen romance are themes that show up throughout the movie, but what I discovered was more a story about community. The movie focuses on two main characters Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) who are battling self-discovery as well as peer pressure and parental expectations. Highschool Musical reminded me of the importance of community and loving the people around me, while adding to my experience with thoroughly enjoyable songs and subtle theatre jokes bound to be delightfully understood by thespians all over. Overall, I’m happy and maybe slightly embarrassed to report that Highschool Musical has just now been added to my guilty pleasure list.

Although this movie is geared toward elementary/middle school-aged people, if you are a theatre kid like me, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) will make you laugh with their intense vocal warmups and classic gate-keeping of the lead roles. If you are a part of a family with young children, this would be a great choice for your next Friday film. If you are someone who has just finished a horror movie and needs to sleep well tonight, this family-friendly movie will leave you feeling happy and inclined to watch the next two movies.