#easthighwildcats

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

After analysing how Gabriella Montez used Ryan Evans to punish her boyfriend, Troy Bolton (Part I; Part II), let’s examine the cumulative effect of this behaviour (including Chad’s shouting match and the Wildcats leaving him behind in rehearsals) on Troy. 

According to Mr. Bolton, Troy has been in his room “the last 3 or 4 days”. As we can see, he throws a ball aimlessly, totally dejected. We then learn that even if Troy tried calling “the guys” to “get the game going”, they would just ignore him. This shows that they were, in fact, ignoring him even before the infamous kitchen scene. 

Troy isn’t just upset and lonely: he now questions his entire existence. Why? Because everyone else, from his girlfriend to his team, claims he has changed. As they are the majority, and people whose opinions matter deeply to Troy, he crumbles under their collective criticism and hostility, assuming that he is at fault. 

Never mind that Troy’s concern for his parents’ worrying about college costs drove him to take responsibility and seek financial independence through earning enough money and chasing a scholarship. Never mind that Taylor helped poison Gabriella’s mind against him just because Sharpay was pressuring Troy to perform in the Talent show. 

Never mind his blatant discomfort with Sharpay’s behaviour throughout the entirety of this film. 

Never mind the fact that his girlfriend cosied up to Ryan in order to punish him (and never apologised). Never mind the fact that he had earned Mr. Evans’ approval through hard work. Never mind that the Redhawks liked and respected him. Never mind that his father said he should keep his eye on the prize, as the Wildcats won’t last forever. 

Troy never considers any of these inconvenient facts, instead ruminating on Chad’s claim that “if I don’t know who you are these days, then who does?” and Gabriella’s claim that “it seems like a new Troy”, not to mention the mockery and coldness of Zeke (who owes his confession about baking to Troy signing up for the Talent Show), Jason, and others. 

“Maybe my friends are right-- maybe I’m turning into a jerk with new shoes.”

On analysing Troy’s word choices, I hold out hope that by using the word “maybe”, this implies that he had tried defending his actions. We have good evidence of this from his argument with Chad, in which he stated plainly that he was offered opportunities and he showed up to work the same as everyone else. 

Furthermore, he pleaded with Gabriella that he was just working on the scholarship and that he meant everything he had said. (As usual, she dismissed him entirely and asserted without evidence that he had only meant this “at the time”.)

Unfortunately, that deliberation is won over by the near condemnation of his friends and girlfriend. 

Notice that Troy never criticised his new shoes until Gabriella mocked them. In the above dialogue, he misses out the adjective “Italian”-- for good reason, I think. Now that fact embarrasses him. 

Mr. Bolton is now filled with concern, rightly pointing out, “New shoes, not a new kid, where’s this coming from?”

Earlier, Mr. Bolton warned Troy to keep his eyes on the prize: getting a scholarship. He also said that his son should never be ashamed of promotions if he had earned them (as he had). This once again undermines the claim that Troy became too big for his boots, since the idea of being served by Jason and Chad embarrassed him. 

Mr. Bolton thought Troy had taken this advice to heart, and proudly told Mr. Evans that Troy always gave “110%, that you can count on.” As far as he was concerned, Troy was putting his future first. That means Mr. Bolton never saw Troy as ditching his friends. The opinions of Troy’s father must surely carry more weight than those of his friends and girlfriend. 

Yet Troy ignores this, because he wants to escape his father’s shadow and because he cares more about being liked than being right. 

“I’ve been so focused on my future: Gabriella quit, Chad won’t talk to me, I don’t see the Wildcats running around here...”

Yet more evidence that Troy blames himself, despite the evidence painting a different picture. Gabriella was supposed to be angry at Sharpay, but then blamed Troy and left entirely, despite claiming that she needed a job and despite making Troy promise they would be together all summer. Troy makes it sound as though it is his fault that Gabriella quit because “I’ve been so focused on my future.” 

Ditto for Chad, also supposed to be angry with Sharpay’s interference, but letting his jealousy against Troy burst free like water through a dam. As far as Troy is concerned, that is his fault, too. Ditto for the Wildcats refusing to visit the house. 

Mr. Bolton, again rightly, says that the scholarship “is only a big deal if it makes sense to you.” Despite Mr. Bolton’s regrettable flaw of projecting onto his son, he does care deeply for his wellbeing (far more so than the Wildcats) and only acts out of love and concern for his son. Since they share a bond over basketball, he has every reason to believe that this opportunity makes sense to Troy. 

But it’s too late. Troy already has his back to his father, probably not even registering this advice. Chad, Gabriella, etc. have all won, leading him to conclude that, “I don’t even know who I am, anymore.” Of course, he knew full well who he was when he commendably argued against Chad earlier. But as soon as Chad brought up the “brothers” and “pre-school”, and “I don’t even know who you are”, he broke. 

Simply put: Troy “doesn’t know” himself because his friends and his girlfriend told him this, not because it’s unquestionably true. As I already showed, several people have not made any such comment: Mr & Mrs. Bolton, Mr & Mrs. Evans, Ryan Evans, the Redhawks, Kelsi Nielsen-- even Sharpay hasn’t claimed that he is changing. Later on, she realises that he is “a good guy”, which ironically undermines all previous claims to the contrary!

Mr. Bolton tries, as only he can, to lift Troy’s spirits. Troy’s expression here indicates that he has heard this talk beforehand. Mr. Bolton’s advice here is that Troy will “figure out the right thing to do”. But he has just heard Troy confess that he doesn’t know himself, so how can that be the case? 

Once again, Mr. Bolton is so close, yet still so far. He doesn’t dig deeper. Notice that he has not criticised Chad or the Wildcats for ignoring his son to the point where he hides inside his bedroom and refuses to eat. Neither has he criticised Gabriella for quitting, evidently leaving Troy distressed and alone. I understand perfectly that Mr. Bolton is trying to empower his son to make the right decisions, but he didn’t witness any of the scenes between Troy and the other Wildcats. Had he done so, perhaps he would have had some different advice. 

Troy cannot make the right decisions at this point, because he genuinely believes he has lost himself over a scholarship. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he blames himself for everything. 

Meanwhile, none of the Wildcats are ever shown in such confusion and upset, neither do they ever apologise for their treatment of Troy. 

I leave the audience to decide who is truly in the wrong here. 

[jadeamber14]

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[rowelangarts-blog]

Monsters on Maple Street

By: Lilly and Genny

On a late summer evening on Maple Street, at precisely 6:43 pm, citizens looked up at the sky to see a flash of light. Shortly after, all the power in the street went out. Many people were curious, but others accused it of simply being a power outage. We interviewed a woman who asked her identity be kept anonymous. She told U.S.  “She couldn’t get anything on radio, not even the portable,” which should have worked if there was a power outage. They made many accusations over the night, but then, new information came about, which led the people of Maple St. to believe aliens to blame.

         We interviewed a little boy named Tommy, who told U.S. about the “alien invasion”. Tommy, claimed, “They don’t want us to leave… that’s why they shut everything off… It’s always that way in every story I ever read about a ship landing from outer space”.  This exact statement is what led the town into complete chaos. While contemplating about whom among them was responsible for the strange occurrences, a neighbor, Pete Vanhorn, emerged from the next town to report information. Sadly, he was mistaken for a nonhuman life form. Mr. Vanhorn was shot and killed that night. While his family mourns for him the town remains living in true fear.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Apparently, the Disney channel has decided to upload the songs from the High School Musical series out of nowhere. 

Anyway, this has to be one of the most popular duets and rightly so. The first time I watched High School Musical (2007), I was sold (though I later insisted that it was too cheesy). 

When observing this scene, it was easy for me to ship Troyella. Everything works, particularly Gabriella overcoming her stage fright to perform. Both of them gel together vocally and onstage. The crowd are ecstatic, as is Kelsi Nielsen when she hears her work being performed as she envisaged. Art imitating life, we can see why Troy is so attached to this relationship in subsequent movies. 

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

In line with my recent announcement about High School Musical fanfiction, here comes another analysis from High School Musical II. Apologies for the fuzzy video quality: I found this on Youtube. 

The above scene shows Gabriella Montez accusing Troy of becoming “a new Troy”, and the rest of the Wildcats sharing her anger after Troy is called away to practice with the Redhawks. 

One thing that strikes me throughout this scene is the sincerity of Troy’s apologies. During my series, Questions for High School Musical II (Part I & Part II), my commentary contained less nuance. Having discovered things about the series which I had not learned beforehand, I just wanted to spill my thoughts onto Tumblr. 

Returning to High School Musical meta and fanfiction therefore challenges me to use more nuance and reasoning in my work, and I am fascinated to know whether my views have changed. So the scenes that caused me such frustration beforehand still render the same reaction? Have I noticed things which were concealed beforehand? All of these things are worth considering. 

Troy apologises for forgetting the staff baseball game, for missing lunch, and for missing the two-on-two play after work. We don’t see any impatience, something along the lines of, “Can’t you see that I have to--?” Sure, he shows frustration, but only because he is caught between commitments and has chosen to prioritise his scholarship opportunities. Instead, he say, “I know... I’m sorry.” when Zeke reminds him about the after-work game. 

It astonishes me that Troy Bolton is portrayed as the culprit here. Anyone could criticise him for trying to please all the people all the time, one of his lasting flaws throughout the series. He can be inconsiderate and forgetful. He can ignore good advice, and stubbornly pursue the wrong path. But has he really changed into a snob who has no time for his friends? 

If that were the case, then why offer to go on a date with Gabriella once he returned from basketball with the Redhawks? Why apologise for forgetting about the staff baseball game and commit to being there? Why, when Chad insinuates that Troy thought the Redhawks were too good for the Wildcats, would he quickly clarify his comments: “It’s a closed practice.”? At every turn, Troy clarifies his position and is mortified by even the suggestion that he is abandoning his friends or insulting them. “No, no, no that’s not what I meant.” 

This scene is built on insinuations from Gabriella and the Wildcats, which we the viewers are told to take as fact. Gabriella goads Troy by mentioning his “Italian golf shoes, new clothes, golf carts...” as proof that he changed. She doesn’t mention that Troy never sought these advantages (something that Troy commendably points out to Chad later on). Neither does she mention that Chad also rode in a new golf cart when caddying for the Evans’ (something he considered hugely beneficial), nor that Taylor got her own golf cart as part of her job. 

Should Gabriella be upset that Troy has missed dates? Well, he turned up for the picnic (she was ambivalent about this one), he was late for the after-work swim (she commendably waited for him without complaint). He missed the free cheeseburgers at lunch, in what can be described as the only show of inconsiderate behaviour throughout this entire movie. Sure, if Gabriella wants to be upset, have at it. But 2/3 ain’t bad. She rarely gives him credit where credit is due in this movie. 

The fact that she cannot highlights the unrealistic expectations she has of Troy and their relationship. Her cutting sarcastic comments highlight this: “Crazy stuff. Hard to keep track of, I bet.” Remember that Troy had been promoted to a job paying $500 a week plus tips, teaching golf to children. He also had to practice with the Redhawks, and rehearse for the Talent Show. That’s a considerable amount of responsibility, and so it’s inevitable he would forget other tasks and commitments. But once again, Troy responds by apologising and promising to do better in future. 

It’s worth pointing out that Troy was practicing college-standard basketball with the Redhawks. This meant developing and refining his technique, listening to tough feedback, all under the watchful eye of his father and his employer. Unlike what Taylor McKessie claims, sportsmen work hard to earn their fame.  

But Gabriella doesn’t even acknowledge the work Troy is putting in to secure his future goals, instead casting him as the recipient of new privileges and thus a new person. Why? Because he forgot a few commitments. Well, I don’t wish to justify forgetting your commitments, but as I said, Gabriella doesn’t even humour his explanations, though they are entirely reasonable. Just a few errors and she has already emotionally detached herself enough to make sarcastic remarks after he had promised to take her on a date. 

I think it’s worth examining Troy’s remark here: “So what’s your point?” I have often said before that Troy is impervious to Gabriella’s faults. Actually, I think that is untrue. I think this section of dialogue disproves my previous claims. Just see how Troy’s smile disappears, replaced by a frown. 

He catches the insinuations. Instead of trying to explain himself, he asks Gabriella to come straight to the point. So he dislikes her statement, and is hurt by her insinuating, rather than directly stating her problem. Of course, Gabriella’s response leaves him without an answer, but it encourages me to see a glimpse of Troy answering back in his defence, if only for a moment. 

Later on, it is Chad who insinuates that Troy has forgotten the team (the same accusations he made in the previous movie), and that Troy doesn’t want the Wildcats to come and play the Redhawks because he thinks the former are beneath the latter. We know that Chad made the accusations without evidence, because Troy quickly clarified that it was “a closed practice, sorry.” That’s not snobbery. It’s just a fact-- after all, the Redhawks players call Troy alone, not anyone else. 

(Watch how the player/driver’s smile disappears when Chad says, “Hey Bolton! That’s my ball!”. I think he is very perceptive. His reaction to Sharpay’s cloying behaviour is also illustrative). 

In HSM I, Chad, Zeke, and Jason all told Troy that they had had “another team meeting” about “how we haven’t been acting as a team”. They rightly confessed to downing Troy’s ambitions because it didn’t align with their own perceptions, and promised to be “cheering for you”. Yet fast-forward to the summer and the same three are again guilt-tripping Troy because his ambitions don’t align with their own perceptions. As Troy’s father rightly says, Troy has as much a duty to himself (even more so) as to the Wildcats. “There’s nothing wrong with keeping your eye on the prize.” 

Let’s not forget that the purpose of attending Lava Springs was to work for money. Each Wildcat had their own goals. Chad wanted to save up for a car, “so I can take that little hottie out on a proper date”. Zeke had to find a job so that his parents would match what he made (he has good parents, evidently). Troy was concerned about college funding, and made that concern clear: “No but seriously, guys: this summer I’ve got to make bank. My parents keep talking about how much college is gonna cost.”

Yet when Troy, in imperfect circumstances, does his best to achieve that goal, he is shunned and maligned. Sure, Sharpay pulled strings to give him privileges, but some of those came as a result of Mr. Evans’ more objective appraisal. Certainly, the Redhawks weren’t lying when they took a liking to Troy and invited him to scrimmage. And Troy did demonstrate an ability not only to play but teach golf, which also impressed the Redhawks. 

So it would appear that the Wildcats are not as contrite about their deception from HSM I, since they still question his motives any time he makes his own way-- even if making his own way in basketball, supposedly their common language. Worse, not one of Troy’s friends apologises for the above exchange. If Troy has to apologise for putting his scholarship and financial future first, why can’t his friends also apologise for the above scene?

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Some observations on High School Musical III’s duet, Just Wanna Be With You.

1- Kelsi Nielsen singing

I didn’t pay much attention to this beforehand, but it’s great that Kelsi Nielsen sings her own songs. We never saw this in the previous two movies, even though her music is significantly responsible for Troy Bolton’s character development (and possibly Ryan’s?). Instead, we always saw how Kelsi *imagined* the song would sound, using people with a larger vocal range and more confidence onstage than herself. But what about the composer herself? How would she approach this music? We never saw that until this scene above. Evidently, Kelsi prefers a more muted performance style, but still enjoys what Troy and Gabriella can do with her music. 

2- Troy owns the stage

While Ryan Evans has to give Gabriella a lot of prompting and direction throughout this rehearsal, he just leaves Troy to perform. This is similar to how Kelsi always prompts Gabriella, but allows Troy to perform. Troy owns the stage by now. He fills the entire auditorium. We can see the growth of his confidence on stage from the guy who reluctantly did karaoke to someone who takes the slightest piece of material from his teacher, his composer, and his choreographer, and makes it his own. We don’t see the same level of spontenaeity with Gabriella Montez-- although I think that out of the entire class, Gabriella was by far the best duet partner for Troy at that time. I think Ryan even said after this rehearsal, “Pity the actor that has to follow you...” (Ryan obviously comes alive when independent of Sharpay). So although the movies want us to believe that Troy and Gabriella have the same skill and passion for performing, the above song refutes this. 

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Hypocrisy Files: Gabriella Montez

I know, I know. I should stay away from HSM II, given how it hikes my blood pressure. But after this post yesterday, I just NEED to back up my defence of Troy Bolton with a comparative look at Gabriella’s staggering hypocrisy during her confrontation with Sharpay. WHY people cannot see this is beyond me. In my Questions for HSM II Continued, I said that Gabriella’s actions here were “somewhat commendable”. I hereby retract that comment; after further analysis, I now conclude that Gabriella did not have one scrap of moral authority to lecture Sharpay at all. If anyone should have shouted at Sharpay here, it should have been Kelsi. 

I will now conduct a line-by-line analysis for why Gabriella’s actions here are disgraceful, hypocritical and far worthier of censure than ANYTHING Troy does in the ENTIRE film series. 

Hold your horses.

Hypocrisy Files: Gabriella Montez

Agent Deborah: At 08:25am this morning, I watched exclusive clips of Suspect Montez engaged in acts of heinous hypocrisy. Report as follows. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, we discover that Sharpay has banned employee participation in her beloved Talent Show, too envious of Ryan’s creative genius and the potential he has to outshine her (finally) during the event. She wants to hog the stage with a completely unwilling Troy. At this, Gabriella storms out of the kitchen, determined to give Sharpay what for, as this is only the latest in a series of gimmicks that Sharpay has played to assert her dominance. Gabriella calls Sharpay away from her group of laughing sycophants to begin what is ostensibly a moral stand, but actually a complete farce. 

[G] “Sharpay! Forget about the rest of us! How about the fact that your brother has worked extremely hard on the show?”

Well, I’ll give her credit here, since Sharpay is clearly in the wrong for flushing all Ryan’s hard work down the toilet just because of her insatiable desire to be Top Dog, even though she is less talented than he. Thankfully, Ryan will receive his opportunity to demonstrate his grit and talent in the upcoming movie, but not before we’ve heard yet more of Gabriella’s atrocious moralizing. 

[S] “Oh, boo-hoo! He’ll be in the show! He’ll do his... celebrity impersonations.”

I think this comment speaks for itself, which is what makes it so rewarding when Ryan stands up to her later on. 

[S] “And don’t lecture me about Ryan! Given the way you’ve been interfering in Troy’s future.”

[G] “What?”

[S] “You’ve got him written up by Fulton for sneaking on the golf course. Swimming after hours! I had to step in just to save Troy’s job!”

Now, much earlier when I watched this, it appeared to me that Sharpay was merely trying to guilt-trip Gabriella by making what appeared to be false accusations against her conduct. After all, Troy was the one who suggested the picnic on the golf course, assuring Gabriella that it was fine for them to be there, when in fact he was breaking Club rules. He also suggested sneaking a swim (by shouting it aloud to the world in the middle of said club), which was also against the rules. Furthermore, Sharpay is quite clearly posturing with her fake philanthropism, solely based on acquiring Troy as a trophy under the guise of her Talent Show. 

But now, I realize that Sharpay IS right! Not for the reasons she thinks, though. Gabriella HAS been interfering with Troy’s future. Her reaction to his promotions and privileges was, one of disdain, condescension and cruel mockery. She falsely accused him of having become a “new Troy” on the basis of 1)- his inability to make dates on time, 2)- his new Italian golf shoes, 3)- his clothes, meaning his promotions and privileges. 

As a result of this, Troy was crestfallen and no doubt filled with guilt that later manifest himself as he flushed his future down the toilet to reunite with Gabriella and get in good with his friends. If that’s not interference, then I don’t know what is. Any supportive girlfriend would have been delighted, pleased and proud when Troy said “I can’t believe how things are working out here!”. They would not have cut him down to pea size, mocked him for wearing new clothes and made him feel like an arrogant imposter, rather than a hard-working and talented student. It might not be physical interference, but you can see how Troy’s pleasure and good mood is completely eviscerated by the end of this scene. At the beginning, he did a twirl, was shooting hoops and smiling. By the end, he looked thoroughly downtrodden, confused and hurt. Gabriella has a habit of destroying Troy’s mood within seconds, as I will explain shortly. 

[G] “I’m not interested in what YOU think you’re doing for Troy! That’s between you and him!”

When I first watched this, I was cheering Gabriella on. Yes! She’s not interested in Sharpay’s meddling, she’s standing up for what is right! 

Oh, what a fool I was. Read Gabriella’s comments carefully, folks. Now let’s rewind a little back to the Free Cheeseburgers Travesty. What did Gabriella say, after finding out that Troy had asked Sharpay’s opinion* on his new Italian golf shoes?

“He didn’t ask me.”

That might sound innocuous, but then if you fast-forward a little, Gabriella brings up the SAME topic when she derides Troy for allegedly having changed. 

“So I see. ITALIAN GOLF SHOES, new clothes, golf carts... It’s crazy stuff. Hard to keep track of, I bet.”**

So in other words, she’s lying. Of course she is interested-- interested enough to repeat information she couldn’t possibly have known without taking an interest in what Troy was doing. After all, Troy did not ask her about his new shoes. She is jealous of the entirely fictional possibility that Troy was cheating on her with Sharpay. 

Take Gabriella’s comment with a pinch of salt. 

[G] “But you’re messing with MY friends, MY summer, and that’s not okay with me!”

Again, I was cheering Gabriella on during my first watch so long ago. Could I possibly have been more wrong?

First of all, this comment makes it appear that the crux of Gabriella’s complaint is self-centred. All of this is inconveniencing HER. But what about her defence of Ryan, I hear you say? Well, I have no choice but to assume that she was merely using Ryan as a way of squeezing some remorse from Sharpay. I know I have said differently beforehand, but upon closer inspection, I think I was wrong. She says “MY summer”-- I’m sorry, lady. You were never here to have YOUR summer. This is the lady who had been struggling to find work, and told Troy, “I hope some of those activities include a job.” But more importantly, were she so concerned about Ryan’s hard work, why didn’t she say something like this? “You’re messing with Ryan’s friends, RYAN’s summer and that’s not okay with me!” Would that not be more consistent with her alleged concern for Ryan’s hard work? FURTHERMORE, not long after her supposed defence of Ryan’s work, SHE QUITS LAVA SPRINGS without even waiting to see whether Sharpay, who looks ashamed of herself, will change her mind. Later on, Taylor has to DRAG her back to Lava Springs to complete the show/reunion that Ryan and Kelsi helped to plan. Surely someone deeply concerned about Ryan’s hard work would need NO persuasion to return? That is not to mention the fact that, during HSM III, she once again has to be persuaded by Troy to return to Albuquerque so that Ryan and Kelsi’s hard work isn’t wasted. Hypocrisy or what?

On top of THAT, note her claim of “MY friends”. If you view this in conjunction with her earlier comment, that she wasn’t interested in what Sharpay was doing for Troy, it is implied that Gabriella isn’t counting Troy as one of her friends. Why do I make this assumption? Because Gabriella NEVER criticizes Sharpay for harassing Troy throughout this exchange. She makes the implicit assumption that Sharpay and Troy have some kind of agreement (which they clearly do not), and leaves them out of the equation. “MY friends”, according to Gabriella, includes the Wildcats only. They have been inconvenienced. Troy, according to her, is living the high life. (This is after she derided him for daring to succeed without her. This is after she flirted with Ryan to his face to punish him). Think about this, folks. Gabriella has SEEN Troy being pushed left, right and centre by Sharpay. For example, during the “sneak a swim” exchange, Sharpay pulls up and you can see Troy’s confusion and exasperation when he gets onto the golf cart. So can Gabriella. Apparently, this escapes her mind. Also escaping her mind is the obvious fact that Troy would NEVER have connived with Fulton to do what Sharpay did-- 1)- he’s a downright decent guy and 2)- he is an EMPLOYEE and does not have the clout. And yet Gabriella has a go at Troy as well, as though this were part of his grand plan. 

On top of THAT, let’s talk about “messing with MY friends”. Troy is supposed to be her friend and yet she had no scruples and precious little remorse for pretending to flirt with Ryan to his face. I repeat this fact again and again folks, because it is the single most reprehensible act in the movie. It decimates any argument against Troy’s supposed “jerk” behaviour. SHE messed with Ryan, exploiting his desire for recognition and validation, leading to Ryan unjustly bearing the brunt of Troy’s humiliation and irritation. So this renders her alleged defence of him utterly irrelevant. It’s apparently not okay with her that Sharpay messes with The Wildcats, but there is nothing wrong with her using a good-natured, kind and generous boy who just wants a bit of credit as a tool in her petty revenge scheme against Troy based on FALSE EVIDENCE and LUDICROUS SUSPICIONS. Please, if you have any modicum of objectivity, weigh the two actions and tell me which is worse. 

[S] “You don’t like the fact that I... won...”

Yet more proof of why Troypay is a thoroughly false and ridiculous ship.

[G] “What’s the prize? Troy? The Star Dazzle Award? You have to go through all this just to get either one? No thanks, Sharpay. You’re very good at a game that I don’t wanna play. So... I’m done here. But you better step away from the mirror long enough to check the damage that will always be right behind you!”

Hypocrisy of hypocrisies. She treated Ryan as a prize not long earlier, with her fake flirting when he lost the Staff Baseball game. “You’re so awesome!”, she said, whilst ignoring Troy’s call. She was willing to compromise and even destroy a potential friendship between Troy and Ryan by giving the impression that she and the latter had something going on. That’s playing games, and she expected Ryan to play along with her, and humiliate Troy. Ryan didn’t do this, instead choosing to pass on a compliment from his father to Troy, showing that he had nothing but good intentions towards the both of them, and was being hoodwinked by the conniving hypocrite standing next to him. I have already discussed the stupidity of Gabriella quitting the job when no one else did. As for the damage that will always be right behind Sharpay? The irony of this scene is that the damage is standing RIGHT BEHIND GABRIELLA when she is giving this risible speech: Troy. The boy she has mocked, belittled, manipulated, humiliated, bullied and shunned for NO reason other than her own jealousy and controlling tendencies. Sharpay is not the only one who should step away from the mirror. Gabriella, filled with thoroughly false notions of her own moral superiority, is swimming in a sea of staggering hypocrisy. 

I know I should stop. This movie is not good for my well-being. 

*sigh* 

I’m headed back to Trelsi next.

(*FOOTNOTE-- And by the way, there is NO CRIME in asking a girl about new Italian shoes. The Italians make damn good shoes. Remember, Troy is not rich. I wouldn’t even say he was comfortably middle-class. He is like a kid in a candy store when he arrives at Lava Springs for the first time, and is stunned when Mr. Fulton promotes him on a salary of $500 a WEEK ($2000 a month) PLUS tips: “Per week? That’s off the hook! I ca... I think that’s very manageable.” Later, thoroughly bewildered, he asks Mr. Fulton: “How did this happen?” Are these the words of an arrogant show-off? So of course, he would be chuffed to be wearing expensive shoes, given that most of the time, he wears sneakers. 

Troy reacted to a compliment that Sharpay paid him-- yes, a compliment he thought was genuine, but was actually emotional manipulation-- and thus asked her opinion. Taylor edited this part of the conversation to relay back to Gabriella. Folks, please watch the scene where Taylor is shown appearing in the background whilst Troy and Sharpay are talking. You will discover that Taylor clearly heard MORE than this, most notably, Troy saying the following: “Your parents have been really nice. But singing with you isn’t a part of my job.” Taylor is within earshot and yet doesn’t give Gabriella this information. If Taylor’s spiteful and misleading behaviour isn’t sufficient, you then have Gabriella’s mournful “He didn’t ask me.” Well, maybe there is a reason for that. As BoltonEvans has pointed out, Gabriella makes fun of Troy earlier about his shoes! “Your shoes don’t match though! Kidding!” Was that the kind of comment she was also hoping to make on his Italian golf shoes?!)

(**FOOTNOTE--  “So I see. ITALIAN GOLF SHOES, new clothes, golf carts... It’s crazy stuff. Hard to keep track of, I bet.”

People, if you have a significant other who speaks to you like this, you will need to re-evaluate your relationship. Do the people who bow and make sacrifices at the altar of Troyella ever watch this scene? Do they block it out? The rudeness, sneering condescension and hostility are jumping out of the screen here. And may I point out that Gabriella is, in effect, blaming Troy for wearing things THAT WERE GIVEN TO HIM. 

Mr. Fulton promoted him earlier on. Of course, we don’t see any scene in which Gabriella congratulates him upon having received a promotion on the job. Mr. Fulton promoted him because “It would seem that the Evans family think you have untapped potential.” Despite Sharpay’s harassment and manipulation, and Ryan being increasingly sidelined whilst Troy got the limelight (his sarcastic faces during the dinner scene are priceless!), it is Mr. Evans who was clearly impressed with Troy’s skill and willing to offer him opportunities. Troy didn’t go looking for any of this. So for Gabriella, who already has the very decent job of being a lifeguard ENTIRELY THANKS TO TROY (needless to say, she NEVER thanks him getting her a job, and quits later on), to act as though he is nothing but an opportunist peacock is an indictment upon her and her alone. 

One wonders why, in the next film, Troy asks Gabriella to pick out a suit for him. It’s cringeworthy and embarassing. But could it be because of this scene? Gabriella mocks his clothing choices throughout-- let me reiterate: “Your shoes don’t match though! Kidding!”/”Look at you! Go team!”/”Italian golf shoes, new clothes...” Could it be that because of Gabriella’s continued mockery, Troy loses confidence in his ability to dress himself and so consults her for what suit he should choose in the next movie? If so, this is yet more proof of how Troy’s self-esteem, confidence and self-image have plummeted as a result of his “relationship” with Gabriella). 

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

The Marvel of Trelsi (Part I)

It is pleasant to write on the HSM movie series without having seizures over various screen-writing crimes. Although later, we will discuss the drawbacks of limiting Trelsi scenes and the implications for the plot. Anyway, in this instalment, I want to begin with a comparative analysis of Troy Bolton and Kelsi Nielsen as characters before getting into the first scenes, because I want to be super methodical here. I want to understand who they are before understanding why they gel together because chronology rules. Some of the things discussed here overlap with the actual screen time analysis, but I often reiterate things when a valid and hopefully interesting point must be made. 

Overview: Who IS Troy Bolton?

This is not an easy question to answer! Indisputably my favourite character in the entire movie series, Troy Bolton just is what a hero is supposed to be: real and flawed, just like the rest of us. There is a chasm between the superficial glory of his status as East High’s Primo Boy and Playmaker of the Wildcats, and the real man underneath. Troy has a real complexity and is not easily categorized in some respects. For example, it appears that he wishes to bridge the divide between his status and his real identity, but then sometimes, he wishes that he could run away from his status altogether. Depressing as it might sound, Troy is very much hounded and haunted by the image of himself as being larger than life, as it makes him feel far smaller in reality. 

Therefore, no matter how well-meaning outsiders might be (and sadly, they are often lacking in understanding), there is a sense that few can comprehend the inner struggles that Troy faces and the effect of their pressures upon him and his decision-making. Then again, this attests to Troy’s complexity; he is both outgoing, and yet intriguingly reserved in many respects. One minute, he is joking around with his buds, the next minute, he is standing on a rooftop alone, staring out into the horizon with a brooding expression on his face. One minute, he can be happy, smiling and joking around, the next minute he can be calm and collected, but on top of that, his moods are actually quite volatile. He can get irritated, and display real physical frustration. This is evidenced by his habit of throwing  basketballs and groaning when some setback destroys his focus during practice. He can, if pushed, shout and assert himself, but retracts almost immediately afterwards as though this is out of character for himself. This appears demonstrated in HSM II, when he tries to stand up for himself against Chad (stating his case quite reasonably), displaying rising irritation that peaks into shouting until Chad strikes back with guilt-tripping, false accusations and insinuations. 

And this leads to Troy’s underlying sensitivity, which does not appear to serve him well throughout the series. Why? Because he always defaults back to relieving his hurt rather than taking a stand, unless the damage done has been so great that he has no other choice. His outburst in HSM I, when trying to convince his ungrateful and quite frankly deceitful friends and team-mates that he still supported the team and was focused on helping them win the upcoming game, is proof of this. But Troy doesn’t always allow others to best him in verbal combat; he does try and make somewhat timid counterarguments, believing that others will be as reasonable as himself. Unfortunately, this rarely ever works. Taking HSM I as an example once again, Troy says, “Guys, come on. I mean, there’s twelve people on this team, not just me.” This is unsuccessful, as his friends have planned a series of guilt-trips to shoot him down. In HSM II, he tries telling Gabriella that he has been busy and it is not for lack of desire that they have spent so little time together. This is unsuccessful, as Gabriella takes no interest in Troy’s life or future unless she is present. In HSM III, Troy tries telling Chad that “I just want my future to be my future,” to which Chad scoffs as though the idea of a high school student wanting personal autonomy is a declaration of insanity. Later on, he tries reminding Gabriella that she has commitments in Albuquerque-- once again, appealing to reason-- and receives a whiny concoction of excuses from his girlfriend as to why this won’t be possible. Failure again. 

Why are Troy’s attempts to reason in verbal combat so disastrous? Because of guilt-trips, and the effect of those on his sensitivity and his insecurity, as well as his self-image. Troy needs to belong somewhere, but is aware of how his status isolates him from such a privilege. Status breeds jealousy, which in turn breeds resentment. Troy cannot bear to be resented. So guilt-trips against him are almost always successful. More importantly, Troy is either idealistic when it comes to romance, or is idealistic solely about his relationship with Gabriella, whom he considers superior to himself, and therefore considers himself fortunate to be with her. He believes they have an emotional connection (demonstrating that this is a priority of his in a relationship), believes they are on the same page, believes most importantly that she can help mould him into a man who is sure of himself. Please note that Gabriella can do none of these things and causes the exact opposite of what Troy desires. 

Many other people who are suffocating under the weight of exceedingly high expectations might crumble, or become arrogant, or else waste away into nothing. Troy Bolton, on the other hand, never allows his status to erode his character. He is so thoroughly likeable that the honest viewer has no choice but to root for him throughout the series. And to chalk up Troy’s best characteristics to his looks would be doing him a great disservice. It’s the kindness, thoughtfulness, selflessness, maturity and courage that the honest viewer should note. Even though the legendary status bears upon his shoulders, we never see Troy take out his anger on members of the school, or spend his whole time whining and complaining about life. We never see Troy abuse his status for shortcuts, cheats and other privileges, never see him degenerate into the meaningless braggadocio that other high profile sports players often wear like a second skin. His talent speaks for itself, but it’s rarely something he discusses in private conversation. Rather, his interest is almost always directed towards the other person and their accomplishments. At the end of HSM I, Troy is celebrating his win but takes time to ask about Gabriella’s Scholastic Decathlon, which was definitely watched by far fewer people. Because of this consideration, Troy appears genuinely surprised and pleased by compliments-- that is, genuine compliments. Even during the rising tension of HSM II, Troy was pleased to receive a compliment from Mr. Evans via Ryan (”Hey, my dad says you’re doing great with those college guys.”), showing that despite patently false interpretations of Troy’s actions during this movie by his friends and HSM fans, he was not accepting privileges and advantages in order to boast and/or hurt his friends. 

It is VERY difficult to remain humble when everyone is praising you left and right. Troy manages this without much trouble. When, during HSM I, Gabriella says, “You pretty much have the school wired, don’t you, Troy? It seems to me like everyone on campus wants to be your friend!”, Troy’s response could be considered shy and self-effacing. In HSM I, he could spend the last moments of lunch hanging out with the guys; instead he shows the new girl, Gabriella, up to his own private hideout. (One must note the amusing spectacle in East High of lockers that apparently do not lock, thus allowing Troy to leave a note inside Gabriella’s locker). Troy is always ready to do something kind: in HSM II, he is about to kiss Gabriella when a kid comes up to him with his yearbook. Troy’s reaction could be one of annoyance or exhaustion; instead,he greets this kid with a friendly smile and signs the book without question. Think about it: this little kid probably idolizes Troy Bolton, watches all the Wildcat games and probably couldn’t wait to get a signature, so intruded upon a private moment between Troy and his girlfriend. But Troy can see how much this means to the kid, and makes his day. I think I mentioned this scene before, but that to me sums up Troy Bolton in a nutshell. It is incomprehensible to twist such an image into the privileged jerk that some fans take delight in attacking. Such a caricature simply does not exist. 

Another thing I like about Troy is his dorky personality. This makes a great contrast from the peerless basketball player image. We aren’t given nearly as much information about Troy’s background and childhood as I would like, but I think the treehouse is a central image of who Troy is when outside of basketball uniform. A childhood spent playing with robots, making paper planes and pretending to be Batman is very much in line with your average nerd. I don’t think obsessive comic-reading would be out of the picture either. All of this raises the very interesting question of what Troy’s other interests are outside of basketball. Golf is mentioned, in which Troy excels. Depressingly, Troy is never shown playing golf again after the Lava Springs debacle; I have a rather sad headcanon that because of his friends’ constant mockery (”Let’s see whether Tiger Woods still has a jump shot!”/”Italian golf shoes, new clothes, golf carts. It’s crazy stuff; hard to keep track of, I bet.”), he gave the sport up in order to deflect any more accusations of disloyalty, arrogance and being a “jerk with new shoes”. This may be an assumption, but it falls in line with Troy’s pattern for accepting his friends’ criticism without defending himself. Baseball is another mentioned interest. Even though Gabriella is slated as the academic genius, is there room to assume that Troy likes Science? I see no reason in him bothering to cultivate friendships with members of the Science and Gardening Clubs otherwise. He appears to like building/making things, hence his nostalgic tone of voice when explaining that he and his dad built the treehouse. This seems to be to explain his interest and apparent competence in maintaining/fixing his truck much later on. I tend to think he would like cars in a nerdy, collector kind of way. Eventually, we learn that performing/theatre is a part of Troy’s identity and something he also excels in. Either way, speculation or no, it is crystal clear that there’s far more to Troy than merely basketball, as his friends, girlfriend and father so fervently believe: “Sometimes, I just wanna be... a guy.” Sadly, very few people know this, or even want to know. 

The complexity of Troy’s status and his inner being are probably motivating factors behind his sarcastic sense of humour. I would assert that Troy doesn’t just value humour; he needs it to stay sane. And hence we have this self-deprecating sense of humour, accompanied by his almost awkward manner away from the proverbial camera, which makes him even more relatable. For example, in HSM I, he says, “just call me... freaky callback boy!”. At first, I used to roll my eyes at this comment, but now I quite like it. It’s almost as though Troy is admitting that he is mismatched in every way, a true misfit and one more crazy decision won’t hurt. One of my favourite lines from him is right at the beginning of HSM I: (Gabriella) “Well, you sound like you’ve done a lot of singing too!”/(Troy) “Yeah, my showerhead is very impressed with me!”*. I LOVE that. Again, we get the misfit/nerd vibe. For Troy, nothing should ever be too serious (probably because he struggles to cope), and thus everything must be laughed at. Laughter is liberation. Another striking example of this in the first movie comes after Troy misses practice for the first time in three years (I don’t need to highlight what a poor impression that makes, given that he is Team Captain, and that they have an important game coming up which must be won), and the atmosphere is tense. Troy is working on free throws to atone for his no-show earlier, but then is happy to see Gabriella again. He could have told her that he was busy, and that he had practice. Instead, he tries to make light of the situation, “I missed practice, so if I get kicked off the team, it should be on your conscience.” He knows he’s playing with fire, so he needs to laugh, if only for a moment. Maybe this is quite tragic in a way, but it definitely makes Troy more engaging and endearing to the honest viewer.**

I could honestly write all day about Troy Bolton, but I’ll leave it there for now.

In the next instalment, I will discuss my second-favourite character, Kelsi Nielsen and you may see how some of the themes I have discussed here relating to Troy are either similar or identical to those affecting Kelsi, and the significance and potential of those similarities. 

TO BE CONTINUED

(*FOOTNOTE- The fact that he reveals his singing in the shower to someone he just met shows the level of trust he (foolishly, in my view) places in Gabriella from the start, and thus why it is so difficult for him to let go of her and the image of their “relationship”. We will discuss this in relation to Trelsi later). 

(**FOOTNOTE- Of course, by saying “the honest viewer”, I refer to those who see Troy for the wonderful and decent character onscreen, and not for the twisted stereotype and caricature invented by Gabriella, Chad, The Wildcats, his father and many HSM fans).

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Questions for HSM III (Part XIII)

Caption: “Yes, Chad, I am going to Berkeley. No, it wasn’t my decision.”

In all seriousness, the above still comes from one of the few tolerable scenes throughout this entire movie. Troy and Chad at their best, the best of friends. 

On The Musical- Part II

1- So, as we can see, Troy has (finally) shown up for the musical, performed his piece, given the usual stack of undue credit to Gabriella and received approval from the watching crowd. Like I said before, all of this is heavily overshadowed by the absolute punishment he endured in order to reach this point. Now, the plot needs Sharpay to be resurrected so that she can assert her place as Queen Bitch in line with story needs. Some would say that Sharpay’s part could have been resurrected by giving her the thoughtful, consistent and measured characterization that she deserved, given that her redeeming traits are just as fascinating as her significant flaws-- in fact, I would even go as far as to say that her redeeming traits are the reason for her significant flaws. A passionate love for the arts gives birth to her desire to win at all costs. Instead, we have a risible and cringe-worthy Bitch Competition between Sharpay and someone not fit to buckle her sandals. 

During the truly childish display that follows, one has to wonder about the opinion of the Juilliard judges at this point. They have, presumably excused, Troy’s initial no-show earlier. I highlight this point, because during the Sharpay-Tiara scene, you can see Mr and Mrs Evans reading what I assume is the program for the musical. Therefore I make the reasonable assumption that the Juilliard judges must also have had one with them. Furthermore, they also recognized Troy Bolton on sight. So, what do they make of Sharpay not appearing at the beginning of her next set (although due to reasons beyond her control), but then squabbling with a complete nobody onstage? 

Thus ends Sharpay’s storyline in this story, and what a miserable ending it is, too. 

On Graduation

1- Somewhat confused at part of the graduation ceremony seemingly happening right after the musical. Am I missing something here? Was this a different night altogether? I’m at a loss. 

2- Kelsi Nielsen getting the credit she deserves always makes me smile! Jason’s jump-hug for graduating is somewhat endearing, although begs the question of why he thought Troy’s potential scholarship opportunity was so hilarious earlier. Anyway, kudos to him. Turns out he could study in the library and do a musical at the same time-- who would have known?! Taylor McKessie-- yes, there was never any question. Next stop: The White House. Again. Ryan Evans getting a scholarship to Juilliard is another highlight of the show-- if not for the Royal Sham, every scene with Ryan in has been a pleasure to watch. And we also get to see Sharpay congratulating him, which SHOULD have been the culmination of her character arc, but instead comes after her being upstaged by two complete idiots for no good reason. Why Tiara Gold seriously thought that she would become Head of the Drama Department after her childish behaviour and ONE appearance as understudy is beyond me, but her lack of motivation and her dramatic exit are once again a reinder of her intrinsic uselessness to the plot. 

3- “And now a Senior, whom I believe, has a decision to make! Mr Troy Bolton!”

Christ Almighty, how to watch this scene without cringing into a corner! Now of course, as I said earlier, theatre is as much a part of Troy’s identity as basketball, so it’s unsurprising that he chose the both. But unfortunately, this revelation comes off the back of little information. Which other colleges offered Troy a place? When did Troy get to do his research on what each college offered by way of a major? The latter half of this movie has been dedicated to him crawling after his ungrateful girlfriend entirely at his own expense. Not ONCE throughout this movie has Gabriella shown ANY interest in his further education apart from making a few casual comments about the Coach from U of A... right at the beginning of the movie. This lack of information makes it implausible that Troy would have carefully thought out his decision to attend UC Berkeley, as we will see in a minute. Once again, this is proof that the movies were less interested in Troy the man, and more interested in Troy as a subsidiary of Gabriella Montez. What was the point in building up all of the anticipation with regards to Troy’s future, which included a full-scale mental breakdown in the gymn after school hours, if we get no context or information as to how he weighed his options? Instead, we got glorification left, right and centre and several scenes for Gabriella, whose options were comparatively clearer for her, and involved little to no struggle to achieve. For goodness sake, we got a meaningless sequence involving Gabriella chewing her nails as she walked around Stanford, yet not so much as a scene involving Troy looking at university prospectuses! Lazy writing at its finest. 

Furthermore, as if this decision wasn’t invalidated enough, Troy doesn’t even sound all that excited or pleased at the prospect of attending UC Berkeley. Or is it just me? He looked far more delighted when his friend Kelsi won the scholarship to Juilliard. (TINY scene, blink and you’ll miss it, but he looks very pleased for her). Given that they were both contenders for the scholarship, a final “Playmaker” scene between these two seemed FAR more appropriate than the upcoming travesty we’re about to hear. Like I said, Kelsi’s evolution is down to Troy, and the script could have reduced my anger with this film by recognizing that with another Trelsi scene designed to epitomise what their bond has represented for the entirety of the movie series. Instead we get the absolute travesty coming next.

A flat tone of voice and quick nod to affirm this decision (definitely pulled off the top of his head) is surely no way to underline the validity of this “decision”?

More importantly, please remember that Troy didn’t know what he would do if Juilliard said yes to him. Therefore is it right to assume that he could not have been thinking of Berkeley at this point in time? One has to wonder what he might have done if Juilliard had chosen him for a scholarship-- would we still get the travesty of an ending that we actually received? Given Troy’s propensity to throw away opportunities that benefit him for the sake of validaiton from his girlfriend and friends, he would have thrown away the scholarship opportunity again (he is so beleaguered and ineffectual at this point, thanks to Gabriella’s horrendous behaviour) for the sake of this odious relationship. 

4- “But most of all, I choose the person who inspires my heart... which is why I picked a school that is exactly 32... point 7... miles from you.”

Lord have mercy on this child. His doom is sealed. He has reached a point of no return in his quest for eternal servitude. What to say, folks? I must reiterate every event in the sinking of RMS Troy Bolton up until now: 1)- Gabriella’s insensitivity and lack of interest in Troy’s further education, 2)- Gabriella laughing at Troy potentially winning a scholarship to Juilliard, 3)- Gabriella withholding crucial information with regards to the Stanford Freshman Honors Program, 4)- Gabriella showing arrogance/rudeness when Troy finally found out, 5)- Gabriella rarely having any interest in Troy’s hurt when she leaves unceremoniously, 6)- Gabriella bailing on Troy for prom, the musical and graduation, 7)- Gabriella having to be persuaded to return, 8)- Every other time Gabriella has shown little to no interest in the effect of her actions on Troy, or anything that directly concerns him. After all of this, and all of her horrendous, cruel and selfish behaviour during HSM II, she is REWARDED by receiving Troy’s head on a platter for more of her abuse after graduation? I just can’t take this! 

What is more insiduous is that the whole crowd, including his fellow high school students are delighted by a “decision” that CLEARLY wasn’t voluntary! Every other student has either chosen or accepted a place based on their own academic merit. Call me old-fashioned, but this should be the primary, if not only, reason that one chooses to invest money in a higher institution. Also remember folks, that we don’t know whether Troy has been offered a scholarship to Berkeley-- I’m assuming not, given the reckless haste with which he made this decision. (WHEN, is what I’d like to know!!) So we have to assume that Troy will be FORKING OUT YET MORE CASH, which his parents were struggling to pay, on attending the UC Berkeley for ROMANTIC reasons which are prioritized over ACADEMIC reasons. Folks, this is pure tragedy. And because the audience are smiling, and sighing at this, we, the audience, are expected to consider this so very noble! Meanwhile, Gabriella would NEVER have made such a decision: she had always wanted to attend Stanford University, despite her whining to the contrary, since she was a child. Troy’s ambition had previously been the U of A. Even taking into consideration Mr. Bolton’s unreasonable pressure on Troy with regards to attending U of A, Troy did stand a good chance of getting said scholarship based on how impressed Mr Evans was with his practice. Why are we given no indication of Troy’s interactions with any other university during this movie? More importantly, why can NO ONE else in his class see the dreadful implications of this “decision”, despite having seen Troy’s descent into melancholy over the school year? For heaven’s sake, Gabriella dumped him over the phone-- isn’t that an omen? 

Chad should not have walked out in disappointment, but rather in anger, given that his best buddy was shackling himself to a girl who didn’t care two figs about him. But of course, Chad thinks Gabriella is one step ahead. 

What is the point of making Troy struggle about his academic future and pursuits if the most important reason for choosing UC Berkeley was romantic, rather than pragmatic/practical/reality-based/academic?

Furthermore, isn’t it absurd that Troy was so adamant against choosing a university that his father and Chad wanted him to attend, but then so blithely states that he will be following Gabriella to California? 

As for the claim that Gabriella “inspires my heart”, I have no words. If inspiring one’s heart means sending one into a pit of self-denial, self-destruction, instability, constant vulnerability, doubt and even depression, then I do not even know what the word “inspire” now means. Folks, there is NO WAY that these two continued to maintain a viable relationship after graduation. I have expounded on the reasons why throughout this “Questions” series and will continue to do so in future. Nevermind what the morally and technically deficient script claims. All the scriptwriters have done is just provide overwhelming and undeniable evidence that this couple is untenable, undesirable and downright alarming for Troy’s well-being and mental health, whilst believing that they were bringing a touching love story to life. Actually, they have just set the meaning of true love to burn on a bonfire. I can’t see them lasting even one semester more, let alone the implied years and years of romantic bliss. It’s just impossible. Meanwhile, Troy will still have a massive tuition bill over his head at the end of the three or four years of study, and precious little to show for his (latest) drastic “decision”. 

Why would the scriptwriters massacre their main protagonist in this way? How is this a happy ending, to have a young boy choosing his own path based on a RELATIONSHIP that hardly deserves the title, and not on the academic pursuits that have characterized his struggle? Again, on the first watch, I had completely lost the will to live by this point. 

An utter disgrace and an outrage by any decent standards. 

5- Chad Danforth has left the stage, people! As I mentioned before, Taylor relies upon Troy to reach out to Chad, thus demonstrating that despite all of her disloyal, unjust and quite frankly puzzling behaviour towards Troy, she does actually like him! Amazing. What follows is a far more palatable scene than the monstrosity we just witnessed. I like any and all Troy-Chad friendship scenes and this definitely does not disappoint. The brotherly affection and calm acceptance of the future is definitely worth watching, even if the patient viewer is still having seizures over Troy’s horrendous announcement. 

The way Chad reacts to Troy’s decision is representative of Chad himself, who is still bound by the Status Quo and very much reliant upon his friendship with Troy-- perhaps more so than Troy himself, who by now, is not afraid to try new things. Therefore, I think it is good in the long run that the boys attend different universities, as we see that Chad can shine on his own merits. Of course, there is some hypocrisy here, as is usually the case with Chad, in that he is disappointed (but presumably accepting) of Troy’s decision here, but always quick to jealousy when they are sharing the same opportunities. Anyway, I am willing to overlook this as the very least of Chad’s faults, in favour of the great banter and chemistry they share in this final scene. I also love their teamwork and yet friendly competition which is underlined by mutual respect and true brotherhood as well. Yes, a very touching scene. Pity that it alone cannot save this movie, which is taking in more water than the Titanic, but touching nonetheless. 

Likewise, I LOVE the hug between Troy and his father, highlighting mutual understanding, acceptance, love and loyalty. Again, more of THIS and less of you-know-what would have saved my faith. 

Troy’s Graduation Speech- The Parts You DIDN’T hear

1- As has been pointed out before (credit to BoltonEvans and others), Troy should not be giving the graduation speech. However, in a long line of questionable, outrageous and downright alarming script-writing decisions, this is one of the least offensive, so I just roll with it. During the first watch, I was barely listening anyway, having died shortly after Troy and Chad returned to the stage. 

2- “East High is a place where teachers encouraged us to break the Status Quo...”

Indeed, Troy. So what have you got to say for yourself?

This is a nonsensical statement, given that the Status Quo of Troy/Gabriella is never ever challenged, no matter the destructive effects, and the Wildcats largely, throughout the course of the series, continue with their dismissal, disloyalty and hypocrisy towards Troy and his ambitions. 

3- “...and define ourselves as WE choose...”

Did Troy write this speech before or after selling his soul? If he wrote it before, then this line is commendable. If he wrote it afterwards (which seems more likely), then he’s actually living on another planet. 

4- “Where a jock can cook up a mean crême brûlée...”

And then laugh at Troy for having aspirations in the Performing Arts. 

5- “Where a braniac can break down on a dance floor...”

Martha’s brain was largely abandoned in favour of casting her as a cheerleader, so this line rings hollow. But kudos anyway. 

6- “It’s a place where one person... if it’s the right person... changes us all.”

FOR THE WORSE. 

The only tolerable part of this involved Sharpay finally abandoning her disdain/Queen Bitch clothing to smile at Gabriella-- but it is a completely undeserved smile. If anyone deserves an encouraging smile, it should be Troy, who has endured hell in this movie, barely looks animated or excited whilst giving this speech, and has sold his soul in a long list of sacrifices for a relationship that only exists in his head. Gabriella has NOT changed everyone; Troy has. Troy has had much more to lose throughout the movie series, and has still gone against the grain. Troy is the one who reached out and made friends, brought people together and helped people to enjoy the performing arts. Troy is the one who has redefined his identity. (He’s also helped to destroy it). This is thoroughly false stuff. 

Why no line for Kelsi? I don’t really give two fucks about Martha’s breakdancing, and Troy barely interacted with her AT ALL. On the contrary, Kelsi is one of his best friends and their bond has been one of the few highlights throughout. We could have had a GREAT homage to the two Playmakers here, which would have signalled a fitting conclusion for one of the few decent relationships on this show. Why couldn’t he discuss how Kelsi had risen from being shy to realizing her worth as Playmaker? That would have been far more relevant to the show’s overall message. Or what about Ryan, who has risen from being seen as a Sideshow Bob to being valued on his own merit? What have either Zeke or Martha done that is so significant by comparison? Unjust exclusion by Troy here. 

7- “East High is having friends that we’ll keep for the rest of our lives.”

Troy continues his glorious trait of making grand predictions and assumptions based on little to no evidence at all. SOME friends should be kept, others discarded on the trash heap. *cough cough*

It is at this point that we get another cute Chaylor moment. Again, I am left stuttering that these two might not remain together, whilst the inevitability of Troyella is stamped across the screen. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see the effortless communication, sweetness, maturity and complementary nature of Chaylor supersedes every odious facet of the Troyella pairing. But nonetheless, a sweet Chaylor moment. 

8- “...once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.”

Once disloyal, ungrateful, jealous, cruel and hypocritical, ALWAYS... You fill in the rest. Okay, I’m being mean. Yes, the Wildcats make a decent team when they are together. 

And, of course, everyone cheers because hey! Plot reasons. 

To cap it all off, we get a catchy song that it admittedly enjoyable. I was slightly resurrected from my death during the first watch so that I could nod along to the beat. Sadly, I was not “sad we have to let it go”, because of the heinous screenwriting and character crimes witnessed therein. Still, catchy. Like I said, this movie did a decent job with the music and choreography throughout; there were great tunes, great sets, great costumes, great scenes and so on. Visually speaking, this movie definitely lived up to at least the very first one. Unfortunately, the story so wore me down and eventually infuriated me that I struggle to give these other factors their proper due. Am I too sour and ungrateful? Perhaps. 

Nonetheless, I hope you have enjoyed this “Questions” series!

This was actually based on me watching the movie alongside writing these out, whereas I did the HSM II one based on memory. Depending on what you guys think, I might try the same for at least HSM II later, but I also want to work on other stuff, particularly my favourite relationships (Trelsi, thou shalt not be forgotten!!!) and dreaming up HSM headcanons. Feel free to make suggestions, and let me know what you think. 

Thanks for reading!

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

The Marvel of Trelsi (Intro)

I can’t stay away from these two; they will have me smiling in my grave. Having been heavily critical of the writing for the High School Musical series, I must temper my own acidic tongue (typing fingers) to celebrate what I call “The Marvel of Trelsi”. As I am currently writing Trelsi fic (which WILL be finished sometime this century), and trying to get at least 1500 words a day, I need to write as much meta as possible to flesh out my ideas and headcanons for this pairing. 

What to say? That I love Trelsi is an understatement. That I will keep repeating this is a given. And despite all of my sarcasm, opprobrium and inveterate anger towards the writers of the HSM franchise, who ruined my viewing experience by sinking the RMS Troy Bolton whilst claiming the ship could not sink, the creation of Trelsi is to their credit. It is gloriously ironic that the show set out to demonstrate that the main couple epitomised the ideal of love and a solid relationship, but ended up demonstrating this between the protagonist and an allegedly minor character instead. As I have said before, Troy and Kelsi grow from strength to strength throughout the movie series, whilst Troy and a certain other lady go careening down a mountainside in blizzard conditions. So, I must give full credit to the screenwriters for creating this ship and thus fostering an enduring love for two of the most likeable characters I have ever seen onscreen. 

In reality, no introduction to Trelsi is needed. Or at least none that supersedes the beautiful screenshot I have at the top, reposted for the pure joy of it. Interestingly, when I use the word “Trelsi”, I am actually referring to their canonical friendship FIRST, before referring to a potential romantic ship. Apart from being easier to write, I like to adhere very closely to canon and build my ideas from that basis before branching into my own headcanons. I have an intense dislike for OOC and all the horrors that spring from that Pandora’s Box. This friendship comes as a result of Troy taking an interest in Kelsi’s music and resurrecting her self-esteem after she has been bossed around by Sharpay Evans during the first movie. The two become friends very quickly and prove to work as a great team during the production and execution of two major musicals in Junior and Senior Year. 

You will notice, of course, that I exclude Gabriella from this description-- not because she wasn’t present for the beginning of the Trelsi timeline, but because she had no hand in its development. I am currently planning several Trelsi fics, one of which includes a significant rewrite of the canonical timeline without Gabriella, and most of the major events would have happened either in a different way or with no change whatsoever were she not there. I notice that many fandom writers will often describe Kelsi as being friends with Troy and Gabriella. This intrigues me, as it implies that she is friends with them on an equal basis. Call me picky, but appears to be untrue. I cannot think of any scene between Kelsi and Gabriella that comes anywhere near the Trelsi bond. What do I mean by the Trelsi bond? I mean primarily the unspoken understanding between them that makes the two so effortlessly comfortable around each other. Case in point: the lovely, LOVELY hug in HSM III seems obvious, but I draw the viewer’s attention back to HSM I, when Troy tries out “What I’ve Been Looking For”. Isn’t it interesting that Kelsi only has to nod at him to start singing the song, but guides Gabriella through the first line before letting her sing the rest? Troy, who is notably MORE nervous about performing, has never tried this song before and seemed a little surprised when Kelsi asked whether he wanted to hear “how the duet’s supposed to sound?”

Yes, I know, this is MINOR. But it intrigues me. We will discuss this in more detail during the next instalment. 

I have LOADS of notes in my Google Drive on Trelsi, because it was and still is incredibly important for me to understand WHY I shipped them, the potential and realistic avenues for this ship and how to portray their dynamic. I’m going to try and condense those notes in my next couple of posts when I explore their beautiful, but cruelly limited scenes together. Unlike the average shipper, I tend to think-- overly much, from the length of my Tumblr posts-- on ships and dynamics. In the beginning, I wanted to ship Troyella. It seemed natural to me, as they were stamped across the screen. Turns out I could only ship one half of Troyella; that is, Troy Bolton, who is so such a sympathetic hero. He has flaws. He struggles*. He has a journey. He grows (when the screenwriters allow him to!). We see this. Gabriella? I got nothing. Believe me, I tried. That’s why I was pinning my hopes on HSM III to deliver. This did not happen, and that prompted a 13 (see my archive for April/May!) post series on my fury with this movie and the dreadful implications for Troy Bolton, the art of writing and human decency. 

So, throughout this series, I will examine Trelsi with my usual fine-tooth comb, as viewed through the scenes in the movies as well as my headcanons and musings. Of course, I do not pretend to be impartial. I have a very unfavourable view of Troyella, as one may already have gathered; however, whilst being scathing towards this “relationship”, I have and will continue to provide evidence for my opinions here. I will frequently compare the Troyella dynamic with the Trelsi dynamic. Please do not be surprised to find that Trelsi wins 11 times out of 10. I am not bound by the Trade Descriptions Act or any other regulatory equivalent, so I can say whatever the hell I like. 

The particular themes and questions I want to explore alongisde my scene analysis are:

1- Who IS Troy Bolton?

2- Who IS Kelsi Nielsen?

3- What makes the Trelsi friendship and dynamic so friggin’s special? Why does it make me want to weep and write poetry?

4- Friendship, Romance or Both? What’s their dynamic? What would attract the both of them? What are their flaws? How would these flaws work together?

5- Why is Trelsi a superior potential romantic ship to Troyella? (Oh, I’m going to have a field day with THAT one!) Why is Trelsi so poorly appreciated as a potential romantic ship?

I may add some more questions later on. I am definitely open to prompts and questions from anyone reading this. My posts are long, partially because I think too deeply about things, partially because I have a daily word count to smash, partially because I am depressed by the lack of all things Trelsi and mostly because HSM, despite infuriating me, GAVE ME TRELSI SO I’M HERE FOREVER! :D Anyway, I hope this will be fun. One thing I’d like to see more of in the HSM fandom is a willingness to at least consider other ships that aren’t called TroyHELLa. I’m not asking for conversion to Trelsi. (Although that would be nice. One, I’m pretty lonely out here. Two, these two have a healthy dynamic!). But it would be good if more fans actually detached Troy from Gabriella’s umbilical cord and viewed him firstly as a man and a hero protagonist, and secondly with potential other characters either platonically or romantically. For a series that is supposed to represent being YOURself, you would think fans would take that on board, huh? 

Try it? You might like it. 

TO BE CONTINUED.

(*FOOTNOTE- I have no time for people who claim that Troy Bolton is a privileged brat. Unless you can give me the name of a privileged brat who treats everyone equally, is kind, generous, thoughtful, mature, hard-working, gets ALL his friends jobs for the summer and makes friends with kids who would be considered “uncool”, always has a kind word for everyone, always appreciates other people’s achievements and is always on hand to help his friends, then please do be quiet. With a father who is a public school teacher and who struggles to pay high tuition fees, I think any such argument is dead in the water. Claims that Troy was a “jerk” in HSM II are entirely unfounded-- please refer to my Questions for HSM II Part I and Part II for further information. Claims that Gabriella was right to pursue her own future are fine, without the odious implication that Troy stood in her way. This is completely false. Rather, it is Gabriella who stood in Troy’s way of achieving a much-needed scholarship back in HSM II. Claims that being a popular basketball player make you a jerk are rendered absurd by the very obvious social pressure that accompanies such a level of fame, and which deeply affect Troy in every movie. This is thoroughly nonsensical. Claims that Gabriella is a privileged brat are, of course, founded in fact). 

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

My observation from almost 3 years ago, that Kelsi need only look at Troy while needing to guide Gabriella through the lyrics, still stands. Some may notice how many times Troy makes eye contact with Kelsi before and during the early parts of this song, so it would appear as though he needed guidance. 

But somehow, Kelsi believes he can carry the song alone.

This is astonishing, because Kelsi has never heard Troy sing, and we know from her contemptuous expressions previously that she doesn’t take kindly to incompetent performers. (Once again: Kelsi is shy and sweet, yet steely). 

Sure, Kelsi was astonished to have East High’s Primo Boy speaking to her, let alone collecting her music and lifting her crushed spirits. But her reaction goes beyond astonishment to excitement and total trust in his capabilities, before she has proof of those capabilities. 

This kind of implicit trust is conveyed through eye contact-- nothing more. Contrast this with how Troy and Gabriella do not look at each other properly until their voices join as a duet. To be clear, this scene is a good Troyella scene-- one of the best, perhaps. I accept the premise here, that their natural style of performance better suits Kelsi’s work than that of Sharpay and Ryan. 

But I think that in the haste to ship Troyella, the greater significance of Kelsi Nielsen’s work finally gaining the recognition it deserves gets missed. The significance of Kelsi’s obvious desire to please Troy by allowing him to hear her song gets missed. I say it’s her desire to please him because she asked him whether he wanted to “hear how the duet’s supposed to sound”, and her eye contact while playing centres on him first (and arguably throughout). 

Of course, I have a romantic interpretation of this (although not always). Even if you don’t, the closeness of Troy Bolton and Kelsi Nielsen throughout the movies is undeniable. Much of the time, you have to blink or you would miss it. 

[lordrenskylar]

🙇🏻This fall I will be filming🎬🎥🎞High School Musical🎹🎤🎼❗️Right now I'm just trying to learn the lyrics real well❕ By watching the movie with the words of the songs🎧on the screen or listen to the albums💽on my I pod📱touch when I go on 🚗road🛣trips to get more familiar with the material❗️

[lordrenskylar]

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[hgluxehair]

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