#hsm3 rewatch

[joysmercer]

HOLD ON WAS EJ SUPPOSED TO BE A PARALLEL TO ROCKET MAN IN HSM3 LSKDJFLS

[marypickfords]

jeanine basinger said HSM > la la land

[shinybulbasaur]

I keep getting surprised when high school musical 3 is a real movie because in my head it occupies the same space as avpsy which famously is nothing more than the actors reading directly from printed scripts

[eg515]

rewatched HSM3 today and some lines sounded familiar... I see you, Kenny Ortega. I see you

The Boys Are Back (High School Musical 3: Senior Year) / Wow (Julie and the Phantoms 1x02)

[spookberry]

An infodump is being requested and hoped for, what random topic have you been rotating in your mind lately*?

*can be from seconds/minutes/hours/days ago

Okay well im gonna rant about high school musical some more then, specifically Sharpay

One thing of note about Sharpay Evans that I have in the past seen people get wrong, whether cuz of the setup we're used to with high-fem mean girl antagonists, or just faulty memory equating the 2nd movie's structure to the other two as well- is that Sharpay "runs the school" in some way.

Sharpay Evans has an intense personality and is insanely rich. So people know her. But shes not even really in charge of the drama department(darbus doesnt actually play favorites within the club itself, she just likes the drama kids more than the non-drama kids) Sharpay's the queen of people assuming you know what you're talking about just because you're confident when you say it.

At school shes not really friends with anyone, outside of her brother. Like she sits with other drama kids at lunch but she doesnt talk to them lol. Sharpay is considered a laughing stock by most her peers and THATS the reason she doesnt want Troy/Gabriella involved in the musical. She assumed the "meatheads" as she calls them were going to make a joke out of something she cares a lot about.(thats not to day she isnt the bad guy of the film or something, she definitely is. Just that she isnt in a place of real power over anyone) After callbacks it becomes clear Troy and Gabriella are serious and their peers arent just making fun of the drama club so shes quick to offer support and congratulate Gabriella. Like Sharpays just dramatic and likes to be the star of attention, you cant fault her for that.

Like, shes queen bee of the drama department and a schemer to boot, but when shes at East High she doesnt really have any power the way she does at Lava Springs.

Also side note can you IMAGINE how fucking awkward thatd actually be to have like half your class working at a resort your family owns. Luckily Sharpay has no shame and would boss them around even outside of this scenerio but I briefly put myself in her shoes and I felt like shriveling up and dying. Like her mother makes this comment "these are your school chums not the fuddy duddy lava springs staff" and im like "this makes everything a million times worse, ma'am your daughter already has a bad reputation amongst her classmates and now youre allowing this??" The wildcats even mention feeling weird about having to wait on sharpay to which their boss assures them they wont have to(which is a lie!!)

Fun fact tho, me and my sisters used to rewatch the first and second high school musical films so fucking much that one time we were bored and started just like, quoting the 2nd movie from start to end word for word, songs included. And then afterwards we were like that was weird... do we know the first one too? we did.

The plotline in hsm3 with rocketman and the british girl was so lame tho tbh. Sharpay would never breakdown during a performance like that. Did you see her in 2 with Troy as her partner? It was like performing with a cardboard cut out and she still nailed it.

Side tracking again to actually talk about Gabriella this time. But the way the third movie treats her makes me so annoyed. Like the whole world is against her! Her Main Thing since Day One of this franchise has been that she wants a break from being "the smart girl" and just finally embrace her chance at a normal school life. She's never lived anywhere long enough to finish out a full school year, let alone have friends, and she finally gets that at East High and what does the universe do?? Make her feel bad and like shes throwing away her future for wanting to go to prom, perform in her last musical, and graduate high school with her friends. Which is like conpletely normal and reasonable to want?? I dont blame her for not wanting to go back to East High after all of her friends basically pushed her out and lectured her for wanting to enjoy her time there. Its not like stanford was going anywhere. She still couldve left for college in the fall like all her friends were going to.

I like to imagine Gabriella turns out to be someone who wants a very stable life for her kids. She settles down and makes sure they experience all the small joys of growing up that she just never really had.

Sharpay's ending was kinda sad too tbh. Even if she didn't have any plans for higher education at the end it feels off. (Why was she and Ryan even worried about the Julliard scholarship anyways? Theyre insanely rich)

Also dont even get me started on Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure. Theres some parts to it that i think are absurdly stupid in like the way a movie about sharpay trying to get famous should be absurdly stupid. And then there are other parts that are like :/ who even is this.

[stampstamp]

I decided to rewatch HSM3 because I watched a long video reaction to the series last night and the YouTuber was like 'Did that last one even have a message? The ending was too vague' but there are quite a few really obvious themes in it! 🤷‍♀️ It's a weirdly long film but I feel like the last act's focus on the impact Gabriella had on the school was a heartwarming and fitting way to end the trilogy. Also, it makes sense for Troy to find a future that involves compromising between sports and music because it's been a recurring theme that you don't need to limit yourself to one passion. It's not a cop-out ending like the YouTuber claimed! It's consistent!

[mimymomo]

Recently I rewatched High School Musical 3 and I’ve come to a realization: Gina’s ending in HSMTMTS s4 is literally a new interpretation of Gabriella’s ending in the the find HSM movie!

I always understand the importance and significance of Gina ending up staying in SLC and securing the movie deal — her finding that balance between her ambition/strive from career success and her desire for stability and need for community and proving she’s a better match for Ricky since her decision (and the entire finale/season itself) is a parallel to Nini and Ricky’s relationship in s2 (Nini would choose her career/growth over her relationship (which is completely understandable!) Gina wouldn’t. She’d fight for both).

I knew others saw the ending as kind of a stretch and unrealistic and while I accepted that rationale, I never personally agreed because the finale’s resolution never bothered me (mostly because Gina is tied with Ricky as my favorite character and I think she deserves nothing less than everything and all the happiness in the world).

I initially took Gina’s ending as the show updating the ending of HSM3 (which is where the season major inspiration is from) so Gina didn’t have to make a choice like Gabriella did. But on my recent rewatch I’ve realized I was completely wrong!

GABRIELLA — JUST LIKE GINA —CHOOSE BOTH!

Gabriella’s arc in the last movie was about her having to choose between attending Stanford at the cost of leaving high school school early and missing out on her prom, school musical and graduation or staying in Albuquerque and missing out on an once in a lifetime opportunity that would absolutely help in the future. Initially, at the behest of everyone around her including her mom, best friend and her own boyfriend, she chooses Stanford. She nearly misses out on all these events she’d been involved in and looking forward to attending and resolved herself to that fate until Troy shows up on prom night and reassures her that he wants to be with her and then she decides to go back to EHS and go to participate in her musical and graduation.

Now who does that sound like?? Just switch Gabriella’s name with Gina in s4!

Gabriella (Gina) had to choose between attending Stanford (New Zealand for a movie role) at the cost of leaving high school school early and missing out on her prom, school musical and graduation (leaving Ricky and all her friends behind for 6 months until after they all graduated and left EHS) or staying in Albuquerque (SLC) and missing out on an once in a lifetime opportunity that would absolutely help in the future. Initially, at the behest of everyone around her including her mom (Terri), best friend (Ms. Jenn in this case) and her own boyfriend (Ricky under the guise of it being the right thing to do), she chooses Stanford (New Zealand). She nearly misses out on everything and resolved herself to that fate until Troy (Ricky and her friends in the theater club) shows up and reassures her that he wants to be with her (the club giving their support at the signing, Ricky singing Love You Forever openly declaring his love for her) and then she decides to go back to EHS and go to participate in her musical and graduation (Gina changes the contract so she’s able to stay in SLC and negotiates with Quinn to make sure she has time in her schedule for her upcoming spring musical because doing that with Ricky/her friends is just as important to her as being Juliet in a major Hollywood blockbuster).

Gina, just like Gabriella before her, gets her cake and eats it too! She truly is hsmtmts’ Gabriella through and through!

[taleofharrison]

So High School Musical 3 anniversary is tomorrow and to me it's a very important historic date since it's my favorite movie of all time and it got me thinking.

If someone could grant the wish of wiping out my memory just to watch and experience and movie for the first time all over again, I wouldn't say HSM3 or any film from the trilogy for that matter.

Although one would think that's the obvious answer since the love I have for those movies is huge, I've spent 18 years of life watching this films and singing those songs. I created so many memories around them.

Like when my mom and I had mother-daughter afternoons every Saturday and the day ended with renting a movie from Blockbuster my go to was HSM or when I got the second one on DVD and I would watch the dance rehearsals more than the actual movie cause I loved to see the process of making that film or when I jumped on furniture trying to recreate some scenes from the third film.

Choosing to experience any film from the trilogy again for the first time would wipe out all those memories and it's not worth it sure it'd be so special too but with every rewatch and every time I listened to the soundtrack I built a home, I built a safe space and I would never give that up.

[curtsies-from-princess-ashlyn]

Who says we have to let it go? (a season 4 reflection)

As promised, I finished rewatching the show in full one more time, so now I will finally put my S4 thoughts to paper (or screen). Coincidentally, this is also the day that the series finale would've dropped if S4 was released weekly, so it feels fitting to write this today, anyway.

Even after the initial Rina fog has lifted and excitement has died down, season 4 still remains my favorite season. While it has plenty of issues with plotting (certainly more than s3 or s1), it absolutely nails it thematically. The season explores the importance and consequences of vulnerability, and the power of seeing others as they truly are (as I mentioned in an older post, it's all about vulnerability and authenticity), and every main character's storyline so beautifully contributes to those themes in unique ways. There's also a really interesting dynamic between looking to the future and holding onto the present being explored this season, and I think the glamor of HSM4 (a hollywood movie) and the humility of HSM3 (a high school play) are symbolic of each respective idea. There's actually a lot I want to discuss about each character's relationship with both HSM4 and HSM3, and how it succinctly shows their internal feelings about their futures, but maybe that's for another time. Anyway, Tim has said his intention for the show's thesis is to find people who see and accept you for who you are, but this last season goes so much deeper with that concept, emphasizing the necessity of letting yourself be seen and known, too. This can be through letting your walls down, letting your flaws and struggles be seen, choosing to forgive those you love and take a second chance, or boldly speaking what's in your heart. Nearly every original song this season touched on this theme in some way, which really emphasizes the thematic cohesion of this season.

This leads me to the music, which is the best it's ever been in the show. Every single one of the originals is so good, and I love that there was also (finally) a showtune in a traditional musical theater style ("Over Again")! However, the score is what really stuck out to me this season (HUGE shoutout to Gabriel Mann, the scorer of the show). I do think the scoring of S3 really started to assist with telling the story by including more recurring leitmotifs (I think the return of the Rina cue helped), but the score of S4 really leans into this aspect of storytelling, especially in the final 2 episodes. There's leitmotifs to represent Shallow Lake, a magical motif from "Dreams Don't Die" to represent the magical and fleeting nature of high school theater, countless variations of the Rina cue, and I'm pretty sure there's even a recurring leitmotif established for Kourtney (I have to go back and listen for if it's used beyond her scenes).

Another thing that really stuck out to me was how well each episode was written. I think overall, there are leaps between some episodes that don't feel natural, but the story of each episode is well constructed and executed. There's genuinely not a single episode this season that I would say is boring or pointless... certainly some plotlines throughout the season turn out to be, but the episodes themselves are solid. Unfortunately, some of the plotlines this season feel like they end really abruptly, which did feel jarring on a first (and second) watch. I do believe Bart Johnson when he said some stuff for HSM4 was cut, because I was surprised at how little the OGs were in this season. Same can be said for Dani's storyline, which really felt superfluous in the end result. I hope that there's a showrunner's/extended cut released of this show someday, because that would probably fix those issues.

Overall, with this being the last season, it had the most important job of closing the show out in a truly complete way. I really believe it competently did that job, and I think how it finished the growth of the lead characters is what makes it conclusion so poignant. Everyone will have their opinions on how the show handled certain characters, but how Ricky and Gina (and even EJ, to a lesser extent) were handled in this last season absolutely tells me these writers knew what they were doing with these characters. The last series finale I watched that concluded character arcs so resolutely, with such tremendous humanity and truth, was Lost (Jack Shephard's arc is one of the most complete and profound I've ever seen). Gina Porter has always been a character I related to deeply, and that final season really made my connection with her even more personal and heartfelt. I actually have experienced healing of some wounds of my younger self witnessing her story, and I see how much more growing and healing I still have left.

So, what's the sum of my thoughts on season 4? I wouldn't change a thing! Ok, that's not necessarily true, but I still love it as it is. It was the funniest season (seriously, every single joke was hilarious), it was the most heartfelt, it was thematically rich, and it helped me say goodbye to the wildcats, while still holding onto hope for a bit more.

[mybrainproblems]

The thing is that if I watch HSM3 today then I'm going to have to rewatch HSM2 right after bc man, why was it the worst of the trilogy that got a theatrical release :')

[joysmercer]

we were SO robbed of more emmy and emmy/gina scenes

[livebloggingkidshows]

Watched HSM3 this morning and now I'm genuinely contemplating rewatching season 4 of HSMTMTS despite how terrible it is for the music. Currently in a PLL rewatch though so it's in the background, might just listen to the soundtrack as I write.

[awesomeassfuck]

what are all these headcanons that stem from the last half of hsm3

SO! I saw this ask and I wanted to take some time to answer it properly in depth! (Sorry for the delay!)

So the first one is about Chad and Taylor - it's not super detailed (because honestly most of my headcanons are about Troy and/or Gabriella). I don't think this is much of a stretch, but I imagine they are very on again off again. The way Chad so dismissively says he and Taylor are breaking up when she goes to Yale makes me think he isn't really invested at all in the relationship, and it's really just for convenience considering their bffs are dating.

Also, a headcanon I've had a long time (I've started multiple oneshots about it that never got posted). Troy's parents knew he was going to California to chase down Gabriella, and they refused to let him go. And he, caught off guard, is just like "I wasn't really asking." His dad threatens to ground him ("until you graduate college") and Troy just accepts it. Like "Okay, I'll be grounded when I get back." And then he takes off. (His dad runs after him and catches him in the driveway and gives him his credit card for emergencies. He makes it very clear that it isn't permission, but he still wants Troy to be safe.)

This next part is all tied in together really - all the things Troy and Gabriella did and said on their road trip.

(They fucked - it was prom night, and Gabriella's mom works long hours. I just think it was inevitable.)

Troy tells her his college choices. If he gets the scholarship to Juilliard, he will go there. Otherwise he's going to Berkeley. That's why when Darbus announces the recipients, Gabriella has this funny look on her face and looks at Troy. (I would love to read a fanfic where Troy gets a scholarship - I'm surprised I've never seen one.)

Troy gives Gabriella a promise ring that he bought on a whim on his way out to her. He waits until the trip back because he didn't want to give it to her too soon and seem like he was trying to buy her love.

Oh, and another Chad one. Since he and Sharpay are both going to U of A, I wholeheartedly believe that they run into each other and become enemies with benefits. Like, they still hate each other, but they're there and in a weird way, they know each other well enough to trust them, even if they can't stand each other. When everyone else finds out about it, they're understandably confused and mildly concerned.

Ummmm those are all the ones I can think of right now! I may rewatch the movie tomorrow and see if I can remember any others. Let me know if you have any!

[acehardys]

High School Musical 3: Senior Year 2008 | dir. Kenny Ortega

[troy-boltons-pink-jelly]

cinematic parallels: high school musical 3 + heartstopper

[jackabbot]

oh no I feel it coming, it's crawling up on me and there's nothing I can do... it's time for my annual HSM rewatch.