Stop laughing!
By Alexander B. Huls
I love my niece. There are a few things on this earth I will not do for her. If I’m in the lake and my hair is wet and she asks if she can style it, I agree. If for her birthday she wants to go shopping with me at Claire’s and Lasenza Girl, I’ll do so with a skip in my step. So when after seeing Hairspray with her recently, she told me how cute Zac Efron was and how I should check out Disney’s High School Musical. Well, I went straight to my local Blockbuster and rented it.
As a self-professed pop-culture whore, I’ll admit that I had long been curious to investigate what it was about High School Musical that had precipitated the gargantuan phenomenon that followed its first airing. So, with my curiosity satiated, what does a 25-year-old, double-BA graduate, and current MA student in film make of a Disney made-for-TV musical aimed at people half his age? If that 25-year-old is me, he — much to his surprise — loved it.
And this point you might be wondering, “How lame are you exactly?” After thinking about it for a moment though, you’ll realize you shouldn’t be narrow-minded, pre-judging jerkface and instead will ask: “But Alexander B. Huls, isn’t High School Musical at all corny?” Yes. It’s cornier than James Stewart in a Christmas movie, but, like good old Jimmy, that’s a big part of what makes it so damn good and charming. We live in cynical times, and therefore I feel there is often the instinct to meet anything that is deliriously upbeat with a cultural aloofness — even if it’s meant for a younger demographic than yourself. The thing with HSM is that because almost every frame is so saturated with a go-for-broke-let’s-have-fun approach and a dogmatic belief in the material by everyone involved, that unless you’re Ayn Rand it’s hard not to be swept up in it a little bit (if you’re really honest with yourself).
There are many things that help HSM be successful. The choreography, especially the larger group numbers, is impressive. Despite the teen-level sophistication of the lyrics, they work well for what they are, and the romantic ballads between Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabrielle (Vanessa Ann Hudgens) rise a little above the rest; in fact, these numbers are perfectly indicative of the goofy-but-charming appeal of the show. True, you can’t help but roll your eyes a little at Efron’s constantly punching the air with his fist, reaching out into empty space, or “rolling the dice” dance, and/or Hudgen’s repeated fallback on the sweet come-hither smile, but somehow it all just ends up working because you believe that the actors buy it, and you can believe the characters really feel what they are singing.
The musical numbers are also for the most part all catchy pop songs that can be hard to get out of your head, particularly “Breaking Free.” Most of all, as an uncle of a ten and 14-year old, it makes me happy that the moral of the film is that one doesn’t need to be classified in one social group or stereotype; one can be whomever one wants to be, and pursue whichever interests one wants. It’s the anti-Grease, in other words. It’s an appropriate, and even important, message for the age group the show is aimed at. Kids at that age are just developing their identities and need to be encouraged to expand the possibilities of who they can be, not limit them with stereotypes.It’s not always easy to love HSM, however. Though its extreme cheesiness ultimately plays a large part in its copious charm, there are certain moments and musical numbers, where it wanders over the threshold of camp to become awkwardly and uncomfortably corny (such as anytime the Wildcats chant begins), and one becomes acutely aware that one is grossly outside the target demographic, or that it’s just not that good. For the most part the musical numbers that fail do so because of their composition and lyrics, such as “Get’cha Head in the Game” and “Stick to the Status Quo,” though they usually save themselves with their impressive choreography. Even the Ryan and Sharpay numbers in the film, which are meant to be intentionally over-the-top and silly, come off better than the above-mentioned numbers. For the large part the show avoids these excessive missteps, as two bad musical numbers in almost ten isn’t that bad at all.
Having seen High School Musical 2 as well — I know you were wondering if I had or not — I can save you an additional review next week and tell you it basically amounts to the same thing. With the exception of a weaker and more clichéd story with some forced plot points, HSM2 works equally well because in many ways it’s a carbon-copy of the first. It follows the same story structure, it has a few embarrassing musical numbers (especially “Fabulous”) amongst mostly good ones. In fact, most of the songs are catchier, better written with better lyrics, resulting in another conceptually misguided sports themed song, “I Don’t Dance” actually working. Inevitably when you make a copy of something good, the copy will be slightly diminished, as it the case with HSM2. But who can really blame Disney for a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, especially if it’s an approach that yielded a cable-record of over 17 million viewers.
Though many film critics have indicated that the musical genre has largely died because contemporary audiences are simply unwilling to believe that characters would spontaneously burst out into song, the success of Hairspray and High School Musical 1 and 2 seem to indicate that there may be hope in the next generation.
My niece has been recently asking me to watch Mary Kate and Ashley Olsens’ New York Minute. I’d like to think that there’s a line to draw here, but, let’s just say, don’t be too surprised if an anonymous review of the film pops up on MONDO in a few weeks.
I love my niece.
One Comment
TrackBacks / PingBacks
[...] anticipation in my face. Till then, feel free to check out my review of the first two films over at MONDOmagazine. addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fthereeladdict.com%2Fhigh-school-musical-3-senior-year-trailer%2F’; [...]