Research Paper (condensed)
The movie High School Musical appealed to a huge number of American preteens, thanks to the "coolness" of the characters, the inspiring theme, and, of course, the catchy musical numbers. However, I am skeptical of how beneficial this film is to our society, especially among preteens. For my research, I used a book on basic sociology and I also conducted interviews with people my age who were the target audience of High School Musical when it came out. It is my belief that not only does the movie High School Musical form a misrepresentation of the social structure of high school, but the cliches it presents contradict its own intended positive messages.
One of the biggest themes of "High School Musical" is the idea of the "status quo," meaning keeping everything the way it currently is (in this case, keeping everyone in their assigned cliques). Troy is considered the "basketball guy," Gabriella is the "smart girl," and Sharpay is the "drama queen." There are also the nerds, the cheerleaders, and the skater kids. In one of the popular songs in the movie, "Stick to the Status Quo," one person from each group is inspired by Troy's aspirations for the musical and start confessing their own secret hobbies. These confessions shock everyone into an oblivion, and this scene marks the beginning of the fall of the high school social structure and is meant to give the message that it's okay to be friends with everyone, even people who are different. However, I do not believe that the filmmakers of High School Musical do a very good job in sending this potentially positive message.
These characteristics of the people in High School Musical blatantly portray extremely cliché representations of individual teenage cliques. This perpetuates stereotypes so that instead of teaching that kids should be themselves, the movie preaches the exact opposite. Preteens who see this movie recognize that being an athlete is "cool" while being a nerd is not, even if the nerds enjoy hip-hop. This steers them away from the desire discover their own passions and more toward being cool, like Troy or Gabriella. In the song "Status Quo," when people are breaking away from the norms of their own group, the only thing that they are doing is introducing a hobby. They're still an active member of their clique, they just found one thing that isn't associated with their own stereotypes. Therefore, the movie further emphasizes that everyone in each group is exactly the same, save a few concrete variations that are easy to pinpoint. How is this inspiring or helpful to young people in any way? The message of High School Musical isn't "be yourself," but instead "you can have some hobbies, but you still must fit the very narrow criteria for some very certain teenage group."
One of the biggest themes of "High School Musical" is the idea of the "status quo," meaning keeping everything the way it currently is (in this case, keeping everyone in their assigned cliques). Troy is considered the "basketball guy," Gabriella is the "smart girl," and Sharpay is the "drama queen." There are also the nerds, the cheerleaders, and the skater kids. In one of the popular songs in the movie, "Stick to the Status Quo," one person from each group is inspired by Troy's aspirations for the musical and start confessing their own secret hobbies. These confessions shock everyone into an oblivion, and this scene marks the beginning of the fall of the high school social structure and is meant to give the message that it's okay to be friends with everyone, even people who are different. However, I do not believe that the filmmakers of High School Musical do a very good job in sending this potentially positive message.
These characteristics of the people in High School Musical blatantly portray extremely cliché representations of individual teenage cliques. This perpetuates stereotypes so that instead of teaching that kids should be themselves, the movie preaches the exact opposite. Preteens who see this movie recognize that being an athlete is "cool" while being a nerd is not, even if the nerds enjoy hip-hop. This steers them away from the desire discover their own passions and more toward being cool, like Troy or Gabriella. In the song "Status Quo," when people are breaking away from the norms of their own group, the only thing that they are doing is introducing a hobby. They're still an active member of their clique, they just found one thing that isn't associated with their own stereotypes. Therefore, the movie further emphasizes that everyone in each group is exactly the same, save a few concrete variations that are easy to pinpoint. How is this inspiring or helpful to young people in any way? The message of High School Musical isn't "be yourself," but instead "you can have some hobbies, but you still must fit the very narrow criteria for some very certain teenage group."