Musical Mondays Week 10 High School Musical 1 & 2...maybe 3

[SaraK 1980]

I was in college when this came out. My roommate and next door neighbor watched it with me and I think we all sang the Status Quo song to each other for months. I don't really remember why we watched it initially, but it was an enjoyable drunken night.

 

Unfortunately my friend's boyfriend thought we were being serious when we kept referring to it as our favorite movie and went out of his way to buy her some deluxe dvd when it came out near her birthday. It was awkward.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

This is mind blowing to me! Saved by the Bell came out when I was still really young, but I feel like it would be like if you were in High School when it first came out and enjoying it unironically.

 

My 4 year old loved it. My baby threw up on me.

Let's be clear, they're all 16-18 NOW, so were little kids when it came out.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

My baby threw up on me.

 

Such an asshole.

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

I made this... My new favorite .gif

 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I was in college when this came out. My roommate and next door neighbor watched it with me and I think we all sang the Status Quo song to each other for months. I don't really remember why we watched it initially, but it was an enjoyable drunken night.

 

Unfortunately my friend's boyfriend thought we were being serious when we kept referring to it as our favorite movie and went out of his way to buy her some deluxe dvd when it came out near her birthday. It was awkward.

Omg but that's so sweet that he actually paid attention to what she was saying and remembered it for her birthday, even if he didn't understand the dripping sarcasm lol!

[Cam Bert 8145]

I was 28, if that helps.

It does. Thank you. I was moving back to Japan when it came out. I've been here as long as this movie has existed.

[SaraK 1980]

Omg but that's so sweet that he actually paid attention to what she was saying and remembered it for her birthday, even if he didn't understand the dripping sarcasm lol!

 

He was very sweet, and so proud of himself that I don't think my friend ever told him that she didn't actually like the movie. I'm pretty sure she never took it out of the shrink wrap, but she still kept it for however long they dated. Fond memories lol

[Cameron H. 23786]

I made this... My new favorite .gif

 

 

All I can hear is Bill Corbett saying: "And you go to Hell!"

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

 

Such an asshole.

 

Such an asshole.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Serious question before I go to sleep. This was a TV movie originally right? Were the other ones TV movies too or was it so big that two and three got theatrical runs?

[kateacola 2440]

Maybe it is the age thing for me? I definitely feel like 8-12 was the sweet spot they were going for but it definitely rang true to all the performing girls at my school it seemed.

I remember some girls in band liking it. And some of my other friends who were actually a year older than me.

I know some enjoyed it but knew it was "bad" and they loved it for that. But some did actually like it.

 

I didn't love this but I did laugh at some parts..sometimes genuinely but mostly because some things were cringe-worthy laughable.

I don't think I enjoyed the songs, and barely remember any of them (and I watched it Friday).

The only song that stood out for me is "Get your Head in the Game" --that one was catchy. Otherwise, the only other one I kind of remember is "Status Quo"-- but only for what the point was, don't remember any of the lyrics or melody.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Serious question before I go to sleep. This was a TV movie originally right? Were the other ones TV movies too or was it so big that two and three got theatrical runs?

1 & 2 were TV movies but 3 was a theatrical run.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Serious question before I go to sleep. This was a TV movie originally right? Were the other ones TV movies too or was it so big that two and three got theatrical runs?

NUMBER THREE MADE NINETY MILLION DOLLARS IN WIDE RELEASE

[Cam Bert 8145]

1 & 2 were TV movies but 3 was a theatrical run.

NUMBER THREE MADE NINETY MILLION DOLLARS IN WIDE RELEASE

Thank you. I can sleep soundly now.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Thank you. I can sleep soundly now.

 

Can you?

[FisterRoboto 7499]

I know this is a musical and things are heightened and don't always make a ton of sense. But the basketball practice sequence for "Get'Cha Head in the Game" drove me nuts. There is nothing practical about any of their practice. The coach and other players are so upset that Troy is spending so much time not practicing, but then they spend a full three minutes just dicking around singing this stupid song.

 

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

I know this is a musical and things are heightened and don't always make a ton of sense. But the basketball practice sequence for "Get'Cha Head in the Game" drove me nuts. There is nothing practical about any of their practice. The coach and other players are so upset that Troy is spending so much time not practicing, but then they spend a full three minutes just dicking around singing this stupid song.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G--VfuI0fNs

Just had a big, hearty laugh at the mental image of Fister standing in his living room shouting at the television: THAT WAS A TRAVEL, REF! ARE YOU FUCKING BLIND?

[kateacola 2440]

I know this is a musical and things are heightened and don't always make a ton of sense. But the basketball practice sequence for "Get'Cha Head in the Game" drove me nuts.

Think this was the only full scene / song I genuinely liked, lol

[SaraK 1980]

I know this is a musical and things are heightened and don't always make a ton of sense. But the basketball practice sequence for "Get'Cha Head in the Game" drove me nuts. There is nothing practical about any of their practice. The coach and other players are so upset that Troy is spending so much time not practicing, but then they spend a full three minutes just dicking around singing this stupid song

 

They're probably mad because Troy seems to be running practice. He calls for them to pair up and run drills. Which would explain the singing too. The more they let him sing in practice, the less his dad actually has to be there.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

BTW running through my head EVERY time Chad said 'What team?"

 

[EvRobert 1684]

There is a literal ton of stuff to unpack here LOL Also, I go write for 4 hours and this is what I come to, 4 pages already!!! I expected one or two.

 

First of all, I can't remember hardly anyone's names, so if I refer to a character by the actor's name or by a descriptor I apologize in advance.

 

re: sports in school @Cam Bert, I grew up in Kansas and football, basketball and in particular wrestling are quite big here. I've seen schools shut down and not have classes because of "state wrestling" competition. There are not nationals, so state is the highest they can go. Why? I think if you asked it would be said "because of scholarship but I think the truth is closer to what someone earlier said re: Troy's dad bascially being Al Bundy, a lot of parents have their kids in sports to relive their childhood OR to accomplish what they couldn't. Here in KS, people will often get married in their early to mid 20s (right out of college) and start cranking out kids. They can have their kids in "Kids Wrestling" as early as age 5. That means, in some case, within 10 years of graduating high school, they are spending hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars a year, for something that may end when the kid is 20 or 21. And it's something that their parents did for them and so on. I have friends that I graduated college with who are grandparents (I graduated in 95) and talking about their grandkids wrestling "career".

 

I think schools push sports because it is one way to make money. The town I grew up in, a town of 6,000, has two high schools (a private school and a public school) and a community college. All 3 have sports teams and all 3 generate large crowds. I know one older gentleman who, when he retired from being a speech writer for the governor in early to mid 90s, started selling ads to businesses and covering area high school sports. He covers 3 or 4 schools and employs around 5 people. He started off on radio and has moved into live streaming video online. It is crazy to me that he manages to do it, but he not only manages to do it, he has a very comfortable life doing it.

 

The sports vs scholars vs arts part of HSM actually really rang...not true but not a total "movie troupe". I was almost only an arts kid. My dad was from eastern Kansas and I grew up in western Kansas, but he was a very respected athlete who was scouted by professional baseball teams. I was the arty kid of the family, reading (I would go to basketball games with him and sit and read a book, sometimes two if we watched a girls and boys game, which we often did), writing, acting, etc. My brother was the athlete (soccer, football, wrestling, baseball, track). My sister was a dancer (drill team) and vollyball player. (I'll also add that there is 13 years between my brother and me and 20 between my ssiter and me). But my parents never forced me to do sports or the arts. They actually encouraged me to do both but didn't balk when I quit basketball to focus on acting. They would go to debate tournaments I was in, attend every play (my dad sat through I think 6 performances of McBeth--he loved it. This former baseball player, maintence man, blue collar guy fell in love with McBeth.) every musical. Two years ago, a play I wrote was being performed by a children's theater in Atlanta. They not only helped me pay to go, my dad went with me. But I digress.

 

There was a bit of a...I wouldn't say rivalry between the arts and the sports, but they didn't often cross paths. That was a part of this that did ring true to me.

 

RE: HSM being aimed at a more younger crowd, I think you are spot-on. There is a "rule" in YA writing that the character you write should be older then the readers you are writing for. You will notice that in a lot of younger and middle grade fiction, the protagonists are often older middle grade or younger high school students. In more traditional YA, the characters are slightly older then theirtarget audience. There are exceptions (Harry Potter comes to mind right away) but for the most part that is the "rule".

 

Things I hated: In musicals, it seems to me that there are two schools of though, when the singing makes sense (i.e. The Blues Brothers, the songs are almost all the songs are presented in a concert setting. I think Aretha's is the only one that doesn't really fit that motif, but even that does to a degree because we have established that Matt "Guitar" Murphy was part of the band and that the neighborhood (via Ray Charles' music shop and John Lee Hooker sitting outside singing) is more musical.) and when the music doesn't make sense, when people just break out into song (traditional stage musicals).HSM doesn't follow these rules. The first song makes sense, it's karaoke (although it's a song no one but the people in this world know. If they were going for this, I would have made this a hybrid original musical/jukebox musical.) but the second song doesn't make sense.And this continues throughout. Sometimes the songs make sense and sometimes they don't. That really bothered me.

 

More things that bothered me: I love the character of bowler hat girl. As a writer I was like "oh wow look a writer character." But what kind of cheap ass high school produces a student musical, that isn't a "performing arts school". How I would have made this work is this; Gabrille, Sharpy and her weird brother, bowler hat girl, and the teacher, maybe a few others, are from a performing arts high school that, due to budget cuts, has to merge with a traditional high school. Gabrielle and sharpy are rivals. THAT would explain the whole part about the drama teacher thinking that her program was more important and not understanding the sports side of things. It would also explain a sports team at a loss when the captain wants to try out for the musical. Maybe the sports school has cut their arts programs out for one reason or another. This could all be established in the first classroom scene and the scene in the principal's office.

 

Also what kind of musical is this girl writing? I see Romeo and Juliet like castle motifs, tree with holes for a face, and a CAMEL? I want to see this musical! That said, I think it's best we not see the musical. It's the Studio 60 syndrome. You hear about how funny this show is, but when you see their skits, they aren't that funny (and I love Studio 60). Also how did all these kids who were auditioning know the songs from the musical that was brand new? Every audition I've been to, you do 16 measures of a well known musical theater song. Then you do a reading or you read with others and work on chemistry, etc. Also, when I've directed musicals and theater (even on a community theater level) I would never allow two people to duet as an audition piece.

 

I think having Gabrielle be super smart and a great singer who is shy and has to overcome her shyness be a bit too much. I get what they were trying, but I think if they were committed to her being the "new girl" I would have made her a new girl who could sing and had something "tragic" happen. Maybe she bombed on American Idol like auditions?

 

Also, this was 2006, Disney had already made a movie about an athlete who wanted to be a cook and getting his team to accept him. This was post the rise of Emerial, and Iron Chef and bobby Flay and food network. I like the character of Zack (I think?) but why is being a baker such a big thing to hide?

 

Finally, did anyone else get a weird Jamie and Cersi Lannister/incest vibe from Sharpy and her weird brother?

[EvRobert 1684]

I know this is a musical and things are heightened and don't always make a ton of sense. But the basketball practice sequence for "Get'Cha Head in the Game" drove me nuts. There is nothing practical about any of their practice. The coach and other players are so upset that Troy is spending so much time not practicing, but then they spend a full three minutes just dicking around singing this stupid song.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G--VfuI0fNs

 

This is EXACTLY the number I was thinking of when I said some songs make sense and some don't. I think this is the second song of the show? So they've established via the karaoke number that when people sing in this world it makes sense. And then they break that rule but not having it make sense in this context.

 

Kenny Ortega is such a talented director too. I actually like his work on Newsies and some of his other stuff but this feels like a favor to someone at Disney.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Any guesses as to what Troy's mother does for a living? Did you see the size of their house (complete with basketball court)? There's no way they can afford all that, plus very nice ski trips, on a High School basketball coach's salary.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

The first song makes sense, it's karaoke (although it's a song no one but the people in this world know. If they were going for this, I would have made this a hybrid original musical/jukebox musical.)

It probably bothered me more than it should (but still less than that basketball practice) that it was an original song for that scene. Like, I get why it was done that way (song rights cost money, and it would probably be even worse if they did something in the public domain), but at the same time, the whole point of karaoke is to sing popular songs.

 

More things that bothered me: I love the character of bowler hat girl. As a writer I was like "oh wow look a writer character." But what kind of cheap ass high school produces a student musical, that isn't a "performing arts school". How I would have made this work is this; Gabrille, Sharpy and her weird brother, bowler hat girl, and the teacher, maybe a few others, are from a performing arts high school that, due to budget cuts, has to merge with a traditional high school. Gabrielle and sharpy are rivals. THAT would explain the whole part about the drama teacher thinking that her program was more important and not understanding the sports side of things. It would also explain a sports team at a loss when the captain wants to try out for the musical. Maybe the sports school has cut their arts programs out for one reason or another. This could all be established in the first classroom scene and the scene in the principal's office.

This would have been a much better movie.

[EvRobert 1684]

Any guesses as to what Troy's mother does for a living? Did you see the size of their house (complete with basketball court)? There's no way they can afford all that, plus very nice ski trips, on a High School basketball couch's salary.

 

Doctor seems to be the go to mom profession if I remember my Disney Original Movies.

 

It probably bothered me more than it should (but still less than that basketball practice) that it was an original song for that scene. Like, I get why it was done that way (song rights cost money, and it would probably be even worse if they did something in the public domain), but at the same time, the whole point of karaoke is to sing popular songs.

 

It's DISNEY on the Disney Channel, why not a Disney song?