High School Musical - ENOUGH

Seriously, Disney, haven't you finished exploiting "High School Musical" (hereafter referred to as HSM) by now? I mean, sure the original movie is expected, duh, there wouldn't be a movie if you didn't show one. The sing-along version was a cute touch, especially for those who like singing along despite being incapable of carrying a tune. The dance along was pushing it. I mean, unless I intend to stage my own version of HSM, why the hell would I want to learn the dance steps? As if that wasn't bad enough, they're now releasing a "Pop-Up" version where little boxes will appear onscreen with trivia and other unimportant bits of information about HSM.

Speaking as someone who never finished Disney's HSM (my boredom and frustration with the story keeps me from watching it too long) I can't say I'm in any position to lambast and bad-mouth this movie. However, I just can't believe how Disney is bleeding the film to DEATH. Surely they know about saturation? You can only watch something so many times without becoming sick of it, or worse end up memorizing the dialogue and scenes frame by frame. So what makes HSM any different? What makes Disney think showing the Pop-Up version will gather more audiences? Unless they have some OMFG awesome prize being given away, people who weren't interested in the first place will remain uninterested, or worse will become so disgusted by how commercial the movie is becoming they'll stay as FAR AWAY from it as possible (like yours truly).

At this point I shall now rant about why I dislike HSM so much. So to all HSM fans, feel free to go away now and find some online forums to gush and squee about the "awesomeness" of HSM. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the main reason I dislike HSM is that it failed to accomplish the basic requirement in any fictional work: The suspension of disbelief.

What is the suspension of disbelief? Well, we all have this built-in function within our brain that tells us that Cows don't fly, or rather they can't fly. This function also tells us that my brother can't be a descendant of some super-powered alien race who was sent here to be raised so he can choose between saving us or condemning us. If the work of fiction (be it film, prose, poetry or whathaveyou) manages to override this built-in function, then the suspension of disbelief occurs.

It's what allows us to believe actors who look nothing alike are related by blood and are not step/half-siblings in any way. It's what allows us to believe animals are capable of showing human characteristics (not physical ones but emotional like betrayal, love, sacrifice and etc). So, where does this come in with HSM?

Yes, HSM is set in the present day, and the characters don't have OMFG SUPER 1337 skillz!! They're ordinary students in an ordinary high school. You have your usual cliques, the jocks, the populars, the nerds, the emos, the skater-punks, and etc. So far, so good.

Now we are introduced to the main characters the All-Star Golden Boy, a hunk, a jock, and intelligent, he's got it all. Sure, there are people like that IRL and it sucks if you're in love with one because you'll never stand a chance with them. Not unless you're like, one of them. You freak.

...

Bitter much?

Anyway, we are then introduced to the female lead. She's pretty, she's smart, she's got a great voice and she's new. Ooooh, so long story short jock meets newbie and they try out for the school play. Now unless your school is an artsy-farsty type of school, drama =/= cool. So they get the part and the whole school basically says WTF?

Up to that point it's believable. And then suddenly my built-in function kicks back into gear. Just because a POPULAR person does something UNPOPULAR everyone decides that "Hey, I can do shit too!" Hmmm, I wonder, if it were the otherway around would it still merit the same level of inspiration? Or would everyone in school just point, laugh, and proceed to make unpopular person's life a living hell for trying? Now, I don't know how exaggerated HSM is when compared to real schools, since I'm not from the US, but I do know that that's not how it works in my school.

The populars pretty much get away with whatever they do because they're popular. Granted that not all populars are evil, manipulative, heartless bitches (I come from an all girl's school, so just replace bitches with either bastards or assholes if it applies), I know some populars who are wonderfully nice and non-bitchy. But the moment an unpopular person tries something the populars are monopolizing unless said unpopular is KICK-ASS at it, get ready to be ridiculed and be punished for even thinking such a thing.

But wait, once an Unpopular is considered good at something, said unpopular suddenly loses the pre-fix and becomes... TADA! POPULAR~

Now, I know HSM is trying to advocate the whole "Be unafraid to be who you are" and stuff, but seriously this is HIGH SCHOOL we're talking about. As long as you're in High School, peer pressure is way too powerful to overcome by yourself. The only reason why Jock and Newbie end up together is that the rest of Jock's pals decide that "Hey, Jock's really awesome at this and Newbie's hella hot." So with the rest of the school's approval they end up together and enjoy their new 'unique lives.'

Any speech involving "I don't care what my friends say, you're all that matters" is unbelievable coming from High School kids. They're not mature enough to handle the pressure, the sudden change in the hierarchy, and losing their 'friends.' Alright, so maybe not all High School kids are immature and weak-willed, but are they always going to be from the Popular-material gene pool?