The Virtues of HSM

I know it has been awhile since I last posted (life is busy, you know!).

For something completely different, I thought I would post about HSM (for those of you who have been living under a rock, that is "High School Musical").

HSM is a story that was originally a Disney Channel movie aimed at the 'tweenies'. It has since been branched out to merchandise (dolls, clothes, etc), ice show, broadway play (yes, "HSM-The Musical") and many, many more forums. If Disney can dream it, it will be done.

It is the story of a boy (Troy, a basketball star) and a girl (Gabriella, the genius) who meet at a ski lodge new year's eve. Turns out (surprise) that Gabriella is moving to Albuquerque and is going to Troy's school after Winter Break. They reconnect and try out for the high school musical, but their friends all pooh-pooh them because Gabriella is a genius and Troy is the star basketball player and why would they ever want to do the drama thing? Bottom line is that they try to conform to peer pressure and not 'want' to be in the musical. In the end, they also 'fall in like" (they don't kiss until HSM 2 and that is all they do). The moral of the story is to do your own thing, without peer pressure.

Along the way, they unite their friends (of course). They also sing, dance, have amazing chorographed numbers and learn about what 'THEY" want.

Of course, there is the 'evil' character (although, Sharpay is not so 'evil' even by Disney standards, she does join in with them singing and dancing). She does try to undermine Gabriella because she wants the musical to herself (and Troy, too).

My question is...isn't the moral what we all want for our kids, to listen to their hearts and find their own way? In HSM-1, even my 6 year old picked up on the line that Troy's dad said (at the last moment of the state championship), "I want you to have fun". Isn't that what we all want for our kids? To find something that they enjoy and have fun?

Yes, it is cheesy, but who cares. There was not a single person (including myself and my mom) when I saw the musical (which was my introduction to HSM) that wasn't singing and clapping their hands. Yes, my husband did inopportune giggles during HSM 3, but it WAS full of cheese.

Final thought: Besides all of that cheese, the best part of HSM is that it brought my boys together with me. We watched HSM and HSM 3 together. We all enjoyed it. Oldest was singing and dancing during HSM 3 at the theater (he had seen the videos online and knew ALL of the words). It's something that has allowed him to be on the same level as his peers (okay, the girls, but that is fine). I wish I had had a videotape recorder and could have recorded it. I haven't seen him so happy and giggly like that in a long time. He had such a great time.