I saw High School Music 3 a week ago. The first two were direct-to-TV releases, but this last installment was theatrical. And it showed - the songs were better and the dance routines were fantastic. I’m not a teenager so, as expected, the story didn’t really do much for me. But I figure that at my age I have the choice to continue liking the stuff I’ve grown up with and ignoring everything else, or trying to remain young at heart and opening myself to what “kids of today” think is cool.

The most interesting thing about the HSM movies is the way the conflict is introduced. Every story needs some drama and in HSM it is provided by Troy’s (the star) father. In the first movie, Mr Bolton encourages Troy to not date his girlfriend and to not try out for the school play but to instead focus completely on the basketball team. In the second movie, Mr Bolton encourages Troy to forget his friends (including, again, his girlfriend) and hang out with college basketball players. In the third movie, Mr Bolton encourages Troy to go to his old college and not consider any other alternatives. In all cases, Troy does the right thing and ignores his father.

These are Disney movies where the wicked witch has been replaced by a parent. The moral of the stories: parents are self-absorbed and should not be listened to.

2 November 2008 - 05:39 | Tags: hsm3, disney, hsm