High School Musical 2 (2007)

directed by Kenny Ortega

Grace Howie

High School Musical, a movie I loved, was released in January of 2006. I remember being in the game room of my parents home, upstairs, the kids room as it was sometimes referred to. It was where my three siblings and I could watch TV, play games, or do whatever we wanted without bothering my parents. I sat on the carpet way too close to the screen as the movie started: A Disney Channel Original Movie. I ate up the iconic New Years karaoke sequence and was hooked. I watched the sing-along versions and the dance-along versions. I had the Original Soundtrack CD, which I listened to over and over. I don’t know how many times I watched that movie that year.

Sometime in January 2007, a year later, they began showing commercials for an online poll you could take which had to do with the upcoming sequel, High School Musical 2.  A sequel? I was so excited. I remember taking this poll, using my daily 30 minutes of computer time to do so. It had 10 multiple choice questions. My favorite questions were: 

What should Chad’s T-shirt say at the beginning of the movie? 

“I Majored in Vacation” was the winning choice. 

What kind of sandwich should Troy make Gabriella for their picnic? 

Classic PB&J. 

Which Hannah Montana star should make a cameo? 

Miley Cyrus, of course. 

This quiz was an incredible marketing tactic that was lost on 10-year-old me. It was promoted by Disney as giving “fans a chance to take part in the sequel.” It was even called the “Play Your Part poll.” What child wouldn’t want to have a say in minuscule details of the next High School Musical movie? I mean, I wanted to. The participatory aspect also secured an audience. Of course kids who voted are going to watch and see if their choices won. Genius. So in January 2007, I voted. So did a lot of people, as 45 million votes were cast around the world from January 12th-31st, according to the High School Musical 2 premiere party hosted by the cast. The movie came out that summer.

The official air date was August 17th, 2007. I think that was my first week of 6th grade. My first week of middle school. Who was I in 6th grade? I was 11, and no longer the “new kid” after moving to a new school at the end of my elementary years, in 4th grade. I spent those two years struggling to find a friend group, but middle school was promising. It funneled in kids from multiple elementary schools so barely anyone knew each other. I had a boyfriend, my first, who had asked me out on the last day of school in 5th grade with a typed note. Really we were friends who held hands occasionally, but we hung out that entire summer, going to each other’s houses, and we even went to the movies once with my family to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. 2007, am I right?

A new High School Musical movie was the cherry on top of the optimism I had for the start of 6th grade. My 6-year-old sister and I waited with anticipation that week for the movie premiere. There was actually a whole premiere weekend. It started on Friday night with the first screening of the movie and a premiere party during the commercials hosted by the main cast and their director/choreographer, Kenny Ortega, all taking place at Kenny’s house. Saturday there was a second screening of the movie with “Wildcat Chat” during the commercials where, again, Kenny and the cast were at his house, this time answering fan questions and revealing the winning answers of the “Play Your Part poll.” Sunday was a sing-along version of the movie. They had all the lyrics available to download online and the words also bounced along the bottom of the screen, just like karaoke. That was a good weekend for me.

My first impressions and understanding of the movie were mostly about Troy and Gabriella. I thought that, like the first one, the plot was focused on them trying to make it work with all these things *cough* Sharpay *cough* getting in the way. I had the soundtrack on a little cartridge that went into my Mix-Stick. What the heck is a Mix-Stick? It was Disney’s MP3 player. It wasn’t convenient like an iPod because you had to keep track of these little cards, almost like video game cartridges, that were the size of an SD card. Mini CDs, as I liked to call them. I would carry it around with me wherever I went, most often listening to the HSM2 soundtrack. I was empathetic towards Gabriella, especially the song “Gotta Go My Own Way.” A month or two into 6th grade I started relating to the song, as my relationship ended, welcoming my first heartbreak. I crawled into my sister's bed and cried the night I got the phone call breaking up with me. I felt connected to Gabriella, even though she gets the happy ending, because in the movie she faces a lot of let down from Troy. It’s safe to note I can be dramatic sometimes and I definitely listened to the soundtrack and dramatized my own life (only to myself) in order to feel like I really understood the intricacies of a romantic relationship when in reality I understood nothing at 11 years old.

Life continued and I moved on. My Mix-Stick became obsolete and I no longer listened to the soundtrack endlessly. However, I still watched the movie about once a year. I still watch the movie about once a year and have come to comprehend it in an entirely different way as the years have passed. The romance between Gabriella and Troy is one plot line, but there’s so much more going on.

Troy is struggling internally as he transitions into adulthood and all the new responsibilities that come with that. And it’s not just at that age—it extends even into your twenties (and possibly beyond, but I’m not there yet). That feeling of somehow balancing all these new facets of life: friendships, relationships, work, and health. It’s a balance most people struggle with.

I had dinner with a friend recently where we, in our mid to late twenties, talked about that struggle. She mentioned a meme depicting “Work, Friends, Health, Life: Pick Two” because finding a balance between them all seems impossible. It’s not just memes though—there are plenty of articles online about how you can’t do everything. While looking for the meme I stumbled across two: “Work, Sleep, Family, Fitness, or Friends: Pick 3” and “Sleep, Success, Social Life: Can You Really Only Pick Two?” Is that the reality of life? It’s hard and there is so much to juggle; can anyone actually do it all? Most often we focus on work-life balance, but it’s more than that. High School Musical 2 highlights the first time in these teens' lives where they are faced with the challenges of priorities and responsibilities. Troy is trying to balance a girlfriend, his first summer job, his future college prospects, and his friendships.

One of the biggest conflicts in the movie is between Troy and his teammates. He takes advantage of what Sharpay is doing for him as she uses her connections to introduce him to his dream college’s basketball team. His father encourages him to take those opportunities. But it hurts his friendships, and his teammates feel left behind as he skips out on their 2-on-2 games after work. He risks his relationship for similar reasons, choosing to be late for a date with Gabriella in order to have dinner with these college scouts and Sharpay. It feels selfish, but it’s almost a necessary selfishness. Ultimately we see him realize, through the song “Bet On It,” that he is changing in order to achieve his goals but it’s not how he wants to be. The song sequence is visually goofy as he runs across the golf course and talks to his reflection in the pond, but the lyrics are straightforward and are the turning point that move the plot along. The lyrics “did you ever lose yourself to get what you want,” “did you ever push away the ones you should’ve held close,” and “I’m gonna make it right, that is the way” stick out to me the most. He has to make a change to preserve the aspects of his life, his friends, and his relationship, which are a priority that he’s been neglecting for his own personal gain. It’s a realization we all face at some point.

I remember the first time I really felt the weight of trying to balance everything. It started in May 2019, when I began a new job at a bakery. I went to work at 5 a.m. every day. I couldn’t bring myself to give up any aspect of my social life in order to accommodate my new hours, and instead I suffered. I would go to work, sleep a few hours during the day, go out or hangout with people, then sleep a few hours at night, the loop continuing. There was a specific instance that made me realize the way I was conducting myself wasn’t sustainable. It was a Friday night and my band had a show about an hour away. I had work on Saturday morning. It stormed during the show and I didn’t want to leave in the heavy rain so initially I was waiting for that, but time flew by as we all mingled and chatted and the show continued and then ended. I was there until 2 a.m. Keep in mind I had gotten up at 4 a.m. the morning before for work. I was running on fumes and had an hour drive home. I couldn’t make it and ended up pulling into a rest stop halfway between where the show was and my town. I set an alarm before sleeping in my car for a little less than two hours. I ended up having just enough time to wake up, grab clothes from my house, and go straight to work. It was miserable. I wasn’t willing at the time to sacrifice my social life in order to be responsible for work and I felt the consequences of it physically. I was Troy Bolton.

What do you make a priority? Can you be successful and still have it all? I felt like I was proving you cannot. For a few months after that, I chose work. I passed up a lot. Some I still regret, like the chance to go to New York with a friend for a show, but I know I’m better for it. I’m a more reliable person because of it. Even though the job didn’t end up lasting (I really wasn’t built for early mornings) I grew a little, and learned more responsibility, just like Troy Bolton grows throughout his summer.

I’m still figuring it out though, as I think we all are, as I think those teenagers in High School Musical 2 were. It’s an ever-changing challenge as priorities shift throughout the years. Whether it be your career or your family or a social life or your health. Everyone is trying to deal with it all at the same time and I think there is a need for more compassion. I think it can be easy to come off as selfish, just as Troy did, but having the self-awareness to reassess what is truly meaningful to you is important as well. The growth and learning begins in our late teens and I think the movie is a lesson to children and adults that figuring out what and who will make your life the most whole, and then somehow not taking those things for granted is a process. May Troy Bolton be an example for us all.

Grace Howie currently lives in Fredericksburg, VA with her cat, Albert. She writes in her free time, whether it be essays or lyrics and music for her band, So Badly. She is an artist of many mediums which can be seen on her instagram @lazylark.art