Middle America's Worldview

I was finally able to watch the High School Musical dvd with the kids.

I found it strikingly similiar to the original Grease back in my day. Yes, some things definitely differ, but the overall theme, and storyline seemed very similiar.

A couple of things I noticed that are the same in each movie.

A new girl comes into the school system.
The boy everyone looks to for leadership wants to change his profile.
Once the leader changes, everyone seems to change.
There is a girl that is 'mean spirited'.
The new girl is shy but comes out of her shell during the movie.


How they changed the plot, a little.

Rather than the emphasizes on individuals, per say, High School Musical has the whole group (or student body) changing their individual profiles. The movie has each student wishing to come out of their quoted profile and expand out of their 'thought to be' elements. In this respect, I see High School Musical conveying to the audience, 'we are all the same' and we as individuals need to show ourselves as, not only individuals with different interest and talents, but also as a whole. This is different with Grease, as Grease storyline revolved around 2 main characters.

Overall, the movie was very cute with a decent message. High School Musical already shows to be a phenomenal success.