#GabriellaMontezSucks

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Questions for HSM III (Part IX)

Caption: “My life is over.”

This is cruelty, folks. I just can’t look at the above picture without shaking my head. This is how Troy looks for the vast majority of this movie, which I now realize is the primary reason I found it so insufferably dull on the first watch. He’d lost his vibe, his spark, his zest for life. And this is the face of a student who is in a beautiful, romantic relationship, so the script says?! For real?!

On The Dumping (Part II) and Chad Danforth

1- So when we left off, Gabriella had ruined Troy’s plans in one fell swoop by deciding that she wouldn’t show up for prom, the musical or graduation. Just to give you some context, please remember that this is nearing the end of the school year. It’s a time of excitement, nostalgia and anticipation. Everyone else will be looking forward to prom... EXCEPT Troy, who is now once again dejected, lonely and withdrawn. As if he hasn’t enough on his plate, what with the musical tanking and almost everyone blaming him, the Wildcats showing no sympathy or interest in either his feelings or his future, his dad being unable to allow him a say in his own education, his indecision about where he might go after graduating-- now he has no date for prom. At the END of the school year, folks. And this is ALL because Gabriella doesn’t have the common decency to keep her promises. Her tears here are thoroughly irrelevant, whether genuine or contrived. The question of why she was smiling beforehand remains unanswered. I like to keep swearing in my posts to a minimum, but at this point, I was so DONE with her behaviour for the millionth time that I couldn’t help myself. So she hangs up, pretends that she’s just made a difficult decision (I maintain that her “explanation” was pulled out of thin air) and then we’re back to Troy’s devastated, disappointed and miserable face. As if this poor kid hasn’t been punished enough. 

In a movie series designed to convince us that Gabriella’s goodness was next to that of Jesus, why was this plot line included? What good does it serve the overall message, the plot, the character arcs, the impressionable viewing audience or Troy himself to see this live massacre?

2- "That’s lousy man. Really is.”

When I was doing my minute-by-minute commentary, I was initially annoyed with Chad’s behaviour in this scene, and then realized much later that he did actually redeem himself. First of all, he shows some GENUINE sympathy-- hallelujah!-- towards Troy. This shows that despite Chad’s many faults, this friendship is REAL and pretty damn resilient. I mean, Troy forgave him for that cruel webcam stunt in HSM I, which was a MASSIVE betrayal of trust. I’ve seen friendships ended for much less. Troy apologized TO Chad in HSM II by accepting the false claim that he had been a jerk whilst never mentioning how Chad had yelled at him in front of everyone else on the flimsiest provocation, and said nothing when Chad laughed at him for getting a scholarship opportunity. By contrast, Chad gets credit for apologizing in HSM I, but from then on, it’s like he’s never heard of the word. He cut Troy down to pea size in HSM II, and then agreed that Troy had been a jerk, mocked him endlessly (”Let’s see if Tiger Woods still has a jump shot!”), made numerous false accusations against Troy, like accusing Troy of not thinking him good enough (”If I was as good as you?” Of course, Troy had praised Chad’s teamwork in front of Mr Evans and his guests not long before), and took no notice of how Troy had given up on a massive opportunity to get back into his good books. Whilst Chad’s behaviour improved in HSM III, he still has been insensitive throughout as I have already explained. The fact that they are still best friends, like brothers, is incredible. Like I said, I am a huge fan of their friendship, but it’s flawed as hell. As always, very little of this is Troy’s fault, apart from the fact that he so often enables Chad’s unjust behaviour. So, Chad is sympathetic here. 

I notice that Troy doesn’t even repeat Gabriella’s “explanation” for not coming back. Why is this? Is it because he knows it’s as stupid as it sounds? (I wish!) I mean, how would he say it? “Gabriella’s not coming back because she misses everyone.” 

More importantly, why doesn’t Chad ask for an explanation as to why Gabriella isn’t coming back? He has just presumably accompanied Troy to the clothes store so they can buy the suits for prom. His best buddy was obviously excited, on the way. His best buddy was excited to show off the suit to his mother (cute scene, by the way). His best buddy was excited to speak to Gabriella, and then HE, Chad, saw the smile gradually slip from Troy’s face and melt into sadness and disappointment. And we’re supposed to believe that he isn’t curious as to the reason?

3- “Everybody knows that you don’t bring the girl with you after high school!”

Really starting to wonder how Chad managed to find a girlfriend. If not for the chemistry and sweetness of Chaylor, he’d be a bachelor for life. And how on earth is this classically insensitive comment going to make Troy feel better-- Oh wait. It was intended to pour salt in Troy’s wounds. What have I said about Chad being on another wavelength? I think he’s in another universe. Folks, this is the first time that Chad has attempted to reach out to Troy, which is saying a lot, since we are over halfway through the movie. But believe it or not, I actually do believe that was intending, in his own brash manner, to raise Troy’s spirits. Tell him to man up and get over it. Yes, he’s using crass and unhelpful language, but in the long run, isn’t this better than allowing Troy to wallow in misery ad infinitum? You have to be cruel to be kind. And to be fair to Chad, he is right about the nature of high school romances. They ARE transient and fleeting, aren’t they? Isn’t he just telling an uncomfortable truth, to spare his friend the pain? Don’t like the means, but they do justify the end. 

On the OTHER hand...

4- “Look, Gabriella is already one step ahead. As usual.”

And herein lies the hypocrisy. This basically nullifies any somewhat helpful advice he gave Troy not two seconds ago. In HSM I, Chad considered Gabriella to be “an elevated IQ temptress girl” who was detracting the Hoops Dude from his true calling as basketball superstar and perpetual Wildcat. Then he decided to be supportive of Troy and Gabriella’s relationship. Ever since then, he has thoroughly bought into the legend of Troyella; he not only approves of Gabriella, but has never criticized anything she’s done regardless of the devastating effect it had on Troy. When Gabriella dumped Troy in the middle of the summer (sorry, not over that one), Chad was indifferent, as he was already giving Troy the silent treatment. (”Chad won’t talk to me”). His best friend had just been dumped, and he didn’t at least try to bury the hatchet and reach out. Gabriella could not be wrong. He’s said nothing when Gabriella left Troy for California, instead choosing to excoriate Troy behind his back for messing up repeatedly in rehearsals for a musical that HE, Chad, was initially unwilling to join! Gabriella could not be wrong. Later, when Gabriella makes her appearance at the musical, she gets cheers from Chad in the sidewings and a hug. Even now, he never asked for an explanation as to why Gabriella wasn’t coming back; instead, he treats it like one of life’s misfortunes. “That’s lousy man...” instead of “Why isn’t she coming back?”

Of course, I don’t need to expand upon the nonsense of extolling Gabriella’s cruel behaviour as being “one step ahead”. 

What on earth did Chad think he was accomplishing here? Is he Troy’s best friend, or Gabriella’s best friend? 

5- “’Kay, Taylor’s heading to Yale.”

Of course, Chad would never have had to beg Taylor to embrace her future and lucrative opportunities. Taylor is mature and forward-thinking and doesn’t believe that a relationship should get in the way of personal achievements, which is why she urges Gabriella to attend Stanford. (The latter simply whines because me, me, me). This is another example of the healthy relationship between Taylor and Chad. Like I said, they don’t mess each other around. They have a silent understanding between each other, and they stick to it. They understand that they can’t live in a fantasy world of perfect relationships, unlike a certain Troy Bolton, and so they accept the future as it comes. Notice that Taylor did not bail on Chad with regards to prom; the scene where she said “I’d be honoured!” was far sweeter and more meaningful than Gabriella’s “in every language”, which as we know, turned out to be a lie. Despite the contrived set-up of Chaylor, they DO care about each other and they do value each other’s presence. During HSM II, when either or both of them were upset, they silently turned to each other for comfort (after Mr. Fulton dared to make them work for pay, after Chad came into the kitchen angry because Troy wanted Swiss, after they got banned from the Talent Show). When either Troy or Gabriella was upset, there was no communication, period-- silent or otherwise. Troy was left to flounder on his own, Gabriella quit in a righteous huff. There’s no way that Taylor would bail on Chad for no good reason, and there’s no way that Chad would do the same vice-versa. 

However, the above dialogue implies that Chad and Taylor would break up, which leaves me stuttering and speechless. Of all the canonical characters, they would be the MOST likely to last longest, due to their maturity, respect, genuine affection for each other and natural closeness. HOW could the screenwriters not see this? Distance relationships can work if there is enough will. Says who that Chad and Taylor would not have had the will? What crime would Taylor have to commit in order to justify this horrible plot-line? Despite Taylor’s faults, she is NOT like Gabriella when it comes to her relationship, which she actually takes seriously, despite her competitiveness towards Chad. I’m furious and quite frankly disgusted that the healthy relationship gets shunted aside, whilst the unhealthy one is sold as healthy. Why?

6- Troy tries-- again-- to tell Chad that he doesn’t see his life as a ball game. Chad, of course, ignores this. However, Chad does redeem himself somewhat with the following line: “You’re gonna go to the prom with us. You’re gonna be with all your friends, you’re gonna have a great time.”

So you can see my indecision with regards to Chad in this scene. Is he being encouraging in a difficult way, or is he being a hypocrite in a pretty damn easy way? I can’t figure him out. But this is some solid, excellent advice to Troy that compliments his earlier comments about not bringing the girl after high school, crass as that comment was. Once again, he’s offering Troy a way out of lying in bed, staring into the nothingness and looking like a lost cause. As I have mentioned in another post, Troy was one of, if not the most popular kid in school, and despite the insolent ingratitude of the Wildcats, he did have some genuine friends. The viewer will recall the scene where Troy is walking through the corridors at East High hi-fiving/joking around with his buds-- we don’t know any of these characters, but they appear to be well-known to him. In HSM I, we see a brief hint of his other friendships: he shakes hands with members of the Drama Club (who were probably seen as losers by other students, if Chad’s disdain towards other social groups is to be believed), the Science Club members let him sit up on the roof and the Gardening Club members could be relied upon to provide flowers for Chad. 

Why didn’t we get to see some of Troy’s non Wildcat friends, whom I honestly believe would be better friends to him than his team-mates? Why couldn’t he be seen hanging out with other people, and not just the same folks who saddled him with unreasonable expectations and then heaped opprobrium on his head for being a flawed human being? I think Troy’s friendships with these various other clubs is very significant. Remember in HSM I, Troy doesn’t seem even remotely interested when Chad is expounding upon the rules of Social Interaction at East High, just because Troy dared to take an interest in things other than basketball. Up until it was convenient for the plot, Troy’s basketball buddies didn’t even know he had a secret hideout, thanks to the Science Club. I think these nerd clubs would have been viewed with disdain by the alleged cool kids, so Troy, Wildcat superstar, East High’s Primo Boy and All-Round Nice Guy refusing to see any such distinction is massively significant and I think those kids would really appreciate him for that. Would it have been nice to see some of Troy’s other interests and time spent with these people? I mean, it appears that Troy has an interest in science and botany (or is that my headcanon speaking?), which explains his his some of his nerdiness/dorkiness and the model airplanes in his treehouse. Why couldn’t we see THIS side of Troy?

But back to the point about his canonical friends, Kelsi and Ryan, the only two people who have supported him wholeheartedly throughout, did not deserve to be left behind just because of Gabriella. Why did the script never show us THEIR feelings about this? Because I honestly believe that even Kelsi would have been at the very least disappointed with Gabriella. (Or I hope so, anyway). 

More importantly, WHY oh WHY didn’t Troy take Chad’s advice?

Chad leaves, thinking he has gotten some sense into Troy. He gives Troy an affectionate slap on the head. Troy’s head droops because he’s lost all life and lustre at this point. We think that Troy will, however, attend his prom. 

And how wrong we are.

TO BE CONTINUED.