High School Musical

Have you seen this show? If not, you should see it. I unabashedly endorse High School Musical. In fact, I love it.

I'm not being sarcastic. I first watched it soon after Chris and I got married, when I was working in an eating disorder clinic. It was Friday night, which was movie night. Despite making fun of it, the girls had voted almost unanimously to rent High School Musical.

A little bit of back story: for a lot of the girls at the center, eating disorders were ways of coping with uncontrollable things in their lives, like mental illness and, mostly, sexual abuse. About 75% of the girls at the center at that time had been sexually assaulted. This was a live in, super intensive clinic, so this definitely doesn't apply to eating disorders in general. These are cases so extreme these girls were unable to leave and not allowed to pee with the door closed. (Side note, I have seen a lot of girls pee.) Also, I am no expert on eating disorders. I am just telling a story here.

So anyway, the eating disorder gave them a way to control something in a world that mostly controlled them. The disorder was a crutch that helped them get through their lives. The center worked hard to help the girls get rid of the disorder. It is a really great facility. The problem is that when you take away someone's crutch, they are going to fall. A lot. And that particular Friday there was a lot of falling going on.

It was a horrific day. The girls and women had been breaking down right and left. There is always a little heartbreak going on in the center--it's a hard place. But that day was the hardest I had ever seen.

Everyone was either crying or extremely gloomy that evening as we went down to the basement lounge. There was always a snack in the evening but for movie night the snack was optional and this evening practically no one took anything for snack. So you know things were bad. Anyway, then we put on High School Musical and suddenly, there were Troy and Gabriela singing their little hearts out about basketball, and high school crushes, and being yourself. Such lovely superficiality! We came out of that movie and the whole mood of the floor had shifted. Girls were giggling, everyone was smiling. It didn't solve any problems but it gave everyone a break. I really think that High School Musical was an answer to so many prayers that evening.

It's just this innocent little love story and don't-be-afraid-to-be-yourself story. And there is dancing and singing. So much silly dancing and singing. There is even dancing with basketballs. So ridiculous and delightful.

I feel like you are making fun of me a little in your heads. Stop it. This show has great merit.

I didn't mean to go off into this tangent from my past about the eating disorder clinic. Mostly I meant to tell you that Soapy saw a preview for it and asked who those "beautiful dancers" were and if we could see the movie. So I got it from the library and you should have seen Sophie's face during the first song. She kept saying, "They are singing so beautifully, Mama! So beautiful!" Here's the song. And here's a picture of them singing the song.

We have watched High School Musical 1 and 2 several times now. I think that maybe Soapy was born to watch this show. It is so fun. Perhaps more fun has been all the High School Musical Dance parties we've been having. I also am quite pleased with Sophie's inward struggle to understand how the blonde,
Barbie-esque girl who wears pink and glitter and sparkles is the villain (okay, as close to the villain as there is in this show). I think it is helping build her character.

In conclusion, High School Musical is awesome. At least I think I can count on Ali to agree with me...unless she has out grown it. Happy Sunday.