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Perceptions of Troy: Sharpay vs Gabriella

On rereading some of my notes on High School Musical, I came across my comment on Sharpay’s occasional display of discernment and even kindness throughout the movie series, which can be found in this post here: 

“(At least Sharpay is an honest bitch, unlike a certain someone. The scene in HSM II where Sharpay said “you’re a good guy, Troy” is a far more meaningful compliment than anything Gabriella has ever said to him.)”

I just rewatched this scene in Google Play a minute ago, and I am impressed by Sharpay in this scene. Troy is entirely responsible for ridding her, however momentarily, of her arrogance, cruelty and selfishness. Finally, after such moronic behaviour throughout the entire film, she can be brought to reason. And in doing so, she reveals several interesting things about herself:

1- She doesn’t have any genuine feelings for Troy: She says, “I just sort of wish you were doing this for me,” which I believe is to gratify her own ego. Her regard for Troy is almost entirely imaginary and only based on his looks and his status. The way she looks at him here only shows respect and resignation, which quickly turns to selfish horror and annoyance when Troy insists that the Wildcats are allowed to perform. This was not part of what Ryan told him to do, thus demonstrating Troy taking initiative and showing his strong moral compass.

2- Troy has qualities that Sharpay respects: Most notably, Sharpay says, “You’re a good guy, Troy.” So she knows that there is more to him than his title as Wildcat superstar, even though she referred to him as East High’s Primo Boy at the beginning of the film. She knows that he has a moral compass and that he sticks to it when able to, though she has done her level best to compromise that during the film. She also recognizes that he cares about his friends, hence why he gave her that ultimatum. Furthermore, Troy in this scene has finally stood up for himself (to an extent) and she can’t influence him otherwise, thus showing that Sharpay does respond to authority. 

3- Sharpay at least sometimes dislikes herself: This part was played for laughs, but should have been taken seriously. Why? Earlier, Troy bailed on her right before show night and refused to back down, blaming her for her behaviour. Then Ryan bailed on her, blaming her for her behaviour. That was an even bigger shock, as Sharpay felt that she could always rely on Ryan. The fact that none of Sharpay’s “girls” were around when she was crying in her dressing room suggests that she is not close with them; rather, they are sycophants designed to be at her beck and call. Even earlier before all the other events, Gabriella shouted at Sharpay, again for her behaviour, and accused her of leaving a trail of damage behind her. Therefore, it is completely understandable that Sharpay, rather than being “the Ice Queen”, as Zeke claims, is seriously questioning her behaviour and her actions at this point, and can by no means be insensible of the negative reactions she draws from people-- even people she thought she could rely on. Having been raised to believe that she is entitled to anything she wants, her life would be great. But steamrolling over people has grave consequences, and Sharpay’s evident loneliness after being rebuffed at least three times (Gabriella, Troy and Ryan) is proof of this. So Sharpay’s surprise at saying this might have been genuine. In which case, Troy’s firmness and forgiveness despite her behaviour must have engendered some degree of remorse. 

Sharpay saying that Troy is a “good guy” is one of the most meaningful compliments that he receives from anyone in the film. It comes very close to the  highlight of HSM II, when Kelsi refuses to turn her back on Troy whilst all the other Wildcats so disgustingly blame him for Sharpay’s behaviour. The first one is meaningful because Sharpay addresses Troy as a man, not Troy as a legend and everyone else’s superstar. The second one is meaningful because it shows who Troy’s true friends really are. One is reminded of the “you were always right beside me” line in Kelsi’s song from HSM I. 

Sharpay says that Troy is a good guy, because she knows this to be true. By contrast, Gabriella in HSM I says that Troy is a “cool guy” . Because I like analysing the meaning behind every word, I will immediately draw a distinction between “good” and “cool”. I don’t care what modern culture thinks, but being cool is worth far less to me than being “good”. And cool is not good. And without a doubt, doing good certainly isn’t cool. (Just look at the culture today!). So even though this scene is one of the few times where Gabriella directly addresses Troy and his concerns, as well as building his confidence and evidently increasing his attraction to her, it doesn’t work as well for me as Sharpay speaking about his qualities. Being a cool guy means what? Nothing much, in my opinion. But being a good guy? That directly addresses why, in spite of Troy’s faults, he is such a compelling and loveable character. Just saying. 

I actually think that Troy invites Sharpay onto the stage whilst performing his song, which is far more than she deserves. Her smile here is genuine, and contains none of the cloying fake sweetness that she directs towards him on usual days. 

Also, Sharpay reveals a more intricate portrait of her own weaknesses whilst commending Troy. Gabriella simply complains about being seen as the “...freaky Math girl”. But she can’t produce any comparable plague to what Troy reveals about himself: “My parent’s friends are always saying: “Your son’s the basketball guy. You must be so... proud.” Sometimes I don’t wanna be the basketball guy. I wanna be... a guy.” Again, the effect of this pressure upon someone of around 16 years of age cannot be underestimated. His whole consciousness has been defined ahead of his time, and there is little he can do to change this. The fact that he has not succumbed to arrogance and contempt as a consequence of being so favoured definitely comports with how Sharpay sees his innate goodness. I have often been of the opinion that Gabriella doesn’t truly understand Troy. She definitely could, if she took the time to lay aside her own relatively trivial concerns and focus on the points he makes, the the concerns he has, and not try to compete with him when he frets or complains. 

Anyhow, this is a very interesting scene. What’s even more interesting is Kelsi’s evident sense of victory after hearing this scene. As I have said before, there is far more to Kelsi than meets the eye. Whilst appearing shy and retiring (which she is), she likes to have control over her music and its execution. And once she gets everyone on board with her ideas, she likes to control how they will appear and what they will do. This can be a double-edged sword, because it does often entail serious favoritism that really shouldn’t be permitted. Gabriella was thoroughly unworthy of being invited back onstage after flouncing off in a huff and throwing all of Kelsi’s hard work in the dump-- for the SECOND time. That place could have gone to someone else from the Wildcats who had actually participated from start to finish. But Kelsi does like to be in charge, though in a more quiet way. Which makes her incredibly influential and persuasive. This is very important; the camera chooses to focus at least twice on Kelsi’s reaction when the show can be saved. The first time is when Kelsi sees Troy reject Sharpay outright; not only is she delighted about the implications for the show, but immediately takes the chance to broker forgiveness between Troy and Chad, as well as the other Wildcats. Then she eavesdrops on Troy’s conversation with Sharpay to ensure that everything will go right. Then she rushes over to get Troy in shape for performing “Everyday”-- on the very night. This is an important scene, because it shows that Kelsi has embraced her nickname of “Playmaker”, and is able to make a beleaguered Troy look good enough for a Talent Show in front of scholarship boosters. Kelsi is the only person who could have done this. We are not shown Kelsi’s reaction to Sharpay’s candid admissions to Troy earlier; it would have been interesting to see this. 

More mysteriously, we are not shown any meaningful discussion between Troy and Gabriella after the Talent Show. Never mind about the focusing on right now nonsense. That doesn’t count as a discussion. An apology for running off, an explanation about her motives behind returning, some indication of how long she was able to rehearse a song on the very night (I assume Ryan prepped her-- that would be entirely consistent with their newfound friendship) without Troy knowing (they evidently didn’t do it at Gabriella’s house), some apology for her own erroneous judgements about his motives as well as her mockery, and a plan to avoid this kind of scenario ever happening again would have counted as meaningful conversation. 

Instead, Troy has that meaningful conversation with Sharpay. Go figure.