High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is cringe, there’s no doubt about it. It’s a comedy-musical tv show, aimed at pre-teens that tries to do what Glee did for a woke audience, all-the-while using the legacy of the High School Musical trilogy.
Not to mention, the High School Musical legacy was always going to be a force that was hard to live up to. We’re talking about the launchpad of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens’ careers. We’re talking about two made-for-tv films, one major motion picture, one concert DVD, one American tour and a merchandising phenomenon that had kids hooked.
Against all odds, this television-series reboot, with a whole new set of characters, a new cast and a new timeline became iconic in its own right. Now, there are many reasons for this.
You could attest its success to its fun, mockumentary-style format or the incredible vocal talent coming from its young cast. However, for me, the main reason why I praise this Disney+ original is for two characters in particular, Carlos and Seb.
Carlos and Seb are two shy, queer students at East High. However, unlike other LGBTQIA+ narratives in popular television shows, their characters are filled to the brim with nothing but positive energy. There’s no outright bullying towards them, there’s no sadness. In fact, Seb has an overtly supportive family that books out three throws of bleachers on opening night.
Additionally, what is truly beautiful and refreshing to see with these two characters, is that their sexuality comes second-hand; it doesn’t define who they are. The two are introduced in their own plots and only become an item after their characters are firmly established with the audience. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community myself, it was nice to see two characters that weren’t defined by their sexuality, nor did they try to represent the whole community.
On the subject, the showrunner of the series, Tim Federle, said: “This is a story that would have changed my life if I had seen it when I was a kid… and the reason it would have changed my life is because it’s no big deal. It’s actually just real life.”
Incredible stuff. It’s no wonder the show was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 2020 for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming.
All-in-all, the show may have its cringe moments (and believe me, there are a lot of those), but at the end of the day, this show is beautiful. And I suggest you give it a watch.
Always be in the loop with our snackable podcast breaking the biggest story of the day. Subscribe to It’s Been A Big Day For… on your favourite podcast app.