No I’m not talking about the acting/singing/general theme, I’m talking about the message here. So please don’t get mad at me for saying that High School Musical is better than Grease, because I mean everyone is entitled to their own opinion and all but I really think that High School Musical conveys a much more appropriate message.

This idea was all sparked by an ABC Family commercial today for Grease (on Sunday incase you’re interested) with the catch line “The original High School Musical” well that stumped me a little bit. If I remember correctly there was no pregnancy scare in High School Musical, there was no drive-in movies that caused the girls to feel maybe a tad at risk, there was no changing for a boy because otherwise it wouldn’t work out. I’m not saying that maybe Grease is a more realistic image of what high school is, but I don’t think that’s the message everyone should learn.

I think we should teach kid/teens/everyone to be themselves, like Troy and Gabriella. Gabriella didn’t become a cheerleader because Troy was an athlete, and Troy didn’t start studying more because Gabriella was more into academia than he was. They had a balanced relationship and both found new hobbies in musical theater together, and that was perfect. High School Musical was the perfect balance, and taught us how to be individuals, while Grease urged us to conform to what men want from us. Sure, Danny briefly thought to change for Sandy for about a minute, until she came in wearing tight leather pants, no need for him to change anymore. I know this is an older movie, but come on! That’s ridiculous.

I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, but if you ask me, women empowerment is clearly written throughout High School Musical (I mean how many times does Gabriella break up with Troy because she deserves better? Three.) while in Grease, it’s not even an underlying message, more like submission and male dominance. Let me know what you think in the comments! Again I’m not talking about movie quality/singing/acting or anything like that, just the message! Thanks for reading!

XOXO,

Mary.