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Stereotypes In High School Musical

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Stereotypes exist all around the world, whether it be race based or gender based; there is a vast majority of stereotypes for every category of people under the sun. Gender role stereotypes are seen throughout one’s life, beginning maybe even before one is five and leads all the way up to adulthood (Harrison, 2017). One place that most kids can probably say they have faced some of these stigmas are in the halls of a high school. In the Disney Channel’s original movie, High School Musical, the main characters, Gabriella and Troy face these stereotypes throughout their journey of attempting to break out of their normal cliques. For the purpose of this paper, the three cliques witnessed throughout the movie are the jocks, the drama club, and the scholastic club. Throughout the movie, …show more content…

Troy is seen to be the all-star basketball player at East High, while Gabriella is the nerdy, shy girl who moves from school to school. A high school boy that looks and acts like Troy Bolton is presumed to be the jock, the guy every girl wants, and the all-around most popular kid based on gender role stereotypes that would fit for a male his age with his background. Deep down, Troy shows that he is a sweet guy who actually has a killer singing voice and who wants to be more than what other people perceive him as, but it is extremely hard for him to break the barriers that society has given him. Gabriela Montez, the female main character, is revealed to her new classmates as a genius, and as soon as this occurred she was expected to join mathletes and to only hang out with the smart kids, thus fitting her gender role stereotype. However, much like Troy, Gabriella wants to be more than just a walking textbook. She wants to be able to sing with Troy in their high school musical, but they both fear the backlash that their friends and school will give them if they do decide to break

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In The Breakfast Club directed by John Hughes a group of five outcasts end up in a library serving time for detention. All of the teens, you soon figure out, are the typical stereotypes of what a teenager is. Soon this detention soon turns from a bad situation to a worse situation when they team up together wreaking havoc around the school. While this movie represents teenagers coming together, even though they come from different backgrounds, as the main point it also brings some mild language and some drug paraphernalia.

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Shrek: The Musical is about breaking the stereotype of fairytale creatures. In this play, the princess, Fiona, is not the Disney classic damsel-in-destress but an unconventional, sassy character. This story’s hero is not prince charming, but an angry green ogre who just wants his swamp back. The sidekick, a talkative donkey, is not helpful to Shrek in any of the situations. The major points in this play are to not judge a person by their appearance and that you don't need much to be happy.

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Films can be a great way to represent real life social groups in an entertaining and informative manner. This has been done in Niell Blomkamp’s 2009 sci-fi film, District 9, which follows the world’s response, 20 years after an alien species find themselves stranded on Earth. Immediately becoming a burden on society, the “Prawns” are dumped into the slums of District 9, where their welfare is no longer a priority of MNU. Through the manipulation of filmic codes like structure, and camera angles and shot, Blomkamp constructs an evolving representation of the aliens as a social group, initially as an unintelligent and aggressive social burden, however, by the end of the film they are perceived as the complete opposite. At the beginning of the film, a representation that aliens are uncivilised burdens on society is constructed through the manipulation of

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At a first glance, a show with such an incredibly diverse cast could not possibly display any set stereotypes. However, the way in which the show portrays the minorities is not only extremely stereotypical, but also sets a bad example for the millions of teens who watch it by being demeaning and offensive towards minorities. The characters of Mike Chang, Tina, and Kurt Hummel specifically demonstrate the stereotypical nature of the show. The popular series focuses on projecting out-dated stereotypes rather than challenging them.

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When Troy returns to East High after winter break, he runs into Gabriella and he discovers that she’s a new student at East High. The duo becomes friends and end up auditioning for the winter musical at their school accidentally. The social cliques at East High don’t approve

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The Scarlet Letter is an intriguing novel that teaches high school students an important lesson on labels and how to move past them. The use of labels and stereotypes has been around from the beginning of time and continues to be a prominent issue in today's society. Labels and stereotypes surround high school students on a daily basis and are the center of how teenagers make their character assessments. Some labels include jock, nerd, band geek, and countless more. These stereotypes prove to be hard to overcome when faced with harsh criticism and opposition.

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High School Musical, directed by Kenny Ortega, became a cultural phenomenon post its 2006 release. Underlying in its themes of acceptance and friendship, Troy Bolton experiences a Hero’s journey. High School Musical begins just as any hero’s journey with a call to adventure(1). In a typical call to adventure, the hero is introduced in a state of mundane normalcy when information received acts as a clarion call to leave their life of normalcy and “take up the sword.” Troy and Gabriella meet at a ski resort karaoke night, marking their first duet.

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High school, is the places where a lot of teens lose their sense of self. East High is a perfect example having superficial cliques and students being told to “stick to the status quo”. During winter break, Troy Bolton, the star basketball player for East High, goes to a sky resort with his family. He meets Gabriella, a beautiful honor student who’s new to Troy’s school, and they immediately fall in love. They find each other once again when school starts again, rekindling their connections only to be separated by their schools strict social hierarchy.

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After reading through this lesson I have realized the impact music has on reinforcing stereotypes about schools and teachers to students. In the song Don't Stand So Close To Me by The Police, female teachers are referred to in a sexual context. The Police express their view of female teachers as “Young teacher, the subject of schoolgirl fantasy”, these lyrics indicate that female teachers are not respected for their profession, instead as a sexual fantasy for the artists. School Days by Chuck Berry also reinforces the stereotype of school being boring.

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