#deb'sanalysis

I’m writing a one-shot for Trelsi at the moment, and I need to rewatch this horrendous scene from High School Musical 3, where Gabriella rips the carpet out from under Troy’s feet-- again. 

This scene embarrasses me. I don’t understand how any decent human being could do what Gabriella does here, let alone attempt to provide some meaningful justification (not that any exists) for ditching Troy-- again. 

In case you haven’t read my Questions for HSM III series (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are here), then here is a non-exhaustive summary of everything wrong with Gabriella’s behaviour here:

1- After Troy says “Hi” to Gabriella, she responds with, “We need to talk”. 

2- During the call, Gabriella makes no attempt to sympathise with the enormity of Troy’s disappointment. 

3- Gabriella gives an incoherent reason for not coming: namely, that she already misses him and has taken a while to get used to being away. In that case, she would jump at the chance to return. 

4- Gabriella pulls the classic red light: “I love you, but...” and hangs up on him. 

5- Prior to this scene, Gabriella was smiling as she walked along-- and then smiled again after letting go of Troy (again). 

6- Gabriella’s attendance at Prom was the very least she could have done after leaving for California, seemingly without informing anyone but Taylor. 

7- Gabriella risked spoiling the rest of Troy’s time in high school simply because she could not keep her promises. 

8- If this scene had happened in the reverse, Gabriella would not have tolerated it. See HSM II as proof of that. (Questions for HSM II, Parts 1 and 2 are here). 

It’s good to rewatch a film so that you can pick up more ideas for your fanfiction-- even if that film is HSM III. 

Am I the only one who thinks that the above scene raises some important questions?

1- At what point did Kelsi become responsible for signing people for Musicals?

2- Since Kelsi obviously cannot have signed almost the entire home-room within the seconds of frantic scribbling shown onscreen, how did she do it?

3- Why does Kelsi look awkward and embarrassed after deliberately signing everyone up for the show?

4- Is Kelsi a secret guilt-tripper?

I shall examine each of these questions one by one, using my usual method. 

1- At what point did Kelsi become responsible for signing people for Musicals?

In HSM I, the sign-up sheet was in the corridor. In HSM III, it is in Kelsi’s hands. I don’t object to this, but given that Sharpay was President of the Drama Club, and Ms. Darbus the actual teacher, when was it decided that Kelsi should now be in charge? 

Obviously this was decided, as Ms. Darbus immediately offered the role of composer to Kelsi without audition, despite the fact that this was necessary beforehand. 

I can only assume that Ms. Darbus gained confidence in Kelsi’s compositional skills and thus entrusted her with signing people up despite her comparatively lesser role. This is, of course, a good thing, and supports my assertion here that she and Ms. Darbus are on good terms. 

At the time of HSM III, we are in the Spring Musicale, so is it fair to assume that Kelsi composed for the Winter One (unseen) of Senior Year?

2- Since Kelsi obviously cannot have signed almost the entire home-room within the seconds of frantic scribbling shown onscreen, how did she do it?

She had already planned to sign them up. In fact, for all we know, that list was already almost full before she set foot in that classroom. And I bet that Troy’s name was one of the first to go onto that list. 

3- Why does Kelsi look awkward and embarrassed after deliberately signing everyone up for the show?

Kelsi Nielsen is a contradictory character, as I have already explored here. Her shyness and awkwardness are still evident in HSM III during this early scene, but they are contrasted with an increased confidence. 

This must imply that Kelsi has, if not confidence, some kind of forceful aspect of her character, except this is hidden. It is hidden because she fears embarrassment, rejection, and not being taken seriously. 

These fears might have subsided by the time we reach HSM III, but she flinches from people giving her surprised and perhaps even exasperated looks for signing them up without their permission. Her mad dash for the door after the bell rings also further underscores this point, so the viewer must once again ask why she did it in the first place?

By the way: when Kelsi is running from her classmates, she runs straight to the piano. This says a lot. 

Evidently, the musical was essential to her in Senior Year. In HSM I, the musical was her big break-- her chance to expose her talent. In HSM II, the Talent Show was a way of earning some additional money and again showing off her talent. But in the Senior Year, her musical was her platform to a scholarship at Juilliard. 

We learn later that Kelsi sent a letter of application to them, perhaps along with samples of her work. The musical is Kelsi’s way of making a lasting impression on East High, particularly to those like Sharpay who doubted her from the beginning. But she isn’t as arrogant as Sharpay and knows that she needs everyone else on board (even Sharpay) to work with her so that they can show off her talents. 

Again, you must have grit, resilience, and confidence to do these things. It’s a shame the movies didn’t see fit to analyse this aspect, which would have made for a far more interesting movie overall. 

4- Is Kelsi a secret guilt-tripper?

It’s worth considering. 

Consider the following line:

[Kelsi] “...I just thought since it was the last show, everyone would want to do it.”

Did she? Either Kelsi was genuinely not expecting dismay when she signed almost everyone up, or she is trying to guilt her classmates. 

We see a similar scene in HSM II, when Troy is reluctant to do the Talent Show:

[Kelsi] “I was thinking, if you do the Show, that I wanted to be ready.”

Here, she wasn’t expecting Troy to say no, but after he did, the above dialogue is aimed more at him than Gabriella. I say this because she looks at him expectantly after playing the first chords of “You Are The Music in Me” until he relents, and later gives him a pleading gaze (certainly not lost on him) to get him to sign up. 

Look, even Ms. Darbus looks discomfited in HSM I when Kelsi pleads with her to give Troy and Gabriella a chance at the Callbacks. 

Certainly, these are no way near as egregious as those of Gabriella, Chad, and the Wildcats. Not even close. The motivations behind them are understandable, even commendable: she has worked hard on her shows and wants people to participate. However, this does indicate that Kelsi does, in fact, have a hold over Troy. This is extremely interesting. 

Although Gabriella persuaded Troy to do the musical in HSM III, he can’t have been insensible to Kelsi’s obvious, giddy delight when he agreed. We know this, because Kelsi was in his direct line of vision during HSM II when she also pleaded with him to do the show. Later on, when the show is struggling because Troy can’t focus (thanks, Gabriella), she persuades him that everything will be fine-- it isn’t, but Troy believes her instantly. 

I won’t draw conclusions, but let’s just say this is VERY handy for fanfiction! I feel like most people ignore the complexity of Trelsi as friends. 

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. 

I've had a writing epiphany: I need to begin where the story actually begins. Without delving into mundane details, I have been struggling with one of my Trelsi fics, because I was dead set on beguinning it during the latter half of HSM III, simply because I had envisioned plenty of great scenes for that period. The problem was, I couldn't make things gel together, and all I had was a bunch of great scenes bridged together by pointless conversations that did nothing to advance the plot or increase dramatic tension. For someone who drinks writing advice like a fish, I definitely can neglect the basics! Start where the story actually starts, and there needs to be dramatic tension and stakes from the first chapter. I think I've fallen too much on the "It's just fanfiction" excuse, which is inexcusable, because I want to tell a good story, which means good writing, and I'm currently writing original works, too. What's the point if I give myself reasons to slack off?

Having come to this grand epiphany, I've significantly sped up my writing process, and made it easier to write the synopsis. Furthermore, I was worried about repeating myself when I wrote other stories which would also be set during the latter half of HSM III, but here's the thing: those stories ended up having something to say during that period. So I could transfer my scenes there, and therefore cut the flab from the big one. And to be honest, the only reason my "major" Trelsi fic was even major was because I'd added a whole load of flab to the beginning before getting to the middle part. I literally could not figure out why the middle was better conceptualized in my head than the beginning, before I realized that the middle actually WAS the beginning. So now I don't have to worry about repeating myself, because I'm dealing with different time-frames. I had always suspected this story would be better off beginning after graduation, but I'd read another Trelsi story with a similar starting point and thought I might be copying. That's ridiculous, as my story is completely different, as it should be.

Anyway, why is this relevant? I'm currently rewatching HSM I in my beloved Google Play. Ever since realizing that Dropbox allows you to save and back up Screenshots, I've been hitting the Print Screen button like a maniac all through my favourite movies and TV shows. I like having visual images available when writing. And this is actually helpful for HSM, because I'm British and therefore relatively unfamiliar with the American school system and other things. I once spent an entire lunchtime reading about American roads because I needed this information for the scene where Troy insanely drives 1053 miles to see Gabriella. Another piece of great writing advice I read recently was that all fiction writers should read nonfiction. Truth is stranger than fiction, and this can help spark new ideas and provide necessary research that maintains reality in fiction. I have NO patience for writers or screenwriters who don't take the time to research the topic they're handling.

Why is HSM I important? It demonstrates the reason for Troy's attachment to Gabriella and to his illusions. If you want to detach Troy from Gabriella, you first have to understand how and why he became attached in the first place. Troy strikes me as idealistic, particularly when it comes to romance. You have to experience the twinkling lights, the innocence, the romantic music, the shy laughter and their final performance before watching it unravel and wondering why Troy wants to be trapped under the wreckage.

This is why I am updating huge chunks of my story, cutting out loads of unnecessary flab that I'd previously considered good/attractive, but serves no purpose whatsoever. I realized that I need to focus on TROY's evolution, his goals and his final redemption, when he is emancipated from his relationship with Gabriella. That's the whole purpose. (Other than him being with Kelsi). So I rewrote the summary to reflect this. So HSM I makes for important referencing material-- more so than HSM II, because if the story begins in HSM III or later, then the damage sown in HSM II was already done. But knowing how it all started will increase Troy's emotional conflict and pain later on. And emotional pain and conflict make good stories.

There are so many interesting things about Troy Bolton in HSM I that have nothing to do with Gabriella. For example, the rooftop garden scene is not memorable because Gabriella was invited there; if you watch carefully at the end, you will see that they run out of things to say to each other, and stare awkwardly in different directions. That already demonstrates that despite their obvious attraction to each other and one mutual interest, they don't have much else in common. No, this scene interests me because it shows how desperately Troy craves solitude, and even enjoys it. It shows that Troy isn't fully comfortable around his friends, not because they aren't his friends (although their behaviour certainly suggests this sometimes), but because they don't understand him enough. Note that he says of his rooftop hideout: "which means that my buddies don't even know it exists." He doesn't make any distinction between his regular buddies, and Chad, who has been his best friend since childhood. I'm a huge fan of Troy and Chad's friendship, but you can't ignore the significance here.

Interestingly, Troy does actually share many nerdy memories with Chad; in HSM III, we find out that the two used to play in Troy's treehouse and visit Riley's Salvage, pretending to be spies and superheroes. Chad says "I was a much better superhero than you were"; so maybe Troy was telling the truth when he said the red cape in his treehouse belonged to his friend. Why does Chad not know about the rooftop gardens (until it was convenient for the plot in HSM I)? I think it's because Troy does share many interests with Chad and when they're hanging out, they're not retreating from the world. They're being a part of it, considering themselves as brothers-in-arms. The big difference between them is that Troy is "The Basketball Guy", the one whose actions affect the "entire school" and who must lead his team to victory, presumably every time. Chad enables and encourages this pressure, whilst also becoming resentful when he feels Troy enjoys too many perks, too much praise, too many advantages. A further reason is that revealing the rooftop gardens would mean revealing his friendship with the Science Club, which is social heresy in Chad's book.

There are many other things that build a picture of Troy's life outside of Gabriella in HSM I.

[Gabriella] "Well you sound like you've done a lot of singing too!"

[Troy] "Yeah, my showerhead is very impressed with me."

Again, this picture of him singing in the shower demonstrates the freedom he experiences when alone. Although he admits this to a girl that he's just met, which is significant, he downplays it. I initially believed this was because of his dorkiness, but maybe it's because he's modest about his talents and because he actually does enjoy singing in the shower, or takes it seriously. But ever conscious of this new girl who has sprung out of nowhere, he thinks that coming off as a dork will work better. He certainly seemed more interested and impressed by her experience singing in Church choirs and encouraged the notion of her having a solo career. Perhaps he isn't confident enough in his singing, even when clearly capable at it, and would never allow himself to dream outside the "Hoops Dude/Playmaker" box. The screenwriters could have explored all of this at the beginning, instead of giving the impression that only Gabriella awoke his interest in the Performing Arts.

Here's the thing: that whole beginning sequence is utterly forgettable. Sure, they kept each other's numbers, but their meeting could equally have had no effect whatsoever, had they either not kept in contact, or been too far away to get to know each other well enough. Meanwhile, information about Troy singing in the shower and his enjoyment of performing could have been triggered by a more meaningful meeting. Might I suggest one? His meeting Kelsi, 35 minutes later into the film lead to longlasting repercussions, all of them positive, for both characters. As I will explain in my Trelsi series (it IS coming), if the screenwriters wanted a more romantic beginning, this scene would have worked far better for several reasons. Firstly, it's not coincidental. Sorry, but I dislike coincidences. I still can't decide whether Troy intended to become friends with Kelsi, but he definitely made an active decision to help her pick up her manuscripts and to build her confidence after seeing Sharpay tear it down. Secondly, Troy and Kelsi clicked right away, whereas Gabriella just wandered off after their supposedly romantic first meeting without even saying goodbye, perhaps a sign of her subsequent behaviour towards Troy. Thirdly, meeting Troy made Kelsi open up (with enthusiasm) and brought about a change in her character, whereas Troy and Gabriella simply chatted about their singing experiences and agreed that karaoke was fun. Fourthly, meeting Kelsi led directly to Troy realizing his newfound interest in singing-- please note this scene could have happened with or without Troy meeting Gabriella. Fifthly, as I have said before, Troy's reaction to hearing Kelsi's song was far more profound than his reaction to singing "The Start of Something New".

Just saying.

By the way, Gabriella completely misinterprets the need for Troy's rooftop hideout.

[Gabriella] "So this is your private hideout?"

Sounds innocuous, but later on she says:

[Gabriella] "You pretty much have the school wired, don't you, Troy? Seems to me like everyone on campus wants to be your friend."

She thinks that he gets the rooftop gardens thanks to his status, that he gets anything he wants and that the world is in his hands. This might explain her lack of patience with him in HSM II, and her willingness to believe that he's wearing Italian golf shoes to show off, rather than because they were given to him. Perhaps there even might be some longing in her voice; she was previously the school's "freaky math girl" and would love to be popular and admired instead. She gets this without any struggle whatsoever, mostly thanks to Troy and Taylor. So even Gabriella doesn't understand Troy on the spot. Is that a crime? No. And certainly later on in this scene, Gabriella demonstrates that she knows Troy better than his friends. But again, it's worth pointing out that the "Playmaker" scene demonstrated instant understanding between two people. On the other hand, Gabriella eventually proves to be just as (deliberately) ignorant of Troy and his feelings as everyone else around him. Again, just saying.

What other interesting facts about Troy are revealed? "Unless we lose." This demonstrates that despite the adulation heaped on Troy's head, he's no longer interesting if he can't deliver for East High. This fits in well with Coach Bolton's later claim that "what you do affects not only this team, but the entire school." Remember even Principal Matsui expects Troy to get the team "whipped into shape". If Troy loses, the whole school has lost. If Troy can't focus on each and every game, then he's letting down the whole school. If you view these two lines of dialogue together, you get a sense of the overwhelming pressure that Troy, at this point only sixteen/seventeen, faces every day of the basketball season. It's insane to put that kind of pressure on a kid's head, particularly when he's so sensitive and doesn't have a picture of his own future, as he proved in HSM III. "Unless we lose," means that Troy has faced the consequences of losing many times. How do we know this? Later on, Coach Bolton says that the "West High Knights have knocked us out of the Playoffs three years running." Now although he later says that everyone must given 110% to the game, you have to take into consideration his later words directed only at Troy: "And without you completely focussed, we're not going to win..." Losing is not simply a part of life for Troy Bolton. It's failure, it's disappointing his team, his school, his Principal... his Coach AND father. And he's faced this several times. When he says "Unless we lose", he smiles in resignation and shrugs as though it's not a big deal, but we know that it is-- not just because it hurts Troy to lose, but because he shoulders everyone's hopes and expectations.

Small wonder that he doesn't "see my life as a ball game anymore" later on?

Thing is, Troy loves basketball. It wouldn't make sense for him to choose it (and announce it first) in HSM III otherwise. His eyes light up whenever he sees a hoop. One of the first advantages of the job at Lava Springs was basketball: "We got a hoop out back..." He takes any opportunity to work on his free throws at home. His bedroom, often representative of a character, is filled with basketball memorabilia, all collected of his own accord. Basketball is a source of bonding between him and his father-- sometimes the only way they can communicate. Basketball is what he shares in common with his best friend. He enjoys sports on the whole. You can see the genuine delight when he wins in HSM I and HSM III. It's not the game that he doesn't like, but the unnecessary adulation, the pressure, the insistence upon him being everyone's superhero when, as he quite reasonably stated, "there's twelve people on this team, not just me." He might not be as passionate about it as Chad, because he definitely sees his identity as being more varied than just being a basketball player. Chad's future is easy: "Hoops all the way!" But he certainly is invested in it.

I'm just rewatching Gabriella and Taylor's conversation about the Scholastic Decathlon right now. It's ironic that Gabriella is the voice of reason here, stating that Taylor should get to know Troy before making judgements about him. Calling someone a "particular sub-species" just because they play basketball is absurdly unfair. Taylor is bubbly and fun and intelligent, but intensely prejudiced and relies heavily on her preconceptions of other people. Furthermore, she expects other people to accept her judgements, hence why she constantly tells Gabriella what to think about her relationship during HSM II. (Gabriella (apparently later) forgets that she ever told Taylor to be more open-minded and decides to just swallow whatever Taylor feeds her).

Anyway, what's interesting about this scene is the cheerleaders in hysterics over Troy's looks. What's even more interesting is that Troy is not in the slightest bit interested in any cheerleader, and for most of the movie, doesn't appear to acknowledge their existence. This is a marvellous feat, given that they presumably sit at his lunchtable with the basketball folks. You can see this right before "Stick To The Status Quo". Troy has a notable flaw of ignoring people when he's engrossed in something, like during HSM II when he was showing the Redhawk player how to hold a golf club and ignored Chad and Jason. They found this insulting. Apparently, Troy's lack of interest in any single cheerleader (some of whom must surely have thrown themselves at him) does not insult them, judging by their giggling. And does this interest die down after Troy begins dating Gabriella? I don't think so. At the beginning of HSM III, as Troy is wading his way through dancers at his house, Martha and another cheerleader congratulate him. So I guess he's still their hero.

This is very interesting to me; because I ship Troy and Kelsi together, I have to work around his complete blindness to any other girl, which canonically includes Kelsi. I wrote loads of notes about what Troy's taste in Gabriella said about his romantic tastes, and then applied these to Kelsi, and then had to think up scenario's where he might notice Kelsi more. It was challenging, but stimulating, because I realized that this would actually make their romance better. Why? Because it falls perfectly in line with the first song of Kelsi's that Troy ever heard: "It's hard to believe, that I couldn't see, that you were always right beside me."

Again, just saying. The unexpectedness of meeting Kelsi, plus Troy's reaction to hearing her song and his ability to connect to it instantly speak volumes. No scene of such emotional intensity exists between Troy and Gabriella before perhaps their performance of Breaking Free.

Okay, back to Troy Bolton.

By the way, I've noted before that during HSM I, Kelsi wasn't in Troy's homeroom class. By HSM II, she's there, her desk directly to his left and she gives him a quick hug after the bell goes! (CUTE!) I'm still waiting for an explanation.

When Troy tells Chad that he's off to do homework instead of, *gasp*, practicing during free period and directing his team, the audience is supposed to take this as an excuse. Of course, Troy was using homework as a diversion. However, later on in the movie, we see Troy spending what I presume is a free period to check out some books in the library and take notes. Chad, on the other hand, is tailing him and filling his head with all kinds of nonsensical threats and meaningless anecdotes. This does demonstrate that Troy is, outside of basketball, a conscientious student. Chad* is not, and proud of this. He boasts about having been behind on homework since preschool, an untenable position for someone hoping to attend college. I understand that in the American college system, you spend the first year studying all the basic subjects to build credits. I've already discussed the importance of Troy hanging out with the Science Club, unnecessary if he doesn't care about academics. He also won a scholarship to Berkeley, impossible without having sufficient credits and having performed exceptionally well. In HSM III, he is seen holding a thick textbook which I think says "Literature" on it. Of course, by that point, Gabriella probably watched over his studies like a hawk; she orders him to "come on" so they can do homework. But I don't think Troy slacked off at other subjects (even though he is rarely ever seen carrying a bag, or holding books and pens!). It does counter the accusation that he simply sat around waiting for privileges, as his friends and girlfriend so insultingly assume during HSM II.

There are many other things I'd like to know about Troy Bolton, but the final thing I want to note here is his modesty. Like I've said before, he doesn't even know arrogance, let alone display it. Can he be inconsiderate? Yes. He put several members of his class into detention just because he wanted to speak with Gabriella, when he could simply have waited until they were dismissed. He can forget things that are important, be late, have a tunnel vision with regards to unreasonable goals, as well as ignoring sensible advice to attain said goals. But is he ever arrogant? Not that I can think of. During the first scene between him and Gabriella, he tells her she has an "amazing voice". He then repeats this to Ms Darbus, not even mentioning that his own voice is pretty good too. When Ms Darbus offers him (and Gabriella) a callback audition, Gabriella is delighted, he is astonished. On the rooftop garden, Gabriella says "You're a cool guy, Troy. But not for the reasons your friends think." Troy's reaction isn't even bashful; he genuinely appears astonished by this revelation, that his quirky, dorky character is a positive thing, and not something he should hide from others. That there are people who appreciate him without making him conform to their expectations, like (ostensibly) Gabriella. You can see him contemplating her words there, not even seeming to notice her until she thanks him for showing her the place. Later on, he gives his Game Ball away to Kelsi, whom most people either don't know or don't notice, and lets everyone cheer for her after the basketball game, which is what they actually came to see. It's actions like these which make me love Troy Bolton and enjoy writing about him.

More musings upcoming.

The above montage is awesome! 

We continue with our discussion of Trelsi today, and for the last two posts, I’ve been examining Kelsi’s romantic interests as demonstrated through her songs and through her canonical relationship with Jason Cross. As you can see, there is a massive gulf between the two. I’m currently writing  notes for another Trelsi fic called “Illusions and Reality”, which I think is a great summary of the difference between Kelsi’s imagination and the truth of her situation. As she graduates from high school, the audience can only wonder about how she has evolved in her romantic viewpoints. Since the movies didn’t see fit to give us more information about her career pursuits, or her life in college, I can only speculate about these things. It’s very important to distinguish between reasonable speculation and headcanons that I devised for my Trelsi fics. One of the reasons for this is that I am not yet decided on certain things, like, for example, whether Kelsi became resentful of Martha after breaking up with Jason, or even who broke up with who. That stumped me when writing my Trelsi one-shot, Offstage, which you can find here. 

You may notice that I haven’t discussed Troy and his romantic expectations, focusing more on the problems in his relationship. This will come a little later when explaining the high compatibility of Troy and Kelsi as a romantic couple. 

Like I’ve said before, I’m adding questions to my original list as new angles occur to me. The first question I want to add and discuss today is:

Question: Why does Kelsi idealize Troyella, given the problems discussed? 

One of the things that puzzles and frustrates me about Kelsi, who seems sage and capable of judging character, is why she latches onto Troyella with such blind fervour. This is based on the way that Troy and Gabriella perform her songs, which demonstrates that, at the very least, their voices blend well together and bring out the message that she wants. Now, I would argue that this is mainly due to Troy, given that it is he who draws on her for confidence during every major performance, and not Gabriella. But Kelsi quite clearly believes that since Troy and Gabriella have proved their ability to perform her songs, then they deserve the leads in all her musical ideas. During HSM II, she immediately tells the two that they “can sing the leads”, thus bypassing the many other singers in their group who might be just as talented or even more talented than Troy and Gabriella. I have a real problem with the movie series constantly presenting Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and Ryan as the only lead performer options out of a high school with surely over 1000 students. 

At least during HSM III, Kelsi seems resigned to Sharpay singing the lead and at least does not vocally object to working with her as much as she did during HSM I. (Though not without glares, pouts and eyerolls! :D) In fact, she even tells Troy that “It will be fine,” despite Troy’s evident discomfort and discouragement when performing with Sharpay, whereas in HSM I, she called Sharpay (and Ryan) “two rats, neither of them named Darbus.” (That still cracks me up!) But it’s made abundantly clear that Troy and Gabriella somehow deserve the lead roles for Kelsi’s works, and she throws her full weight behind them in support, hence her adorably enthusiastic applause after the “I Just Wanna Be With You” rehearsal. Given that Sharpay tells us that Kelsi shows blatant bias in how she allocates songs to her fellow classmates, I must wonder whether some in the Drama Department, who had been working hard at their craft long before either Troy or Gabriella showed up, might have been resentful that Kelsi, clearly conducting/directing the musical side, did not give them such preferences. Yes, that is literally a headcanon that I thought up a couple of seconds before typing those sentences. And I don’t think it’s implausible. Sharpay is clearly bothered and frustrated by Kelsi’s bias, and were she not so manipulative and unpleasant towards others, I would find her attempts to seek the best songs to be quite understandable. Ryan was bothered by Kelsi’s bias in HSM I, and in HSM II, which is he why told Sharpay “Now, it’s an amazing song, but Kelsi didn’t write it for us.” By the end of HSM II and throughout HSM III, however, Ryan has joined the Biased School Musical FanClub. 

(Although to be fair, Ryan does not bias his choreography work in Troyella’s favour. In “Night to Remember”, you can see this. And also when he gets everyone to to yoga moves before rehearsal, and then gets Jason to come act as an example. He is not territorial at all. Kelsi, on the other hand, is). 

I have condensed Kelsi’s favouritism towards Troyella into three main reasons:

Reason #1- Troyella represents the idealism in her songs

Love that lasts “forever”? Love that cannot be beaten by distance? Meeting someone and instantly knowing that they’re the one? Sounds like Troyella! Thus, even though I don’t believe that Kelsi’s songs were written about Troyella, she definitely is able to adapt them for the pair and the way they perform her songs seems credible proof to her that were she fortunate enough to have a Troyella-esque relationship, this is precisely what it would look like. I think this reason is pretty much self-explanatory, and you can revert back to my 12th instalment on Kelsi’s songs for more information on this.

Reason #2- She wants to have a Troyella-esque relationship herself

Remember when I said that Kelsi’s relationship with Jason is nothing like the relationship that she wants in her songs? (My posts are between 3000 to 5000 words long, so don’t worry if you didn’t! :D) Remember how many times I have used the word “idealism” and variations thereof? Now, that you can’t forget. However, there is a distinctive contrast here; Kelsi clearly wants something like Troyella, which she views in a surprisingly superficial manner, but she also wants attributes that befit a healthy relationship. I discussed this in the 12th instalment here when looking at “I Just Wanna Be With You” in particular. So why does she not see that Troyella would not fit this category? The answer is that she never does see this. 

I said a while back that Troy and Kelsi were not shown hanging out when not working on a musical or show, so she has no idea that offstage, things are less than golden in Paradise. I did complain in my “Questions for HSM III” Series that Kelsi took shots at Sharpay, but said nothing about Gabriella leaving without telling everyone well in advance, or even providing an apology for doing so. However, I think in retrospect that I was too harsh on Kelsi here. She had no idea that Gabriella was purposefully concealing information about her opportunity at Stanford, and only discovered this because Sharpay leaked the news. (Sharpay- “The whole school’s buzzing about it!”) And why should Kelsi object to Gabriella getting such an incredible academic opportunity? Why should she connect the dots and wonder why Gabriella hadn’t mentioned this beforehand? Furthermore, it is reasonable for Kelsi to not criticize Gabriella, given that without Gabriella’s support for the musical, she would have struggled to persuade anyone to do it at all. In fact, if she did criticize Gabriella, that would look like ingratitude. You will of course recall the almost near universal rejection of another musical until Gabriella intervened. So, in retrospect, I don’t think her saying, “If it wasn’t for Gabriella, this musical would have just been another “Sharpay Show”!” is either untrue or problematic. Of course, she was disappointed that Gabriella wouldn’t be there, but grateful that the show would go ahead in the meantime, hence why she told Troy “It will be fine.” In other words, she was willing to put her musical vision ahead of her blatant bias for once, which is actually commendable. 

Kelsi never sees tense moments between Troy and Gabriella. She wasn’t there when Gabriella cut Troy to pieces for daring to be promoted at work, she never sees Gabriella’s snide and mocking comments towards Troy, her double standards, hypocrisy and willingness to manipulate him until he yields to what she wants. Not only this, but Troy never tells anyone about this. Now obviously, the easiest counter-argument is that the script never had him do so, since he is obviously a vassal used to promote Troyella propaganda. However, even if the scriptwriters weren’t so biased, I don’t think Troy would tell anyone about these moments. Why? Because Troy’s self-esteem gradually declines throughout the movie series, and the more he becomes dependent upon Gabriella to function properly, the more shame he feels whenever his relationship doesn’t work out. When Gabriella leaves him-- twice-- he feels like a complete failure. It’s all his fault. He can’t live up to her expectations, nor those of his school. Despite Troy’s open nature, I have said here that he can be quite reserved. And I think the canon supports this. When Gabriella dumps him over the summer, Troy’s response is to hide in his room for days on end. When Gabriella leaves for California in HSM III, Troy’s response is to wander around the school rooftops, alone. When she bails on him later, his response is to drive off alone into the wilderness. Even when Kelsi gave him that SQUEE-WORTHY hug in HSM III, he never discussed his difficulties with Gabriella’s absence. In fact, contrary to my previous statements, perhaps Troy wanted to be alone then? Perhaps the Wildcats are not to blame for not coming over to comfort him. I seem to be evolving in my opinions here. And even when Kelsi tried to point out that everyone was missing Gabriella, Troy never opened up about how he felt, instead choosing to blame HIMSELF for “messing up all the songs...”

Never does he seek help from anyone else. Neither does he accept help from anyone else, or even words of reason. That’s why Chad’s insensitive, but sensible advice in HSM III goes in one ear and out the other. Throughout that scene, Troy is staring at a picture of Gabriella, a testament to how he is nearly incapable of thinking for himself by this point. That gives me the impression that he feels it’s his mess, and he alone must fix it, or else be branded as a complete and utter failure. Thus, Kelsi is largely unaware of this internal torment that Gabriella causes, and mostly only privy to the stage version of Troyella, where everything is sweetness and light. If Troy seems unlikely to confide his relationship troubles to anyone, if he considers it shameful upon himself when Gabriella leaves him, then Kelsi cannot be blamed for being somewhat unable to provide all the support that he needs when trying to heal. No other character would be able to support him either, if Troy simply cannot open up and accept that relationship problems are fine and that Gabriella is the problem. 

Another reason that Kelsi wants a Troyella-esque relationship is that she sees Troyella as fixing the deficiencies in her own relationship. The song “What I’ve Been Looking For”, as I said here, basically wants the ideal partner to make up for Kelsi’s own weaknesses. Likewise, if we take my assumptions regarding her feelings after breaking up with Jason as a theoretical basis, then it would appear that Kelsi saw Troyella’s relationship as an example of complete commitment. (Obviously, I don’t believe any of these things, but I have to see things from Kelsi’s point of view instead of just beating her over the head with my meta notes!) 

Whilst in her own relationship, Jason’s increasing emotional infidelity made her feel inadequate, she would be inspired by how much Troy clearly adored Gabriella. Whilst Jason ran off with Martha (a cheerleader) into the sunset, she would be inspired by how Troy didn’t even bat an eyelid at the myriad of other girls (cheerleaders) clamouring for his attention. She would be inspired by the displays of affection between Troy and Gabriella, comparing this in a more favourable light to her occasional struggle to get Jason interested in her rather than Martha. She would be inspired by how Troy and Gabriella expressed their commitment in music, whereas Jason definitely was not centre-stage material. (I would be VERY interested to see how Kelsi sang her songs).

Troy in particular is charming and always says the right thing, Jason is clumsy and always says the wrong thing. Gabriella is very pretty and confident, whereas Kelsi’s own confidence has diminished slightly (I assume) since her breakup. Now, this does not contradict what I said in the last instalment; Kelsi did have strong feelings for Jason and her choosing him despite his obvious faults is very significant. She did not settle. But she clearly does have an ideal, and her relationship with Jason is not that ideal. She would be reminded of this, particularly given the way it ended. So rather than Kelsi appearing envious of Troy and Gabriella per se, she is more wistful with regards to what they represent. I tend to think that Kelsi must have been fantasizing about the ideal romantic couple for YEARS before she met Troy and Gabriella; we can infer this based on the music she has been writing throughout her school years. So if it wasn’t Troy and Gabriella, another couple would become the ideal. It doesn’t have to be them, but because of her friendship with Troy, people tend to focus on her attachment to Troyella as a result. 

But neither of these two reasons are the most important reason. 

Reason #3- Kelsi supports Troyella, because it is important to Troy.

This was a “Eureka!” moment when I realized this. In fact, I’m not particularly sure why I didn’t realize this before, given that this whole series is dedicated to Trelsi! :D

So what do I mean? I’m so glad you asked. Kelsi is significantly more attached to Troy than she is to Gabriella. I personally think that Troy and Kelsi would consider each other as one of their best friends, or at least that would have become apparent had they spent more time together/received more screentime. That notwithstanding, I certainly believe that Troy was Kelsi’s first real friend, and thus her relationship with him holds a very special value in her life. I consider Troy and Kelsi’s friendship to be unique out of all relationships in the movie series; as I have said before, they both need and value something in each other and their success and evolution are irrevocably entwined with their friendship and a direct consequence of the latter. 

By contrast, Kelsi does not have such an attachment to Gabriella at all, which may sound like a contradiction, given how Kelsi idealizes Troyella. But it’s not. Actually this proves my earlier statement, that Kelsi idealizes Troyella because of what it represents relationships-wise, not because she has any particular admiration for Gabriella beyond simple friendship. Although I would add that Kelsi respects Gabriella a lot more than Gabriella respects her. That notwithstanding, Kelsi does not share the kind of affection with Gabriella that she does with Troy; this is mostly evident during HSM III when she goes out of her way to comfort Troy. Interestingly, she doesn’t ask how Gabriella is during those times. She must have assumed Gabriella was fine. Clearly, she believes that Troy is more in need of her support. (Which is true). For her, Troy is her hero, her best friend, the person who best understands her and the ideal person to perform her songs. 

Because Kelsi is one of the few people who treats Troy’s opinions with respect, it follows that she supports Troyella based on its importance to Troy. She cannot bear to see Troy upset by problems and pitfalls in his relationship, so her reaction is to offer him (and not Gabriella) sympathy, and do anything she can to fix things. It is notable that although the reunion in HSM II was planned by Ryan and Kelsi, it is Kelsi who is entrusted with helping get a beleaguered and disillusioned Troy in shape to perform “Everyday”, even though the song might have been written by Ryan. Given how closely Troy stands next to Kelsi throughout the beginning of this performance, I assume that he wouldn’t have been motivated to sing without her. We see parallel evidence of this devotion in Troy’s other relationships. Earlier in HSM II, you can vaguely see Kelsi’s shocked face when Chad and Troy have a fight in the middle of the kitchens (here in Britain, you take things outside like gentlemen! :D). Later on, she is embarrassed, disappointed and upset when the Wildcats unilaterally decide to ignore him. So what does she do? Knowing that Chad is Troy’s best friend and like a brother to him (very important, since Troy is an only child), she persuades Chad to forgive him, as well as helping bring Troy and Gabriella back together. Hence her secret little fist pumps when things are going her way. 

(Do not be fooled by Kelsi’s apparently unassuming presence; she likes things to go her way. She likes to control the show, if not necessarily desiring the centre-stage, which makes her constant mockery of Sharpay slightly hypocritical). 

And in yet another parallel, when Kelsi sees how Troy is interested showing his singing/performing talents, she is fully committed to helping him get this shot, even though he is, by all accounts, largely untested in this area. His only experience is singing in the shower and one karaoke, whereas Sharpay and Ryan have been in 17 school productions, and I suppose other members of the Drama Club are also seasoned performers. A callback does not mean that you are star material, or that you should get the lead role. But as far as Kelsi is concerned, Troy should get it, and only Troy deserves it. (Obviously Gabriella is included, but if you compare her rehearsals with Troy and with Gabriella, you can see who inspires her more). The musical becomes even more important to her because it’s important to Troy. 

So it makes complete sense to me that rather than Kelsi’s idealization of Troy and Gabriella being a frustrating crime, as I have often said beforehand, that really it is a demonstration of consideration, loyalty, respect and commitment to Troy himself. This is a more positive explanation, and I now consider it to be more plausible. It’s easy for an onlooker like myself to say, as I have said before, “Can’t she see X problem and Y problem?” She can’t, because she’s never there. And what’s more, Troy is the one who makes it abundantly clear that he wants Gabriella, that she makes him happy (even when, in fact, she doesn’t) and that he must be with her. So what choice does Kelsi have but to take him at his word? What choice does she have but to support the relationship that her best friend so clearly desires? In her mind, she’s doing this for Troy, and that is effort well-spent. Whether it’s writing her best songs for him, or interceding on his behalf, or sticking up for him when no one else will, the end goal is fine as long as it leads to Troy’s happiness. And even though we’re never shown a scene where Troy recognizes Kelsi’s role behind the scenes in helping him out with his friendships and relationships, I think Troy would deeply appreciate her support regardless. So in return, Kelsi would have no option but to feel that her support of Troyella made Troy happy, and would continue supporting them in any way she could. Remember, she is hugely inspired by Troy’s nickname for her: Playmaker. The one who makes everyone else look good. So she definitely believes that she has the power to make Troyella look good, and Troy does absolutely nothing to disabuse her of this notion. His faith in her is absolute, hence why he does things like allowing her to teach him a song in about an hour on show night and then performing it (unrealistically well). Yes, I think I’ve changed my mind somewhat. Or at least, I see where Kelsi is coming from now. I still consider her views mistaken, but far more well-intentioned than I had first believed. 

What’s even more interesting here is that should Troy gradually become disinvested in his relationship (as I believe was actually happening, not that he dared admit this), then it would be interesting to see how Kelsi would react. If she wants to support him in any way possible, then I can’t see her continuing to support a relationship that he no longer desired. But I am fully aware that Troy would need a catalyst before coming to that realization. It is worth considering, nonetheless. Obviously, as a Trelsi shipper, I believe that the more time he spent with Kelsi, the more he would come to realize that she is a superior companion for him. 

I’m back with a bang. Real life constraints should be made illegal, so that I can spend my days squeeing over Trelsi loveliness. (The above picture! :D) In this instalment, I’m going to round up on my major problems with the central pairing of HSM, Troyella. The initial list I wrote down was much longer, but I realized that many things came under the same catgeory: arguably, the central problems with Troyella can be summarized into one. Their relationship is fundamentally unequal, hence why they have no shared passion, almost nothing in common, one-sided respect, and aren’t in love with each other. Like I said in the last post, I would have rearranged my list in retrospect. I’ve been debating upon which final problems are worth exploring for a while, because there is so much overlap, but I think this final point encapsulates another core problem in the Troyella farce. 

6- Nobody criticizes the Troyella relationship. Everyone thinks it’s the best thing since the invention of the wheel. 

If there was one thing more obnoxious than Troy Bolton being shackled to someone as unrepentantly selfish, cruel and hypocritical as Gabriella Montez, it has to be the way his peers worship this “relationship”. The message in the HSM franchise is clear: this is the ideal, and you, the viewer, will be convinced of this not only by virtue of excellent camera work, romantic music and well-timed PDA, but also by the way that East High’s world revolves around the central pairing. Whenever Troy and Gabriella perform onstage, everyone cheers, whistles, smiles, claps, jumps, has religious experiences. All competition is either explicitly shown or implied as being innately inferior to Troy and Gabriella, even though this is unlikely. Not that I think all the emotion shown during the Troyella ballads is fake; Troy in particular translates a lot of genuine emotion into his musical renditions and therefore is a captivating performer. And even when his previous love for Gabriella degenerates into mindless emotional dependency, he conceals this when performing his ballad duets with Gabriella during HSM III. So, in effect, their relationship becomes a performance. 

But Troy and Gabriella’s peers, although potentially able to perceive problems between the two, rarely react to them, let alone acknowledge them. It is only during HSM I, I believe, where Chad and Taylor show some remorse when they see the upset that their deceitful webcam stunt caused. And to their credit, both The Jocks (The Jerks) and The Brainiacs (The Maniacs) repent of their sins, realizing that Troy and Gabriella have a right to pursue their own interests in peace. This appears a more uniform approach to addressing relationship problems from an outsider’s perspective. And I often think that outsider perspectives are important in romances to instigate and even interrupt character development, and to motivate the plot. All the classic romances have commentary, help and even interference from outsiders. They do not necessarily have to be helpful-- that clearly wasn’t the case in HSM I. However, in the franchise, we are dealing with, in particular, Troy’s friends. The sheer lack of any scene in which someone asks about his relationship out of concern, instead of gushing over it like Troyella is some American version of Romeo and Juliet (and look how those two ended up!), is deeply troubling as it leads to Troy’s increasing emotional isolation. 

Let’s break this down carefully. Many of the scenes of conflict between Troy and Gabriella occur when no one else is around. In HSM I, she suddenly turns cold towards him in the corridor, but everyone else is just passing by. In HSM II, two of her cruelest moments, mocking him for wearing Italian golf shoes, and then dumping him, had no onlookers. In HSM III, Gabriella’s refusal to listen to any of Troy’s advice with regards to Stanford happens in the private of her bedroom. However, there are several scenes betraying problems in the Troyella relationship that occur with onlookers, or could potentially involve other characters, as I will demonstrate below. 

Chad Danforth

One of the most mystical things throughout the entire HSM franchise is Chad’s inability to act like a best friend towards Troy when it doesn’t particularly suit him. I have covered this in Part IV, V, VI and VII of this series. Let’s just remember that Chad is Troy’s best friend. In the man’s own words: “we have been like brothers since pre-school.” And that’s a beautiful thing. How many people have managed to remain friends with people for at least fifteen or sixteen years in a row, from childhood no less? That’s why I like Troy and Chad’s friendship-- not because it’s stellar, like his friendship with Kelsi-- but because of its tenacity as well as the genuine brotherhood between them. 

Initially, Chad is not sold on Gabriella, because in his view, she is luring Troy away from his basketball career like a Siren leading sailors to their doom. In HSM I, he says, “What spell has this elevated IQ temptress girl cast that suddenly makes you want to be in a musical?” Gabriella is getting in the way of the Grand Plan. She is an obstruction, and not just a new girl in school who has become Troy’s friend. However, it is a credit to Chad that, upon realizing the cruel effects of his webcam stunt, he appears willing to make amends for his behaviour, and we can presume from then on he approves both of Gabriella as well as her relationship with Troy. But at the end of the day, he is still Troy’s best friend. Somewhere along the line, his friendship with Troy took a back seat, whilst a blind acceptance of Troyella took centre stage, with Chad even willing to default to Gabriella’s side (she’s “already one step ahead... As usual” after bailing on Troy before prom in HSM III) whilst his own friend is clearly upset. It’s an assumption, but Chad seemed more concerned with Gabriella’s feelings in HSM II, particularly when they were watching Troy teach Sharpay golf. We can see this where Chad casts a look at Gabriella, after telling Taylor that he has “no idea who [Troy] he really is,” which could be interpreted as sympathetic. It’s quite brief. Since the scene ends here, it seems that Chad felt that Gabriella had been wronged, as well as himself. It is surely astonishing that in a friendship supposed to resemble family ties, we NEVER see a scene in which Chad asks after Troy and Gabriella’s relationship in casual conversation, even if he suspected that Troy was neglecting Gabriella. 

Even after definitely discovering that Gabriella broke up with Troy in HSM II, there is no scene where Chad tries to comfort his best friend; we know this, because later on, when Troy is lying alone, despondent in bed, he says the two following things: that the Wildcats wouldn’t come “even if I called”, and that “Chad won’t talk to me.” His best friend, so openly a fan of Troyella, won’t bury the hatchet and pick up the phone, come round and visit, try to boost Troy’s spirits. Demonstrate that their friendship is stronger than a petty quarrel motivated entirely by Chad’s own jealousy. And why is this? Because the image of Troyella, this glorious legend, becomes more important to Chad than Troy the man-- a person he never truly understood anyway. What’s ironic is that Chad never seems to demonstrate much insight into people anyway, so he can’t be that clued up on Gabriella’s character, yet he eventually treats her as though she is without blame and her word is immutable. So when Gabriella sees fit to renege on her promises to Troy over the phone in HSM III, Chad only offers the verbal equivalent of a pat on the back, although this is one of the few occasions where he does genuinely try to pick Troy off his feet, urge him not to pine and mope. But that’s offset by Chad’s lack of interest when Troy was sitting alone in the auditorium, clearly devastated by Gabriella’s departure, not to mention him pillorying Troy when the latter kept making mistakes in rehearsals. The image supersedes the man. 

What does Chad see in Troyella? I’m not really sure, given that he bills himself as the hard, unsentimental type. Clearly that isn’t the case, given his admiring and supportive smile in the wings during HSM III when Troy is performing “I Just Wanna Be With You”. I suppose, deep down, Chad has a very simple philosophy: if it makes Troy happy, then he won’t interfere. Deep down, Chad can be a true, supportive friend when he wishes to be. But with such good intentions comes the requirement of regular concern and support, which Chad simply does not provide, even when faced with staggering evidence of problems in the Troyella relationship. It’s outrageous that we are never shown Chad’s reaction upon discovering, somehow, that contrary to following his “man up” advice, Troy had gunned up his engine and driven off to California, 1053 miles by himself, seemingly without telling anyone. As I said in my Questions for HSM III series, I can’t see his parents allowing him to go, and I couldn’t see Chad being too happy either, given that he just told Troy to get over the situation not long beforehand. But because we are supposed to see the entire series wrapped up with a shiny bow, no one questions the appearance of the Golden Couple, and everything goes right in the end. Chad applauds and silently approves. 

Meanwhile, he could be constantly there for Troy with a pat on the back, some brotherly advice and concern when Troy demonstrated an increasing inability to think for himself. As Troy’s best friend, Chad should know him better than anyone, and demonstrate deep concern when he sees his best friend twiddling his thumbs alone and staring listlessly into space at school, or collapsing onto his bed, his voice heavy and lifeless. In the Troy-Chad dynamic, Chad is often the motivational partner who can spur Troy to action. This is shown at the beginning of HSM III, where Troy leaves Chad to rally the team so they are motivated to win. Whilst Troy clearly internalizes a lot of his anxiety, by HSM III, the toll of being with Gabriella showed a great deal, and Chad should have been right next to Troy in those auditorium seats, doing what he could to lift Troy’s spirits. Chad should have been alarmed to see Troy wandering around without meaning or purpose on the rooftops, staring at Gabriella’s empty locker, sitting in silence instead of engaging in normal social interaction, because these are all signs of the kind of pervasive sadness that can develop into withdrawal and even depression if left unchecked. He has, after all, known the guy for over a decade, and should be aware of what to do. Instead, he’s chatting with Taylor, and it’s Kelsi, whom Troy has not even known for two years, who knows JUST how to comfort him with a hug and a smile. The irony.

There’s simply no excuse for Chad’s neglect of Troy at crucial moments, despite being fully aware that he is witnessing problems right before his eyes. 

The same goes for the Wildcats. I won’t analyse them individually, but they are supposed to be Troy’s friends. We don’t see any scene where they decide to rally around Troy when he’s clearly hurting after the breakups in HSM II and HSM III. None of them ask where he’d been in HSM III, and why he didn’t show up for prom. No one is remotely interested when he’s struggling with Gabriella’s absence. The image supersedes the man each time. And why is this so ironic? Because the HSM series is supposed to represent breaking the status quo, the hierarchised world of East High that keeps all students trapped in their specific social group, and raises hell for anyone brave enough to challenge such normativity. But actually, what the Wildcats do is ditch one status quo (social prejudice) to replace it with another (Troyella worship). And this status quo ends up being equally poisonous to the social and moral atmosphere, given that it encourages the unhealthy view that “perfect” romances exist (they certainly do not), and means that all flaws are routinely ignored. In this case, it is Troy who is emotionally isolated time and time again, as the Wildcats appear to side with Gabriella more. I base this conclusion on the fact that, as I stated earlier, the Wildcats refused to visit Troy after Gabriella quit Lava Springs, and it is implied that Troy sensed their bitterness towards him, even though they were presumably still speaking with him at that point. “Maybe my friends are right. Maybe I am turning into a jerk with new shoes.” Given the Wildcats’ underhand methods of displaying their displeasure, perhaps Troy had heard them, or suspected they were muttering behind his back. The Wildcats all want their special piece of Troyella cake, want to experience the magic like they’re watching Disney. Troy, their friend and captain, is of secondary importance. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bolton

Now, the fact that Mr and Mrs Bolton are never shown to express concerns over Troy’s rapid deterioration throughout the movie series is not to be assumed as based on a lack of concern for their son at all. Despite notable criticisms of Mr. Bolton’s behaviour, many of which are valid, at the end of the day, Mr. Bolton has his son’s back 100%. So it is mystifying that he is never shown to have questioned Troy’s relationship with Gabriella. Why? Because in HSM I, we know that he is willing to demonstrate his disapproval of Gabriella outright, even based on the flimsiest evidence. “You haven’t missed practice in three years. That girl shows up--” And yes, even though he eventually approves of TROY’S singing ambitions (and learns to refer to Gabriella by her given name), it is clear that his son comes first. So much so that even in HSM II, it appears that he relents on the scholarship pressure when it becomes clear that Troy is really suffering an identity crisis and is genuinely upset.

I don’t think he comprehends the full scale of that upset, because the advice he gives is helpful, but strangely insufficient. In the whole dialogue exchange, it is clear that Mr. Bolton can’t comprehend Troy’s internal conflict. When Troy essentially tells him that the Wildcats don’t want to speak with him, Mr. Bolton just laughs it off, instead of asking why and showing some concern. When Troy tells him that Gabriella quit (and dumped him), he makes no response. He’s certainly concerned, of course, but doesn’t comment on that exact event. I have to assume this is the first time that Troy told his father about the situation between him and Gabriella, which implies that Troy had kept it a secret. But when Mr. Bolton notes that Troy has been in his room for the last couple of days, that leads me to believe that perhaps he didn’t check on him for a while, possibly believing that Troy would get over whatever it was that was bothering him. Again, this is NOT based on a lack of concern, but let’s get back to why Mr. Bolton’s advice to Troy is insufficient. 

[Mr Bolton] “You know what? I’ve known this kid for a long, long time. And I got a lot of faith in him. He looks a lot like you. I’m absolutely sure he’s going to figure out the right thing to do.”

Now, there’s piano music and a clarinet to fool you into thinking that this is a pivotal point for Troy, and his father has just delivered a motivational speech. But actually, what’s the message here? After hearing that his son’s girlfriend broke up with him, and his friends won’t talk to him, what Mr. Bolton advises as a solution could be summarized at best as “You’ll figure it out.” But clearly that’s not the case. By his own admission, his son has been lying in bed for days, won’t eat food, hasn’t received any social calls and seems unresponsive to any encouragement. This is not the kind of person who seems ready to figure it out. HERE is where Mr. Bolton could have shown a strong, fatherly presence and advised Troy on how to navigate his next step, instead of chucking down a photo of Troy dressed in East High colours (thus referring to the dreaded Pedestal and perhaps causing Troy to throw back his head in exhaustion as though he has heard this lecture before), and leaving him to his own devices. Furthermore, Mr. Bolton makes absolutely no mention of Troy and Gabriella’s breakup, and we know from HSM III, that he will ask after Gabriella. Earlier on in the film, he shared an amusing anecdote about Troy’s devotion to Gabriella: “You know whenever she calls, he just, blushes.” So he knows the relationship means a lot to his son. And yet no comment about her quitting? No comfort? No asking why? 

Again, please don’t assume that Mr. Bolton doesn’t care. He does care. But perhaps he too has too much faith in Troyella to fully appreciate the extent of damage that Gabriella is causing. Not to mention, of course, that Troy internalizes so much anxiety and rarely confides this, except very often to the wrong people, like Chad and Gabriella. His faith in Troyella seems predicated upon his faith in Troy’s decisions, without necessarily evaluating whether those decisions are good decisions. So if Troy is with Gabriella, and she apparently makes him happy, then he approves of Troyella. The problem is what has to happen for Mr. Bolton to realize that Troyella is a problem? This is why we HAD to see his reaction to his only son driving off into the hinterland for a girl who had just reneged on her commitments. I think that would be a sufficient breaking point, because unlike many other characters, Mr. Bolton has more loyalty to his son than to Gabriella, and would somehow draw a line. We needed to see Mr. Bolton, with his good old-fashioned, masculine reasoning, tell his son a few hard truths about being in a relationship and show some concern about Troy’s increasing despondency. Being Mr. Bolton, he may not have tackled this in the most constructive way, but as a father, he sure as hell would have tried at some point. 

Which brings me to Mrs. Bolton, who is woefully underused throughout. Mrs. Bolton is an admirable matriarchal figure who keeps everything in order with calmness and style. She is surrounded by men, but she’s the one keeping them in line. They can be in charge on the court, but she’s in charge in the house. “Woah, woah, woah. Can we all redirect this energy by bringing in the groceries?” To which the people say “Yes, Mrs. Bolton.” Her will be done. This lady is not someone to be crossed. Her love for her husband and son is enjoyable to watch (take note, Troyella fans; the Boltons have a PROPER relationship), and she appears to treat Chad like a son too, if the prom suit scene is anything to go by. “Aw, you did good!” She does relent sometimes, like at the beginning of HSM I where father and son are in the middle of shooting hoops. But throughout, she very clearly wants the best for Troy, and Troy appears to have a much easier relationship with his mother than his father: he can persuade her easier. 

Again, referring to HSM I, he manages to convince her to let him shoot one more basket before heading to the kids party. Given this obvious affection, it is inexplicable that nothing was made of Mrs. Bolton’s visible surprise, dismay and disappointment when the fragments she heard of Troy’s conversation with Gabriella in HSM III. Indeed, the film almost treats her reaction as an aside. Having been, presumably, the first parent to see Troy’s prom suit, having been gushing and proud of him, having been eager to see Gabriella wear the ordered corsage, having seen her son almost giddy with excitement for the first time in possibly WEEKS, WHY does Mrs. Bolton all but disappear from our screens when Troy is at his lowest, only to reappear when everything is seemingly going well again? Because out of the two parents, Mrs. Bolton would have more constructive advice for her son’s relationship problems; women and mothers often tend to be more intuitive in that sense. Obviously, Mrs. Bolton would have discovered that Gabriella wasn’t turning up for prom, and whilst Mrs. Bolton evidently approves of Gabriella (although isn’t fooled by her-- that “Hi Gabriella” kind of sounded like “I know what you’re up to/I know you’re up there/You can’t fool me”), her son comes first. She would be right there, trying to comfort him and perhaps offering him some help. Perhaps, were she even more intuitive, she might be asking questions about the kind of girl who builds up their boyfriend only to drop kick him at the last minute. She might connect the dots between Troy’s lifelessness for the past couple of weeks, to his excitement at seeing Gabriella, to his despondency when Gabriella disappoints him for the nth time. We don’t know. But the airbrushing of Mrs. Bolton except when it comes to dancing in the crowd is shameful and inexplicable, making the Bolton’s seem like unconcerned parents when clearly they are concerned. It’s just not possible that they wouldn’t be. 

Ryan Evans

Another inexplicable example comes from Ryan Evans, who is either very forgiving or a diplomat. Remember that the biggest howler in HSM II came when Gabriella twists Ryan round her little finger, buoying him with flirty compliments in an attempt to humiliate Troy. Because Ryan is an honourable and decent person, he has no intention to carry through with this plan, hence why he extends a friendly welcome to Troy and passes on a compliment from his father. But this does place Ryan in the prime position of seeing a glaring problem in their relationship; that Gabriella is willing to manipulate and punish Troy. If you watch this scene carefully, you can see Ryan’s initial confusion which melts into awkwardness when he catches Gabriella’s expression and sees something akin to coldness and vindictiveness there, directed towards Troy. Furthermore, he hears the awkward silences and realizes something is up that he finds embarrassing. However, Ryan’s general reaction is that they will both sort whatever it is out themselves; he looks like he’s dodged a bullet when he makes his hasty and awkward exit. This is fair enough. But it seems far too light, given Troy’s expression, plainly betraying hurt and jealousy and humiliation, is plain for all to see. Then again, Ryan tried his best to diffuse the situation and ended up being cut off, so when he runs out of ideas, he leaves. 

Having just witnessed a very ugly side to the girl who, just moments before, was praising him to the heavens and assaulting him with sweet smiles, why does Ryan (and Kelsi) think the solution to Troy and Gabriella’s later breakup is a musical reunion between the two? I mean, I commend him for trying his best in this regard, and I suspect that his aims were simply to create a pleasant surprise for Troy, whom he perceived to be having a hard time. These are honourable aims. But I just can’t comprehend his lack of criticism for Gabriella’s crystal clear manipulation. Not only does he see Gabriella’s vindictive behaviour in this scene, later on, he is STILL hanging out with her! Because Ryan is not given much relevant dialogue apart from either pandering to Sharpay, or engaging in that silly macho contest with Chad, or saying a few things here and there later on, we don’t know whether Ryan addressed the issue of the LAUGHABLY obvious tension and discomfort between the alleged Golden Couple. Most likely he thought they would patch things up. Of course the fact that he gives Gabriella a hug is based on being friendly, not upon being Don Quixote. As I write this, perhaps there IS a reason. Gabriella went out of her way to speak with him (for the first time), and at this point, Troy had not yet done so. Furthermore, the circumstances that Gabriella created, made things awkward for Ryan, whereas Gabriella continued to show him (ostensible) friendship. Furthermore, Gabriella was actually the reason for his popularity with the Wildcats, whereas beforehand, it is implied that they may have mocked him. So he is actually grateful to her on that count. As a result, he thinks that they couldn’t sort whatever “it” was out, so I’ll cook up something nice and maybe that will fix it. He has no hard feelings towards Troy, he has no hard feelings towards Gabriella (even though she clearly used him), all he needs to do is write a nice song, get Kelsi to play it and everyone’s a winner. It’s an extremely naiive, although clearly well-meaning approach. I certainly wouldn’t criticize him for it, given that he still possesses some measure of awkwardness and is keen not to draw negative attention to himself. He is also keen to stay on good terms with everyone, even jocks who may or may not have treated him as a laughing stock. So he isn’t going to rock the boat. Perhaps he is a diplomat. In HSM III, he’s impressed with Troy and Gabriella’s performance, and ends up congratulating the both of them. There’s no hard feelings. Like everyone else, he has no criticism for Gabriella upping and leaving for California. Unlike almost everyone else, he does show Troy support, so he obviously isn’t as immune to the problems in the relationship as are so many others. But when they all appear to get back together in the end, he approves on TWO occasions, despite the breakups occurring in similar circumstances. The musical will fix it! :D *shakes head* 

So there you have it, folks. Six concrete reasons why Troyella is a horrible central pairing. Granted, there are many offshoot reasons that I considered, such as the poor communication, lack of realistic aims, Troy’s immunity to Gabriella’s faults that I could have added into the series, but I think that many of those are already covered throughout the piece. We have a couple who are supposed to share an interest, but don’t. A couple who are supposed to have at least a few significant other things in common, but don’t. A couple who are supposed to respect each other equally, but don’t. A couple who are supposed to be in love with each other, but aren’t. A couple who are supposed to be equal, but aren’t. A couple who should have at least fostered some objective outside perspectives, but don’t. A couple that leaves Troy Bolton, the most likeable character of the lot, broken, diminished, full of self-doubt and lonelier than ever before, whilst Gabriella gets into her Freshman Honours Program and has a bright future ahead of her. By the way, have you noticed that I haven’t criticized any character for not attending to Gabriella’s emotional needs throughout this movie? Because she rarely ever seems upset when her relationship takes a downturn. She might shed a few compulsory tears, mope around at home and pull a few sad faces, but she’s right as rain not long afterwards. Watch the latter half of HSM III if you don’t believe me. Not long after dumping Troy over the phone, she is SMILING, people. Clearly, her mental well-being is in NO danger. Furthermore, she NEVER shows one hint of remorse about what her actions do to Troy, and neither does anyone in the movie series tell her, because they all believe that Gabriella is beyond reproach. 

Troyella is therefore illogical, untenable, disturbing, almost immoral, and a direct affront to everything this movie is supposed to stand for. 

Guess who thinks this relationship is perfect and so romantic?

:D Oh dear. 

I weep. I really do. 

We will dissect Kelsi’s romantic interests in the next installment, including analysis of why she latches onto Troyella with such blind fervour, and what this means. 

The above is one of my favourite pictures of Kelsi. I think it encapsulates everything that I like about her: quiet, thoughtful, mature and modestly brilliant. My intro has a list of questions that I want to ask about the Trelsi pairing, but I’ve had to shuffle in some questions as well, when new thoughts occurred to me. The full list of questions so far is as follows:

1- Who IS Troy Bolton?

2- Who IS Kelsi Nielsen? (I’ll be referring to this a lot for today’s instalment)

3-  What makes the Trelsi friendship and dynamic so friggin’ special? Why does it make me want to weep and write poetry?

4-  Why are there so few Trelsi scenes? What is the effect of this? Where could we have seen more Trelsi?

5-  So, what’s wrong with the central canonical pairing, Troyella?

Today’s new question is:

Question-- Kelsi Nielsen and romance: what’s the attraction?

I’m super happy to return to discussing my second-favourite character, Kelsi Nielsen. As has already been established (and routinely ignored during the movie series), Kelsi Nielsen is one of the most interesting and emotionally complex characters out of the cast, which makes all her scenes compulsively rewatchable. There are several key points I need to understand about Kelsi’s motivations throughout the movie series, and what this potentially means for her and others. We’re going to look at her romantic instincts, the origins thereof, her canonical relationships, her fervent Troyella worship, and like-minded musings. 

Please note that I will not be discussing the alleged “Ryelsi”. I do not recognize this pairing: as far as I am concerned, it does not exist. Nothing inside this sham sheds any light upon Kelsi Nielsen (or Ryan Evans for that matter), makes any positive contribution to the plot, character arcs or anything else. It is a nonsensical and insulting concoction, executed with such staggering inconsistency so as to beggar belief that those writing it actually got paid. Furthermore, it appears that this fabrication was motivated by prejudice, which is completely unacceptable in my book. In the modern era, we should develop each character fully irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, religion and so on. 

So, Kelsi’s romanticism is a key element of her personality and her character. For the most part, this romanticism is expressed in her songwriting. Although I believe that Kelsi’s songs can be applied to her relationship with Troy, I do not believe that her songs were written about him. This is a key distinction. Her lyrics demonstrate a maturity and emotional versatility that have more complex shades-- far too complex to be just directed at one person. Indeed, her lyrics do not contain any clues that would lead me to believe she was speaking about a particular person. However, it is clear that she is speaking about a particular type of person, and from this we can deduce her philosophy about love and her expectations in a relationship. I have selected three main ballads for analysis: “What I’ve Been Looking For” (HSM I), “You Are The Music In Me” (HSM II) and “I Just Wanna Be With You” (HSM III). What clues do these songs reveal about the type of person Kelsi likes? 

1- “What I’ve Been Looking For”

We must assume that Kelsi wrote this song either during the first semester, or during the Christmas Holidays. Because so little information is given about Kelsi’s life as a whole, nothing is certain here. I consider this to be Kelsi’s most important song by virtue of the fact that she was willing to confront Sharpay over the rendition (whilst making little to no complaint when Sharpay crucified her songs in HSM II and HSM III), and the emotional involvement she displays when performing it with Troy and Gabriella. In this song, she discusses:

1- Her surprise at finding the right person: “It’s hard to believe, that I couldn’t see, that you were always there beside me.”

2- Her isolation because of being without a suitable partner: “Thought I was alone, with no one to hold...”

3- Her insistence upon looking for the right person, instead of taking whatever comes: “So lonely before, I’ve finally found, what I’ve been looking for.” The bold emphasis is my own. 

The song lyrics suggest that Kelsi might very well be oblivious to another person’s romantic interests, hence why “it’s hard to believe” that she could find herself recognizing those feelings and returning them. However, they also reveal another paradox in Kelsi’s shyness; the song is entitled “What I’ve Been Looking For”, which demonstrate that she has expectations of romance, and does not, despite her withdrawn nature, believe herself to be completely unlikeable. It just has to be the right person. But the shyness does factor in, as stated in another lyric: “So good to be seen, so good to be heard, don’t have to say a word.” This suggests that Kelsi struggles with words, and thus expresses herself better in songwriting. It suggests shyness. Notice that Kelsi never mentions seeing and hearing this other person, so that they don’t have to say a word, which could imply that she does not expect this potential person to be as shy as she is, which makes sense, since opposites attract. In fact, it implies that Kelsi expects this other person to make up for her own deficiencies: she isn’t good at expressing herself, and so she expects this other person to make things easier for her. She is lonely, and thus she expects this other person to provide her with companionship-- namely, being “always there beside me.” She struggles with directions (this could be figuratively as well as literally), and thus expects this other person to be the leader, the guiding hand. “So long I was lost, I’m finally found, I’m loving having you around...” 

Now, that particular lyric has religious connotations; the value of being “found” in Christianity refers to salvation. This is relevant not because Kelsi is necessarily religious (we have no information on this), but because it demonstrates that she has very high expectations in a relationship. Is this positive? Or is this negative? Or is it both? I will discuss this later on. The prospective person must know her, and be good for her, must fit with her like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. This person must inspire feelings that she’s never felt before, and must be worth the years of loneliness that she has endured to finally find the right person. When she finds this person, she will be “found”/saved from her previous state. The use of religious imagery, whether intended or unintended, is striking here. It is also worth noting that Kelsi’s lyrics are by and large conservative. She rarely, if ever, explores attraction and never explores sexual tension. Rather, this is something that Sharpay adds when crucifying her songs, as I will discuss in a moment. (Honestly, everything will be discussed in a moment! My head is crammed with ideas! :D). All of her romantic ballads venerate the emotional connection between the protagonist (herself) and her perfect partner (an unnamed person). The tempo of this song is supposed to be slow and steady, hence her dismay with Sharpay’s rendition. All the feelings that she discusses are romantic feelings, and are also feelings of friendship, as we will see for HSM III. The song is positive and optimistic, though tinged with (previous) wistfulness and even sadness. I think this is a fine achievement for Kelsi.

By the way, another important thing. The song is really about Kelsi. But it is written for a male and female character (Arnold and Minnie). This shows Kelsi’s versatility as a composer. Even if you took Kelsi out of the equation, then you’ve got a song that reflects all people and all times; everyone longs to find that special other half of themselves, and everyone has had fears and doubts and periods of loneliness, presumably whilst watching other people happy in their own relationships. The duet formation is an inspired idea. In fact, I want to challenge common wisdom in the movies. In HSM III, Sharpay says that “Kelsi always writes her best songs for Troy and Gabriella,” thus leading us to assume that Troyella inspire good music. However, might I propose the possibility that rather, it is Kelsi’s mastery writing duets that inspires her best songs, with Troy and Gabriella just being a handy addition? Why do I say so? Because “What I’ve Been Looking For” was written long before she ever met Troy and Gabriella, and it is an excellent and inspired piece. Remember, she had been submitting ideas for the school musicals presumably for several years, and we haven’t heard the many other songs she must have written. With practice comes mastery. She is already an excellent composer and songwriter. There’s no evidence whatsoever that Kelsi was suddenly inspired to write after meeting Troy and Gabriella, so why would we assume they were the only reason for her further duets? Surely it does Kelsi’s immense talent a disservice to attribute it solely to the central (and disastrous) main couple. 

2- “You Are The Music In Me”

Prior to receiving a job at Lava Springs, Kelsi had been intending to write music over the holidays. Yet more evidence that she did not need Troy and Gabriella to do so. Like I said in my analysis of Kelsi Nielsen, composing is in her blood. She needs to compose like I, a writer, need to write. And she is a perfectionist and disciplinarian in this endeavour; in HSM III, prior to the hazing stunt, Kelsi is shown, in a TINY scene, frowning in dissatisfaction and crossing out something. We are not shown whether she is composing, but given that they are in the auditorium, and given that she is normally shown hunched over her manuscripts elsewhere, this assumption seems likely. Kelsi wants every note to be exactly right. The summer holidays would be an excellent opportunity to spend hours more devoted to her craft. 

Now, it has just occurred to me that there is either an omission at the beginning of HSM II, or a significant plot hole. When Kelsi accepts the job at Lava Springs from Sharpay, Troy had not yet been offered a job. At the time when Troy is offered a job from Mr. Fulton, Kelsi was nowhere near (probably at home, writing music). But by the time we get to Lava Springs, Kelsi has a song ready for Troy and Gabriella, despite potentially having no knowledge that they would even be present. How has this inconsistency occurred? I must make an assumption to fill in the holes. Since Troy got jobs for all his friends, then Kelsi may have received this information via that route. The most likely example is that perhaps Jason or Martha phoned her to say that they’d be off to Lava Springs, and OMG, Kelsi is off there too! What a coincidence! Perhaps Jason would be more likely to have passed on the information that Troy was also going to be working there, since he spends more time with Troy than does Martha. So Kelsi perhaps received this information, and having presumably been given a job brief from Sharpay (composing for the Talent Show), sees a golden opportunity to rope Troy into performing in the Talent Show. This would be consistent, given her eagerness for Troy to perform in the Winter Musical. This seems the only way to reconcile Kelsi’s next duet and her clear intentions to write for Troy and Gabriella. She might only have discovered their presence when she turned up to work, but this seems unlikely, as she would need the time to compose the song, and Mr. Fulton was keeping them all to a strict schedule. Besides, the song is ready not long into the job. So she must have known beforehand, and most likely found out from Jason. 

What is VERY interesting about this duet is that it is the only one of my selected major songs where Kelsi makes a link between music and romance. You would think that she’d have used musical imagery in every other song, but no. Emotional connection comes first. Now, for the Lava Springs Talent Show, she sets about composing a romantic ballad with a similarly deep level of emotional involvement, once again demonstrating her high expectations for a relationship. “You Are The Music In Me” means what it says on the tin. Her music is not just written for the sake of fame, money or even applause; it is inspired by this unnamed person. Once again, I do not make the assumption that this person is Troy. Why? Because by this time, Kelsi was going out with Jason Cross. I do not make the assumption that the unnamed person is Jason, either. We will look at this in more detail later on. So her music is inspired. This person has to therefore be a part of her: “You’re harmony, to the melody, that’s echoing inside my head...”, (bold emphasis my own), so deeply connected that they know the notes she must write before she writes them. Lofty expectations, folks. :D 

Now, I said that Kelsi does not include, or consider, sexual attraction/tension in her music, but Troy definitely adds this in when singing the following line: “And like a common thread/Hmm, you’re pulling me.” This is more evidence of Troy’s more spontaneous approach to performance, and how he translates genuine emotions into how he sings and what he’s trying to communicate. As we can see, Kelsi approves of this addition, even though it’s far bolder than she would have gone. One could ascribe a sexual nature to the central lyrics, “You are the music in me,” but I’m not sure this is what Kelsi intended. She is more emotional than physical. 

(Sharpay, of course, loads her rendition with sexuality. :D )

Other key differences in Kelsi’s thinking are striking. Here she says, “It’s like I knew you before we met.” In other words, she isn’t confined to the shadows, waiting for the right person; she has already has an idea of who they are. Not a physical image, but an emotional idea. Instead of her suddenly realizing they were right there the whole time, like in HSM I, this person is pulling her towards them. They are attracted to each other. This shows that the protagonist is therefore more confident: “I sang you words I never said.” Beforehand, the protagonist (Kelsi) didn’t have to say anything. Now she can “sing”. This is significant because Kelsi doesn’t often sing her own songs (it would have been very interesting to see her singing her own romantic ballads in full), and appears more content either lip-syncing them and, more importantly, playing the piano. She is the shy girl who has, for the most part, hidden behind the piano whenever she could get away with it. The idea of Kelsi singing a romantic ballad to her chosen interest is intriguing and bold. But like I said, she is more than she appears to be. Guess who else likes singing romantic ballads to their chosen interest? Troy. What does remain the same is that Kelsi uses music as a medium of expression, hence the “I never said” part. 

By the way, notice that Kelsi never writes “I love you” in her song lyrics. She is never that direct. Instead, she uses more poignant and profound ways of expressing this sentiment. These methods demonstrate that Kelsi’s songs show a maturity beyond her years. At the time of writing “What I’ve Been Looking For”, she was around 16. These are pretty high expectations for a teenager! Too high, if you ask me, given that she has barely broken into true adulthood yet. She does, however, have a very strong concept of what love is, and what it should be, and she knows how to recognize it. This therefore begs the question of her attachment to Troyella, which does not demonstrate love. More on this later. 

We see more evidence of Kelsi’s love of the emotional connection in the chorus: “When I hear my favourite song, I know that we belong/You are the music in me, yeah, it’s living in all of us/And it’s brought us here because/You are the music in me.” What does this mean? I’m so glad you asked. :D This chorus implies that of the many songs that exist, songs which live in “all of us” (as in, many different people), there is only one she and the unnamed person understand, and when they both hear it, they are drawn together. So once again, Kelsi is writing a song that not only relates to herself, but is true for all people at all times. Kelsi says that love is music, and that music is love. Likewise, love supports and inspires music (particularly in her case), and music supports and inspires love (allegedly in the case of Troyella). The depth of meaning in this song makes Sharpay’s later butchering of the song (although Kelsi does appear quite absorbed in performing this version) all the more horrendous. The most important lyrics are: “Because you see the real me/As I am/You understand/And that’s more than I’ve ever known”. These lyrics can be applied to Kelsi’s relationship with Troy, as out of the entire cast, she seems to know him best, although I do not believe they are about Kelsi’s relationship with Troy. It’s just a happy coincidence. Again, there is a change as the song implies that the protagonist and his/her chosen partner are in a crowd: “To hear your voice/Above the noise/And know I’m not alone/Oh, you’re singing to me...”, which is again a sign of increased confidence. When performing this song, Troy seems to understand this concept instinctively, which is why he naturally moves towards Gabriella when performing, to mimic the idea of being drawn together by music. Often, when performing, Troy will use movement to convey his message, something that often surprises Gabriella; she by contrast is more awkward and has to follow direction more often. 

Another important lyric is as follows: “We’ve got the power to sing (what we feel)...” Again, this screams of new-found confidence. Beforehand, Kelsi didn’t “have to say a word”, but now, she is full of song. In other words, her chosen partner will empower her to express herself without any awkwardness or shyness. On the topic of saying what you feel, we can also note Kelsi’s increased confidence when she just assumes, upon seeing Troy and Gabriella, that they will immediately agree to singing the leads just as she had planned. Hence her disappointment when Troy shoots down that idea after a period of hilarious alarm. I’ve got to give Gabriella some credit for giving Kelsi a chance to be heard; after hearing the song’s potential (and possibly being surprised at Kelsi’s good singing voice?), Troy changes his mind. This follows a consistent trend in HSM I and HSM II, where hearing Kelsi’s music makes Troy relent in his unwillingness to perform, and become more involved in the art once again. Is this not significant? It would have been far better for Troyella if Gabriella’s musicality was the motivation for him to perform in the musicals. However, this is not the case; Gabriella just persuades him in HSM III, because she can always get him to do things that she wants, NOT because she is necessarily devoted to the craft. Compare that to Troy’s stunned expression after hearing “What I’ve Been Looking For”, and his “Great job, Kels,” (and that surprised expression as he stands by the piano) after hearing “You Are The Music In Me.” Her music strikes just the right notes and that melts his previous resistance. 

3- “I Just Wanna Be With You”

This is probably my favourite ballad of the three, although coming very close with “What I’ve Been Looking For”. For some context, this song was written for the Senior Musical, where each member of Ms. Darbus’ class is playing themselves. Having been entrusted with composition, Kelsi does, as Sharpay says, write her best ballad for Troy and Gabriella. This is supposed to be a reflection of Troy and Gabriella’s relationship, but as I have said, it is nothing of the sort. However, once again, Kelsi is the real protagonist of the song, and the object of her affections is once again unnamed. By this stage, Kelsi has broken up with Jason and is single. (I do not recognize the other “relationship” offered as an option for her). Although this song is joyful, Kelsi’s mood at this stage probably was not. 

(Again, I am steadfastly ignoring the ridiculous Ryan-Kelsi piano scene which makes me cringe and fast-forward. Please assume this for the entirety of this post).

What evidence do we have that Kelsi might have been unhappy when writing this? I would point to the following lyrics: “You know how life can be/It changes overnight/Sunny then raining/But it’s alright...” The bold emphasis is my own. This is very interesting to me. Kelsi’s previous songs begin with her as the protagonist, alone, who discovers her love interest by surprise (HSM I), or who finds her love interest at the same time that he finds her (HSM II). In this song, we have an assumed state of happiness at first, which then changed into sadness. But Kelsi is hopeful that this time, things will be better. Why? Because this person is her friend: “A friend like you/Always makes it easy...” It seems that Kelsi is alluding to an unhappy past, not just only an unhappy relationship, although that appears a very likely candidate. Maybe a betrayal of some kind? Kelsi is very skilled with words (contrary to her shyness) and uses a lot of metaphors in her songs, such as “You’re harmony, to the melody...” in HSM II. When she speaks of rain, she is speaking about sadness. When she says, “But it’s alright,” she is referring to her persistence and resilience; no matter how many setbacks she experiences, she always picks herself back up again. This is why she kept submitting ideas for musicals, despite receiving numerous rejections. 

Another difference with this ballad is that Kelsi speaks more about the future here. This makes sense, as she has just applied to attend one of the best Performing Arts schools in the country, and would potentially be moving almost 2 000 miles to New York. She’s leaving her whole previous life behind, and had the screenwriters cared more about Kelsi than they did about Gabriella, we could have seen her feelings on this massive change in her life. However, in this ballad, we see that she is under pressure: “I gotta lotta things/I have to do/All these distractions/Our future’s coming soon/We’re being pulled/A hundred different directions...” Kelsi is nervous in her anticipation of the future; in reality, she is single and possibly unhappy around this time. But she wants to amend this in the song to say “But whatever happens/I know I’ve got you,” because 1)- it’s being written for Troy and Gabriella to sing, 2)- more importantly, Kelsi is an optimist. This is very important. She believes it can happen for her (again). Now, I have questioned the high expectations of romance in Kelsi’s songs. In fact, I said here that this could lead to trouble in her relationships should she take such expectations seriously. The failure of her relationship with Jason (coming soon) is one such potential example, and unless Kelsi learns the lessons from this, she may be doomed to failure again. The chorus of this song is catchy, but unrealistic: “No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart (You know it’s true)” Either Kelsi has learned nothing or she is trying to brighten her mood by creating this parallel universe where everything works out fine. In addition, she is also writing for what she apparently believes is an example of attainable romance: namely, Troyella, so of course, there HAS to be a positive ending. I guess an alternate song like “All I Wanna Do Is Get Away From You”, whilst definitely more appropriate for Troy to sing, would be far less catchy. :D 

As I have said before, in this song, Kelsi highlights the importance of friendship in romance. She has alluded to it in the previous songs, but here, it is spelled out plainly. “A friend like you, always makes it easy/I know that you get me, every time...” The use of friend, as opposed to a romantic term is significant in this regard. Kelsi needs someone she can get along with, someone who understands her (which is similar to her HSM I ballad) and is there unconditionally. Unlike her HSM I ballad, however, Kelsi suggests some reciprocity in her own affections, again as a friend as well as love interest: “Through every up, through every down/You know I’ll always be around/Through anything you can count on me...” Because of how much loyalty and devotion Kelsi shows towards Troy, quite unlike any other character (most notably his own girlfriend), and because of her need for him to succeed, I have often stated that these lyrics are a reflection of her friendship/relationship with Troy. Not about him, but very easily applied to him should one see that connection. This is Kelsi’s central philosophy, which makes her a great friend. She’s in it for the long haul; by this stage, she wants to put 110% into a relationship. In fact, this song is notably more Kelsi-centred than the other two. She can confidently state her romantic interests, and declare her feelings for someone, instead of merely describing how that person makes her feel (HSM I ballad). And unlike her HSM II ballad, she doesn’t need music to connect with them at all here. What she needs is friendship and a long lasting connection that can outlast all challenges. “It doesn’t matter where we are/We’ll be alright/Even if we’re miles apart...” The mention of miles (distance) is significant, once again demonstrating that Kelsi is thinking about the future, and the effect of that upon the prospective relationship. Unlike a certain lady, Kelsi would be keen to put 110% into a long-distance relationship, as evidenced by these lyrics. 

Again, Kelsi’s lyrics are conservative. “Just wanna be with you/Only you.” This means that Kelsi cannot do one-time flings/crushes/one night-stands/casual relationships or promiscuity. It’s either all in, or all out. There’s no halfway step. So even though Kelsi has high expectations in a relationship, she is willing to put in over and above her fair share, to be devoted and loyal to the unnamed love interest, even when distance separates them. She would never stray under the excuse of being far away. This is because she is extremely sure that this relationship will last: “The sun will always shine/That’s how you make me feel/We’re gonna be alright/What we have is real...” The line that I’ve put into bold is somewhat paradoxical; despite the idealistic nature of these lyrics, as well as the next (”And we will always be together”), what Kelsi defines as a “real” relationship is actually... real. She speaks of loyalty, friendship, devotion, resilience and persistence, all of which she is willing to demonstrate to the object of her affections. That is what gives this, and all her romantic ballads credibility. 

Kelsi’s composition here is much more mature; she uses different melodic patterns and more instruments. This is a great contrast with the far simpler (although by no means inferior) “What I’ve Been Looking For”, which features a basic melody line, harmony and piano accompaniment. In “All I Wanna Do...”, the singers have to change key for the chorus, and go up and down chromatic semitones. 

A significant reason this song is so memorable is because of Troy. He understands the song and infuses it with energy. It seems to me, given that Ryan only has to choreograph Gabriella during this song (and it’s like baby steps with her; she constantly looks surprised and lacks any inspiration or sponteneity), that Troy most likely developed some of the choreography himself. Either that, or he expanded upon it in some way. Think about this: after being exhausted from the 1053 mile stunt, Troy managed to turn in a brilliant performance, and get the JUILLIARD JUDGES on their feet, clapping-- something that neither Kelsi, Ryan nor Sharpay managed to do. He brought his personality, honesty, understanding and raw talent to the song, and made it a showstopper. As we can see, later in HSM III, it appears to be Troy’s idea to allow everyone onto stage whilst performing. The fact of Troy moving closer to Gabriella as the song develops complements the song perfectly; by the time we get to the central chorus, both are on stage together. Most of the attention is drawn to Troy, who moves, in a fluid and agile fashion, towards the stage. Again, I think that he’s doing improv throughout. Even during the rehearsals, he makes some changes, once again indulging in his favourite habit of sitting on the piano (better than that full bodied backwards dive he did in HSM II), after which he throws down the manuscript (because he doesn’t need it), and twirls Gabriella around. Both Ms Darbus and Jimmie look impressed, Ryan conducts enthusiastically. 

My favourite part of his performance is during the Musical itself, where he sits next to Kelsi and mimes playing the piano exactly in time with her. This is a great metaphor for their relationship; from the beginning, they have always been exactly in tune with each other, on the same page, understanding each other without words. I think that was definitely improv, and Kelsi enjoys this. She’s impressed and feeding off his energy. I don’t think she was expecting it (one reason being that he didn’t even turn up on his supposed cue!), but she has such great faith in Troy’s ability to perform her songs in the spirit that they were written, that she rolls with it, happy to let him take the lead. This is why I have argued that Troy should have been the one watching Kelsi compose this song; the teamwork their showed during practice in HSM I is almost thrown out the window come HSM III, because, once again, the writers didn’t care two figs for the relationship they’d created which outshone the central romance. 

So in The Marvel of Trelsi Part VIII, I discussed the foundational problems in Troy and Gabriella’s relationship (no shared passion and nothing in common); in Part IX, I provided two further foundational problems (a lack of respect and a lack of love). Now, on second thoughts, I might have shuffled these around to begin with 1)- a lack of love, 2)- no shared passion, 3)- a lack of respect and 4)- nothing in common, as that provides a more logical order. Still, hindsight is always 20/20. There are still some key issues within their relationship that I want to dissect, as I think it’s essential have a full understanding of canon before promoting a non-canonical relationship. 

Though I will examine the superiority of Trelsi in later posts, I think it is worth mentioning the following areas where they (Troy and Kelsi) show a far stronger relationship, whether platonically or romantically. Do they have a shared passion? Yes-- music and performing. Do they have things in common? Yes-- music, performing, as well as a sense of humour, and shared values of kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity. They are also mature beyond their years. Do they respect each other? Absolutely: just look at the above picture. Were they one of the canonical couples, would they actually love each other? Yes, based on the interaction they show in canon, which is full of effortless affection and based upon the uniqueness of their relationship. As I have said before, there is nothing in Troy and Gabriella’s relationship which is unique, because there is simply no basis for their relationship whatsoever. 

Here are more reasons why Troyella is deficient:

5- Troy and Gabriella’s relationship is fundamentally unequal

I am forever astonished at the claim that Troyella represents “Relationship Goals”. It seems to me that the hashtag “Relationship Goals” is used by people with a poor grasp of what a relationship should entail. One of the major ingredients that accompanies respect is equality of persons within the relationship; it is supposed to be a partnership, with each person supporting and raising the other. We rarely ever see this in Troy and Gabriella’s relationship; the inequality stares us in the face throughout most of each film. I would roughly split the evidence of their inequality into two forms: fundamental inequality, which has already been discussed. Troy and Gabriella do not have the same passions, the same interests, share an equal level of respect and are not actually in love. The superficial forms of inequality are what interest me for this part. 

It’s astonishing that even daily interactions between Troy and Gabriella show consistent inequality. Most of my examples come from HSM II and HSM III; both these films demonstrate the numerous times where Troy take great pains to please Gabriella and receives next to nothing in return. Let’s look at dates. Of all the dates that are proposed in HSM II: 1)- movie dates, 2)- presumably a date to teach Gabriella the twisted flip on a skateboard, 3)- the picnic date on Lava Springs’ golf course, 4)- the dinner date and illegal swim, 5)- the proposition of a ride in Troy’s new truck and a movie, all were proposed by Troy Bolton with not even the slightest input from Gabriella. For example, Gabriella could have proposed bringing some food along to the after hours dinner date, perhaps to help Troy out, given how exhausted he looked from running after and away from Sharpay all the time. Instead, she just sits there and waits for him to turn up. (In her defence, it was commendable of her to wait up even though he was extremely late for this date. She also defended him against Taylor’s attempt to discredit Troy as suffering from “boy disease”, whatever the hell that is. Later on, she also appears to be carrying two food boxes- was one of those for Troy?). Later on, instead of speaking to him with staggering rudeness over his promotions, she could have accepted his offer to go watch a movie, and asked what film he might like. But I’m guessing that Troy mostly lets Gabriella choose and then sits through the entire thing without ever complaining-- even if he can barely keep his eyes open or is bored to tears. (I bet he buys the popcorn and drinks too). 

The only indication that Gabriella might have proposed a date for Troy comes through indirect dialogue: [Ryan] “Her mom makes the best brownies--”/[Troy] ”--Yeah, I know. I’ve had ‘em.”. How ironic that the only indication we get of Gabriella’s benevolence comes smack bang in the middle of when she’s humiliating him! So yes, we can assume that Gabriella must have invited him round on several occasions, because later in HSM III, we see that it’s normal for them to be both sitting in her garden, perhaps doing homework, and for Mrs. Montez to offer them snacks. But equally, we can be reasonably sure that when it comes to the biggest gestures, Troy is not only the one to propose their dates, but he’s the one who pays for them as well. Movies and dinner cost money, after all. Remember at the beginning of HSM II, that Troy buys Gabriella a necklace (a T pendant at the end of a chain), entirely at his own expense, only to have it dropped back in into his hands during Gabriella’s dramatic exit.* We are not given any indication as to Troy’s source of funds for this expensive gift, but given his later surprise at earning $500 a week, his earnings must have been modest. More on this in a bit. Clearly, Troy is the one who works harder at maintaining the faint spark in their relationship, the one who is obviously putting himself under pressure to think of ways to keep her entertained, and the one who is happy to dig into his own pocket each time.

On the issue of transport, once again Troy is always the one who offers it. Despite the fact that his truck is unreliable and has engine problems, and despite the fact that Gabriella could well afford to get a car loan (or avail herself of her mother’s own car, which magically appears whenever Gabriella leaves), he is the one chauffeuring his girlfriend around throughout HSM III. Again, we can assume that this is on a regular basis during the school semesters. Gabriella is shown taking the school bus (a more reliable option than Troy’s truck, to be sure) near the beginning of the film, but later, rides home in Troy’s truck. Laughing as his truck comes to a shuddering halt outside her house is how she expresses gratitude for this. She offers no word of thanks when he (inexplicably) opens the truck door for her, and instead proceeds to scold him for not admitting that he loves performing. Later on, after he brought her pizza and chocolate-covered strawberries, he leaves her house only to discover his truck has completely broken down. Does she assist him in finding replacement transport for his own safety, not to mention convenience? No. The selfishness is staggering, given that the free picnic she received came in spite of news that SHE didn’t tell him about her acceptance to Stanford. And then we arrive at the most absurd demonstration of Troy’s dedication to his “relationship”; driving 1 053 miles to Stanford, California in that same truck that couldn’t make it back from 1)- school to his house, 2)- school to Gabriella’s house, 3)- Gabriella’s house to his house without either throwing both passengers through the windshield (2), or breaking down completely (1) & (3). I have theorized many times that Gabriella was of no assistance when driving back; we are not given sufficient information, but it seems that Gabriella did not offer Troy a different (and faster!) form of transport to get back from California to Albuquerque in time for the musical. We can assume this because Troy texts Jimmie to say that he’s been “driving all night”. 

It should be fairly clear by now that Gabriella not only does not contribute whatsoever to her relationship, but she also feels no obligation to do so. In her mind, Troy must be there when she needs him, and if he fails, she’s out. It doesn’t matter how good his explanations are, or how many times he offers to atone for his mistakes. Watching the staggering evidence of her indifference towards his generosity makes one convinced that she doesn’t even acknowledge the effort he puts into keeping her happy and satisfied. She doesn’t see the sacrifices going on to make that next dinner, that next movie date. Worse, she doesn’t want to see them, if her indifference to his struggles in HSM II are anything to go by. When Troy pleads with her that he’s “working on the scholarship thing”, her reaction is one of derision and impatience, with Gabriella pointing to fictional crimes he has committed. And again, we see a link to Troy’s lack of self-respect, in that he rarely ever asks Gabriella to put in effort and commitment to their relationship. You always see Troy dashing left, right and centre, trying to keep his commitments to Gabriella. On the contrary, she can simply decide whether she wants to follow through, and if not (the more frequent decision), she will either 1)- stop speaking with him (HSM I), 2)- let him down by surprise (HSM II), 3)- let him down over the phone (HSM III). In all three occasions, Gabriella NEVER apologizes for this complete lack of decency. Consider in HSM I-- did Troy have something to apologize for? Yes, what he said was mean. However, could not Gabriella have apologized for refusing to speak with him, thus hurting his feelings (he tried to say hello to her in the cafeteria, and she turned her head away from him IN FRONT OF EVERYONE) without giving him a chance to defend himself? Apparently not. In HSM II, could she not have apologized for quitting the job he secured on her behalf, or for flirting with Ryan to his face, or for being shockingly rude to him for no reason? No. In HSM III, does she ever offer an apology for her many sins, not least dumping him over the phone? Does she apologize when she realizes that he’s still willing to go the extra mile (LITERALLY) to save their “relationship”? You bet not. On the contrary, it’s like “sorry” is the only word in Troy’s vocabulary when it comes to Gabriella-- that and several other desperate pleas that invariably fall upon deaf ears. These all prove that quite apart from material inequality, Troy and Gabriella’s relationship suffers from emotional inequality, as Gabriella is simply unable and unwilling to comprehend how much effort and energy Troy pours into their relationship. Troy in turn is so overburdened by the effort required to keep Gabriella happy, that, like I said in the last post, his relationship becomes a chore. 

No sane person would stay in love with someone who makes them work without pay, so to speak. ThoughtCatalog has a list of 10 signs that a relationship isn’t worth it. Here are several signs that apply to Troy Bolton: 

1- “You rationalize their bad behaviour”- In Troy’s head, it is NEVER Gabriella’s fault, no matter how badly she hurts him. 

3- “You try to buy their affection”- Troy’s constant attempts to atone for missing dates in HSM II have less to do with love and more to do with trying to stay in her favour because her anger hurts him and makes him feel like a failure. 

6- “You feel powerless and needy”- I already explored Troy’s emotional dependency in the last post, and his facial expressions during HSM II and HSM III are indicative of how little say he has in his relationship, how dependent he is upon Gabriella’s approval. He craves affection, and loses the will to care about whether it’s genuine or not. This is because of how insecure and sensitive he is, which I discussed in my analysis of Troy Bolton. 

7- “You’re ready to drop anything to spend time with them”- Basically the plot of HSM II. :D

8- “You’re fully in an “I’d do anything for love” mode”- As evidenced by the sheer folly of driving 1 053 miles for someone who’d just dumped him over the phone. And again, Troy’s motivations are not borne from love, but desperation and fear. 

9- “When they pull away from you (real or imagined), it throws you into a spiral.”- As evidenced by Troy eating lunch alone on the rooftop after Gabriella ignores him outright, Troy lying in bed for several days (according to his father) after Gabriella dumped him, Troy sitting despondently in the auditorium after Gabriella leaves him without saying goodbye.

10- “You think more about securing ‘a commitment’ from them than you do about how the relationship is going awesome.”- And Troy can’t even secure ONE commitment from Gabriella, as evidenced by her brusque and detached announcement that she won’t be coming back to Albuquerque at all, despite having promised to make prom and so on. 

That’s 7 out of 10 signs, folks. Think about what this means. More importantly, think about the devastating effect this would have over time on Troy, whom, as we have already established, is sensitive to other people’s disappointment and disapproval. (Hyperlink from BoltonEvans). Each time Gabriella drops the axe on his neck, she is inflicting even more anxiety and fear upon him, and his sense of self withers more and more. 

The final inequality was brought up by BoltonEvans here, and I quote: 

“Gabriella seems unable to commiserate with Troy’s financial woes, and, indeed, never expresses a single concern about how she’s going to afford her own college tuition- another disparity.” 

Financial inequality in a relationship is often used for creating several popular tropes like the poor man and his rich woman lover, or vice versa. The truth is that financial disparities can often have a negative effect upon a relationship, as financial struggles lead to high levels of stress, frustration, isolation and resentment. Out of the following emotions, Troy only displays three (stress, frustration and isolation), but never does he take this out on anyone else. For some background context, I would place Troy’s wealth status as being lower middle-class. His family can clearly afford a few niceties like ski holidays in the winter, but if HSM II is anything to go by, Troy may have only taken one holiday per year. I notice he wasn’t planning on jetting off anywhere during the summer, but decided to stay home (or had no choice but to stay home) so he could earn money for college prior to Senior Year. We know that his parents are struggling with tuition costs, and thus he takes on the responsibility of providing for himself. Unlike spiteful and deceitful interpretations of his actions during HSM II, Troy does not believe in taking shortcuts and cheats to success; his conscience will not allow it. Everything he has achieved, from his Italian golf shoes to the fame and adulation he receives, was earned through hard work. Having his father as Coach motivates him to work harder, despite the implication of nepotism some might have seen there. (Besides, his father treats all the players equally, and puts more pressure on Troy to deliver). 

Gabriella by contrast is quite well-off. Her mother’s company transfers her around the country, and Mrs. Montez is clearly able to buy substantial property wherever she lives. We don’t know what job Mrs. Montez holds, although I wonder whether it is based with a law-firm or corporation of some kind, given her eagerness for Gabriella to attend Stanford. As a result, Gabriella might lack stability, but she is not lacking in financial means. She’s definitely not as rich as the Evans’ twins, but she is significantly better off than Troy. We know this as she is never worried about tuition for college, and her mother is never said to be struggling with those, or indeed any costs. In fact, Gabriella rarely struggles with anything during the entire movie franchise, when clearly there are some elements of her past and her character that would have offered her relatable struggles (the presumed death of her father, her lack of stability). 

Of course, it is not Gabriella’s fault that she is well-off. But the fact that she not only never expresses financial concerns, but seems to have no concern when Troy expresses them is troubling. Why? Because Troy puts forward a SUBSTANTIAL amount of MONEY towards non-essential things for her like dates, and she, who probably receives sufficient funds from her mother (since we are told she was struggling to find work), puts forward almost nothing towards the relationship. In fact, Troy receives more from Mrs. Montez** (her brownies and other unspecified snacks, as well as a great deal more respect) than he does from Gabriella. I’m not saying Gabriella should give him money (I very much doubt he’d take it), but it’s downright inexplicable that she would watch him shell out so much cash on her behalf when she could well afford to shoulder some costs herself. Let’s take a look at how much cash Troy reasonably spends on Gabriella throughout the movies. We can assume they began dating shortly after the Winter Musical, so we can assume that they have dates maybe once or twice a week. They’d have dinner at a nice restaurant (somehow, I can see Gabriella picking expensive places and Troy always paying) for two, then a movie (plus the snacks). The dates in HSM II largely involved resources from Lava Springs, although he would have spent money on 1)- maintaining his truck so he could drive Gabriella around town, 2)- fuel money, 3)- dinner at a restaurant, 4)- the aforementioned movie. We of course have the necklace, of an unspecified value. Gabriella could well afford to pay for dinner sometimes, and pay for movie tickets. We continue with the fuel money for HSM III; Gabriella may have been aware him saving up for a new fuel pump. Notice that she never shows any interest in the maintenance of his truck, let alone helps him out when fixing stuff. As a scientist, she could have been of use. You know what would have reduced my anger with their relationship? Gabriella buys him a new fuel pump! :D Anyway, later on, Gabriella bails on him, and thus Troy decides to spend an unspecified but no doubt horrible sum of money on fuel to and from California (2 106 miles in total), with no stated compensation from Gabriella at all. According to Google Maps, the drive is about 15 hours each way. So they’d need food, which Troy would no doubt be expected to provide. I base this on Gabriella’s ridiculous request that he get her “one of everything” during the afterparty at the beginning. (Troy disappointingly decides to heed this request and presumably didn’t get any food). All the while, Gabriella could have 1)- booked the flight, thus paying for it herself, 2)- helped pay for fuel (I am assuming she didn’t, but with good reason), 3)- helped pay for food, 4)- asked after the state of his truck once he arrived in California instead of staring at him like he’s a fool for trying when she couldn’t even lift a finger to do the same. 

It’s not just unfair that Gabriella refuses to put some of her financial resources towards maintaining their relationship; it’s approaching immoral. She knows that he has limited resources, and she still expects him to go all out on her behalf. I shudder to think of how many sleepless nights Troy spends thinking about how to wow her on Christmas and her birthday. It’s just as well their shambolic relationship cannot seriously last long enough in the future for him to find out.

I have a couple more reasons for despising Troyella, which will be continued soon. 

(*FOOTNOTE-- Prior to Troy giving Gabriella the necklace, Gabriella makes him promise that they’ll be together whatever happens. A couple of weeks later, she breaks up with him! :D You cannot make this up!)