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.