We all know the iconic High School Musical trilogy that streamed on Disney Channel years ago. The first movie was released on January 20th, 2006, followed by the other two in the years following.
While the film gave fans many characters to enjoy, there is one that sticks out from all the rest in my opinion, Sharpay Evans. Sharpay was the *literal* drama queen of East High. She was always the star of all the drama productions, alongside her brother, Ryan Evans. It seemed that she was always guaranteed these roles, and it did not seem to her that that would ever change. Taking this into consideration, along with other factors I will discuss, I believe full-heartedly that Sharpay Evans was the true victim in the High School Musical series.
We all know the story of High School Musical, Troy and Gabriella meet at a ski club during a karaoke song at the New Years Eve party, Gabriella happens to move to Troy’s school, they both break away from their stereotypes, fall in love, blah, blah, blah. I’m not here today to talk about them, they’re talked about enough. I’m here today to talk about the queen bee, Sharpay Evans.
I truly believe Sharpay was the victim in these movies, and it’s so obvious I shouldn’t even have to point it out. Let me start with my first point.
Sharpay was ROBBED of the lead role she always worked hard for. It’s evident in the movies that Sharpay was a dedicated member of the drama club for a long time, and deserved the roles she was given, even if it was a bit biased. High school theater is always biased, any theater kid would know this, so no one in the drama club was ever surprised I’m guessing. So imagine, you’re Sharpay, you’ve gotten the lead roles alongside your brother for at least all of high school, if not before that. Then, two people who no one even knew could sing and have no acting experience, come in and STEAL the role away from you. You cannot tell me that you would not be as pissed as Sharpay was in the movie.
So that justifies her reasoning for being pissed, let me go on to explain why this makes her a victim. Sharpay could have never seen this coming, Gabriella was the new girl, and Troy was an all-star basketball player. She didn’t know about their little karaoke moment over winter break, so how was she supposed to know she had any threat coming towards her lead role. Even if she did know, she never would have guessed that Miss Darbus, the drama teacher, would have chosen them over her, who Miss Darbus already knows has talent and can handle the role. The role was taken out from under her, which is one reason she should be considered the victim in the movie.
Sharpay also makes it evident in every movie that her dream is to one day be on Broadway. Her dedication to her high school drama program showcases this even more. These show that Sharpay is in throughout her high school career are a great way to build up her resume, especially if they’re all leads. Musical theater programs are extremely challenging to get into, so she would need all the experience and training she could get.
High school theater is great because it’s essentially free experience that can be put on a college or even career resume. Sharpay had two holes years of this precious experience taken away from her because of Troy and Gabriella, who didn’t even ever consider musical theater as a profession one day. To Sharpay, musical theater was everything. To Troy and Gabriella, it was just a fun little relationship thing.
I think everyone should take a step back and realize the true villain in these movies was not Sharpay but was actually Troy and Gabriella. I think even Kenny Ortega would agree with this if it is not what he meant all along.
Anyways, time to watch the movies again!
