Confessions of a 26-Year-Old: I Love High School Musical

     Okay, so if you're doing the math, I wasn't even in high school when the first High School Musical premiered.  That doesn't mean I can't enjoy it, does it?  Also, I'm sure a lot of my love for the three movies have something to do with the adorableness of Zac Efron.  What's wrong with that?  Anyway, for those of you who don't know, there are three High School Musical movies, the third of which came out on the big screen. 
     I love these movies because they show high school in a fun, positive way.  The first one especially shows that you can be friends with anyone, even someone who isn't in your clique.  Zac Efron as Troy and Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella show the "jocks" and "nerds" can be friends and even fall in love!  And they can do it all while singing and dancing enthusiastically down the halls of high school.  While their friends try to keep them apart in the beginning, they eventuallly see that what Troy and Gabriella are trying to accomplish is a good thing, and everybody lives happily ever after.  The second and third movies are more of the same while including such teen issues as summer jobs and what comes after high school.
     Many people compared this High School Musical craze (see Wal-Mart school supplies if you don't believe me) to Grease.  All I have to say about that is that the only thing these movies have in common is that they're both musicals.  Grease was a 1978 movie that was not made for kids while High School Musical took place almost twenty years later on the Disney channel.  If you haven't realized that the Disney channel doesn't exactly portray things as they happen in the real world, then you've got big problems.  Who doesn't enjoy breaking from reality every now and again to watch such flicks as 16 Wishes and Geek Charming (other recent Disney favorites of mine)? 
     I know that I should probably be enjoying those crazy Lifetime movies or Hallmark holiday feel-good movies, and I do.  However, sometimes you've just got to go back to high school.  I actually enjoyed high school, unlike most other people.  Why wouldn't I want to remember it fondly?  Of course, my high school experience didn't include quite as much singing and dancing, but a girl can dream.