A Grade 9’s Perspective: High School in the Movies

Walking past the cafeteria the first day of high school I was disappointed to see everyone sitting down, just eating… How come there was no dancing around the tables?

I must admit, a musical number would surely make high school better.

Along with many other kids raised in Oakville in the 21st century, I grew up watching cheesy Disney Channel original movies like Geek Charming, Lemonade Mouth, Camp Rock and of course, everyone’s favourite, High School Musical. It was these movies which framed the false vision of high school in my mind.  Obviously, I didn’t actually believe high school was a magical place where students would randomly break into song, not even my prepubescent self would be that foolish. But the movies definitely made the experience seem more exciting.

As I discover more about high school, I realize that characters in movies don’t always have it better than us.  Being tripped in hallways, getting a lunch tray spilled over you and getting your head shoved in a toilet are obviously all aspects that should be left out of STA.

We wouldn’t want to ruin the designer uniforms we all wear to school.

 The cafeteria food, I’ve noticed, is another thing made horrible in the movies. That big pile of green slop is nothing compared to the delicious cookies we have at STA (and they’re only $1.50).

Yes, his lunch is crawling.

“Bet on it, bet on it!”

One of the downsides is that in real life we actually have to do our work. Unlike the characters in High School Musical, who spend a lot of time between classes, we only have 4 minutes to perform a musical number, grab our books and catch up with all our friends before making it to the next period.

Another downside: when bad situations arise, we can’t just sing about our problems to make everything better like Troy Bolton can. If only we could break out in musical numbers during math tests and suddenly have the answers.

So, the reality of high school may not be a Disney fantasy, but it’s not that revolting slime from the cafeteria either. I guess high school’s still worthwhile without the singing and dancing. I can graduate and get and job so when they’re holding auditions for the next High School Musical, I can bribe my way for the role of Gabriella.

Tune in next week for my perspective of Snapchat.