Final draft - independent study

“Don't mess with the flow, no no/
Stick to the status quo”

To what extent and why does Disney’s High School Musical (2006) conform to the conventions of its generic predecessors – the ‘teenpic’ and the traditional musical genres?


Defining a genre can be problematic, the musical for instance, as described by Collins is a 'multifaced, hybrid and complex’' genre. Indeed, as Wales notes, genre itself is 'an intertextual concept' . Subsequently, In order to clarify the core characteristics of the musical genre, one must first examine the various transitions the musical has undergone throughout its history, which has 'been marked by various traditions, forms and styles' . Such forms include ‘'Opereta', 'revue', 'musical comedy', 'musical drama', the ‘back-stage musical' , [and] 'the integrated musical'’ . The teenpic genre emerged in the 1950s, as a response to the newly recognised economic profitability of age following the emergence of popular teenage culture in the USA. This relatively new genre appeals to its target audience through ‘catering for teenage interests, tastes and concerns’ The text in discussion, Disney’s High School Musical (2OO6) can be identified as appropriating various generic elements of the teenpic and the traditional musical genres and so as Maltby states ‘is susceptible to extensive subdivision’ .

Firstly, one of the most essential and often spectacular elements of the musical genre is of course song and its counterpart dance. Jerome Delamater identifies the use of ‘“big” voices’ as ‘one of the hallmarks of musical drama’ , clearly evident in previous musical dramas such as Oklahoma! (1943) and Carousel (1956). The well-acclaimed teenpic musical Grease (1978), further exemplifies the necessity of talented vocalists through the performances of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John in the musical number ‘Summer Nights’. The use of “big voices” however, is not consistent in High School Musical as although there is undoubtedly presence and talent in the voice of supporting actor Lucas Grabeel (Ryan Evans), the key male protagonist Troy Bolton’s (Zac Efron) vocals were digitally enhanced: “Drew Seeley's voice was blended with Zac's” . By failing to conform to this element of the musical drama, High School Musical demonstrates how aesthetic pleasure has been channelled through physical appearance rather than natural vocal talent, perhaps reflecting a change in society as increasingly image conscious.

Furthermore, High School Musical songs are evidently mirroring the success of the teenpic Grease with the High School Musical soundtrack being ‘certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA’ (‘Recording Industry Association of America’ ). This signals a trend towards the mainstream popular culture amongst ‘tweens’ as well as the growing importance of commercialisation and economic profit in the film industry today. This is exemplified through the way the hit number ‘We’re All In This Together’ includes an intertextual reference to popular teen music through ‘appropriating the marching band beat of Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ . The growing importance of commercialisation and economic profit is demonstrated further through the effects of ‘globalisation’ with ‘Breaking Free’ [becoming] a transatlantic top ten smash’ having been released in countries such as Australia, India and South Africa.

Conventionally, there is an absence of diegetic singing in teen musicals. Teen musicals created a new convention with ‘the use of non-diegetic…music over the images’ as opposed to the ‘diegetic music that defined the older form of musical film’ as is exemplified through John Badham’s Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Emile Ardolino’s Dirty Dancing (1987). The move away from the inclusion of diegetic singing supports theorist Steve Neale’s statement that ‘the boundaries of a genre dissolve’ over time. Additionnaly, the transition in teen musicals away from the diegetic music traditionally used in musical film corresponds to changes in society and audience interests. The non-diegetic music used in the teen musicals for instance, captured the ‘daily experience of the walkman generation’ , ‘dancing or singing to pre-recorded music’ in contrast to the ‘pre World War 2 era’ where diegetic music was produced ‘around the family piano’ . Conversely, High School Musical does not conform to this teen musical convention as it includes a variety of successful diegetic musical ensembles such as ‘Breaking Free’ and ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’. This backward transition to the convention of the traditional musical and the popularity of the diegetic music used in High School Musical may be reflective of an increased demand for ‘audience participation’ and interaction when viewing media. This links to the growth of user generated content as a result of the internet, such as video sharing websites like ‘YouTube’ and social networking sites including ‘Facebook’ and ‘Myspace’ which rely upon active audiences. The diegetic musical numbers are an effective way of imitating this as they invite the audience to interact and directly participate with the characters through sing-along.

Furthermore, the concept of integration, derived from ‘the integrated musical’ according to Mueller (1984) ‘refers to the relationship between the musical numbers and the plot’ . Integration in the musical genre emerged during the 1940s where they became more ‘lavish ‘integrated’ productions’ and the musical performances were ‘woven into the storylines themselves’ . Mueller focuses on a rather complicated analysis of integration arguing that there are six different variations of integration created through the musical numbers which can be ‘completely irrelevant to the plot’ , or ‘advance the plot’ ; also those which can ‘enrich the plot but…not advance it’, as well as those which simply ‘contribute to the spirit or theme’ of the film in question. Disney’s High School Musical conforms to some of the musical elements of integration that Mueller cites. For instance, the penultimate musical number, ‘We’re Breaking Free,’ clearly creates integration through both advancing the plot and contributing to the themes in the film. The song draws together omnipresent ideologies that the film aims to portray to its tweenage audience such as courage, determination and solidarity. Such positive ideologies are key to one of Disney’s core values of providing ‘optimism’ where texts are catered to provide hope and aspiration. The mise en scène of this musical number visually depicts this. Characters Troy and Gabriella stand on stage ready to sing. Troy stands wearing his 'Wildcats' tracksuit and Gabriella wearing her lab coat. The fact that they are singing in a musical audition and also wearing clothing representing their other interests represents how the characters have overcome the constraints of peer pressure and the social segregation defined by ones ‘social clique’. Consequently, the musical number displays how the characters have broken away from merely accepting the ‘status quo’ (with reference to an earlier song, demonstrating further continuity and integration). The parallel lyrics of the song ‘We’re Breaking Free’ also help to reinforce this message further through metaphorically supporting a ‘break’ away from the social confines constructed by society.

However, integration is not consistent throughout the whole of the musical as is evident when Gabriella breaks into an emotional melody titled ‘When There Was Me And You’ (reminiscent of Sandy’s ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ in Grease). Gabriella’s break into song narrated alongside slightly melodramatic choreography as she walks alone down the stairs at East High conforms to the 1940s and 50s where characters ‘would burst into song at the slightest dramatic provocation’ . Such dramatic outbreaks lie at the heart of the continuous criticism faced by the musical that through its discontinuity with real life it is often too unbelievable to be taken seriously as in reality it is unconventional for one to randomly break into song and dance. However, appreciators of the musical genre would argue that the irregularity of the musical is what lies in the essence and enjoyment of the genre, a genre which is unrestricted and not bound to ‘the rules governing other genres’ such as the Western where iconography such as ‘dress, language and setting’ are compulsory to the genre’s recognition.

Another convention of musicals of any subgenre is dance. Dance is an essential element of the musical as it plays a vital role in the genre’s escapist status and its illustrious notion of spectacle. The ‘accessible and effortless image’ created through musicals earns the genre its escapist status. In particular, the “abundance, energy, transparency [and] community” of the films created through dance in the very first musicals directly appealed to audiences because it was the opposite of the “scarcity, exhaustion, dreariness, [and] fragmentation, of their real lives” . A greater emphasis on escapism is apparent during the 1930s, a period where ‘more than a fifth of the world was unemployed’ accounting for the great success and popularity of the musical genre at the time. High School Musical is at times thoroughly deserving of the genre’s escapist status when Kenny Ortega’s ‘dazzling choreography’ offers ‘guilt-free escapism of the highest order’ in the musical numbers ‘Get your Head In The Game’, ‘We're All In This Together’ and ‘Stick to the Status Quo’ which elements and pastiches the teenpic Grease through its choreographic style. Hence, this is conforming to a teenpic convention highlighted by Hay who stated that teen musicals often ‘parodied’ the conventions of previous genres and texts. Furthermore, escapism is also provided through the use of a positive resolution within the narrative as both Troy and Gabriella achieve their goals. The use of escapism in the film provides as Phillips states ‘comfortable reassurance’ through conforming to audience expectations of the musical genre. Furthermore, the conformity to the genre’s escapist status may be an attempt to ease the growing underlying strain upon contemporary society resulting from political conflict (such as through the war in Iraq) as well as an increased awareness and threat of terrorism post 9/11.

Moreover, recent innovations in technology raise an argument about whether modern fast editing is taking over the over the need for talent when trying to achieve the notion of spectacle through the choreography used in modern film musicals. Great dancers such as Astaire were described as dancing with invention, virtuosity, precision and elegance. Recent film musicals such as Loves Labour's Lost (2000) and Moulin Rouge (2001) appropriated MTV style techniques such as fast and inventive editing in attempt to make their ‘non-dancing stars look…like musical pros’ . Similarly, the dance scenes in the film musical Chicago (2002) incorporate a large amount of quick edits to conform to the genre’s notion of spectacle questioning whether ‘it was a triumph of great dancing or clever editing’ that produced such a display. Conversely, Disney’s High School Musical is less dependent upon editing techniques, focussing more specifically on the need for skilled, athletic choreography reminiscent of MGM’s dance performances in the mid-1950s which were described as ‘energetic, athletic masterpieces’ . This is clearly evident in the musical number ‘Get Your Head In The Game’ where East High’s basketball team the ‘Wild Cats’ and their captain Troy Bolton perform an arresting and well choreographed dance sequence. Having said this, High School Musical still appeals to its ‘music video generation’ audience through the use of subtle intertextual references to music videos in its editing (such as dissolve edits) and fluid cinematography. ‘Get Your Head In The Game’ for instance, also uses graceful camerawork following the basketball as the ‘Wild Cats’ play a game creating a feel of immediacy and closeness for the viewing audience.

A further convention of the traditional musical genre that needs to be assessed in terms of representation is the relationship between ‘gender, narrative and spectacle’ . Busby Berkeley ‘innovator and choreographer’ has been criticised by theorist Lucy Fisher who described Berkeley’s chorographic work as the product of ‘optical politics’ . With reference to Dames (1934), Fischer noted that women became ‘two-dimensional images, subordinated to a voyeuristic gaze whose instrument is the camera and whose source is resolutely male’ . Berkeley’s choreography has been criticised further by feminists for making women the ‘objects of erotic voyeurism’ . For instance, in the film The Gang's All Here (1943), ‘a line of chorus girls waving giant bananas’ are a clear representation of Freudian symbolism, a theory which is further developed by Laura Mulvey. Mulvey’s theories regarding fetishization and male castration anxiety are applicable here as the banana, according to Freud is a phallic object, symbolic of the male sexual organ functioning to relieve unconscious male castration anxiety. Conversely, High School Musical does not represent female characters as subject to ‘the controlling male gaze’ . Rather than being subjected to sexual objectification the stars are portrayed as pleasantly cute. This may be due to the fact that as a Disney text, High School Musical is aimed at a young tweenage target audience. Therefore, the over sexualised representation of teenagers would be premature and immoral, whilst going against one of Disney’s key values of maintaining ‘decency’. However, although the representation of characters in High School Musical is not overtly sexual, image is still presented as being important. Characters Troy, Gabriella, Chad and Sharpay, to name a few, are presented as well dressed, good-looking and attractive teenagers. The large focus upon physical beauty and aesthetics again highlights the importance of image in society today. Obsession with image lends itself onto the way society has become increasingly fanatical about celebrity icons and perfect body image as the recent press attention and merchandise created around Vanessa Anne Hudgens and Zac Efron exemplifies. Hence, this is conforming to the success of the musical between the 1930s and 50s where its stars were the ‘idols and dreamboats of audiences’ .
Furthermore, the relationship between gender, narrative and spectacle in relation to male performers has also been explored by theorists such as Cohan. Cohan argues that the male image (with reference to Fred Astaire) is rooted in ‘the so called “feminine” tropes of narcissism, exhibitionism and masquerade’ . Similarly, Rickard (1996) argues that the dance sequences in past musicals such as those made by Astaire-Rogers function to ‘sexualise Astaire’s masculinity’ . Disney’s High School Musical, despite focusing greatly upon physicality, does not conform to such sexualised representations of its male characters. The film’s non-conformance to such a convention may be due to the fact that it is a Disney Chanel Original Movie (DCOM) and so has a responsibility towards what it presents to its young target audience.
An additional element that contributes to the musical genre is the relationship between romance and narrative. Altman identifies three different variations in the relationship between romance and the ‘ideological oppositions’ in the film. The first variation is ‘the fairy tale musical’ , whereby ‘restoring order to the couple accompanies and parallels…restoration of order to an imaginary kingdom’ . The second variation is the ‘show musical’ where ‘creating the couple is associated with the creation of a work of art’ such as a Broadway Show. The final variation identified by Altman is the ‘folk musical’ where ‘integrating two disparate individuals into a single couple heralds the entire group’s communion with each other’ . High School Musical conforms to the show musical as characters Troy and Gabriella are brought together though the creation of the school musical. The musical also conforms to the folk musical as the struggle to unite Troy and Gabriella results in the communion of the whole school as the different social cliques work together. The inclusion of ideologies based on working together supports another of Disney’s core values of promoting the idea of ‘community’. Furthermore, High School Musical’s commitment to elements of the folk musical such as communion may reflect the situation post 9/11 where the importance of unity and working together was heightened in order to overcome and deal with mass tragedy.

Conventionally, teenpics deal with issues and ideologies such as ‘coming of age’ and ‘rights of passage’. ‘Coming of age’ is a theme directly associated with teenpics and explores issues such as ‘puberty, adolescence…and the search for identity’ alongside other common difficulties surrounding growing up. As Hay states, teenpics often included ‘rites of passage’ narratives where the key protagonist(s) struggle to find common ground between adulthood and childhood through exploring issues of ‘autonomy, identity, allegiance and difference’ . Consequently, teenpics are known to involve narrative conflict between developing and finding one’s identity and role amongst peers and over resisting or conforming to the world of adulthood and responsibility. This is exemplified in the teenpic Grease where social issues such as teenage pregnancy and gang violence are tackled alongside central themes such as juvenile delinquency, friendship, love and a search for social and sexual identity amongst peers. Danny Zuko (John Travolta), for instance, conforms to peer pressure and struggles to find identity as he sways between the persona of the ‘nice boy’ that Sandy Dumbrowski (Olivia Newton- John) met at the beach to the ‘too-cool-for school’ T-Bird.

Similarly, issues regarding finding identity and individuality are also apparent in High School Musical. The musical number ‘Status Quo’ illustrates this clearly. Firstly, the song is set in East High’s cafeteria where each dining table is segregated according to one’s social clique such as the ‘jocks’, ‘geeks’, ‘preps’ and cheerleaders. The depiction of segregation presented in High School Musical may act as a microcosm for wider social and political differences in the world. During the song a basketball player confesses that he likes to bake and has dreams of making a perfect crème brule whilst a ‘Skater dude’ admits to secretly playing the cello. Fluidity between sharing an identity in more than one of the social cliques is not the norm as is exemplified through the response of the other students who encircle the norm breakers, advising them "If you want to be cool, follow one simple rule, just stick with the status quo."

However, despite addressing stereotypical teen issues, such as the struggle between conformity to peer pressure or finding independence and individuality, High School Musical fails to touch upon real teen issues that are experienced by teenagers today such as teen pregnancies (as depicted in Grease), drug abuse and violence. Furthermore, various explicit sexual innuendos are apparent in the teenpic Grease such as the song lyrics ‘meditate in my direction…feel your way’ as well as John Travolta’s gesture when he sings the line ‘We made out under the docks..." and ‘… she was good you know what I mean’ . In contrast, High School Musical is devoid of any sexual references and unlike conventional teenpics such as She’s All That (1999) the film does not feature a single kiss between the love struck protagonists Troy and Gabriella. High School Musical’s nonconformity to dealing with such issues usually explored by the teenpic genre makes it open to criticism as it creates an unrealistic, fairytale portrayal of high school to its audience leaving them unprepared and oblivious to such problems. Perhaps this is a result of a progressively child centred society whereby increased parental interest and control in what is viewed by their children has lead to censorship in the media consumed by younger audiences. Director of Disney’s High School Musical however, states that the great success of the musical indeed lies in its exclusion of such issues as there is too much pressure upon youngsters today to grow up through being ‘inundated with lectures on drugs, violence and sex’ . Instead, High School Musical offers relief to a ‘generation that's overdosing on seriousness’ .

In conclusion, as Jacques Derrida proposed 'a text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without... a genre. Every text participates in one or several genres, there is no genreless text' . This is evidently true of High School Musical as it appropriates elements of various sub generic categories of musical film such as the integrated musical and the folk musical as well as the teenpic genre. Despite conforming to many conventions of its generic predecessors it is apparent that High School Musical also subverts some elements. Indeed, as Maltby states ‘Genres are flexible [and] subject to the constant process of change and adaptation”. Such subversions to the musical and teen genres are rooted in changes in society. Moreover, High School Musical’s conformity back to the traditional conventions of the musical such as the inclusion of diegetic music as opposed to the non-diegetic music conventionally used in teenpic musicals exemplifies Tag Gallagher’s criticism of evolutionary theories of generic development as he argues that ‘the historical development of genres is cyclical not linear’ .

Word count: 3,276

































Bibliography:


Books:

• Altman, Rick (1987): The American Film Musical, Bloomington: Indiana Univerity Press. p.126
• Bernink, Mike; Cook Pam (1999): The Cinema Book 2nd Edition. British Film Institution. p.209, 210, 212, 219
• Cohan, Steven (1993): Screening the Male. Exploring Masculinities in Hollywood Cinema, London: Routledge. p.48
• Collins, Jim (1988):'The Musical' in Wes D. Gehring, Handbook of American Film Genres, New York: Greenswood Press. P.269
• Cousins, Mark (2004): The Story of Film: A Worldwide History of Film from the Host of the BBC's Scene by Scene. Pavilion Books. p.183
• Delameter, Jerome (1974): Performing Arts: The Musical, in Kaminsky, American Film p.123
• Derrida, Jacques (1981): 'The law of genre'. In W J T Mitchell (Ed.): On Narrative. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.61
• Doherty, Thomas (1988): Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950's , Boston, Unwin Hyman.
• Dyer, Richard (1977), “Entertainment and Utopia.” movie no24
• Feuer, Jane (1993) The Hollywood Musical. Indiana University Press. p.129
• Fisher, Lucy: The image of women as image: the optical politics of Dames, in Altman (ed.), Genre
• Frith, Simon (2004): Popular Music: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Routledge. p.233, 235
• Hay, James “You’re tearing me apart!”: The Primal Scene of Teen Films, Cultural studies 4(3). p.336
• Mueller, John (1984): Fred Astaire and the integrated musical, Cinema Journal. p.28,29
• Maltby, Richard (1995) Hollywood Cinema. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
• Mulvey, Laura (1975): Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. p.33
• Neale, Steve (1990)
• Phillips, Patrick (1996)
• Probert, David (2005): AS/A-Level Media Studies: Essential Word Dictionary
• Wales, Katie (1989): A Dictionary of Stylistics. London: Longman p.259


Films:

• Carousel (USA,1956) Henry King
• Chicago (USA, 2002) Rob Marshall
• Dames (USA, 1934) Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley
• Dirty Dancing (USA, 1987) Emile Ardolino
• Grease (USA,1978) Randal Kleiser
• High School Musical (USA, 2006) Kenny Ortega
• Loves Labour's Lost (USA, 2000,) Kenneth Branagh
• Moulin Rouge (USA, 2001) Baz Luhrmann
• Oklahoma! (USA,1943) Fred Zinnemann
• Saturday Night Fever (USA, 1977) John, Badham
• She’s All That (USA, 1999) Robert Iscove
• The Gang's All Here (USA, 1943) Busby Berkeley



Websites:

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475293/soundtrack
(List of soundtracks and recording information for ‘High School Musical’ from the Internet Movie Database)

• http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gayspy/a74975/the-big-one-the-high-school-musical-phenomenon.html
(Article from online magazine ‘Digital Spy’ by Music Editor Nick Levine investigating the record-breaking success of High School Musical)


• http://www.musicals101.com/dancescreen.htm#Editing
(Article titled ‘Dance in Screen Musicals’
by John Kenrick providing information on the spectacle of dance in screen musicals).

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_musical#Soundtrack
(Wikipedia information page outlining the success of the ‘High School Musical’ soundtrack)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA
(Wikipedia information page on the Recording Industry Association of America¬¬)

• http://www.cinematheque.bc.ca/education/pdfs/f_h_guide12.pdf
(‘Genre and Hollywood Musicals’ PDF study guide providing information on the elements and history of the Hollywood musical)

• http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road Movies/Musicals-DECLINE-AND-CHANGE.html
(An essay on the decline and change of musical film, providing social, historical and economic contextual information)

• www.classicmoviefavorites.com/berkeley/
(An unofficial biography of Busby Berkeley briefly outlining his career successes)

• http://www.scriptwritermagazine.com/genremusicals.htm
(An article titled "Musicals and Dance" (The third of the UK Film Council’s latest '25 Words or Less' genre initiative) providing general information on the generic conventions of the Hollywood musical).