Imagine having a solid belief in something and then having that whole point of view changed forever. What was once believed and deemed as right may not be what it seems. Someone can appear way different than they truly are. People who pertain to the theater are split between Sharpay deserving more than what she got and if Gabriella and Troy were the good guys. Sharpay should be considered the protagonist of the HSM series because she worked harder than any of the other characters, she helps everyone yet still gets put down, and she has a positive outlook on everything. She gets a reputation but it was not justified to have her treated the way she was treated.
Although this argument is veracious, there are those who disagree. Sharpay could be the antagonist because antagonists are seen as going against the general message of the story; Sharpay is seen as going against the main characters [Troy and Gabriella]. However, she helps many characters throughout the movies. She helps Troy with his future, gets Gabriella into the theater, and saves the show in the third movie. The song “Were All In This Together” really defeats her being seen as going against them. At the end of the first movie, she is getting along with Gabriella. Sharpay could be seen as a self-absorbed drama queen just wanting Troy Bolton. She is very talented and has many goals for her future. While their point of view on the subject is acknowledged, their opinions are incorrect.
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One of the strongest supporting claims is Sharpay's actions towards others. Sharpay comes across as impertinent even though she is just teaching Troy and Gabriella how show business works. Sharpay states, “Oh were you [Gabriella] gonna sign up too? My brother and I have starred in all the school productions and we really welcome newcomers. There are a lot of supporting roles in the show. I'm sure we could find something for you”. Everyone starts somewhere. You won't always be guaranteed the lead role. Sharpay states, “I don't want to hear any more about Troy and that Montez girl. So, if you're telling me as co-presidents of the drama club that changing the callbacks would be what's best for our theater program, I might actually agree with you”. Their teacher even agrees that the day of callbacks should be moved. Cambridge University Press states that “An antagonist is a person who is strongly opposed to something or someone”. Sharpay is just being welcoming to newcomers but also strives to be successful in theater herself.
Sharpay has many layers and the audience does not see the real Sharpay. Sharpay is seen as wanting Troy all to herself, but she is actually helping to set him on the right track. Sharpay is helping Troy with his future:
And don't lecture me about Ryan given the way you've been interfering with Troy's future. You've gotten him written up by Fulton for sneaking on the golf course and swimming after hours, I had to step in just to save Troy's job.
She saves the show when everyone bailed. Jimmie Zara says, “You forgot the special. Where's Troy? Okay, he's around here somewhere. Hello! Send Troy in to see me I need to run the song”. Sharpay saved the show and included her classmates in the final show. Sharpay is caring and does a lot for others when they don’t give that energy back.
Sharpay gets made fun of for doing what she loves. Before Troy and Gabriella started doing the musicals, Sharpay was made fun of for doing them. Gabriella states, “I can't do it, Troy, not with all these people staring at me”. In High School Musical Theory Claims Sharpay Was a Victim, Read-Dominguez states how this proves that Gabriella does not have what it takes to be the leading role over Sharpay. If you have the lead role in something you can not be freezing up. Gabriella says, “Callbacks at the same time as the game? And the scholastic decathlon? Why would they do that?” Gabriella and Troy were always late to auditions and even the callbacks. Gabriella was busy with her academic decathlon and Troy was busy with basketball. In Scholastic Scopes's article High School Musical Encore, they state that “In 1608, popular was first used in English to say ‘admired by the people.’ The phrase popularity contest was coined in 1941”. Sharpay is admired but also has some people who try and get in her way. She is dedicated to the theater but she never got the roles she deserved. Troy and Gabriella, who are not dedicated to theater, get the lead roles.
In order for Sharpay to be the protagonist, she needs to change the way she speaks to others. Sharpay will need to portray her ideas and thoughts in a way that would be more accepted by her classmates. This will be beneficial for her because she could get better roles and be more involved with the wildcats of East High. Sharpay should also focus more on her future instead of others so that she can get the best for herself. Ultimately, if Sharpay had a change of communication, she would have gotten better treatment in the High School Musical movies.
Sharpay was the protagonist in High School Musical because she helped her classmates, was very generous, and fought for what she could get. The ways in which Sharpay helped her classmates was by giving them jobs at her parent's golf resort and letting them star in the yearly show at the resort. Sharpay was generous for those reasons, as well as getting Troy into an amazing college even though he used her for his future with Gabriella. Sharpay fought for the roles she could get. She did not get the lead in the shows but still was a positive person after it.
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