Thursday, October 2, 2008

A Boy's Gotta Dance


Like most 8-year-old boys, my son likes three things in his movies: action heroes, robots, and stuff blowing up. He is contemptuous of his sister's "Hello Kitty" and "Barbie" DVDs. If I let him, he would watch every PG-13 superhero film released in the last five years, back-to-back. Then, he would put on a cape and start jumping off of furniture.

Nevertheless, he likes the "High School Musical" franchise. No, scratch that. He loves it — not that there's anything wrong with that. But given his usual entertainment preferences, I find it interesting that he responds so enthusiastically to this jazz-handing Disney juggernaut. Does he want tickets to see "High School Musical 3?" Yes, he does.

There's a scene halfway through "High School Musical 2," in which an angry Zac Efron stomps across a golf course, singing, dancing and emoting like there's no tomorrow. You know he means business, because he's dressed in black and hurls a golf club. My friend J., a longtime lover of musicals, said it was way Jerome Robbins — in other words, "a very gay performance."

The last time "HSM2" was on, I watched my kid get up and recreate that "Bet On It" routine almost move for move, word for word. I am not exaggerating. If he had been auditioning for a production at his school ("Elementary School Musical?") he would have killed. Bring it, Efron!

What a little Renaissance man. Now, if only I could skip "HSM3."

5 comments:

That Hank said...

Does he like other musicals? Have you tried him on West Side Story or Newsies or something?

Healthy Heather said...

Oh, you know you can't wait for HSM3. All for one!

E. Peterman said...

DG, he's a huge fan of "A Hard Day's Night," and he generally likes anything music-oriented. I tried to change the channel when the Stones were performing, and he was like, "No! I'm watching this!" And H., will I be seeing you on opening night? :-)

The Irredeemable Shag said...

My 8 year old step-son (about to be 9 years old) has already informed us that we'll be going opening day to High School Musical 3.

We're so lucky...

The Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com

E. Peterman said...

Oh, God. Maybe we can meet up if that would make it less painful.