6 High School Musical Fan Theories That Will Blow Your Mind

People love to read too much into films, and we’re one of them. And we LOVE an insane High School Musical theory. So here are some odd yet strangely plausible fan theories that actually improve the film, if such a thing were possible. You heard us, we’re Breakin’ Free…

High School Musical is an actual musical

We’re gonna bop this one right to the top.  Clearly, someone’s been watching Inception on a constant loop with HSM, as according to this reddit post, the East High Wildcats are aware they’re in a musical, which is why they’re always popping, locking and bursting into song. 

 “Towards the end of High School Musical 3, we see the main cast walking towards the camera until they stand on a stage. Curtains fall behind them as they bow to the audience, and the series ends as more curtains close. While the saying of goodbyes can be dismissed as a gesture towards fans, I think it hints to the true story of the movie series. Everything in the three movies is only a musical. This explains the perfectly choreographed dance sequences when they randomly sings songs, the ending scene and the very fictitious story.”

That is to say Zefron et al are playing high school actors playing roles within a musical – a musical set in a high school.  THE CLUE WAS IN THE TITLE ALL ALONG.

Chad and Ryan had a secret relationship

While we were shipping over Troyella and Chaylor, there was another cute couple under our noses the whole time. Remember that time in High School Musical 2, when Ryan was trying to convince Chad to dance in the show, and Chad was all like, “I don’t dance (not a chance, no no)”

And gave Ryan this hawt look

And then to show his intense dislike for dancing, Chad busted some moves for Ryan’s benefit

And then they both danced

And Chad realises that baseball and dancing ARE the same thing, and then he and Ryan have a casual snack.  Notice anything different?

THEY ARE WEARING EACH OTHER’S CLOTHES. For no explainable reason When did that happen? Why did that happen? And why does Taylor look so awkward? As tumblr user thereichenbachfinn points out, when Troy was all annoyed thinking Ryan was making a move on Gabriella, he should have seen who Ryan was actually interested in. All hail Rychad. It’s real.

High School Musical is basically The Purge

You know when you just can’t wait for summer to begin

And then out of sheer glee, you and the other students just straight up trash your school? No?  You wouldn’t would you; that would be rude. But not at East High School, where the last day of term is anarchy.

Reddit user SkyWasTheRobot nearly goddam broke our brains when they suggested that the entire High School Musical trilogy is set in a world where all crime is legal.  Prepare to get deep, people.

“At the beginning of the second movie, our heroes completely trash their school out of excitement for summer vacation. Nobody questions it or argues against it….In reality, those kids probably would have been put on mandatory community service”

The fact that no one even gets so much as a whiff of a detention slip is that there is no Social Contract, the philosophical concept of how society works, which basically means you don’t log on to your sister’s Instagram and post embarrassing photos, in exchange for her not doing the same to you. Unlike the characters of The Purge who get to act out all kinds of nasty stuff for one night, we should be glad the kids of East High School decided to sing about their feels rather than murder the dinner lady.

It’s about a socialist revolution.  Probably.

“It’s like Animal Farm, but with a lot more singing, dancing, and basketball.”  That’s right, HSM isn’t about being the star of the basketball team and the star of the show: it’s about overthrowing an oppressive system. WH-AT?

As one writer notes, “Our heroic characters are two youngsters who have been brought up in various systems which are designed to hold them in their positions… However, both of them want to 'Break Free' from these restraints and take ownership of their own destiny. Just like how socialist theory states the proletariat needs to take ownership of the means of production in order to free themselves from class and capitalist oppression.”

Riiiigght. Maybe let’s just look at Troy’s sweet dance moves instead:

It takes place in the same town as Breaking Bad

This is less of a theory and more of a statement of fact: both HSM and Breaking Bad are set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  So would it be beyond the realms of possibility that Walter White might have actually taught Sharpay and co chemistry at East High, before transferring to JP Wynne High School? 

Troy used to date Nicki Minaj

Makes total sense when you think about it.

- By Becky Suter @becky_super