How would Disney solve our problems? (news story)

Times West Virginian

As my daughter was opening her fifth (or was it sixth) “High School Musical 3” themed present on Christmas morning, I stopped to ponder the third installment of the Disney movie franchise.

Beware. I will reveal major spoilers in the following paragraphs. If you are a tween girl who has yet to see this film, or a parent or grandparent of a tween who actually cares about the fate of Gabriella and Troy and the rest of the Wildcats, do not read any further.

The year 2008 brought us the big-screen version of the musical phenomenon, which has captured the hearts of little girls all over the nation. What started off as just a made-for-TV movie a few years ago exploded into a sensation. We were all fans of the East High Wildcats basketball team and its team captain Troy, who falls for the brainy Gabriella, the new girl in town. Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we hummed “We’re All in this Together” in the shower.

Another made-for-TV movie followed — Troy and Gabriella work at the country club for the summer where the evil Sharpay is a member, and the blonde menace does everything she can to break up the soul mates.

But it just wasn’t enough. We had unanswered questions. What would the senior year hold for these songbirds? What about graduation?

And just as we were gnashing our teeth and begging for answers and resolution, the fall of 2008 brought us “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”

The Wildcats beat the West High Knights for the state championship. Gabriella makes it to Stanford on a scholarship. There’s a prom. Troy decides to play basketball AND study drama at a school just a few minutes away from his sweetheart instead of taking an athletic scholarship close to home.

That’s it — everything’s wrapped up in a nice three-DVD boxed set. Well, not in time for Christmas marketing, but the merchandising alone sure makes up for that. Happily ever after. Riding off into the sunset. The hero kisses the girl and the music swells. The end. Credits.

Wouldn’t it be nice if life were like a Disney movie?

Well, it’s not. Here we are, just hours away from the end of the year, and we have no more answers today than we did when the calendar flipped from 2007 to 2008 — well, except we know who will be sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office dealing with all of these unanswered questions.

We thought we’d consult our online readers at www.timeswv.com about some of those issues that have yet to be resolved. We asked, “Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a ...”

• Definite plan to bail out the auto industry — 3.42 percent. If this were a Disney movie, a little mouse with an amazing skill for numbers would hide in the desk drawer of the president and scratch out a plan after regular office hours.

• Move toward troop withdrawal from Iraq — 17.09 percent. Disney would just send in chosen ones Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan from “The Chronicles of Narnia” to end the war.

• Economic stimulus that would bring the nation out of a recession — 36.75 percent. If Uncle Scrooge McDuck would just open up his vault of gold coins, there would be no more recession to speak of.

• Energy plan that would lessen our dependence on foreign oil — 42.74 percent. I can see it now ... “High School Musical 4: The College Years.” While at Stanford, Gabriella develops such a plan. Troy gets the starring role in Grease. His college team makes it to the Final 4. With lower gas prices, all of the cast from the first three movies can afford the commute to Detroit to watch the game.

Well, we can’t fix the world’s problems, but we can fix our own. This week, let us know what your New Year’s resolutions are.


http://www.timeswv.com/editorials/local ... 02734.html