Ryan Evans: The (Mostly) Unsung Hero of High School Musical
Plus some changes I would make to improve the series.
Sharpay, Sharpay, Sharpay.
I’m tired of people talking about how Sharpay was the one who got screwed over in the High School Musical franchise. Someone released more content about that a few months ago and it hit #1 on YouTube’s trending list at the time.’
Ironically, I sort of agree with them, even if I think they get some things wrong about her. Sharpay is one of the best things about the movies, but I think that was mostly from Ashley Tisdale’s performance. Think about the Sharpay wannabe in HSM 3 (that British one everyone forgot about). They both had similar personalities and goals, but she lacked the ‘star quality’ that Sharpay had. Tisdale did a great job bringing that character to life and making her at least entertaining to watch.
In fact, I think the only person in the main cast who could come close to playing Sharpay is Monique Coleman, who played Taylor. And when you find out that Sharpay and Ryan were originally supposed to be black, it makes a bit more sense.
Speaking of which, Taylor and Kelsi are the real ones who got screwed over. Taylor is the only person in the main cast who’s on the cover of all three movies and she doesn’t get her own song/duet/real subplot beyond the first movie! They gave Ryan and Kelsi a whole song but no Taylor and Chad song (minus the little part in ‘High School Musical’ that wasn’t specifically about them). Kelsi isn’t even on the cover, but she has more of a purpose overall than Taylor.
While they got screwed over, Ryan had lots of potential as the first openly gay character in a DCOM and as a crucial part of the series. I wish some parts of his character were given more attention. With more effort put into his character, we could have gotten something truly great out of it that would have made the whole series better.
There’s a great quote from Grabeel about when he first read the script:
“After reading the script, the first thing I said to him was, ‘OK, Kenny (Ortega), Ryan’s gay, right? I know it’s Disney Channel so I’m not really gonna be gay, but I mean, yeah, right?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, think of it this way: You have the opportunity to play a character who’s young, he’s into theater, he’s an artist, and let’s go at it from that point of view.’”
Whatever floats your boat, Kenny. Now, let’s look at what makes Ryan stand out as the real protagonist of the HSM franchise.
The Evidence
High School Musical
I will concede that there’s less focus on Ryan in the first movie. To be fair, though, most of the characters outside of Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, and Sharpay, were underwritten at the time.
Ryan spends most of HSM in Sharpay’s shadow. He doesn’t talk to the other students often, even ones in the drama department. When he’s not with Sharpay he roams the school alone or keeps an eye out for Troy and Gabriella. He’s the one who tells Sharpay about both of them eyeing the sign-up sheet for the tryouts in the musical, thus setting off the plot. This scene is also his first speaking role in the movie, 18 minutes in (Sharpay’s is around 12 minutes in).
Sharpay constantly puts him in his place, but the power dynamic between the two makes scenes with them some of the funniest parts of the movie. Ryan tries to jump in during ‘Stick to the Status Quo’ and Sharpay cuts him off. When they finish their tryout song, ‘What I’ve Been Looking For,’ Sharpay shames Ryan for adding a jazz square in the performance. Even when they get up to walk on stage, Sharpay touches Ryan and motions him to move out the way so she can go up first. Divas gonna diva.
The other characters are well aware of this dynamic. Taylor joked, “If that girl could figure out a way to play both Romeo and Juliet, her own brother would be aced out of a job.” I loved seeing their perceptions of Ryan expanded upon in HSM 2.
Ryan is also portrayed as more of a lovable fool in HSM compared to the sequels. When they find out Troy and Gabriella were on the callback list, he thought they were being Punk’d (“Maybe we’ll get to meet Ashton!”). He’s less of a free-thinker and mostly follows what Sharpay does. He has a good heart, but he still helps her with her plans for w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶ ̶d̶o̶m̶i̶n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ preventing Troy and Gabriella from auditioning. He actually appreciates how conniving she can be (Ryan on Sharpay coming up with a plan: “I’m proud to call you my sister”).
That last one may seem like a contradiction, but you have to see it through his eyes. He has a good heart, but he cares a lot about this show and wants it to be great with Sharpay and him as the leads. He comments on how great Troy and Gabriella sound, but he shares Sharpay’s worries about how outsiders will affect the drama department. They finally have real competition and they don’t know how to handle it. I think he has a bigger change of heart at the end than Sharpay. While Sharpay held a grudge and wouldn’t move on for two more movies, Ryan moved on from the disappointment and kept a positive attitude. That put him miles ahead of his sister, who kept dragging him into her schemes in each movie.
I’ll go into this more in the HSM 2 section, but you’ll see hints as to why Sharpay is the way she is and why Ryan being gay would have made more sense for his character arc. While the first movie has less of a role for Ryan, it sets up an important theme in Ryan’s character arc: his escape from his sister’s psychological grasp over him.
High School Musical 2
I have a lot to say about Ryan’s role in this movie but I need to get this off my chest now: I think Ryan has two love interests. Neither one of them are Kelsi and I refuse to accept that as canon (I have my own mini-rant and suggestions about that in the HSM 3 section). This isn’t as relevant to the rest of my argument, but it does relate to his relationship with the rest of the cast and contributes to the ‘why Ryan should have been gay’ argument so I’ll talk about it later in this section.
Before I go into detail, let’s discuss the state of Ryan at the end of HSM and the beginning of HSM 2. In HSM Ryan bopped to the top… of understudy in the musical. He looked more bummed about it than Sharpay in the end, but their roles reversed in HSM 2 when he told her to cheer up and look forward to the summer. Like I said in the last section, Ryan, unlike his sister, was willing to move past the disappointment of not getting the part in the musical.
This is less obvious in the first movie, but Ryan is as talented, if not more, than his sister. He can sing and dance like her, but he also plays piano and has talents as an athlete. Sharpay’s personality overshadows his (see Taylor’s quote above), so he has trouble receiving equal praise.
The reasons for how they are is more apparent in HSM 2. We finally see their parents, who are vastly different people. Their mom, Derby, is a free-spirit who seems to do yoga and relax in general. She and Ryan appear to have a close relationship. On the other hand, their father, Vance, has a better relationship with Sharpay, who is spoiled in every aspect of her life. In early scenes with Vance and Ryan, he hints at his issues with Ryan’s effeminate personality, telling him to straighten his hat three times in the movie (granted, one was a joke at the end) and having awkward and limited exchanges with him. Ryan is later revealed to be good at baseball, but he sucks at golf (something else in common with his mom). Vance appears to like Troy more because he’s more athletic and masculine, plus he’s great at golf. He’s like the son he never had, but really wanted.
This is why Ryan being gay could have made a great subplot. Add on another half hour to the movie and you could have had a great subplot with Ryan and Troy. They could argue about how Vance gives Troy more attention and how Ryan is trying to steal away Gabriella from him (yeah, Troy totally thought that when he saw the two of them together).
Ryan could say, “No I’m gay, isn’t it obvious? You’re so clueless,” and Troy could say, “Wow, that makes sense. Your dad likes me because — ” and Ryan will interrupt and say, “Because he’s like the son he’s always wanted. You’re the perfect son for him, and I feel like I’ll never be good enough.” Then they hug it out and cry a bit. There, I wrote a better half-scene that’s more engaging than the entire ‘Gotta Go My Own Way’ song.
I’d put that scene right after that song actually. Ryan walks out to see Gabriella leaving and Troy walking alone down the path, trying not to cry. Ryan tries to cheer him up and Troy blows up in is face. The above conversation happens and they have a real bonding moment. Ryan gives him some advice to cheer him up and tells him about Sharpay’s (honestly ridiculous and convoluted) plan to perform with him in the talent show. Troy is surprised and goes to work the next day eager to restart his friendship with Chad and the rest of the Wildcats. If you remove the scene with Troy’s dad, that would fit seamlessly with the next few scenes and make Troy’s confrontation with Sharpay that much more powerful.
There could have been a great deleted scene with Ryan and Vance talking about their problems. Vance could be more accepting of Ryan and try not to chide him over the way he dresses and acts. That’s way better than the vague resolution they put in the movie with Vance mouthing at Ryan to fix his hat during the applause.
Now that I’ve finished my HSM fanfiction, it’s time to bring back the love interest subplot that never gets explored on-screen. As I mentioned before, I think Ryan has a crush on two guys: Zeke and Chad. His relationship with Zeke is extremely limited given that he has more interest in Sharpay, whom he bakes things for. My main evidence is when he, Zeke, and Sharpay dance together in the ‘I Want It All’ song from HSM 3.
There’s the scene in the first movie where Sharpay refuses the cookies Zeke made for her and they have a little moment:
There’s a not-so-subtle glance he gives him before they move to the next section:
Then there’s their glance at each other at graduation:
However, Chad and Ryan could have been a more believable relationship than Chad and Taylor had they gone with it. Chad and Taylor have minimal romantic chemistry together and pairing two of the few black characters with speaking roles is a bit on the nose. The closest we get to a Chad/Ryan relationship is the entire ‘I Don’t Dance’ song, AKA the ‘I Ship Chad and Ryan #Chyan5Ever’ song.
In HSM 2, Sharpay abandons Ryan so she can manipulate Troy into singing in the talent show with her/make him fall in love with her (seriously, Sharpay has no real character motivation outside of that the entire movie). Ryan, abandoned and with tons of free time, ends up being accepted by the other Wildcats. The scene where this happens includes the baseball scene, where Ryan and Chad face off in a battle of ‘how long can we maintain sexual tension.’ This is an important scene because it sets up Ryan as a major character with independence and puts him in an environment where he can flourish without Sharpay getting in the way. I’ll get into that more soon, but lets list the many innuendos and gay moments in the ‘I Don’t Dance’ scene:
- Lots of times where Chad sizes up Ryan, his eyes seductively looking at him.
- Every time Chad says, “I don’t dance.”
- “You’ll never know if you never try.”
- “You don’t think dancing takes some game.” “You got game?” “A little.” Chad smiles and nods.
- The entire baseball bat part:
- Ryan and Chad are the pitchers. I know the joke doesn’t work because one isn’t a catcher, but there’s a joke in there somewhere.
- “Hey batter, batter, hey batter, batter, swing.”
- The entire song is them flirting. The song could be rewritten as “I’m not gay.” “Dude you’re totally gay and it’s fine.” “No I’m totes straight I’m masculine as hell.” “Just try it out and see if you like it.” “…Okay fine.”
- “I don’t dance.” points intensely “I know you can.” Not a gay moment, but I really like that part.
- “I’ll show you how I swing.”
- “ I can prove it to you ’til you know it’s true
’Cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the diamond too
You’re talkin’ a lot;
Show me what you got
Stop!
Swing!” - “Just like that
That’s what I mean
That’s how you swing
You make a good pitch but I don’t believe
I say you can
I know I can’t
I don’t dance” - The whole baseball dance breakdown, but mainly this:
- Ryan falling on top of Chad, or at least his head.
- Chad: “I’m not saying I’m going to dance in the show, but if I did, what would you have me do?” Ryan smiles and walks off.
- They switch clothes later. I’m not kidding, they straight up wear each others clothes and joke around over lunch.
The other thing that comes out (heh) of this scene is Ryan finally having his talents as an artist appreciated. Gabriella recruits him as the director of the staff talent show performance. He’s the only one (besides Troy, apparently) who knows how to put together a show. He clearly does a great job with it and the rest of the Wildcats like and respect him.
His confrontations with Sharpay show his development as a character. He’s no longer in his sister’s shadow and she’s jealous of that. As in the last movie, Sharpay is genuinely worried that she’ll lose a title that’s important to her, and this time it’s her own brother that will win. When she insults the Wildcats, Ryan defends his new friends. He even goes behind her back to cancel her whole song for the show, which was kind of harsh, but it would have been embarrassing for her if she went through with it alone.
Naturally, she feels betrayed, but it’s hard to feel bad for her since there are so few stakes in this movie. At least in the first one they auditioned for a musical, but this is a talent show at a country club your parents own. Anything that doesn’t go Sharpay’s way is seen as a huge conflict for her, which is not a compelling character motivation. At least she learns her lesson and awards Ryan the talent show trophy, thus finally appreciating her brother’s talent as an artist.
High School Musical 3
While Ryan is in less of this movie than HSM 2, he does have an important role in the final show. Once again, Sharpay has a plan to be the star of the show by manipulating Ryan into getting Troy and Gabriella’s song from Kelsi so she can sing it with Troy instead. Seriously, it’s the same thing she pulled in the last movie. The goals are even the same. The only difference is that Sharpay finally has an antagonist: British girl (I don’t remember her name and I just watched the movie. Do you? She’s like that love interest who replaced Chase in Zoey 101; you just forget about it). You want a good summation of Sharpay and British girl at the end of this movie? Here:
Back to Ryan. His part can be summed up like this:
- Ryan is the choreographer of the senior show.
- Sharpay wants Ryan to woo Kelsi and steal Troy and Gabriella’s song.
- Sharpay and Ryan sing the second best song in the movie, ‘I Want It All.’
- Ryan agrees to talk to Kelsi, but says “Nah, she and this song are cool. I’m not taking it” in his head.
- Ryan helps Kelsi write lyrics to the song and asks her to prom. I refuse to believe they were an item.
- Ryan tells Sharpay, “You are not Gabriella,” but Sharpay ignores him.
- I guess at some point, Ryan started co-directing the music with Kelsi, which explains them singing together at the beginning of the senior show.
- Ryan laughs at Chad’s funny outfit and taps him on the shoulder.
- Ryan and Kelsi receive scholarships to Juilliard.
- Ryan sings with the rest of the cast at the end.
That’s about it for Ryan’s part in the movie. HSM 3 mostly talks about Troy and the decision he has to make. Ryan’s basically a background character who’s trying to direct a show while avoiding Sharpay’s manipulation. If Ryan was replaced in this movie by a no-name character with the same role, would it matter? Exactly.
But if it’s true that Ryan is barely relevant in HSM 3, then what makes him the real protagonist in the series? Even though HSM 3 has less of a role for him, he does have a more compelling story when you include the entire franchise. You have a character in these movies who’s talented, hard-working, has his own personal issues to overcome, and has a more interesting story overall than Troy and Gabriella’s ‘Let’s break up for a third time but get back together again later’ story.
If there’s anything High School Musical 3 did right, it was making Troy’s story more engaging. We get a lot of songs focused on him and his anxiety over what he wants to do with his life, separate from the romance.
But what if he wasn’t the only one? What if someone else had similar issues and was stressed about their future? Then both of them could sing about it in different parts of the school and eventually notice each other and talk about it. Maybe they would have met before and that person could have given Troy advice in the last movie. As a great twist, this person would be the one who sent in an application for Troy to Juilliard instead of Ms. Darbus! Troy could finally have someone to talk to about his problems.
I, of course, am talking about Jason! Nah, it’s obviously Ryan. A good rewrite of the second and third movie and you could have had something great between Ryan and Troy. It would have also given more weight to Ryan winning the scholarship to Juilliard. He could mention how it’s a really good opportunity for him and Troy could say, “I appreciate how much dedication you put into this show. It’s looking great! You deserve the scholarship a lot more than me.”
Even if Troy is still the lead in the movies, Ryan has a story worth telling throughout the series and deserves to be a larger character. He doesn’t even need a love interest as a main character. Imagine if Kelsi was queer too and they decided to go to prom together because neither of them could find a date. Their relationship was set up fairly well in the second movie, so they would be close enough to come out to each other. Then, after the third movie, they can star in their own spin-off movie, Ryan’s Fabulous Adventure, and have adventures in New York. With a few tweaks, Ryan could be the backbone of this series.
Final Notes
The High School Musical movies have a lot of problems, but there are things in it that could work if given more freedom and time to correct them. Making some tweaks to Ryan is one that could make the movies so much better and elevate them to at least ‘above average.’ You can keep Sharpay as the antagonist, but give her a more convincing motivation for her plans. Every movie has her hit the reset button and go through with the same plan. You have a great person playing the role, so give her something outlandish and fun, but have it be something different. Have her be selfish an manipulative, but let her be closer with the rest of the Wildcats, especially her brother.
In the beginning of the High School Musical 2, Ryan says, “Everything changes.” It’s something that echoes through the series for everyone, but it’s especially relevant for him. Everything does change for Ryan. He stands up to his sister. He makes new friends. He directs and performs in two shows. He wins a scholarship to one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in the world. He’s finally recognized for his skills and accomplishments. And yet, people love to talk about how Sharpay was screwed over. Few people ever appreciate how her brother is more interesting and talented than her. Let’s change that. I see you doing your thing, Ryan. Here’s to you.
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