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TechnoratiDisney Channel's "High School Musical" phenomenon has shattered cable viewing records and has millions of teens talking and singing about a G-rated youth culture contrasting the violence, drugs and sex prevailing on media screens today.
(Photo: AP Images / Mark J. Terrill)Cast members of 'High School Musical' accept the choice TV movie award for 'High School Musical 2' at the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007.
Its sequel, "High School Musical 2," which premiered last weekend attracting over 17 million viewers, took home three Teen Choice Awards Sunday night, including Choice TV Movie.
"Anything 'High School Musical' was greeted with deafening screams from fans seated in the audience," reported USA Today on scene at the Los Angeles awards event.
Winners of the Teen Choice Awards are selected by the teen-voting public, who had submitted picks online since July 2.
The musical smashes have stirred talks about entertainment that could be wholesome and still more popular than "The Sopranos" or even Monday Night Football.
“Hollywood likes to tell us there isn’t a market for family-friendly television shows. Those smut and violence peddlers don’t have a clue. The phenomenal, record-breaking success of High School Musical 2 proves it, in spades," said L. Brent Bozell III, president of Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group.
“Millions tuned in Friday to watch a show without violence, sex or bad language,” said Robert Knight, director of the MRC’s Culture and Media Institute, about the sequel which debuted Aug. 17. “And my guess is that millions more tuned in when the movie was re-broadcast on Saturday and Sunday nights too. Not everyone wants to drown in a sea of sexual innuendo and violence."
Time magazine described the movie hit as "a raging bacchanal of hand holding, milk drinking and explicit thespianism! Obviously, this is escapism for parents too. Even the kids' rebellions – baking crème brûlée, angry dance numbers – would look good on a college application."
The Parents Television Council (PTC) gave "High School Musical" and its sequel a stamp of approval for most children 8 and older to watch. In the sequel, the East High School students are on summer break and viewers can expect slightly more mature themes compared to the first musical. That includes a serious high school-aged relationship between protagonists Troy and Gabriella along with a romantic physical tension with the anticipation of a romantic kiss, and the character Sharpay portrayed in an even more self-centered, materialistic and conniving manner, PTC reviewed. Still, good ultimately prevails and so do the virtues of honesty, trust, integrity and teamwork over ego and self, according to PTC.
Pulling out the virtues and the "spiritual stuff" from "High School Musical," radio host and author Steve Russo published a book – Wildcats in the House – this month, responding to everyone talking about "High School Musical."
"When you listen to the lyrics of 'High School Musical,' there are some great nuggets of spiritual truth to be found," said Russo. "When you consider the lyrics in light of God's Word, they will not only challenge Christian young people in their own faith but also those who don't know Jesus to think about spiritual things."
Russo watched the movie at least five times with his 11-year-old daughter Gabi, who co-authored the book.
“If the bottom line is all that matters, then Hollywood should respond to this extraordinary event by welcoming more shows that showcase traditional values, family and personal responsibility," said MRC's Knight.
Disney is planning for a third movie release next year in theaters.
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