I’m ashamed to admit this – but I am secretly obsessed with Disney’s TV-movie High School Musical. (It’s true. I use my six-year-old daughter as a front to cover up my love of Disney’s “tween” shows and made-for-TV-movies). High School Musical is basically a modern day rip-off of Grease in which two teens from different cliques fall in love despite the odds. Oh, and there’s singing. Lots of singing. I’ll admit that the plot is contrived and the acting is mediocre at best, but the movie was mesmerizing anyway. The songs, although corny and combined with laughable choreography, are extremely catchy and guaranteed to get stuck in your head.

The film follows two teens, Troy (the basketball star) and Gabriella (the shy honor student) as they discover their love for singing and work up the courage to audition for the high school musical. Of course, their prospective cliques do not approve of their newfound interest in singing, nor does the school’s resident brother-and-sister musical star team, Sharpay and Ryan. I won’t give away the ending, but it’s completely predictable so I’m sure you can figure it out.

What makes this movie not just watchable but actually enjoyable is both its absurdity and its simplicity. It has the ingredients for any popular musical or teen movie and somehow manages to succeed at being both simultaneously. Don’t expect the cast to be winning Emmy awards or record contracts anytime soon, but you’ll still fall in love with their adorable characters.

Even if you don’t love this kind of movie, you will likely find it less frustrating to watch than some of the other stuff your kids turn on. 

Apparently I’m not alone in my forbidden love. High School Musical, which premiered this January, was the Disney Channel’s most successful movie to date. Ask around and you’re likely to find parents and older siblings furtively buying the DVD or bestselling soundtrack for themselves. I, of course, bought it for my daughter. No really. It was for her. I swear.