Since its debut in November 2019, Disney+’s hit show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, has put diversity and inclusion at the center of its characters, plot, casting, directing, and storytelling. Viewers are not only coming back for the witty and endearing cast of high school theater kids; they are returning because they find glimpses of themselves finally represented in an authentic way.
Premise
Set in the high school where the Disney Channel classic High School Musical was filmed, junior and senior students participate in putting on the fall musical, and we follow the dynamics of their individual and group relationships as rehearsals begin. Complete with references to The Office, Glee, and (of course) High School Musical, the show is full of irony and humor while still tackling serious topics that young adults face in the modern world.
The show’s light-hearted attitude and youthful charm have attracted a wide-ranging audience. Not only are high school-age teens watching, but so are adults. Many who grew up with the first generation of Disney Channel find this show nostalgic of the old classics while still deeming its new iteration refreshing.
Adults new to Disney also find the show refreshing in comparison to other high school-based shows released in the last few years. Compared to shows like Euphoria and Riverdale, which center on darker themes such as drug abuse, sex, and alcohol abuse, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is pretty tame.
“God bless High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” writes New York Times reporter Margaret Lyons. “The erotic gloom and doom of teen TV…is completely, mercifully absent.”
Showrunner Tim Federle understands this and finds it beneficial in representing LGBTQ characters in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
“There’s a lot of teen television that goes deep and dark into the pain of adolescence,” he says in an interview with Queerty. “At the end of the day…when it comes to the LGBTQ characters in the show, I don’t want to use their identities as a plot twist or a ‘tragic coming out’ arc…We need to see characters who just are gay, already, and don’t have a problem with it. And in fact, embrace it.”
Seb & Carlos
Characters Carlos and Seb in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are the very first outwardly gay couple and storyline in all of Disney Channel’s history. The first season highlights the sweetness of their simple love story, complete with the jitters of young love and school dances. Not only is their relationship openly gay, but it is not fraught with hate, bullying, or judgment from anyone inside the show.
The plotline portrays their relationship the same way it portrays any of the other relationships in the show. Both characters are still complete individuals, and unlike many other queer relationships represented in teen TV, being gay is not their only character trait or conflict. For many viewers, the nonchalance of this portrayal is what makes the show relatable and authentic in a beautiful way.
“None of it is a big deal,” writes the Los Angeles Times while interviewing actors Frankie Rodriguez and Joe Serafini, who play Carlos and Seb, respectively, “None of it is a big deal –– therefore it kind of is.”
Ashlyn
Carlos and Seb are not the only LGBTQ+ representation in the show, however. In fact, six characters in the show are gay, and two are bisexual, making 25% of the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series cast queer.
While most of these relationships follow the same mold made by Carlos and Seb’s relationship in season one, in the most recent season –– season three –– we follow Julia Lester’s character, Ashlyn, as she discovers her identity while at camp. In episode five, Ashlyn realizes she isn’t straight while hugging openly queer character, Val, as fireworks go off behind them. “Oh,” says Ashlyn, as tears fill her eyes.
Even though the show follows a coming-out narrative for Ashlyn’s character, it still breaks the traditional struggles that media usually accompanies with the fears of coming out. Throughout her journey, Ashlyn confides in her friends, who support her as she navigates her sexuality. After coming out, Ashlyn is welcomed to the community by Carlos, who gives her a pride pin to wear to camp prom.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series depicts a world in which self-discovery and sexuality in teenhood is normal, accepted, and beautiful. “We’re not trying to achieve something crazy,” says Frankie Rodriguez, “We just want love and romance like everyone else.”
