“This isn’t my dream, it’s yours” is a trope that is well known to portray the teenage protagonist breaking away from the expectations and hopes of their parents. It finally becomes about what they want for their life, not living for the sake of their parents' wishes.Disney Channel Original moviesare not the only ones to portray this concept, but they have certainly used it. It does not necessarily have to be parents, either. It could be any influential adult in the character’s life who has tried to override their children’s lives heavily.High School Musicalis one of the top examples, as Coach Jack Bolton can not understand Troy’s interest in musicals. Although Troy still loves basketball, his interest in the world around him is growing, and his father does not support him as quickly as he should.
This concept also plays a role inJump In!Izzy Daniels struggles between boxing, a sport he shares with his father, and double dutch, something he falls into as a favor but discovers a love for anyway. Other times, such a storyline isnot at the heart of the filmbut is a subplot or plot device to help the main character decide about their life. For example, Mack’s internal struggle toward deciding against moving away inTeen Beach Movieor Nick Swift’s difficulty standing up to his father inCloud 9.
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High School Musical
When Jack Bolton discovers his son, Troy, the basketball team star,is interested in joining the school musical, he immediately denies it. Coach Bolton is not initially supportive of Troy joining the musical, as the play and his growing dynamic with Gabriella are distractions from preparing for the upcoming championship game. When they eventually confront each other on the topic, Coach Bolton states that Troy is an athlete, not a singer, ignoring Troy’s claims that he wants to do both. Although Troy never claims not to love basketball, it is clear he still cares for it, but the conflict of Coach Bolton not listening to what his son wants is very clear within the movie.
Although Jack seems to be more supportive after hearing Troy sing, a development that continues intoHigh School Musical 2, asimilar debate over colleges appears inHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year, when Coach Bolton does not have the most exciting reaction to seeing that Troy is interested in more colleges that the University of Albuquerque.
Although Kayla Morgan and Will Cloud are the leads of the movie, this subplot rests on the supporting characters, Nick Swift and his father, Sebastian. Sebastian, believing Kayla is not good enough for the team, has Nick sabotage Kayla, resulting in her removal from the snowboarding team. Nick spends most ofCloud 9listening to his father’s cheating schemes. However, after seeing how far Kayla has come and his conscience finally coming to the rescue, Nick tells Sebastian that he does not want to win this way. In this case, especially as Nick is not the main character, Sebastian ends the movie as a clear villain, while Nick standing up for himself and revealing the truth allows him to conclude the film as more of an ally to Kayla.
Teen Beach Movie
Mack and Brady are having a great summer until her Aunt Antoinette shows up, reminding Mack of a long-time promise. Mack’s two years with her grandfather have ended, and with college getting closer, Mack had agreed to attend a serious school rather than stay in town. In this case,Mack and Brady’s jump into the fictionalWet Side Storyprevents Antoinette from having a significant role. Instead, what she stands for is more metaphoric, as Mack’s conflict toward this is more internal.
Mack does not fight anyone but herself as she struggles to accept that she genuinely wants to continue living with her grandfather and enjoy her life rather than a single-minded focus on academics. When Mack and Brady return from their experience in the film, it gives Mack the courage to tell Antoinette that while attending this other school was her dream, it is not Mack’s, and she would be happier staying right where she is.
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Descendants
Do the villain kids want to be evil? They think they do up until they arrive in Auradon and realize being good is not that bad.Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos discover friendship, love, and joy outside the Isle of the Lost. However, throughout the first movie, their parents, especially Mal’s, in a particularly impatient Maleficent, have high expectations for their children to finally break the barrier around the Isle and allow evil and chaos to roam free. But, being in Auradon is a changing experience, with the villain kids realizing they are not as evil as their parents and have no interest in going down that road. So, they break away from their expectations of being evil, with Mal being the only one to have a face-to-face confrontation with her mother after the barrier is accidentally broken anyway.
Izzy genuinely loves boxing and the relationship it gives him with his father, Kenneth, at the beginning of the movie. Boxing is a community, but it also becomes attached to competition and violence beyond what Izzy finds acceptable. Instead, he grows to love the nature found in double dutch of team camaraderie. In this case, Izzy’s biggest obstacle is his relationship with Kenneth and how their relationship only exists within a boxing bubble since Izzy’s mother passed away. Although Izzy does not want to hurt his father, Izzy’s love for competitive boxing has dwindled.
It takes watching Izzy perform during a double dutch tournament for Kenneth to understand why Izzy loves it so much and accept his son’s departure from boxing. However, their relationship only grows stronger as it is made clear there is still love and pride from father to son.
Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off
When Eddie accidentally finds himself more interested in cooking than baseball, it starts a conflict when he must hide the development from his father, Hank, the baseball coach. However, Eddie’s conflict also comes from worries about being made fun of for loving to cook. Eddie barely has a safe space after discovering a new passion for cooking, as home, school, and the baseball field seem to be places he can be made fun of for experimenting outside of baseball. In addition, Hank does not understand Eddie prioritizing cooking over baseball.
However, when Eddie’s teammates and Hank all realize they have driven Eddie away and kept him from something he loves to do, the team strives to win the game in Eddie’s absence while Hank joins Eddie in the cooking competition. Helping Eddie shows that Hank accepts his new love rather than being against it, choosing a relationship with his son over fighting.
Starstruck
Christopher Wilde is a superstar on top of the world. He is a young pop star whose name is everywhere, and he has a worldwide planned tour, meaning he’ll be busy for a while. But, that is not exciting enough for his parents, who want to expand Christopher’s career into acting. Christopher is up for a lead in a movie, and he agrees due to his inability to say no. However, it becomes clear that Christopher only agrees because he feels he has to and not because he wants to do the movie. Firing his parents as his managers and telling them to be his parents is a big step for Christopher.
Stuck In The Suburbs
Jordan Cahill’s success is exciting, but not necessarily for him. Jordan wants to make a point with his music, not just be a face singing a pop song. While Jordan’s best friend Eddie and music producers want Jordan to do what he is told, Jordan does not wish just to do as they tell him. Ironically,Brittany and Natasha swapping phones with Eddieand messing up Jordan’s life is the best thing to have happened to him, as it reminds him of why he initially loved music.
To remain “perfect” in Seabrook, Addison’s parents force her to wear a blonde wig to cover her white hair. In doing so, Addison feels separated from the rest of her classmates. Her parents do not understand her willingness to date Zed the Zombie and remove her wig, showing her white hair to the town. Although Addison’s identity seems to change with each movie, she always goes against her parent’s wishes by getting involved with the new outsiders in town, whether they be zombies, werewolves, or aliens.
