High School Musical

My opponent starts his second round off by defining what he perceives to be the typical "nerd-gets-the girl" theme. To avoid confusion, the first thing we must note is that this kind of theme isn't exclusive to a male nerd ending up with a popular female; it isn't exclusive when it comes to gender. I'd advise that you not accept my opponent's synopsis for the "nerd getting the girl" theme as his presentation of it does not define most (or all) of the movies with the theme. In fact, his outline fails to present a theme that is carried out in nearly all films of this genre; it presents no CONFLICT. As you can see in my opponent's brief synopsis, everything goes smoothly for the nerd; no part of his plan backfires. Skilled screenplay writers (or even skilled writers who merely focus on storytelling in general) know that an audience's interest is typically weakened considerably when the protagonist does not suffer any blow (be it mentally or physically) that impedes him/her from reaching his goal. As for the moral of these stories, I agree in most cases, but the lesson isn't illustrated as well when there is no sort of conflict. In other words, if the protagonist didn't pay any kind of price for the error that he made, not abiding by this moral would hardly seem reprehensible, no? My opponent then moves on to briefly provide descriptions of the characters Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. I see no problems with his description of Mr. Bolton (assuming there wasn't some negative implication with his rhetorical question at the end of it), but I can't help but notice some problems with his rendering of Gabriella Montez. My opponent is advocating that Ms. Montez is by no means a nerd due to her appearance. However, my opponent is completely incorrect. First, I shall cite Merriam Webster's dictionary: _______________________________________________________________________________ Main Entry: nerd Pronunciation: \ˈnərd\ Function: noun Etymology: perhaps from nerd, a creature in the children's book If I Ran the Zoo (1950) by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) Date: 1951 : an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits " _______________________________________________________________________________ Link: http://www.merriam-webster.com... In the above definition, you must pay special attention to the term "or." In other words, being unattractive is not necessary to be considered a nerd, according to this credible dictionary. Come to think of it, this is not to say that Gabriella couldn't be defined as unattractive (even in the context) considering the nature of the term itself. That said, there is more to my opponent's rendering of Gabriella that is extremely erroneous. In this film, you'll notice that Gabriella was rather reluctant to the school finding out about her academic achievements. This is primarily due to the fact that she was considered a nerd in her previous school. As is suggested, she was treated badly because of this, hence the reason she didn't want anyone to know about her intelligence. In the film, many got the impression of her being a nerd when they found out about her secret. Therefore, my opponent's claim that she isn't a nerd is false. Not only is she considered a nerd by definition, but she is also defined as a nerd by the story itself. Whether or not the actor was very attractive is not relevant when we take all of the above information into account. My opponent argues that other nerds in high school musical aren't portrayed with the same attire, but there is a big difference between those nerds and Ms. Montez. Unlike Ms. Montez, those nerds were not attempting to hide their nerdy characteristics in fear of possible humiliation. My opponent argues that the movie primarily focuses on Troy Balton and is thus bad storytelling. However, Troy Balton is the one attempting to "get the girl", is he not? With this being a crucial part of the plot, focusing on Troy moreso than Gabriella is necessary for the story to masterfully develop. In many ways, the film is like Greece. That said, if my opponent is giving you the idea that Gabriella hardly gets any screen time, he is misleading you as she gets enough for the viewer to understand her background, understand what she sees in Troy, understand her faults as well as how she overcomes them. In short, we know everything we need to know about her as a character. My opponent then goes on to make a rant about the film's ending and the value of "togetherness." However, as I've suggested in round 1, it is my opponent's job to prove this film to be flawed in the areas he brought up. In round 1, his argument is that this film is flawed because it focuses on the students involved in the popularity clique rather than the students involved in the nerd/geek clique. Attacking this film because it doesn't live up to HIS idea of realism does not link with the argument he made in round 1, thus (as I've stated and as my opponent had agreed in round 2), you can dismiss his last argument.