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1[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bandslamposter_1965.jpg]]
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3A 2009 teen musical dramedy. Music nerd and Music/DavidBowie fan Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) moves to New Jersey, eager to start fresh since he was bullied back at his old school in Ohio. Once there, he meets [[EmotionlessGirl Sa5m]][[note]][[MyNaymeIs the 5 is silent]][[/note]] (Music/VanessaHudgens), and Charlotte (Creator/AlysonMichalka), a former [[AlphaBitch cheerleader]] who, impressed by Will's knowledge of music, takes him on as the manager of her band (later called "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On") as she tries to defeat her ex-boyfriend, Ben Wheatley, in a music competition known as [[TitleDrop Bandslam]]. The film also features Creator/LisaKudrow as Will's mom, Karen.
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5The film became infamous for its [[ExecutiveMeddling questionable marketing strategy]] on the part of Summit Entertaiment, its distributor, who very much [[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfied]] the hell out of it in promotional material.
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9!!This film provides examples of:
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11* TheAce: Will is a different musical spin on this trope. He knows exactly what the band needs to have a fuller sound, wisely knows that they need a(n) (in-universe) SignatureSong, and knows how to promote them.
12* ActorAllusion: [=Sa5m=] makes a reference to "Texas high school football". Ben Wheatley is played by Scott Porter, of ''Series/FridayNightLights''.
13* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler: What Will's father is revealed to be]].
14* AlphaBitch: [[DefiedTrope Defied]]! A male competitor in the school starts giving orders to his buddies to ruin Will, but the Alpha's friends, appalled by his intentions, outright refuse, noting that he has no authority over them.
15* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: [=Sa5m=]'s dad isn't seen, only her mom, and he's not mentioned either. Presumably her mom is a single mother.
16* AscendedFanboy: At the end of the film, [[spoiler: Will’s idol Music/DavidBowie e-mails Will to ask if he can sign I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On to an indie label he is starting up. The final scene implies he agrees.]]
17* TheAtoner: Charlotte is trying to atone for her days as an AlphaBitch.
18* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Music/DavidBowie, playing himself in what would turn out to be his last acting appearance before his death.]]
19* CastingGag: Vanessa Hudgens playing an outsider who eventually shows off a hidden singing talent, which she demonstrates publicly at the end? [[Film/HighSchoolMusical Hmm]]...
20* ChekhovsBoomerang: The video of [=Sa5m=] singing that her mother shows Will. [[spoiler: When Charlotte leaves the band, it serves as a clue that [=Sa5m=] can take her place as singer. Then when Ben steals the band's song, they end up singing "Everything I Own" instead.]]
21* ChekhovsGag: The only other indie rock guy at Will's old school is a scruffy dude who keeps flattening out his hair. He moves to a new school and one of the first people he sees is... [[HereWeGoAgain another scruffy looking guy flattening out his hair.]]
22* CruelCheerleader: Charlotte is a former cheerleader and by all accounts was a bit of a WitchWithACapitalB.
23* DeadpanSnarker: [=Sa5m=] might lack in emotion, but she makes up for it with sarcasm. Take note of Will stammering that his arrangement to meet her later is not a date to Charlotte.
24--> '''[=Sa5m=]:''' She gets it, Will.
25* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler: After Charlotte's father dies, Will learns that she started liking "outcasts" like him as an effort to change herself because her father disapproved of how she was when she was with Ben. Once he became ill, she changed in the hopes that her good behavior would cause her father to get better. After he passes away, she quits the band. Despite the revelation that Charlotte didn't sincerely like them, the band continues on without her, enlisting [=Sa5m=] as the new lead singer. The band does forgive Charlotte later on, once she MustMakeAmends.]]
26* DisappearedDad:
27** Will's dad is not around since he's off playing for different bands. [[spoiler:Or so he says-really he's in prison for killing a kid while driving drunk.]]
28** Charlotte loses her dad after he dies from cancer.
29* EmbarrassingNickname: "Dewey" for Will, and it is ''not'' PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:It's because his dad killed a kid while driving while intoxicated-DWI, Dewie.]]
30* EmotionlessGirl: [=Sa5m=]. [[spoiler: The pose cracks once a wedge is driven between her and Will.]]
31* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Charlotte is a former head cheerleader and miss popularity, is charismatic and beloved, and of course has beautiful blonde hair.
32* FakeBand: Enforced by I Can't Go On, I'll Go On and Ben Wheatley and the Glory Dogs, but averted with bands [[http://www.thedazeband.net/ The Daze]], [[http://www.zealerapz.com/ ZEALE Rapz]] and [[http://www.phranchyze.com/ Phranchyze]], and [[http://www.myspace.com/theburninghotels The Burning Hotels]]. [[note]]All three acts came from Texas, where the film was shot.[[/note]]
33* FallenPrincess: Invoked. Charlotte is a former AlphaBitch trying to be a better person.
34* FollowTheLeader: In-universe. [[spoiler: After the band becomes famous online, numerous fans start spelling their names like [=Sa5m=] does]].
35* FriendVersusLover: Will stands [=Sa5m=] up for a date because he's going to a performance with Charlotte. The former thinks it's because Will is in love with her.
36* FromACertainPointOfView: Will says his parents aren't together anymore, which is true. [[spoiler: His dad is in prison]].
37* GenreSavvy: "It's not like you're the Joker and we're your henchmen."
38* HairContrastDuo: Outgoing and charismatic Charlotte is blonde, introverted and [[SugarAndIcePersonality seemingly]] [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless]] [=Sa5m=] is a brunette.
39* HighSchool: The default setting.
40* InnocentlyInsensitive: Will asking Charlotte if her dad is dead, and her reaction is a CringeComedy moment early in the film. [[spoiler: He dies of cancer later on, meaning that Will's line probably struck an even bigger nerve with Charlotte than he realised]].
41* {{Joisey}}: Utterly averted, despite taking place there. New Jersey is actually the better option compared to Will's horrible existence in Ohio.
42* KidsAreCruel: Will being mockingly called 'Dewey' at his old school seems like a standard schoolyard taunt. [[spoiler: It's revealed he got this name from his father killing a child while DWI (driving while intoxicated)]].
43* LiarRevealed: It's revealed that [[spoiler: Will made up stories about his father, who's really in prison for killing a twelve-year-old while driving drunk]].
44* LikesOlderWomen: Basher Martin, the drummer, who agrees to join the band once Will convinces him that Karen is his ''older sister.'' Karen is, needless to say, not entirely comfortable with this development... nor with wearing a low cut top to band practice.
45* MumLooksLikeASister: Played with; Will pretends his mother is his older sister for the sake of Basher joining the band.
46* NotWhatItLooksLike: Twice Karen catches Will and Charlotte in compromising positions that aren't actually romantic; she's just teaching him what to do to kiss [=Sa5m=], and later teasing him playfully about her. Both times Karen assumes they're dating.
47* {{Otaku}}: Will is a rock music nerd through and though. He isn't very outgoing about it, but Charlotte recognizes this side of him very quickly.
48* PlatonicLifePartners: Despite Karen's assumptions, Will and Charlotte's friendship is entirely platonic.
49* PronouncingMyNameForYou: Sam spells her name as "[[MyNaymeIs Sa5m]]", noting the "5" is silent.
50* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: I Can't Go On, I'll Go On is made up of vastly different people and varying musical styles (electric guitar, cello, brass).
51* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [=Sa5m=] does this to Will for her Human Studies project [[spoiler: (after he stands her up on their movie date)]], comparing him to a mirror.
52-->"Will is a reflective surface. He mirrors back at you whatever you want to see. He reflects you back to you. And it's nice, for a while. You stop feeling lonely. But then you realize, he's doing that with everyone. The only person he can't do it for is Will. Because he doesn't have a clue who he is."
53* RelativeRidicule: Will's classmates in Ohio used to call him "Dewey" because his father was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI).
54* SecondActBreakup: [[spoiler: Will and [=Sa5m=]. This one's solved sooner than usual, though.]]
55* SeriousBusiness: Bandslam is "Texas high school football big" in New Jersey.
56* SheCleansUpNicely: [=Sa5m=] straightens her hair and dons a nice outfit for her movie date with Will.
57* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Will has to endure this a lot when it comes to his friendship with Charlotte.
58* SinsOfTheFather: Will was called "Dewey" back in Ohio because [[spoiler: his father is in jail for accidentally killing a child driving while intoxicated (DWI). Ben eventually finds out about this and uses it against Will]].
59* SugarAndIcePersonality: [=Sa5m=] acts like the EmotionlessGirl and standoffish at first. However, it soon turns out she's actually warm and kind inside, though her soft side warrs with the other half. It's possibly due to having had a stutter, which made her self-conscious.
60* TalentContest: Bandslam, which guarantees the winner a record deal.
61* TeensAreMonsters: The nickname 'Dewey' that Will gets mocked for - and an entire auditorium of teens chant at him [[spoiler: comes from the fact that his father killed a child while drunk (DWI - driving while intoxicated - Dewey)]]. In fairness to the auditorium most of them had no idea what it meant and seem to buy it when Will turns it into "Do We" then into "Do we wanna rock?!"
62* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailers spoiled the hell out of [[spoiler: [=Sa5m=] performing on stage with the band]].

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