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  • Accidental Innuendo: I'll show you how I swing, really?
  • Alternate Character Interpretation: A number of people have stated the opinion that Troy's friends are way too hard on him throughout this movie. Sharpay is essentially offering him a full college scholarship for the low, low price of singing a duet with her. It's really not that unreasonable of Troy to be thinking about his future, especially given how expensive college can be, and yet everyone around him is acting like he's being selfish.
  • Awesome Music: Basically every song in the movie:
    • "What Time is It?" blew up instantly at the time of the film's release. It really helped hook all the fans in.
    • "Fabulous" is often considered Sharpay's best song in the whole series—to the point that it is definitely used as her theme in a couple scenes in the next film.
    • "Work This Out" somehow made the situation of working at the country club really fun.
    • "You Are the Music in Me" also blew up as the soothing and upbeat love ballad in the film. The "Sharpay Version" could also count for being fast, danceable music.
    • "Humahumanukanukaapua'a" while deleted from the film initially benefits from Narm Charm, much like the song that comes after it does.
    • "I Don't Dance". Bonus points for it being a musical number based around baseball of all things and working. Oh, and there's all the Ho Yay too.
    • "Gotta Go My Own Way" was highlighted as the second film's big Tear Jerker song prior to its release—and it DID NOT disappoint. It's no wonder that song received many a meme.
    • "Bet On It", despite Narm, is still a great song. It's even more awesome in the Stage version.
    • "Everyday" both as a stirring love duet and ensemble piece.
    • "All for One" is definitely a catchy concluding number for the film.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Three of them.
    • The deleted "Humahumanukanukaapua'a" musical number. While the song does get a couple references later on, the scene itself does not. It is very weird and comes out of nowhere. It ends up being pretty inconsequential to the plot and whether the extended version with the song scene is the one you saw first, seeing the original version without it, you wouldn’t be likely to notice it was gone. And if you did catch the scene at one point, chances are you think it's some bizarre Mandela Effect you had.
    • The scene in which Sharpay coaxes Troy into singing an annoyingly more upbeat version of "You Are the Music in Me". It’s sort of meant to play towards the plotline involving Sharpay trying to win Troy over and how she makes him uncomfortable too with all her affection (and how much of a sharp contrast she is to Gabriella). Despite that and that it could be seen as a Dark Reprise, it doesn’t hold any other bearing on the plot and didn’t really need to be there. It’s not helped that Troy imagines her in a wedding dress right after for no real reason. It’s easy to see why this was the last scene in the movie filmed.
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: Chad/Ryan, which is both the preferred ship for both characters and the most popular ship in the fandom, easily outnumbering Troy/Gabriella in the sheer amount of fanworks dedicated to it. It is also more popular than Chad's canon relationship with Taylor and Ryan's relationship with Kelsi in the third movie. After the second movie, Chad and Ryan share a lot of tender moments which a good chunk of the fanbase have interpreted as Ship Tease, including a particularly subtle Sexy Shirt Switch.
  • Fanon: Even among non-Ryan/Chad shippers, general fanon is that something went down in the locker room after the staff baseball game in HSM2. Their Sexy Shirt Switch is regularly brought up as proof of it.
  • Ho Yay:
    • Between Chad and Ryan, especially during the "I Don't Dance" musical sequence.
      • Chad and Ryan's flirty looks toward one another during "I Don't Dance".
      • Chad and Ryan switching outfits after "I Don't Dance".
      • And they're eating hot dogs.
      • The whole song could be interpreted as "straight guy giving in to a moment with another guy" kind of thing.
      • General consensus among fans is that the entire song is about Chad being in denial about his sexuality and Ryan encouraging him to just let go.
      • Even among non-Ryan/Chad shippers, general fanon is that something went down in the locker room after the staff baseball game.
      • "I'll show you how I swing".
      • At the end, Chad says 'I'm not saying I'm gonna dance in the show, but if I did, What'd you have me do?'. Ryan replies with nothing but a smirk.
      • The song has many metaphors, such as pitcher and catcher, or "dance" being used as a term for "gay". not to mention the use of 'swing', as in 'I don't swing that way', the common term used in the English language.
    • Gabriella attempting to befriend Sharpay despite Sharpay's reluctance and hate towards her "rival".
    • Gabriella jumping into the pool to save Sharpay from "drowning". Sure, her job is being the new life guard.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • If you go into a group of people that were kids in the mid-to-late 2000s and ask "What time is it?", you bet at least one of them is going to reply with "SUMMERTIME!"
    • Not saying that 2 is the best is joked as Fandom Heresy.
    • Troy giving Gabriella a "T" necklace has led to edits of Troy saying different meaning to what the "T" meant, other than his name.
    • Two HSM2 memes that also involve Troy: "Conflicted Troy", based on stills from "Bet On It", and When Your Parents Ask Where All Your Money Went, this time involving promo pics of Efron.
    • The "I Don't Dance" number constantly being referred to as a metaphor for gay sex.
    • The memes from "Gotta Go My Own Way" led to it becoming the Signature Scene from 2.
  • Narm:
    • It's practically impossible to watch "Bet On It" without at least cracking a smile.
    • During "I Don't Dance", Chad (and every other baller) indulges in full on blatant choreography, even as he continues to say he doesn't dance.
  • Narm Charm: Once you get past the silly choreography "Bet On It" is a legitimately serious song and Zac Efron performs it with a passion that is captivating.
  • Obvious Stunt Double: Crosses into Freeze-Frame Bonus. Gabriella, right after "Fabulous," dives into the pool to save Sharpay after she purposefully falls into the pool. When "Gabriella" dives in, she's suddenly paler with thicker hair.
  • Rainbow Lens: "I Don't Dance" is very often interpreted as a metaphor for trying to coax someone to experiment with their sexuality, with Ambiguously Gay theater kid Ryan convincing the more sporty Chad to try and dance. The common Ho Yay and lines like "I'll show you how I swing" only add fuel to the fire.
  • Special Effect Failure: During the song "Bet On It" Troy looks into the water of a pond, showing his reflection. Ignoring the obvious CGI effect, the reflection itself isn't mirrored.
  • Wangst: "Bet On It" consists of Troy angstily dancing across a golf course with overexaggerated choreography in what's supposed to be a serious moment.

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