Notes

(troy's reluctance to ditch basketball for theater might represent a sexuality crisis. but that's a whole separate thing)

The first:

* she constantly walks away from him while he's talking like wtf is that

* he's clearly torn between basketball and musical (aka being who everyone wants him to be and being who he is) and literally no one supports him (his family, his teammates, the principal, sharpay, GABRIELLA)
- his father ignored his attempts to have a Serious Conversation while they were practicing at home
- he has to take that long ass shortcut to get to auditions because he doesn't believe anyone who knows about it
will support him
- during the status quo song literally the entire school shuts down everyone who tries to expres interests other than what they're Known For and this is exactly what troy was afraid would happen if he came out as a theater nerd
- chad blames troy for people doing "stuff that's not their stuff"
- "troy doesn't even sing" says his own father
- when he misses practice for rehearsals his dad says "i think your teammates deserve a little effort from you today"

*people are constantly reminding him of who they think he is (the basketball guy)
- at auditions gabriella calls him the wildcat superstar
- taylor calls him troy the basketball boy
- after the status quo song sharpay calls him troy and his basketball robots
-in that roof scene he admits that he doesn't want to be the "basketball guy". he just wants to be "a guy"
- Gabriella calls the gym "his real stage"
- when arguing about gabriella coach says troy's "not just a guy. you're the team leader" and tells him that what he does affects the entire school. like, pressure much? also "you're a playmaker. Not a singer, right?"
- "you're a hoops dude. not a musical singer person" a la chad
- in the same scene chad puts all the responsibility for the entire team's success on troy and calls him captain

*troy looks like he's having so much fun while rehearsing for the callbacks and when shooting hoops with gabriella
- "did you ever think i could be both?"

*chad AND coach blame gabriella for "bewitching" troy into joinin the musical. they never once think he joined of his own volition because that's something he wanted to do

*that whole mess where the nerds and the jocks MANIPULATE troy and gabriella into breaking up to "save them from themselves"
- i kinda hate gabriella but she didn't deserve any of that either, like they literally broke her heart

*during the scene where the team is introducing troy to the basketball legends, troy's body posture (eyes down, arms akimbo, shoulders hunched) is super defeated, like he's being attacked

*"there's 12 people on this team, not just me" yes good point troy but the whole team completely ignores him and guilt trips him with his dad's backstory

*ok but gabriella straight up refused to believe that they set her and troy up, and she put the blame solely on him when taylor tried to explain it to her