Let’s be honest, Troy Bolton is kind of the perfect guy – he’s kind, charming, funny, caring and incredibly cute. He was my first childhood crush and has honestly ruined men for me because none of them compare. But lately, I’ve been wondering, is he really as perfect as he seems?
Recently, I had a discussion with a friend about sociopaths and tried to think if I’d known any throughout my life. Suddenly, it hit me: what if Troy is a sociopath? You’re probably thinking that there’s absolutely no way. Troy risked everything to follow his dreams, right? Maybe, but I think that if we look at Troy’s actions a little more closely, there could be more than meets the eye. According to WebMD, there are 12 major behaviors that could be symptoms of a sociopath, and I believe that Troy shows a few of them throughout the High School Musical series.
- Using intelligence, charm, or charisma to manipulate others
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I think that this one is certainly the most obvious indicator that Troy could be a sociopath. He is incredibly charming and has practically everyone at East High falling at his feet. His effect on Gabriella is clear, and he influences her to behave differently and pursue his interests. Although this may seem normal for a relationship, it is also interesting how Troy treats other girls. He indulges in Sharpay’s flirtations, especially in the second film, for personal gain. Instead of turning down her advances (especially after he starts dating Gabriella), Troy gives in to and even encourages her affections when it could lead to scholarships and success. While it seems on the surface like Sharpay is the instigator in these situations, Troy certainly plays up the charm in front of her and her family to get ahead.
- Lying for personal gain
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This symptom might include me making a pretty big accusation: Troy had always been a singer. When he first meets Gabriella after they share a heartwarming duet on New Year’s Eve, Troy says that he only sings in the shower and has never pursued it seriously. However, when the pair sing “What I’ve Been Looking For” with Kelsey, Troy can magically sight-read a song he’s only heard once before. How can someone who has no experience sight read music?! This leads me to believe that Troy was downplaying his singing abilities to get closer to Gabriella and to later impress his father and teammates. Also, I have to mention the scene in the first film where Troy is caught on camera saying that he doesn’t care about singing or Gabriella. He is clearly okay with lying to please people (in that case his team) and gain their affection.
- Impulsive Behavior
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I do genuinely believe that Troy and Gabriella are in love, okay? But the lengths to which Troy goes to keep Gabriella close to him are a bit extreme. In the third movie, when Gabriella is attending an early entrance program at Stanford (literally the best college in the entire country by the way), Troy drives over fifteen hours (believe me, I looked it up on Google Maps) to convince her to come back to East High for prom. While I could be convinced that he just genuinely loves her and wanted her to experience prom, it is incredibly disturbing to think about him driving almost an entire day to get to her. Troy’s impulsive and deviant behavior is also a bad influence on Gabriella. While Troy may have the sociopathic charms to get away with skipping class or breaking rules at work, he convinces Gabriella to do these things and she often gets punished for it. All throughout the second film, Troy plans elaborate dates at the country club they are both employed at, resulting in infractions that only affect Gabriella. He of course gets away with them because he has Sharpay falling for his charms. Plus, we have to mention the number of times that Troy shows up at Gabriella’s house (and climbs up a tree to get to her balcony) to win her affections.
- Lack of empathy for others
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This one is going to be harder to prove, but you have to hear me out. While Troy certainly does show that he cares for others, I believe that it is all a part of his act that he is perpetuating to gain status and adoration. My main piece of evidence is in the second film when Troy gets verbally upset with Ryan because he feels that Ryan is threatening his bond with Gabriella. This, of course, happens after Troy has been flirting with and cavorting with Sharpay for weeks while leaving his friends and girlfriend behind. He is completely fine with this until Gabriella becomes close with Ryan. It’s only after this incident and being isolated by his friends that Troy questions his actions. Although we see Troy have multiple internal struggles about which path to follow in life, I do believe that he wagers that pursuing theatre and basketball will gain him adoration and success. Additionally, in the first film, Troy (and Gabriella) has no remorse hijacking the theatre department and stealing roles from Sharpay and Ryan who are far more dedicated to it. I mean, Troy gets scouted to audition for Juilliard!
While I certainly don’t want to believe that Troy was lying and manipulating all of East High throughout the High School Musical series, I have to question his motivations. Whether Troy is a sociopath or not, he is surprisingly good at navigating turbulent situations and never seems to get in trouble for his actions. In fact, he ends up with the perfect scenario: studying both basketball and theatre at UC Berkeley (which by the way is one of the top public schools in the nation) AND keeping Gabriella close to him after high school. Even though East High improved overall because of Troy’s courage to pursue theatre and defy social norms, his ability to influence an entire student body is suspicious.