Apparently the High School Musical series of films is as well known to today’s current crop of teens as Star Wars was to mine. I say ‘apparently’ because the invitation to see High School Musical 3 meant nothing to me, but everything to various babysitters to our family. So I set off with three of them in my car to see if I couldn’t make sense of this phenomena.

High School Musical 3 is the first of the series to be released to cinemas; the first two installments had their debut on Foxtel, followed by high-profile DVD releases. They concern the trials of a group of six students who enter their first year as strangers and leave their final year as committed friends. Every film centres around a school musical, so it should be no surprise that the latest edition is all singing and dancing from the get go. At first the sight of a team of mean looking basketball players breaking into choreographed movement and high-pitched solos was a bit disturbing, but you soon settle into the groove. After all, HS3 is basically the Grease of this generation, and though the music and the fashions have changed, the issues haven’t.

The main issue for each character is what will happen to them after they leave the relatively small pool of East High in Albuquerque. Unlike Grease, though, (where the chief concerns seem to be about competency), HS3’s cast are more concerned with ensuring they end up with the future they have chosen, rather than settle for one someone has selected for them. Key heart-throb Troy is being pushed towards Albuquerque University by his father, who celebrated his own college years there. But as he tells us through song, and finally his dad, “I’m not a little kid anymore. You’ve raised me to make my own choices and I need to make them.”

The Bible lays out three sources of wisdom when choosing a life path – the wise council of elders, the gifting of the individual and the leading God has given them. HS3 places most of its emphasis on the latter. Wherever the heart points, that is where you should go. “What a life in the theatre has taught me,” the school’s drama teacher tells Troy, “is to trust your instincts - and that takes courage.” Especially if your decisions run in the face of wise elders and obvious gifts. But this year’s graduates have learned their lessons well: “East High is a school which encouraged us to break the status quo,” their final speech proclaims. And, magically, the world bends itself out of shape to accommodate their hearts’ desires so that everyone is vouchsafed a happy ending.

HS3 is probably going to be compulsory holiday viewing for the parents of teenage kids. The three I was with vibrated with excitement all the way to the cinema, then hung on every musical phrase. There are no obvious elements to be concerned about, no swearing and only one chaste kiss to speak of. Probably the most alarming element is the fashion. But the unreasoning ideal that you can ‘be anything you want’ is so persuasive it may be more concerning in the long-term than any dress tips your teens pick up.