Hollywood's Scandalous Portrayals of Teens are Taking a Backseat to HSM September 30, 2008 By: Lee Turner While the creators of provocative shows such as The CW's Gossip Girl insist, "You need to put something down that's seductive and sophisticated" in order to retain young audiences, Disney's High School Musical Series is proving in Nielson ratings that its competitors are missing the mark. When HSM2 premiered on the Disney Channel in August of 2007, it received more than 17.2 million viewers; making the family friendly movie, at the time, the most-watched basic-cable telecast in history. Two DVDs, a trophy case full of Emmies, and hundreds of millions of dollars later, the creators of High School Musical 1 & 2 are preparing for their third installment to hit theatres nationwide on October 24. Not giving into Hollywood's typical formula for films starring teens, HSM3 has earned a G-rating and begs the question, "Can a clean flick accurately portray today's adolescents?" "I suppose it depends on where you live, but my high school was more like High School Musical than any other show you see on TV," said Kimly Anderson, one of the tens of millions of fans anticipating the release of HSM3. "Rather than the drama, sex, hooking up and popular groups you see in most shows, you see high school students trying to get along with everyone, working to stay balanced, and trying not to give into the stereotypes." Kimly is not alone in her appreciation of Disney's honest, yet more innocent depiction of today's high schoolers. HollywoodJesus.com, a popular Christian movie review site, is so excited for HSM3's release, they partnered up with Disney to give one lucky winner (plus 3 guests) an all-expense trip to the film's October 16th premiere. "I am pleased we can give away premier tickets," said David Bruce, founder and webmaster of HollywoodJesus.com. "HSM3 is important in many ways. Young people and the people taking young people to see this film can leave the theatre feeling good and delight in what it has to offer." While The CW continues to run ads bragging their shows are "nasty pieces of work," HSM's wide success might be enough to encourage other networks to adapt a more friendly and truthful perspective of today's teens. If not, we can only hope life does not imitate art. For your chance to win an all-expense trip to Los Angeles to see the premiere of High School Musical 3 visit www.hollywoodjesus.com.