When Troy Met Gabriella

There once was a time when love was at first sight. This is evidenced by a lot of William Shakespeare’s plays. He had a knack for sticking two young, gorgeous, and willing lovers together. Then somehow he would find a way to spice up the plot by either killing them or sticking roadblocks in their way. Finally in the end love prevailed. Love at first sight was reality.

This obviously does not happen anymore. Nowadays it is all about either whom you know or complete blind luck. A person could get hooked up with a person they have known for a while but never gave much thought to. On the other hand a person could hook up with a person after he or she was nice enough to help the other person up after they just bumped each other really hard on the street. There are other alternatives to this love madness like the Internet, but those are the main factors.

One of my favorite movies, High School Musical, beautifully displays love at first sight and the accidental and totally coincidental run-in- both in the same scene with the same two people! Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez are both on a New Year’s skiing trip in Colorado when they and their parents go to a party. The two first set eyes on each other when they were chosen to sing the next karaoke song. Magic unfolds in the song, and Troy and Gabriella fall in love and then the story goes on to a happy ending.

Being that this is a movie that was recently created, it is completely wrong in the way things happen now. Love does not happen when two people lay eyes on each other. True love happens nowadays when the two get to know each other after a few dates. Although I love this movie, it definitely does not hold true to changes that have gone on in dating.

Did Shakespeare envision these kinds of changes to love? I really do not think he did. If he did he would not have incorporated so much coincidence into his plays. He would not have made them reality. What would he say about today’s game of love? I do not think anyone knows. But as for Troy and Gabriella, they hold the modern day hope for the nonexistent “love at first sight”.