Most of you reading this know that Ashley Tisdale was once among my favorite celebrities; in fact, from March 2005 to January 2011, she and Anne Hathaway were my "top two," and Ashley was always second to Anne. Many of my male friends considered her unattractive, and let me know in more ways than one, but I still defended her honor no matter what. I wasn't as loyal of a fan as I could have been; though I adored The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and even went as far as renting Picture This from Blockbuster--which I only used when I couldn't find a DVD anywhere else--I watched about fifteen minutes of the original High School Musical, and never even bothered with the sequels. My defense for the latter was that I liked Ms. Tisdale as an actress, not as a singer; to be frank, her vocals in the "Band in Boston" episode of Suite Life were abysmal, even though she was supposed to be a better singer than that opulent-yet-ditzy heiress London.
Despite my feelings on Ashley's singing talent (or lack thereof), when I heard that her character Sharpay (did they really have to name her after a dog breed?) was getting a spin-off movie, I got my hands on it as soon as I could. When it came in at the library, I watched it first chance I got...only to be not only seriously disappointed, but also equally offended. The statement that the makers seemed to be making was completely inappropriate, especially coming from the Disney brand, and I never have found any opinions that agreed with mine, so, I'm sharing mine on here in hopes that it will be heard.
Why was it offensive? Well, let me describe it for you: When Sharpay moves to New York in hopes of singing on Broadway, she has two nemeses: Roger Elliston, who wants his dog to perform in the show instead of hers, and Amber Lee Adams, a beautiful redheaded actress who is quite the mean-spirited diva. (I'm about to spoil the ending, but, frankly, do any of you really care?) By film's end, Sharpay and Roger become friends, whereas Amber, who despises dogs, is ruined by a plot they concocted. That would all be fine...if it weren't for the striking similarities between the movie's Amber Lee Adams and real-life actress Amy Lou Adams, who are both beautiful redheaded actresses, and have remarkably similar names. What is even more shocking is that, prior to Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, Disney pretty much made Amy Lou Adams a big-name star by casting her as Princess Giselle in Enchanted.
As a longtime fan of Amy Adams, I was shocked to see her betrayed by Disney in such a way. Frankly, I wonder why Amy didn't sue the House of Mouse for defamation of character. I know the movies always say, "Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, is completely coincidental," but there are too many similarities between Amy Lou and Amber Lee for it to be a coincidence. Someone involved with Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure has it out for Amy, and she probably doesn't even know about it, which makes me, as her fan, fear for her.
Now, I don't want you to get the wrong idea here; I'm not going to boycott Disney or Ashley Tisdale, nor do I want to start a letter-writing campaign to notify Amy Adams of what the Mouse House did to her. Disney's productions are made by various producers, directors, screenwriters, actors/actresses, etc., so just one does not define the company or their works as a whole. Still, it stymies me how such a production could even be made, as well as why no one else seems to have noticed the similarities between Amber Lee and Amy Lou. All I know is, I'm glad Jennifer Stone is now my "number two"; I don't know how I could have stood behind Ashley after starring in something like that.
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