Friday Night

So in the ever exciting and glamorous life I lead, I spent last Friday night at my sisters' elementary school in order to watch 2 of my sisters perform in the annual talent show. And all I can say is “Oh my Gawd!” Maybe it was just my naivety but somehow I had gotten it into my head that it was going to be about an hour and a half investment of time so since it was starting at 6, we should have been hitting the parking lot by 7:30. Yeah, I was so totally of the mark on that one.. instead that thing went until almost 9!! Yes that is right… 3 hours of elementary school age children singing and dancing with the occasional really really bad joke telling session thrown in. Not that I was not happy to go because my sisters were absolutely adorable and totally kick-ass and it was really good to see my family but dear Lord above it was LONG.

And to make this night even more fun pretty much every act featured music from High School Musical, Hannah Montana (Disney show featuring Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter as a high school student that has a secret double life as a world famous pop star), or a evangelical Christian sing-along song (don’t even get me started on Christian songs at school…evidently I am the only person in my parent's town who cares about separation between church and State). For those of you not familiar with High School Musical it was a made for the Disney Channel musical that became a ginormous phenomenon in the tween world. It has become one of the biggest selling DVD, a multi-platinum CD, spurned as sold out touring show, and has a sequel in the works. It is so freakin popular that at Christmas both my mother and I had to stalk Best Buy for days to ensure that my sisters had a copy of the special addition with Sing and Dance Along. Every single child in my parents neighborhood has memorized ever word and every dance step. This musical is like crack for children! Its actually pretty cute the first time you see it but damn after about 20 kids singing or dancing to “Get’cha Head in the Game” or “Bop to the Top” you are ready to rush the stage and beat down the CD player. And then as some cruel twist of fate some wizard decided that the best music to play before the show and during the 30 freakin minute intermission was the freakin’ “High School Musical” soundtrack. Seriously?!

Also I just have to say if you have ever wondered why we have such a problem with teenage pregnancy look no further than an elementary school talent show and you will see the rampant over-sexualizing of young girls. I swear there where 10 year old girls that if I were to attempt them would make me, a fairly liberal 25 year old woman, blush. I mean I don’t like to consider myself a prude but I mean Damn Gina! Some of these girls were bumping and grinding it so hard that they just a pole away from a very lucrative career in “adult entertainment.” In the name of all that is holy why do we condone young girls to act like this? And its not like they just made this stuff up on their own, a few of the 5^th graders did a dance routine they learned on the cheerleading squad that was, in my humble opinion, very inappropriate for 10 year old CHILDREN. And its not just dance moves, its also the stuff these girls were wearing. Yes it was a talent show so they were costumes, but I saw at least 5 costumes that would be right at home in Paris Hilton’s closet. Were are these girls’ parents? If my child were to try to walk out dressed like that…wait a minute I forgot I would be the adult and refused to allow my daughter to buy that trash. Sigh...maybe I am a prude but I can’t make myself feel bad about that.