Camp Rock: The Disney Knees Era

Closing out season 2, we're talking about Camp Rock! We're taking it back to 2008 with this cringe-filled film. Come with us as deep dive into the world of skinny jeans, playing piano behind the back, and shaking just a little too hard on that guitar, girl!

If you've made it this far, THANK YOU! We appreciate the support you've shown us the last couple months. We've had so much fun making ZR and we hope we can continue to bring a shimmer of light in this crazy crazy world 💗

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

We got copy written, did you know that?

SPEAKER_03 0:01

Where?

SPEAKER_02 0:02

The Hannah Montana YouTube episode.

SPEAKER_03 0:04

For singing?

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Yes. Shut up. It was like, it won't impact your visibility, but you can't monetize off of it now. Which we wouldn't be able to monetize for a while, but what did we sing on there? Ordinary girl.

SPEAKER_03 0:17

Well, I guess I'll try to keep my singing to a minimum on this recording, but I can't promise that, girl.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

I mean, we have five recordings behind us.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

Not with these hits, not with these bangers coming through. Grab a hat and a mic. Follow me if you can. Well, welcome back to the Selennial Rewatch Podcast. Season finally.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Are we sad?

SPEAKER_03 0:43

It's feeling Candace. You know what I'm gonna say? I do. Bittersweet.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Period. Yeah. Yeah. I've had so much fun this season. And what's funny is at the time of the recording, the only episode that's out is our bonus episode.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

But like I just know all the good stuff that we've talked about this season. Yeah. We've talked about, I mean, now it's out. Twilight, holes, glee.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Hillary Duff. We did a person for the Hillary Duff.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Oh my gosh. What else? The Devil Wears Prada?

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Yeah. We have had some really, really, I just want to say like culturally relevant episodes, which is fun to feel like we're a part of something bigger than just us. Like everybody's talking about this, not just us.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

And that's been really fun already with just with Hannah Montana being out.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

And I I can't wait to see, like, not that we're we've had this conversation earlier this week, actually. We're not trying to make it big.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Or like just the concept of making it. Right. You know. But like you said, we're part of something that's much bigger than us now. And it's just fun to be in that conversation. It is. So happy y'all are here. Happy that I mean, in reality, happy that we've made it to our last recording. Yeah. But it's it.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Yeah. If you're listening right now, we're super grateful for you. Mm-hmm. We know it's primarily our friends and family. And thank you so much for listening.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

It means the world to us. And thank you to our, I'm gonna say 13 subscribers because I subscribe myself to our YouTube. But again, just with the Hannah Montana episode alone.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Love y'all. Wow. Love y'all so much. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

I'll be interested to see how it's changed when this one actually comes out.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

Yeah, maybe we'll have 14.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Well, I actually I have a question for you before we really dive in. So obviously, today we are talking about the one, the only Camp Rock.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

That's actually not true. And I'm not gonna sing because we can't get copywritten again.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

But imagine we're singing, imagine we're in insert clip of us singing Camp Rock, the finale of the movie right now. Yes. We rock on. I feel like I could nail that choreo right here, right now. Five, six, seven. We can't sing. My question for you is when you opened up this draft of our outline that I had written, what did you think? What was your reaction?

SPEAKER_02 3:18

One, I'm always impressed. I will say that. That's on a real, real note. I'm always impressed. The essence of this outline just it took me back to 2008. It's so cringy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

Yes, it's cringy. I feel like when I think of like Disney nostalgia, I feel like the nostalgia that I have for high school musical is different from the nostalgia that I have for Hannah Montana, for That's So Raven. Like like old I was when a certain project came out. The nostalgia feels a little bit different. And I feel like the specific Camp Rock nostalgia is like so angsty.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

It is. It touches on like I don't know how to explain it, but like a very specific, like, sliver of time. Like, I am in seventh grade when I think of campaign.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Paint me a picture, babe.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Paint me a picture. Bangs covering half the face. At least I was trying. You know, the curly hair was processed, it was straight, it was burnt to a crisp.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

But the bangs were coming across red. Yeah. Yeah. I was trying. I was trying to fit in. And this was back before like stretch denim was really like in the way that it is. The jeans were skin tight and they hurt to wear.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Circulation no longer.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

If you weren't jumping to get into your skinny jeans, they weren't skinny enough.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

No, that was baggy. Are we serious? I'm wearing baggy jeans right now. I feel like I'm wearing sweatpants. It's the amazing it's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Yeah, I'm not going back to a skinny jean now that I know another way of life exists.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

I'm not even going back to a legging if we're being so for real.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

You're like compression on the thigh? No thanks.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

No, I'll get my circulation another way. Next. But anyway. Skinny jeans, converse, weird tops.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Oh god. You know what I mean? The baby doll with the the shirt that goes past the crotch, but it's not a dress. It's still a sh it's a long shirt.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

It's a long shirt, and you knew that you couldn't wear that as a dress because it's inappropriate, but you definitely stood in the mirror and posed as if it was a dress. We've all been there. Yeah. I feel like Camp Brock is there.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

We gave Vanessa Hutchins so much shit for wearing the Empire waist when we were talking about high school musical, but nobody wears an empire waist like Michi Torres.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

It's diabolical. I'm gonna start calling it a Disney waist.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Cause it's up to the b it's up to the bottom of the bra.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

To the bus and To the bus. Yeah. It is not is we're not bussing down in anything, not in that empire waste.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

But here's the thing: the Empire waste, the skinny jeans, and your shoe of choice really show off the Disney knees, if you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Which this comes up later. Did Demi start the Disney knees? You know what? Or was there someone before her?

SPEAKER_03 6:20

I feel like the most iconic Disney knees that we could ever get into would be Demi and Nick Jonas. Like they are going toe-to-toe for who has the best knees.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

No, they're going knee to knee, girl. What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_03 6:35

Literally. I think like what what we have to talk about is like the context of that. And again, we can we can get into the more specifics later, but like technically Hannah Montana was already out. And she was a fictional pop star who was doing fictional performances and then ultimately ended up doing real performances in real life. And something tells me she pr probably hit a Disney knee once or twice.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

I mean, I think at this time, I feel like punk rock or like alternative pop music was at least for our generation on the come-up. Like we were getting into music that wasn't just for kids. We were kind of expanding our music world.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

And that was a big thing at this time is the hipster culture and the I don't want to be like everybody else. So no one is listening to pop on purpose. I'm not like other girls. I'm not like other girls. But yet here we are, you know, who's listening to the pop hits.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

I can't wear my converse with my dress, baby. That's just me.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

And if you don't know, that's a problem. Anyway, that was the time. It was the hipster pop punk culture.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

And so I'm sure a lot of them, you know, were moving real jerky. And all the kids are wanting to do the same. You know what I'm talking about. It's the panic at the disco move. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

I was gonna say, if if you're like listening to this and not watching on YouTube, you gotta see. You're really missing out. Can I just say I'm skipping so far ahead while you're doing that move? The the finale of this movie, Here I Am, Son by Peggy. Love that song. That song eats, but don't you mean Margaret?

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Margaret?

SPEAKER_03 8:20

I feel like she was shaken a little too much for what a slow song that was. I'm like, that's a ballad. Why are you bouncing around, babe?

SPEAKER_02 8:28

It's the fake guitar playing. Again, we'll get into it, and I'm gonna leave it at that because it's down bad horrendous.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

All right, anyway. Um let me try to try to circle back. I had handicap about the outline because um the the thesis that we want to kind of dive into today is that we feel that for Zillennials, Brock was our last chopper out of numb. Because sorry, that phrase is so dumb. It sent me when I saw it. I was like, she for real. Like, well, yeah. Um it was our final moment of pure unpolished tweenhood before the Instagram aesthetic really took over. Because if you think about it now, kids these days, tweens, they just straight up skip their awkward phase.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Which pisses me off.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Right. We had a big, bad, awkward phase.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Big bad down to the bone, big back awkward phase. Okay. And I feel like it took me a while to grow out of mine, low-key. Okay, actually, philosophical brain going on right now. Was it an awkward phase that we all just collectively had together? Or because the lack of social media at that time, were we all just trying to fit in where we could? So everything was a little mitchmatched and a little not so cohesive. That's really so it made it okay for us to, as you happen here, dance at you know, slumber parties without like the fear of it being put on TikTok or online.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Right, yeah. Yeah, I I think it's it's a really interesting conversation because at the age that we were at around this time, 2008, we'll say, because that's when Camp Rock came out. We still had the like normal teenage fear or like tween fear of being perceived, but I think there's a difference between being perceived in your local community junior high school and being perceived on a global scale. If you know somebody posts a video of you and you like the whole world could see it, you know? Like I think I I think we still had that pers like that fear of being perceived, that fear of like, you know, doing something weird or whatever, but like it just truly was on such a smaller scale.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

Yeah. Like totally wow. I'm just like thinking about so much right now because even at this time, cyberbullying was a thing. Right. But again, we were just like right in that sliver of time where we hadn't spent so much time online as the people that were a couple years younger than us.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

So I don't know. Also, like a lot to think about.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

Technology and internet access wasn't something that everybody had. Like now, if you go into a middle school, every single one of those kids has a smartphone, has social media apps on their smartphone. Like our f a lot of our phones didn't have internet back then. So you had to be in front of a computer to cyberbully somebody, which either meant, you know, you had to kick your brother off the shared family computer to get on MySpace, or you had to be in the library at school. Like, they're just like, even though yes, it still was a thing, it was an emerging thing, it was just on such a smaller scale. And so yeah, I think like us having this conversation at the same time that we're talking about Camp Rock, like the rock music, the teen angst, like we were able to feel those natural feelings that tweens go through, and they're like, we didn't have to worry about whether or not somebody thought we were lame for it. Right. Cause we're at the end of the day, we're all weird. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

You know, we're all weird and no one cares.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

Yeah. So before we either get into the actual movie, last thing I'll talk about is just the concept of cringe. Because we're gonna talk about a lot of cringe stuff.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

We are what? Okay, actually, what? I'm looking up the definition of cringe, and the first one yuck, the first one is like the verb cringe, uh-huh. To bend one's head and body in fear or in a servile manner. That's a big word. So it's like shy away a little bit, you know? But then there's the similar one to have an inward feeling of acute embarrassment or awkwardness.

SPEAKER_03 12:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

So secondhand embarrassment is essentially cringe. Yep. I want to know when this word, or more so like the feeling of cringe, came about. Yeah. Because obviously, verb cringe has always been around. That's a universal movement, but the feeling of it is so different. And if you ask me.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Well, here's the thing is like, I do think that the social media of it all has made cringe just something that our generation faces that perhaps earlier generations didn't have to as often. Like for my mom and her college friends, the only photos they have of them in college are like printed photos in photo albums. You know what I'm saying? And so if nobody's like pulling out that big scrapbook from back in the day, they don't have to face what they used to look like. They don't have to face what they used to wear, what they used to do. But for us, we have all these like Snapchat memories, what were you doing eight years ago today? Facebook memories, what were you doing 10 years ago today? And like we are just forced to look back on our lives.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

I just you just unlocked something for me. You remember Time Hop?

SPEAKER_03 14:02

Oh, yeah. Just and I I love the idea that like people say like if something that you did in the past makes you cringe now, that's good. That means that you have grown, amazing, that you have changed, like woo! Everything I did is cringy.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Can confirm.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

That helped that helps me cope with my cringe, you know? Because I think what I did yesterday is cringy. True, true.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

I think some things, even I won't even, I'm not gonna add this, but I'm just thinking about like decoration styles. Oh my god. From when I even like moved into this place.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

What was I thinking? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

But yeah, yeah, I can happily say that many moments in my life are cringe worthy, and I'm glad that I have evolved into a little, a little weird human being. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_03 14:47

I think recognizing cringe is like that it's that uncomfortable recognition of the gap between who you used to be and who you are now. And you're like, ooh, that makes me uncomfy. Like, I don't like that. And I just wanted to start this episode by by mentioning that because we are gonna be talking about cringe this this episode.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Okay, less than 30 minutes in, we're already talking about the characters. Look at us, growth.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

Or do you want to talk about um like how Demi and the Joe Bros got into this movie? Yeah, yeah, let's get into it. Okay, so here's the T. Obviously, Disney knew that musicals were doing well. They knew that this pipeline was kind of starting to be created. Like, oh, we can promote stars who are triple threats. Like, let's run it back, let's make another movie musical. But before we get to the actual production of Camp Rock, let's talk about how the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato joined this project because they seriously are two huge pillars of zillennial culture.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

You can't talk about this era of Disney without talking about these almost at these two people, the Jonas Brothers are one person. These two pillars of fame.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

And I think a beautiful testament to that is when this by the time this episode comes out, this clip is like months old. But back when Demi joined the Jonas Brothers on stage and they sang a song from Camp Rock. Damn. The way that that video went like viral so fast, everybody in the comments is like, this is healing.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

This is everything I needed. Like, my inner child is so happy.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

I have chills thinking about it because I just imagine the people in that audience, and like our parents have had that experience, I know it, of like liking an artist or someone, and then 20 years later, 15, 20 years later, whatever, they're like, I'm going on tour again. So they go back and see him, and it's like everyone has grown up. So I just know that that audience is filled with people our age who are just you know healing their inner child that's big for our generation. I think that's big for everybody. Yeah. But we're in the midst of it right now is healing that inner child. And so, you know, we're involved with all the tea of who dated who and who didn't date who, but there's speculation, and you know, all that stuff. And so it's like seeing all of them up on stage is so yeah, it makes you happy. And also knowing that Demi Lovato went through so much after Camp Rock, right, and then has made it to where she, they, she, and both, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

They they use all pronouns. Not all, they use she, they, he, her. Nope, nope, she, they, she, wait, what the fuck? They, them, she, her. There we go. Jesus Christ. Wait, pronouns. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

She, her, they, them, period.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

Yep, yep, yep. Yeah. In the interest of time, like we could do a whole episode about the Jonas Brothers. We could do a whole episode about Demi Lovato. Really quick stats is that the television show Jonas had actually already been filmed prior to Camp Rock, but it had not been released yet. And Demi Lovato was auditioning for the the love interest role in the show Jonas, and she made a really, really far in callback, but ultimately didn't get it. But the network loved her, and so instead they offered her the role of Michi, eon, Michi Torres. But isn't that interesting that she was like kind of already like gonna be on a project with the Jonas brothers in like one way, shape, or form?

SPEAKER_02 18:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Well, speaking of the Jonas Brothers, is the network really wanted Jesse McCartney to have the role of Shane, and he turned it down because he he did not want to get pigeonholed in the Disney world.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah. And he had already made some cameos on Disney Channel shows.

SPEAKER_03 18:47

Yeah. Which I feel like is why they wanted him to let they wanted to like loop him in. They're like, come on, you've already like done this. Yeah. And he's like, nah, you're not gonna get me. No. Taylor Lautner actually made it pretty far in auditioning for Shane, and he has said this himself. He made it far enough that he eventually had to sing, and then they realized he couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

I was gonna say, uh, Shark Boy can't sing, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:09

He cannot sing, so No. It was actually so this this story, I've heard it two different ways. They wanted to see Joe Jonas for the role, and Kevin Jonas Sr. says that it was his idea that the brothers, all three brothers, needed to be cast and not split split up the band. But then when I was reading my Bible, Disney High, it was they're they're saying that like an executive had the same idea, being like, Oh no, we're trying to promote them as a band. Like, we we need to write in roles for the other brothers as well. I kind of like the Kevin Jonas senior story the best, myself. Yeah. I like the idea of a dad advocating for his sons.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Put them all in. Please. No, that's interesting. I don't think I know I did not know that, but I don't know. I feel like I knew about the Jonas Brothers before Camp Rock. You did, yes, because of Hannah Montana, but also I think because of Hannah Montana, I've always been a rabbit hole person. So like I went into the Jonas Brothers like realm of things and was finding old music of Nick's specifically. Yes. Crazy, absolutely crazy that I did that, but like it was cool to see this evolution of them, and then boom, they're in a movie.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Super quick aside, it's funny that you mentioned that. How the Jonas Brothers ended up like in the Disney sphere is that Nick Jonas had, I don't know if you call it a mixtape. I don't, I don't know. What whatever you send like record labels to to try to get signed, he had like a demo. Yeah, like he had an independent Christian demo of just himself. And the guy who like discovered Hansen discovered Nick Jonas. And then when they were like chatting just casually, he was like, Oh yeah, my two older brothers. And the guy was like, Brothers?

SPEAKER_02 21:01

You have a brother band.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

Yeah, he's like, Hold on, do they do they sing and play instruments? And he's like, Yeah, like we're all learning instruments, and he was like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. He can't keep it. But uh turns out that they were like some of the first people to really, really have success by promoting music on MySpace. By using social media, yes, and just like letting the girlies like discover them organically. Yeah. In this book, it kind of outlines how people were like, we're just gonna give the music away for free. And they were like, they were like, Yes, like we want them to organically like gain fans. And by letting girls, you know, post this on MySpace, like they they will get fans that way. I mean, it worked. Period. You're one of those girls.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Here we are. Yeah. I didn't know nothing about a MySpace, but listen, YouTube, I was in that. Yep. I was in it.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

So, like you said, you knew the Jonas brothers before Camp Rock, clearly. Hollywood Records was promoting Demi's solo music ahead of the release of Camp Rock because they wanted her to seem like an established singer who turned to acting, not an actor who turned to singing. They in kind of I guess in preparation for promoting Camp Rock, they wanted it to seem like we got these, you know, rock star teenagers to be in this movie. Not like we got these teen actors and turned them into rock stars. Interesting. They were kind of like, I guess they had like recognized the pipeline that they had created at that point. With Hannah Montana, Hillary Duff, that so on and so forth. And they were like, what if we switched it?

SPEAKER_02 22:36

That's pretty smart.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Yeah. So before Camp Rock premiered in June in 2008, Demi had like gone on this little mini warm-up tour where she was like playing at Six Flags, and people people kind of knew who she was ahead of the movie.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Wow. Yeah. I'm learning so much.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

Isn't that interesting?

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Yeah. Smart marketing. I think it is. I think I always had the assumption that Demi Lovato just kind of came out of nowhere. But she didn't.

SPEAKER_03 23:05

Well, so first at all. First she had, do you remember as the bell rings?

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

It was like a little like I loved it. They call them interstitials, but it's basically like a a little short show.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

And so that was the first thing she ever booked at Disney. And then from there it went That was Gap Demi. Gaptooth Demi?

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Gaptooth demi, yeah. So I remember that. Mm-hmm. And I this is so bad. I remember remembering her for her gap because I had a gap.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

You said my girl, my people.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Tyra wasn't gonna tell me to close my gap, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

Still culturally relevant in 2026.

unknown 23:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Do you regret it? Like Daniel on America's Next Top Model.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Oh, closing my gap. No.

SPEAKER_03 23:49

You like it closed.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

I do like it closed. I will say I have the tiniest little one now because my teeth are shifting as an adult. Yeah. So Invisalign is in my future. It'd be like that. Mm-hmm. Anyway. I love the Ask the Bell Rings. And I remember when she wasn't on it anymore, and I was like, it's not the same. We need that little girl. Yeah. But I do want to talk about the other up-and-coming star that's in this movie that I call the underdog of all underdogs, which is Alison Stoner. Yes! Because aside from Demi Lovato and the Jonas brothers, Allison Stoner had been in like the Hollywood mix for probably seven to eight years before booking this role.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

And that would have put her, or they, so sorry. That would have put them at working in the industry for, like I said, seven or eight years already.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Which is nuts.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

So 14 old. So much work. Like so many gigs booked. So like just in so many. So list project. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Missy Elliott's work it video as they describe themselves as the little white girl.

SPEAKER_03 25:00

And she was the little white girl.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

The little white girl. Cheaper by the dozen played one of the siblings, Sarah Baker, made a guest appearance on the Sweet Life is Dak and Cody. I think a couple times.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

Yeah, I think Max was a recurring character on there.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

Yeah. That's so Raven was in most of, if not all, of the step up movies, like up to Step Up Three, I think. I didn't know that. Yeah, it might have just been Step Up Three. I could, I can I might be over putting them in these movies. But then there was Mike's Super Short show, which was very similar to As the Bell Rings.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

Mike's Super Short Show.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Loved it. Loved it. And if you grew up just watching TV or movies, you saw Allison Stoner everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 25:46

Recognize the face, recognize the name.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

Listen. Everywhere. And if you read their book, which I highly encourage listening to the audiobook because they narrate it, and the emotion is just like embedded in the words. But they explain how they were going through like the pilot seasons and trying to book a show just to have job security. Right. But was always getting these like little parts, the best friend, the quirky little girl. Like the sidekick, the underdog of sorts. And the T is Disney came to Alice and Stoner after all of the work that they had done and was like, We have a movie for you. It's about a girl who goes to a camp for music and plot of Camp Rock. Right. And so at the time, they're like, Yeah, I love this. Didn't hear anything. And then all of a sudden, Agent is like, I have an audition, have an audition for you. It's the plot of the movie is Camp Rock and Heart Sang. Because that was supposed to be, or Alice and Stoner was supposed to be Michi. Dang. Yeah. And so it was a whole thing. Obviously, Alice and Stoner ends up playing Caitlin, Michie's like sidekick friend, yeah. Voice of reason at this camp.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

I'm not even gonna say best friend because the way that they end up being friends.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

It's kind of crazy. Yeah. But yeah, that's um That's T. That is T. Dang.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Again, I would encourage reading the book. Semi-well adjusted.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

Can I shout out my favorite Allison Stoner content? Please. You know the Love on the Brain Millennium Dance Complex video? Oh girl, hold on. I'll send it to you. You can watch it later.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

Love on the Brain Millennium Complex?

SPEAKER_03 27:39

Please hold.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Or Millennial Complex.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

Millennium Millennium Dance Complex in LA. They they have a red room. And so I know you know these dance videos.

SPEAKER_02 27:51

Most definitely.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Probably. It's it's nine years old. It has 26.2 on YouTube. Anyway, now my like screen is gonna crash because I'm pulling it up. But Allison Stoner just randomly is in it. And like each down the choreo. Yes, it's so good. And I used to watch it like a lot in college. And this was when like they were And we've never watched it together? And girl, I'm sure we have. You may just not remember this specific late night video.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Listen, we had a lot of this sounds promiscuous. We had a lot of late nights together.

SPEAKER_03 28:32

We watched a lot of videos. Um, but I mean, as you know, we would watch like endless YouTube videos in college, but it's like Alice and Stoner hadn't been like in any projects of late. And so to be like, hold up, we're like watching the video, we're like, is that Disney legend Allison Stoner? Is that that little white girl from the Missy Little Market video? Literally, literally, and it is it is we can fact check that before this this recording goes live, but I'll send it to you afterwards.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

Amazing. Okay, well, without further ado, let's dive into no singing.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

I like literally my my impulse control I just used to not sing. I deserve a prize.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

You do. Good job. What's the cold open for this movie?

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Girl. It is a classic mid-2000s montage, a getting ready montage where we're trying on different outfits, we're trying out different hairstyles, we're trying on different glasses. And I honestly, that's when the cringe started for me.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Yeah, yeah. Because here's what I noticed as a movie maker. That was cringy, isn't it? So cut it out. Cut it out. Jesus Christ. Here's what I noticed compared to other getting ready montages, there were very little cuts. Like it was all one shot, like that one where she takes off multiple glasses. I'm like, were we saving time?

SPEAKER_03 29:58

Yeah, like what is the intention here?

SPEAKER_02 30:00

They said we only have time for one shot. Put all three glasses on and then take them off and be like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

Like, girl, and then you didn't even wear the glasses. Honestly, it's like it's literally the first shot of the movie that just lets you know it's going, it's going to be cringe.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

She wakes up and her arm falls into her CD player that is popped out of the laptop, might I add you. Ooh, and I almost sang.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Okay, so um, I I will say this probably a thousand times in this episode. I love Demi Lovato. I'm a huge fan of hers. I actually think that she and Joe Jonas have lovely chemistry in this movie. I think there's really like nice, sincere acting moments from her in this film. Waking up in the morning is not one of them, okay? Because why in the hell does she toss the covers off, get out of bed, and look at her room like this?

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Like she's never been in it.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Looking at the ceiling, like I'm like, girl, who told you to do that? And what per like, what director was like, we're keeping that? Well, it's like she's never seen a a wall before. It's like the is like is what it was giving.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Yeah, I noticed that, and I almost wrote it down in my trusty notebook, but I was like, no, that's dumb. It's not dumb, but it is dumb.

SPEAKER_03 31:19

It sets the tone from the jump that this movie is about to be cringy.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

Yeah, it's like this is her first day on earth, but the only thing that she knows about is her family where she goes to school in Canberra.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

So real. And let's let's say something else. Let's say something else about this opening montage.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Speak your truth, girlfriend.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

If Disney is hiring a Latina mom, it's gonna be the one and only Latina mom from Wizards of Waverly Plays. That's Disney's Latina mom, okay? That is that, yeah. I can't think of her name right now. That's bad.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

You can't either just feel like a disgrace.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

Let me reference the Bible really quick.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Yeah, while you're checking that, it was just a really interesting opening montage. Cause also, this is outside of As the Bell Rings, this is our first look into Demi's first feature film.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

So it's like breakout role. We're seeing what she's bringing.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

As tweens. We're like, all right, girl, let's see what you got.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

What? Maria Canals Barrera. Period. Love you, Maria. Love you, Maria. Love you, mommy.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

Mm-hmm. Mrs. Russo.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

Okay, but what's interesting also about that opening montage is that it's a song that Michi Torres, it's a it's it's a s okay. Here's what I have to say. It Camp Rock is a non-it's a non-musical musical. In musicals, yes, singing occurs to advance the plot. And the singing is about the plot. It's characters inner monologues, it's conversations, like that's the definition of musical. This is kind of like in this, I don't I was gonna say like in the style of a jukebox musical, but it actually isn't.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

What's a jukebox musical?

SPEAKER_03 33:08

It's when you take an album that already exists and make a musical or surrounding it.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

Oh, I want to do that so bad. Dude, there's so that's like a big goal in my life.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

There's really good ones. Alanis Morissette's jukebox musical, jukebox musical is so good.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

I know there's a Green Day one.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

Yes, exactly. Exactly. Anyway, it's not that either. Like it's just kind of No. It's a movie that has music in it.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

I make the difference.

SPEAKER_03 33:37

Okay, keep going.

SPEAKER_02 33:38

I do think that Camp Rock is 100% a musical. Okay. But it it like comes with a twist because as you said, musicals. Let me backtrack. Music in musicals advances the plot. It kind of takes you through either a period of time or something that can't just be said in a couple lines. I think Camp Rock is unique in the way that it's a non-musical musical. Because while it's not fully advancing the plot, it is giving that inner monologue, it's giving you character insight without taking up time. Yeah. Like more time than a song would to tell you what their mindset is, what's going on presently.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Is that a word?

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

No, I hear you. So, like, who will I be? It's up to me. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She's like, I can I can be who I want to be as long as I do the work, basically. Yeah. Which we get into it, but she just needs to be her damn self. So true.

SPEAKER_03 34:40

All right, well, let's let's get into it. Let's talk about Miss Michi. Let's talk about it all. Oh my god. You're like, I don't even want to. It's too cringe.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

Like, you said you felt emo at the beginning of this. I feel like Michi, and maybe this is just Dami Lovato coming out, but I feel like Michi is like that good girl that just wants to have an edge.

SPEAKER_03 35:03

Hmm, okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

So, like the over dramatics of I can't go to Camp Rock, and she's sulking about it all day. Like, girl, it's the last day of school. Yeah. I don't care if you can go to Camp Rock or not. This is the last day of school. I'm celebrating. Turn that frown upside down. Come on now. But yeah, it's just like, girl, gotta grow up. You're 15. Yeah. Stakes are so low. Actually. You've got time to become rich and famous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

That's just me. That's just me. Something we can't forget to talk about. Yes. Because it honestly drives the plot in her character development is Mitchie being just so okay with lying about who she is fully.

unknown 35:44

Like.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

What was that about?

SPEAKER_03 35:46

Honestly, and I think that's why this movie kind of flops critically is because it's like, it just feels unnecessary.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

Yeah. The need to oh, that's what was driven home for me while I was watching this, actually. Now that we're talking about this, the need to like fit in. Where's this line? No, I wrote it. Let me line for line. The pressure to be better or fit in is a toxic reality paired with the hook of becoming famous. Mm-hmm. Because at this time, Disney had caught on to the fact that teen girls want to be famous. Yeah. You see it with Hannah Montana, and now you're getting it with Camp Rock, this girl who came out of nowhere and is making music with a big celebrity.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

Right. And it's like You're quoting the authenticity is lost. You're quoting the child star documentary, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:37

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Yeah, so I watched that too. And that was actually a really interesting thing that you're bringing up is that Disney figured out that young girls liked the idea of becoming famous. And so yeah, I it didn't like clock to me that that's what all of these shows were about. All these shows, movies, like it's such a big theme in so many of them. Yeah. But yeah, specifically, like Mitchie doesn't have to lie. Like, I don't, I don't know. I mean, I guess it does, it does really drive the plot home because that's her falling out with Shane. Is he's like, You've been lying to me all summer. Like, I thought you liked me for me, and you were just pretending to be somebody else. But I'm like, girl, you are not that broke. You live in a two-story house. That house that they show at the beginning of the film. I'm like, that looks like a lovely home. Also, white picket fence and all.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

Her room alone. You have your own laptop, you have your own keyboard, you have music equipment, you have a microphone. Girl, I think you're just fine. Yeah. Your dad owns his own store. I don't care what kind of store it is.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

He has his own store. Both your parents are business owners. Like, and you know what?

SPEAKER_02 37:49

I'm gonna be the first to say I get that running a small business is hard.

SPEAKER_03 37:52

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

I know it. But she said the store was expanding and catering is taking off.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

So seems like the perfect time to afford Camp Rock. And I I guess perhaps the thing that we're missing is like how elite Camp Rock is.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 38:08

Clearly, it's for the rich of the rich.

SPEAKER_02 38:10

Nepo babies.

SPEAKER_03 38:11

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is weird because like you don't need a camp to make you famous. Like, if your mom is TJ Tyler, she could just produce your record.

SPEAKER_02 38:19

Which that might say a lot more about her mom than it does about her. Then we realize you're sending your kid away to camp so that you can details, details.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

One thing that I think is kind of like hitting me now is um when I was reading the Disney High book about just like Demi Lovato's come-up, basically, they were talking about how there were signs from the beginning of like adults that worked with her. There were signs from the beginning that she was not well. Like restrictive eating. When they would ask her questions like, Who's your favorite artist? What's your favorite movie? She would say like really adult things, or like she told everybody that her favorite artist was Amy Winehouse, who ultimately dies of an overdose, we know.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Yeah.

unknown 39:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:03

And so all these adults are like, man, like there were so many signs from the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 39:08

I think it was the director of Princess Protection Program talked about the scene where she was getting bullied and ended up getting like frozen yogurt like all over her. So she's like covered in frozen yogurt, and everyone is laughing and pointing at her. And that like once they called cut, Demi just like could not stop crying because she had experienced real bullying in her real life. And it was just like too close to home, you know. And this director describes like just holding her and hugging her while she's crying, and she's like, the good news is like you're an actress, and like, you know, you are able to channel your real life experiences into this art form. The bad news is you're an actress, and like the show, like the show must go on, and like we've got more to do today, and you're gonna have to like compartmentalize this. Damn. And it kind of was making me think about like the plot of Camp Rock and that like Demi, who we know has struggled with an eating disorder pretty much her whole life, half the freaking movie, she's handling food, she's making burgers, she's she like the whole plot is that girl's always in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

Yeah. And the burger talk is astronomical.

SPEAKER_03 40:19

Yeah, like I could never eat another burger again.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Hate that. Yeah, hate that. Um, little aside about that whole subject of eating disorders and disordered eating and other body things going on. Allison Stoner wrote in their book that they caught on to Demi's habits on this set. So that kind of like joined them as friends. That was their bonding moment, which is really sad. Like following Demi to the bathroom after catching on and being like, Hey, are you good? Yeah. And then again, having to go through all those scenes with they're both in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

I know. Like, that's terrible.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

Yeah. That's terrible.

SPEAKER_03 41:01

I I also think one thing that we didn't talk about before, but that is is like a really like nuanced little point here is like we were talking about how we ourselves didn't have a ton of access to social media at this time, and we were allowed to be cringy and awkward, and we we weren't so afraid of being perceived the way that kids are nowadays. But like those teenagers, when they were filming the movie, they did have social media, and they were like the first Disney stars who did. And this was like the era where like Selena and Demi were like feuding with Miley and posting like videos on MySpace and YouTube, and like they were they were the first stars to have social media and to have it be used against them and to get into trouble with it. And um, I think it solidified them as like figures in our childhood because we got to see more of them than like that was the the other interesting thing about that child star documentary is that like child stars didn't really become a thing until like the 80s. Like there weren't well sorry, television stars, like a lot, a lot of them, you know. Obviously, there was Shirley Temple, there was Coogan himself.

SPEAKER_02 42:18

Yeah, Jackie Coogan, um, Drew Barrymore.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

I have a list. Yeah, yeah, but they they really kind of boomed like in the 80s and 90s. And so if you think about it that way, like we are the first generation to not only grow up with our child stars, but have a less restricted access to them compared to, you know, you could only read about Shirley Temple in the newspaper if if your local newspaper happened to cover it, or if you had access to like a bigger, like nationwide newspaper, right? Yes. Like we could go onto MySpace and see Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez posting selfies and then go to a different page and see Miley and Mandy making fun of them, you know? And like that that was really new for our generation. And so even though we weren't super active on social media of posting, well, I mean, some people were, but I don't know, it just kind of like when we talk about like these pillars of our childhood and like why we feel so much nostalgia and why it is so bittersweet to go back and talk about Demi Lovato's struggles and this and that, is because like we feel connected to these stars in a way that I think other generations maybe didn't.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

You couldn't have said it better. My last my last thing. If we round it out back to the plot at the end and how we're saying, like, Mitchie felt like she needed to lie about everything. My last qualm. You mean to tell me that hearing one song is gonna fix everything? Oh, with Shane, yes, I rest my king.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Also, that trope, it's like the Cinderella story. Like all the girls laughing to be like, listen to me sing, Shane. Like that trope is like so overdone in movies. Yeah, but it also is like it's it it always falls. Back on, like that guy must be an idiot. Like, like to not recognize her in the kitchen with the powder on her face, she still looks the same under there. Her hair is the same color, same length. I guess she has a hat on.

SPEAKER_02 44:13

Guys are just clueless.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

I guess I'm like, Oh, you didn't know it was her this whole time. The girl that you're flirting with and taken out in the canoe, you never thought to ask. Like, hmm. Do you sing? Did I hear you playing the piano the other day? You got any original songs?

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Bib. There are just so many inconsistencies that I'm like, what do you mean? Cause getting into the the hall where she was playing, and then he sneaks in there, she'd still be in there. Let's just think about that for a second.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

She would hear him say, Hello, who's in here? Right. She just skedaddled out of there.

SPEAKER_02 44:48

No, no, doors are windows. It's open air. I can see, hear, and probably smell everybody that's around there. Like, hello. And then when he's singing essentially her song back to her, because that's all he does is he takes the melody and puts his own words to it. If I'm hearing my song sing back to me, I'm clocking it.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

Yeah, you're like, how do you know my song?

SPEAKER_02 45:12

Michi, open your ears, girl. But no, it had to be sang at the end of final jam. Yeah. In order to strike a nerve, you know?

SPEAKER_03 45:23

The end of final jam. At the end. Speaking of inconsistencies. Speaking of inconsistencies and blowing your budget on cinematography. The lighting in Too Cool for You was all over the place. When that scene first started, I was like, damn, like, I'm really impressed that they got this like right at sunset. Like, this looks good. And then it kept going, and I was like, this does not look good.

SPEAKER_02 45:50

It's dark.

SPEAKER_03 45:51

Some of it's dark, some of it's bright, the audience is one color, the stage is another color.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

You can just tell that they had that light way up there.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

Anyway, we digress. I forgot that the way we get introduced to Shane Gray, the character, is basically like a TMZ style TV report on the morning news that Michie and her mom are watching. I was like, that's funny. Hot Tunes TV.

SPEAKER_02 46:17

Period. She's like, Hot Tunes is on turn up. And yeah, they report that I don't even know what they report. But yeah, it's a bad boy image of a rock star.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

That's what's so funny about it is that like the concept that a rock teen rock star is being a bad boy is so vague and nonspecific. And so like Disney coded to just be like, they're not saying he's partying, he's hooking up with girls, he's drinking, he's smoking. They're just like, Shane Gray has a bad boy image, and he needs to clean up his act.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

And then her mom is like, What is up with that guy? And Mitchie has something like smart to say, and I'm like, girl, I know if you were in the same room, you'd be cheesing. She's oh, she's got a cheesy, cheesy smile. This is camp cheese. I don't care what you say. This is camp cheese.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

Um anyway, yeah, it's just, and I think that's what makes the movie like now cringy, is because like we've actually seen Disney stars like go to rehab and shit, i.e. Demi Lovato.

SPEAKER_02 47:23

I was gonna say, we've seen that.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

The tabloids were a lot more explicit than that.

SPEAKER_02 47:29

A lot more explicit and unfortunately a lot more like I don't know, like parasocial almost.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:37

You know, I feel like I hate to say it, but it kind of all started with Brittany. And then, you know, it continues to evolve with like Lindsay Lohan and like blanking on other people. But I'm thinking of like Justin Bieber if we're doing a synonymous like male stuff.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

I was picturing Justin Bieber peeing in the mop bucket when I was picturing like the explicit details of an actual teen doing something bad.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

Like Justin Bieber was not given the grace to just be like, he's acting up. They were like, he's pissing in the bucket at this time, at this place.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

Yeah. Anyway. No, no sympathy.

SPEAKER_03 48:14

It's just like just the fictionalized pop star is it's like it's just funny what details they it's keep intimate. It's just it's it's a little weird. But speaking of the other characters, let's get into it.

SPEAKER_02 48:27

So interesting that we're talking about Shane because I do feel like he had the best character development of every character. Like, I know, and we all know, when you start a movie on a character, it's like, oh, that's who the movie's about. I beg to differ. Shane Gray had the best character development because he made a 180 and was happy about it. It wasn't something that felt necessary by the end. It actually worked.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

This movie's for the Joe girls.

SPEAKER_02 48:59

Yeah. Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_03 49:00

I would just say something crazy.

SPEAKER_02 49:01

Because everyone wants a little bad boy, but a bad boy that's nice.

SPEAKER_03 49:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:05

What are you about to say?

SPEAKER_03 49:06

I actually I like really hate Joe Jonas now. Like, like I I was a Joe girl through and through growing up, and now I find him insufferable. Say more. Well, I just like it has everything to do with his divorce with Sophie Turner. Like, divorced dad Joe Jonas is not hot to me. I forgot that he's a whole papa. Yeah, he has two daughters, and the my specific beef is that obviously I don't know these people, they're celebrities, but just from what I have read, we're parasocial anxiety.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

Is that Sophie Turner felt very strongly about her children not being in the public eye? And I believe a big demise of their marriage was like she wanted them to spend more time in the UK with her, and he was like, No, they're gonna come on tour with me. Anyway, as soon as they get divorced, Joe does this whole PR stunt and takes the girls out, and there's like paparazzi pictures of their children like getting ice cream with their dad or whatever, and it's like that was your wife's like one thing that she didn't want them to be. Like prior to those photos, there were none, not a single photo of his kids on the internet. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, that's just I I I think that's bad form. That's irresponsible. I don't I don't like it, and I'm not a Joe girl anymore.

SPEAKER_02 50:21

I've never really been a Joe girl, but I've got eyes and I understand why the girlies were going crazy when they were on tour. But here's the thing if any of the Jonas brothers were going to be that way, it was going to be him.

SPEAKER_03 50:35

Yeah. Well, that's that's what I was gonna say to bring it back to Camp Rock is like it actually was kind of nice to watch this again and be like, this is this is why I was a Joe girl. He's that guy, he's so charming, he's so sweet at the end of this movie. Yeah, he dances really badly. That's my Mia.

SPEAKER_02 50:54

I was gonna say, does he not know how to dance? Like, you get the people who can vibe, they can step, touch, they can, they've got rhythm. But there's a difference between having rhythm and being able to dance.

SPEAKER_03 51:06

Another funny aside from the Disney High book is please. At the time that the Jonas brothers were coming up, boy bands like InSync, The Backstreet Boys, like that type of boy band was so popular that the Jonas brothers ended up like being put in dance lessons, and they were like, they were considering like going that route. And I don't know if it was like their producer or their manager or who came like stopped by the dance studio one day and saw them. And he was just like, Hey guys, like you don't have to do this, like you could just be a rock band, and I think that might be better. And he describes in the book like just like seeing the visible relief, like of these boys, like, thank God, because this was not working out for us.

SPEAKER_02 51:48

I can't imagine any of them, any of them actually dancing, like for real scenes.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

And that's why Start the Party is hard to watch.

SPEAKER_02 51:58

It's difficult. Follow along if you can. Brother, can you do it? Anyway. Learn an A count and get back to me. To the other brothers, to the other brothers. Nate and Jason. Now, one, I do like that they're not brothers in the film.

SPEAKER_03 52:14

I don't think they needed to be in it. You feel like you can tell that the they were written in.

SPEAKER_02 52:18

Yeah, most definitely. Yeah. Like the little limo scene, we could have done that with like an agent or a manager. And then the phone call where they're out by the pool and he's like, Where's my birdhouse? Again, manager or agent.

SPEAKER_03 52:33

Yeah, also birdhouse irrelevant.

SPEAKER_02 52:35

Hello? That's where we're losing the plot. Yeah. Now, controversial question. Why was Kevin Jonas giving fab in this movie?

SPEAKER_03 52:46

No, actually.

SPEAKER_02 52:47

Did you catch on to it, or is it just me?

SPEAKER_03 52:49

No, no, I felt that way as well. And I I did go back and like reread the Jonas Brothers chapter from the Disney High book. And one thing that they spoke about during like when they're talking about Jonas, the TV show, is that because the boys had like musical success outside of their scripted stuff, they they the boys were treated very differently than other kid actors, meaning like their egos were in the writer's room. Like people would say, like, oh no, like you can't make that joke about Nick, like, you know, because they were like, they were kind of playing themselves, you know? Yeah. And they they wanted to, like, I don't know. It was basically like because they had so much success in music, when these writers were coming together to write for them, it was like we have to take into account that they are that like the public already knows them. And we can't, like, you know, be making fun of Nick this time.

SPEAKER_02 53:46

They can't stray too far away from who they actually are.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

And so I feel like because these parts got written for them, like I think you can see Nick in Nate's lines. Like, he's kind of the responsible one. He's kind of the one like with a good head on his shoulders who's like thinking about the band. And I feel like they just did not know how to write for Kevin, so they gave him these like dumb birdhouse lines.

SPEAKER_02 54:09

Birdhouse aside, they just made him also look dumb. Yeah. So that was my qualm.

SPEAKER_00 54:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:15

Truly, with that writing. Shall we keep moving on? Moving along. So Caitlin, played by Allison Stoner. I'm just gonna come right out with the question. Do you think she was mad at Mitchie at first for wanting to be Tessa's friend because she was previously friends with her? Or do you think she was genuinely trying to look out for her the whole time and was just kind of mean about it?

SPEAKER_03 54:36

Yeah, that whole dynamic is a little funky because it's like the impression I thought they were closer before the whole like figuring out that she worked in the kitchen. Yeah, no. It's like Michi immediately joins the click with Tess. It's like she had one conversation with Caitlin and then boom, she's in the click. And so it's like it just makes like Caitlin's motives seem unclear. It's exactly what you're saying. You're like, what is going on here? Like, is she a nice girl? Like, is she like because I believe that Disney wants us to think like, oh, like Caitlin is so nice, like she was looking out for Mitchie the whole time. Like, she had been burned by Tess in the past and she was looking out for the new girl. But like the way that she was looking out for the new girl was not that nice. And also, like, why would she look out for the new girl who she had one conversation with?

SPEAKER_02 55:29

Literally one conversation, and then from then on was like, Your Highness and Wait. Like, she was kind of a bully. She was bullying her for trying to make a friend. Yeah. A friend that she had a falling out with. Yeah. Supposedly. It was just weird. I mean, it felt it just felt a little half-baked. Yes. Yeah. I am glad that they have their like moment where they're like, okay, we're friends now. But to yeah, to get there was just odd. Yeah. But I can't talk about Caitlin without talking about the most iconic part of the movie.

SPEAKER_03 56:03

She's really good. And the music is like beep boop, beep, beep beep beep.

SPEAKER_02 56:07

Yeah. Supposedly that wasn't the music that was playing on set that day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:12

Well, I think there was nothing playing on set the whole goddamn time because everybody in every musical scene in the audience is not clapping. If you watch in the background, this is how their claps look. Like they're not actually bringing their hands together. Or they're clapping off beat. And so I have to wonder if, like, while they were shooting, if they were like playing a beat, like just a click, click, click track to like get people to clap along. Or like, like, I just I don't I don't know what was playing on that set because it is so unclear if you watch the audience.

SPEAKER_02 56:48

Yeah, it's it's horrendous. It's a hard watch.

SPEAKER_03 56:51

It's a hard watch. It's a hard watch. It's hard to get through.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

It's a hard watch, especially for I'm gonna say it specifically people who have rhythm, you know? No, I'm so I'm so for real.

SPEAKER_03 57:03

I'm so for real. If you're blessed with rhythm, don't watch this movie.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Well, as a dancer, you notice it. Yeah. You know? Like you can hear the eight count. That's easy. When you have someone clink clanking on a fake keyboard, and then someone else is over here doing this, not matching the music that's playing on hello. So I would even hesitate to say that there was even a click track.

SPEAKER_03 57:30

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. There might have been it might have been a quiet room on set that day.

SPEAKER_02 57:36

Who knows? Work it was probably playing. Anyway. Um, this leads us into Tess. She's a hard character to watch, even as an adult.

SPEAKER_03 57:46

Can I just say on this rewatch, I forgot how big of a role she played. Like, that's like some Sharpay Evans level screen time. I don't even think Sharpay got that much screen time.

SPEAKER_02 57:58

It's comical how much time Tess is on screen.

SPEAKER_03 58:02

She's in like every scene, and she's not just being mean to Mitchie, which I feel like is the Sharpay and Gabriella thing. It's like Sharpay is mean to Ryan and she's mean to Gabriella and like no one else really. But this girl, Tess, is mean to everybody. I mean, people are catching strays right and left. It's like, girl, you can't even sing.

SPEAKER_02 58:26

Tess, I don't know about Megan. What's her name?

SPEAKER_03 58:29

How about this?

SPEAKER_02 58:31

Hmm. Hey, hey. That shoulder was working overtime. Too cool. I want to sing it so bad.

SPEAKER_03 58:41

Honestly, the choreography for that character, I'm sorry, was giving Doula Peppa in her. But then I tried to say her real name because I know it's Doula Lipa, but I almost exclusively call her Doula Peep.

SPEAKER_02 58:58

It kind of came out, came out wrong. Sometimes, aside from Doula Peep, I say doula poop, but I know exactly what you're talking about though.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

Yeah, it was giving that. I'm like, It was. What? The background dancers were And why were those background dancers 34 years old? Blue tight. I mean, there was a couple of women in there that like they were mothers, you know? Like they not in any way, shape, or form did I believe they were under the age of 18.

SPEAKER_02 59:25

Okay. This brings me to my next question. So obviously. Obviously, Uncle Brown, Shane's uncle, director of the whole camp.

SPEAKER_03 59:33

Crazy name for a character.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

Right. Who's who's the woman? D, D La, whatever. What's like what's her job? What is her purpose? I think she's just the MC of the can. I just I love women in STEM, but hey, you're there. Yeah, she's the MC. She says her title at the very beginning. She's like, I'm uh like your activities coordinator? Yeah, yeah. Hit it. Like, girl. And I don't know, even in the final jam or like the very last song, she's up on stage, like doing the choreo next to the band. It's it's really in it's an interesting character choice.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:13

And also, like almost another unnecessary character. Like Uncle Brown could have been like, Welcome to the pajama jam, have some fun. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:22

Like it didn't or like take Uncle Brown out of it all. Make D over everything. I like her personality better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:32

It seems like that guy had an accent and a dream.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:34

Yeah. And he toured with Aerosmith.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:37

And he knew Mitch Jagger. Mick.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:39

Mitch? Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:41

Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

You're doing great.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:44

And speaking of him, happy Easter.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:47

Hey, happy Easter.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

I can't say anybody's name right today.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:52

It's okay. It's okay. We know who you're talking about. Deal a poop. Doo la peep. Do-a- do-a-poop. Do a leaper. Deal a poop.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:59

Any other characters we want to shout out? We don't want to talk about Peggy.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:02

Margaret Dupree. I was gonna say Peggy is a real one. She's the She's the only true, genuine real character out of the whole film besides Mitchie's mom.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:14

How about this? Another black woman in a headband.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

Hey. Moment of silence for the edges.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:19

As soon as I saw that headband though, I was like, oh my god, Disney. Did we learn nothing from high school musical?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:25

No.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

And we didn't.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:27

No.

unknown 1:01:27

No.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:28

And you know what? I was a tried and true headband girly, but that's because I didn't know how to do my own hair.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:33

I'll say it right here, right now, for public intake. I didn't know how to do my own hair. Well, Camp Rock famously got a bigger budget than HSM.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

What was their budget?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:42

It was like 6.2 million or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:45

That's enough for a hairstylist.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:47

Yeah. I could look and tell you. But like, I think because of the success of high school musical, they were like, oh, we're gonna do it again. Like, let's, you know, let's put some money into this thing. And it's like, and where did you put that money?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:00

Clearly, not to time.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:02

Actually, you know, you know where they put it? Hold on.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:04

The one shot. The Jonas brothers?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

No, it was on the cinematographer. I don't remember who they got and why he was important. Please hold.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:12

Was it the cinematographer or the director of photography?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:16

Let's see.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:17

Okay, here we go. Is it Dean Cundy?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:21

So it says they got a $6.1 million budget, nearly $2 million more than the first high school musical. As a result of the up production values, they were able to hire cinematographer Dean Cundy, who had worked on everything from Jurassic Park to Halloween and elaborate, and they also spent their money on staging elaborate musical numbers.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:40

Hmm. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:41

Alright.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:42

Well, get a hairstylist. Talk about it. I'm on Wikipedia. Just for funsies. The critical response is what I'm reading right now. The film received moderate reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 48% based on 21 reviews. I don't know when this was updated, so we're just gonna say today. Um, with an average rating of 4.4 out of 10.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:09

The website's critics' consensus reads Camp Rock wants to be the next high school musical, but it's forgettable songs and dull premise, hold it back.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:18

Which is so crazy because I remember loving this movie as a kid. Saying, like, I really remember like bopping to it. Like whenever it came on, I would stop what I was doing to watch, I would sing along. Like, I think the music is good. I'll stand by that.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:33

I was gonna say the music is where this movie kept me going.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:38

Because I was like, I know I'm gonna make it to Final Jam. I know I'm gonna make it to Final Jam. I just have to get through the rest of this movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:45

Yeah. I think I think we can agree that I think we can agree with those critics that the plot, the acting, a lot of that is cringe.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:55

It's so so.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:56

With the exception of those really sweet scenes between Demi and Joe Jonas, where there's like really warm lighting and they're out in nature, yeah, and they're strumming their guitars, like that I find very endearing, very genuine. It's cute. Everything else, cringe.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:14

Yeah. The only thing I could think of was where where is it? The soundtrack is better than the plot.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:19

Yeah, the soundtrack bangs. Let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:22

Yeah. What's your favorite song?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:23

It has to be This Is Me. Obviously. Love that song. Yeah. No if, ands, or, but I think it's incredible. Here's what I will say though. Why the hell was the final jam a performance for 50 people in a barn? Because Show and tell. I remember talent here all over me. I re- I remember watching that as a kid and thinking that they were like in like an amphitheater. Like I remember thinking that the audience was packed and there were so many people there.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:55

And well, that's what happens in Camp Rock 2, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:58

Probably. And that's probably what I'm misremembering. But I was like, there is nobody in this audience. Not even Tess's mom. Famously. TJ Tyler.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:07

She's in the she's in the corner taking a phone call. Let me talk about Tess real quick for just a little more. Let's get into it. Crazy. She's got posters of her mom in her cabin. Girl, we know who your mama is.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:17

The mommy issues are sad. Honestly. They're sad. Yeah. But it still doesn't make me feel bad for how mean she is.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:25

No, no. And I don't think we should blame her mom for how mean she is. Right. For how mean Tess is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:34

Um, I see your note about Asta La Vista. Let's get into that song. Because that song bangs.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:40

It's so good. I love that it is the mixture of people playing music, people playing music, people playing instruments, people singing, people dancing. Like Asta La Vista is what camp rock should have been. Yeah. You know, coming together of artists and talented people. Creating a musical number. But no, we want to be solo and have groups. Which, you know, is all good and fine. But I think, I don't know, it that's a true testament of camp, if you ask me.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:12

As someone who's never actually been to camp, but I've done summer dance programs. Yeah. Where the at the end you end up with a show. And it's just fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:24

It's fun. And I feel like everyone else just kind of lost sight of them.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:27

Yeah, I feel like when I hear these songs, I'm taken back to my like seventh grade jazz class going across the floor. We weren't doing those insane start the party combos that Shane had the kids doing. I can't even catch my chats. Flipping the microphone. I guess I can't keep up. Oh. Yeah. But like, if you put on Asta La Vista and ask me to do some kickball changes, I'm I'm on the dance floor.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:54

I'm ready. It's so good.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:56

I also think Here I Am that ultimately wins the final jam. Banger. That is actually a really lovely ballad, I think. Is I I think I don't know if I was gonna say, I think they ruined it by putting that black and white montage of her being bullied by Tess over it. Like that really made it so corny. But if they would have just let her like park and bark and just like really sing, I think it would have been better.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:27

Yeah. They should have had her sitting on a stool.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:29

Yeah, the guitar playing and the shaking of the shoulders.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:32

I was convinced that she knew how to play the guitar down when I first saw that movie. Girl, she's holding the neck of it, not moving.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:40

She she does move that fretting hand a little bit, a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:43

I want to see the fingers.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:46

She's just moving her hand up and down.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:48

That's crazy. We can't be faking it till we make it anymore. If you know how to play the guitar, I'm sure that bugs the hell out of you.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:57

I don't know how to play.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:57

I don't know how to play the guitar.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:59

I just I the shaking the shoulders was bothering me.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:01

I do think that's a good song. I don't love who sings it. I don't think that's the right voice for that song. That makes sense. So therefore it's not my fave.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:10

What about maybe I'm wrong? Correct me if I'm wrong. But the song that the Jonas brothers sing. Play my music. Play my music. Yeah, that song it's not a bad song. It's very much on par with the songs that they were releasing at that time. But for some reason, when that came on during the middle of the movie, I like wanted to get on my phone and scroll. I was like, this scene is too long. Like, we could have gotten a one-minute clip of this.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:36

Like, it's such a long song.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:39

For no reason.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:40

And again, not advancing the plot. Like, it's just a it's just a surprise, like, to the campers that the boys are there. Right. And like, you know, showing that the boys really like this new sound that Shane has. But like we could've I was gonna say In 45 seconds we could have gotten that.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:00

Yes. A little blurb of it. Yeah. But going back to our non-musical musical, this is the mental state that Shane is in as a songwriter. He just wants to play his music. He just wants to play his music the way that he's always wanted to play it. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:18

So You're right, you win. It is a musical.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:22

Which I think Can you imagine this on stage though?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:25

No. No. No.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:26

It would almost be can't be.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:28

Yeah. Well, I mean, I can imagine it on stage, but it not not in the same way. Oh my god. Are you on the middle school production of high school musical side of TikTok? Where there's a there's a Troy Bolton and a Gabriela Montez that eat down. They're like in seventh grade and they're so talented. And everyone in the comments is like, I know their director's a millennial. Period. Because like who else would choose to do that show? Anyway, that show translates really well to the stage. Interesting. This movie, I don't think, would translate well. No. What else have we not talked about? We've we've hit the most iconic moments. She's really good. She's really good.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:09

Grab a mic and a hat. Follow if you can. I'm like, what other lines have come from this? Because at the end of the day, before we like fully wrap up, I still need to show you that picture. Yes. Which I was gonna show you during like the awkward phase moment. Yeah. But since it is bittersweet, I'll show you now and we can get into the conversation of just like why the girl in this photo was freaking out.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:36

On the inside. Okay. Do you have your phone on? I'm gonna grab it. I threw it. So before we wrap up as to why Camp Rock means so much to this generation, kind of going back to the awkward phase of life, I feel like this picture really meshes like just that bitter, sweet, nostalgic feeling of sorts. So to preface, I went to Los Angeles for the first time in I think 2013. No need to say why I was there. It was for a school trip. Details, details. The whole trip, we were like, what if we see someone? What if we see someone? And we were all like, no, no, no, no, no, we're not gonna see anybody. Because we were too busy. We were doing school stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:17

And so at the airport, we had staged or teenagers, by the way, that one of our friends was gonna act famous, and then all of us were gonna be like, Oh my god, is that so-and-so? Blah blah blah blah blah. So much so that someone in the airport did say, Do you need help? Like, do you need us to grab you? Someone she was like, No, no, it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:39

And we were like, Oh, so y'all were putting on a performance.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:43

We were performing down. We were acting like little fangirls of this random girl that was our age. So we get to our gate, we settle down, and then one of our friends hops up and starts booking it. And we're like, girl, where are you going? And she ran into someone. I don't think I even asked for the picture. No, I did.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:02

I was just like, Can I take a picture with you?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:04

And they were like, Yeah, sure. So I took a picture.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:07

My gosh. Okay, first of all, your braces, your sunglasses on the head, like it's so cute and so endearing. Second of all, why is he smizing? He is smising for the camera. For real.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:24

Flying domestic, just out at LAX. That's crazy. Right?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:31

For those who are listening and cannot see, yes, please describe this photo.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:35

Um, it is a picture of me as Ali described with braces, sunglasses on the head, looking gosh, I don't even know how old I was. 14, 15, something like that. I don't know. Um, with Rashawn Fagin, one of the dancers. Bro.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:53

Truly, those guys, I feel like saved that film.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:56

Yes. And I think that's why Asta La Visa is so good.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:59

Yeah, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:01

Like, they I don't know, they were game players from the beginning. They were just there to have fun and share their art.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:08

And so this was like the first quote unquote celebrity that I ever met.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:15

From a movie that I loved at the time.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:17

Aww.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:18

You know? And so I don't know. It was just cool to still be in my awkward phase.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:26

And then meet someone from still the awkward phase, if that makes any sense.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:31

You know, meeting a childhood star while still being a child was really cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:37

Yeah. Oh, that's so sweet. And that's what I'm saying. This movie was the last chopper out of Nam for our generation. Like, we we were in our awkward phase in this movie that is so quintessential awkward. The skinny jeans, the crazy fashion, the god, awful, horrendous dance moves with Joe Jonas. She's really good. Like, she's really good. We didn't clock that this was awkward or cringe. Obviously, those critics did, but we were so in our awkward phase at the time that this came out that it didn't matter to us that it was like we were we were so unaware.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:19

It was cool. It was cool, yeah. It was cool to do all of those awkward things. So and I feel like I get it. I get it.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:29

The overall message of the movie is like the real you, both for Michi and for Shane, like both of their characters, the way that they bonded was like, oh, you see the real me, like not just who I'm pretending to be, you know, whatever. And I think us getting that message during our actual awkward phase is pr is probably what we needed. We probably did need to hear that at that time.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:51

I even think now it's a good reminder to have to just do you.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:55

You know, at the end of the day, not that nothing matters, but like we are one of so many people on this spec of a well-rounded ecosystem. Just live your life.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:09

Do your thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:10

Okay. Play the keyboard with one hand behind your back. Period. That's why you're gonna do it. Wear the funky outfit with the chunky belt. And you know what? Actually, let me just take one minute to shout out the worst look in the whole movie. What in the hell were those pajama jam outfits?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:28

Those were not pajamas.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:29

The shorts with the army green velour tracksuit, top with thug boots. What in the hell? And then Tess came out in like uh a paisley knee length velour green dress, a top green velour sweatpants, I think.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:47

Something. I mean she looked too young to be wearing what she was wearing.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:52

She the everybody in that scene looked insane.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:54

Yeah. Anyway. Can't confirm.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:58

Okay, so all this to say, I think I think we've done a really good job this episode of holding both. Like, as adults, this movie is so cringe. Like, Candace and I were texting each other throughout, and we were like, this is hard, this is hard to watch. Like, it is hard to get through. Like I said, I want to pull out my phone and start scrolling instead.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:15

The first 30 minutes are treacherous.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:17

Yeah. But I feel like we also have done I hope, I hope we've done a nice job of highlighting like how and why this movie was important to us at the time that it came out. Um, yes, of course, for the icons that are Demi Lovato and the Jonas brothers, but also like the message of the movie and how it resonated with us at that time. But let's get into it. Did it age well? Would you still re-watch this? Oh, um, no. No, no.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:45

Which is really sad to say on our last episode of season two, but I'm just gonna be so honest. This is not something I'm gonna be like, you guys, let's just put on camp rock for a little background noise. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. And that's usually what my re-watches boil down to. Yeah. If I'm not, you know, really invested in what's on my television, I'm gonna put something on that I know that I don't have to sit down and watch. Yeah. I'm not putting on Camp Rock. I'll put on the soundtrack. Hey, yeah, I will not be, I'll not be watching it.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:17

It actually takes me back a little bit to the first episode of this season talking about Twilight. Like, if I was gonna watch this, it would honestly be a hate watch. It would be like at a girls' night and like drinking wine and being like, oh my god, he looks so stupid in those skinny jeans. Like, I can't believe they left these dance moves in the movie.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:40

Like it it this is a like a drinking game movie or a um a gardening game.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:48

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:50

Golly, that would be crazy.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:53

But I'm not like as you said, I'm not watching this to enjoy it. No, I will be adding This Is Me to the next Bachelorette trip playlist that I go on. Yeah. But I'm not And we rock, to be so honest.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:07

That's another good song.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:09

Listen, full of bangers, this movie is, like, truly, but nah, yeah, I'm not gonna rewatch. It's too cringe, it's too hard to watch. It's just it's too hard to get through.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:18

Yeah. I like the question that you put in here though, the is it actually a good movie or is it a good memory?

SPEAKER_03 1:18:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:25

And I really, really love that because based on Rotten Tomatoes, no, it's not a good movie. But the memories that we have behind it with how cringy it was, how nostalgic it is, and just like I said at the beginning, just the trajectory of the Jonas brothers, Demi Lovato, and I would say even some other people in the film, the way that this film took them to their next projects is really cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:54

Not to mention the countless memes that have come from this movie, too.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:59

Like it's just so good.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:00

And I think that is why they're able to do a reboot. Like they're able, like, obviously, we're we're talking about this in 2026 because this project is very much happening. Like, the Jonas brothers, Demi Lovato, they are working on a it's not a sequel. What a what is it, a reboot? A remake? I don't know. I didn't realize that that was happening. Girl, what? Candace! Yes! The Jonas Brothers, first of all, I think they've teased that they might make a cameo appearance, but them and Demi Lovato are executive producing another generation of Camp Rock. Yeah, it's like in production right now. Who knew that? I thought that's why we were talking about it this season. Because it is it's culturally relevant. The woman was too stunned to speak. Wait, this is so crazy. Haven't you seen that interview with Kiki Palmer and Demi Lovato? And Kiki is asking her about like making this movie. Okay, okay. And I love Kiki Palmer. Yeah, Kiki Palmer loves Camp Rock. She made that very clear in this interview. She said, Oh, Kiki. Anyway, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:02

Camp Rock 3 is officially in development for a summer 2026 release date.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:07

Okay, Camp Rock 3 coming out this summer. Um, I believe that they're able to make this project because this is a good memory for us. No, it's not a good movie, objectively. We all can see that, but it has remained culturally relevant because it's a it's a really positive memory for all of us selennials who were in our awkward phase during the time that this came out. We did buy Demi Lovato's CDs, we did buy Joe Jonas's CDs, we were wearing the Converse with the dress, okay? We like we we our knees were touching. Our knees were knocking, baby, okay? If the Joe Bros were a rockin', the knees were a knocking. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:49

That is my new prayer.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:52

Happy Easter. Um, anyway. Yeah, that's that's how important it is to our generation is that they're able to make this movie because we love it so much, you know? Like, like we're I'm not a parent, but I have friends that are parents of little children, and they probably will have their kids tune into this because we loved it, you know? So good memory, not a good movie. Last question.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:18

We don't normally sorry, I'm just reading.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:20

You're fine. We don't normally talk about this. I mean, I guess we do sometimes, but like, how does Camp Rock rank for you amongst the other decom movie musicals? Cheetahs, high school musical, jump in, lemonade mouth. Like, there were there were so many movie musicals in this era. Like, where is it in your wow?

SPEAKER_02 1:21:38

That's difficult. That's really difficult because like those four that you mentioned are pretty much like the staple ones of our time. Yeah. And it's just like Camp Rock, not Camp Rock, sorry, high school musical is up there. Yeah, you know, just and I think that's mostly because there's three of them.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:56

Yeah. I think Cheetah Girls is kind of similar in that way as well. Like there's so much content.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:02

There's a lot of life being lived between one and the last of whichever franchise. Lemonade Mouth falls short for storyline because that's the one I'm least familiar with. But some of those songs are bangers, bangers, and I know one person who's watching or listening that I bond with Lemonade Mouth over. So I'm like, it's mostly the music. Yeah. Hey Holly. But Camp Rock is different. Again, going back to the non-musical musical. The songs aren't cheesy. They're not, they're not so theatery.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:35

Whereas I mean they're they're rock. High school musical is.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:38

Yeah, they're like rock songs, a lot of them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:42

So it's like the music makes it better.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:46

In ranking, it's just hard. It's so hard.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:49

Yeah, I think if if I was ranking the soundtracks independent of the movies, it would be a totally different ranking.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:56

Yeah. If we're doing that, Camp Rock.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:59

I also feel like if I if somebody asked me this question before I re-watched, I think I would have put Camp Rock pretty high. But after the rewatch, I'm like, I was remembering it better than it was. And it probably needs to come down a few notches.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:14

Yeah. And you know what I'm gonna say right here at the end of this episode? When I think of Cheetah Girls, I only think of the second one.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:20

That's not that big, like that's not that crazy because everybody loves the second one. Yeah. But I think Cheetah Girls 1 changed my brain chemistry.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:28

And I don't doubt that. That's a girls' girls movie. Down. Together we sing. But there's just listen. There's just something about the second one though. I don't know what it is. There's some glitter in that one.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:40

Yeah, no, no, no. It's there's some spice, I would even say. Controversy. And the music of that second one bops. Strut, are you kidding?

SPEAKER_02 1:23:49

Or are you kidding? Play that at any millennial girls' wedding, which did just happen to me recently. It was amazing. Dance floor. Packed. We're talking about Camp Rock here.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:00

Yeah, sorry. And hey, let's let's bring it back. Let's bring it back.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:05

We are so glad that you tuned in for a second season of Zelennial Rewatch. We are very bittersweet talking about this episode because um it means that season two is coming to an end. And it's also bittersweet to talk about a movie that we remember more fondly than it actually was. Right. But we're we're so glad that you have come on this journey with us.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:31

And we get to look forward to the things that are coming from this season, be it a Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special, The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is out now by the time this episode comes out. And we have Camp Rock 3 to look forward to. Hell yeah. I feel like I might be witnessing our like season three bonus episode. Who's to say?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:59

Candace is like, now that I know there's gonna be a third Camp Rock, holy shit. I know, I'm excited. That means we have to get through watching the second one. Does it? Or we could just skip it.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:08

I've never seen it. I'm really digging myself into a hole.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:11

Honestly, I don't really remember it very well because I think we were aging out at that time.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:16

We were aging out, and the only thing we remember from it is the memes. Yep. Camp Rock. That's it. Mm-hmm. We get copyrighted for that, can you imagine?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:25

All right.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:26

Anyway. Let's wrap this up. Asta La Vista. Yes. We'll see you in season three. How about that? Bye. Bye.