In the last three days, I have managed to see two of the most thrilling cinematic masterpieces of the year: High School Musical 3 and Fireproof. Though both earn high scores on the cheese factor, they provide an interesting study of culture.

One of the most prominent thoughts that ran through my mind during High School Musical was, I am so glad I haven’t been in high school for years.

Disney did a great job painting a picture of a utopian high school experience. Everyone is beautiful. They can sing, dance, and play sports. They are involved in every activity, including yearbook, the musical, and even Stanford honors programs. There is the romance with pretty-hair, perfect-smile boys who will sweep you off your feet in their tree house that magically opens for viewing the starlit sky. It even rains in Albuquerque while you dance on the rooftop of your school. (Of note: Some parts of New Mexico have only received 5.2 inches of rain so far this year.)

I left the movie so sad for all of the girls age 5 to18 who'll watch the movie. Their expectation for high school is as listed above: being beautiful, popular, and having a life-altering romantic relationship.

The reality is that high school is not the best time of life. If it was, how depressing would it be for your life to peak at 18? Sixty years to descend into a joyless and uneventful pit of despair. Three million American adolescents are living in that pit of despair in high school, struggling with depression. Sharpe may have been upset about not getting the Julliard scholarship, but she was not dealing with the agony that so many teens are dealing with every day—the result of hopeless and purposeless lives. In my opinion, movies like this drive people into depression because they live in expectation of a squeaky-clean East High experience.

Although Fireproof was predictable and didn’t showcase the most amazing acting I’ve ever seen, it deserves applause for being a realistic portrayal of our culture. Though I am not in my mid-thirties with a broken marriage, I—like every person in America—have been affected by divorce. Fireproof even takes a stance on pornography.

The movie also shares a clear gospel message and brings up the fact that God exists and wants a relationship with you. Everyone who sees the movie, regardless of how cheesy they think it is, will have to confront these truths.

The most interesting contrast between these movies is their purpose: High School Musical was created to entertain a fantasy; Fireproof was created to change lives and heal marriages. High School Musical feeds into the suburban culture of selfishness and excess; Fireproof is a story about real love—about unconditional, sacrificial love.

In the end, the greatest thing to remain is love. I’ll take love and bad acting over synchronized basketball dancing and empty hope any day.