So here's the thing. I know Zac Efron or The Zefron as I affectionately call him, is just about the biggest thing in Hollywood (and in the hearts of all girls ages 12-17) right now. The thing is, I keep going back and forth in whether or not I actually like him. Yes, I find him attractive - he has nice eyes, good cheekbones, stylish hair - but sometimes when he shows up at an event looking like he just poured a bottle of Crisco on his dirty blonde locks, it's kind of a turn off. Or when he wears those weird baggy skull caps type things (which only ever looked good on a 1975 Bruce Springsteen) I start to find myself liking him less. I mean we and he knows how good he looks when he's cleaned up and on camera but he seems to be fighting his natural born Disney looks - perhaps in an effort to separate himself from the squeaky clean (and always freshly showered) Troy Bolton of High School Musical. It's understandable I suppose, but I've seen two out of the three High School Musical movies and I know that there's nothing wrong with a musical theater loving basketball player.

And his personality throws me off sometimes, too. At times I see him in interviews and I think hey, he's a cool guy - he seems very laid back, very chill, very normal. And normality is something that's hard to find in Hollywood so I appreciate that he's doing that whole "small town boy" thing and keeping it real. But often times he seems so laidback that I wonder whether or not he really cares. Now of course it's none of my business whether he cares about the fact that his name is synonymous with 'Troy Bolton' or not, but I'd like think (and see) that someone who has been given such a huge opportunity and who basically has the world at his feet to seem enthusiastic about it.

Now the other problem is more of a personal one - movie roles. You see, I don't have a problem admitting that I fully enjoyed the cinematic masterpiece that was '17 Again' ( and plan on seeing it again) because it was legitimately funny and somewhat age appropriate - it even had a little non PG language thrown in to make us adults feel welcome - but I do have a bit of an issue admitting that I not only enjoyed High School Musical 3, but I freakin loved High School Musical 3. I may have even gone so far as to watched it twice in one day (there may also have been some rewinding involved.) Now of course that's not Zac Efron's fault... well actually it is Zac Efron's fault because he's the reason I watched it in the first place. Even though it's a little embarrassing to know that as a 22 year old soon-to-be college graduate, I found HSM 3 completely enthralling, I have to give the guy credit for dancing his little white boy booty off and providing the pelvic thrusts that I enjoyed so much. Sure, some of the songs were a bit cheesy (this is Disney of course) but I had to give the guy credit for pulling it off.

Lastly, his age and his image are a little conflicting and cause some confusion in the female brain. I know in my mind that he and I are the same age (I checked his IMDB page to confirm) so it's actually ok for me to be attracted to him but somewhere in the back of my mind I still have that image of a dancing Troy Bolton floating around and think he's still in High School (which is undoubtedly the fault of all of his film roles). So of course, considering all of this, I feel a little weird about really calling myself a fan. Plus I already have a crush on Nick Jonas so I've basically overdrawn from the shame bank and I have to start saving up if I want to really consider Zac Efron worthy of my love.

I guess the real deciding factor is enjoyability - in the film sense. We've already declared that HSM 3 was a big hit maybe even a little bigger than it should have been and out of the 2 and 1/2 other Zac Efron films I've watched, I have to say, I like this guy. I've gone back and forth about it but it all comes down to the fact that I legitimately enjoy watching him. It's true! I find the boy quite entertaining and I think that his range as a singer/dancer/basketball player in HSM, a singer/dancer in Hairspray and as a basketball player/dancer in 17 Again is definitely worth witnessing. Against my better judgment I have to say that I'm looking forward to see what he does in the future - even though I'm secretly pissed he's not doing 'Footloose' anymore.

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