Fame is a film about the ups and downs of arts students at the New York Academy of Performing Arts. Conveniently short on parental involvement, the story seeks to tell the story of the struggle to make it "big", through the eyes of high schoolers; who also struggle to discover who they are and what makes them happy.
The movie begins with students auditioning to get into the school and progresses through the four years of making friends and bad decisions to a graduation performance that sums up the story and what the school and students are all about. Although the performance was nice, it was not as inspiring as the original graduation performance; nor did it bring anything new to the table.
When the original film was released to the public, it immediately started trends. People were wearing leg warmers for no particular reason; and during all seasons. Every other student was in a dance or music class; and everybody recognized the "I Sing the Body Electric" song, performed in the original film. In order for this version of Fame to have the same impact, it must bring a fresh perspective, and updated story line and plot twists that turn a boring performance movie into an experience.
A lot has changed since the 1980 original film, turn television series. Music video channels make performances more accessible. The Internet finds the funny performances and helps us to share them with our friends. All summed up, our expectations are greater than ever before.
"You have Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and a gay guy -- and everyone just gets along? It's just too unrealistic to be in New York, of all places." -- Mark
"I like it. The dancing was cool." -- Stuart
"The dance scenes were really sexy. I don't know if high school kids can dance like that, though." -- Shawna
Based on the responses from some of the preview audience viewers, the latest version of Fame reminds me a of a popular martial arts movie. The fans don't care about the story, because they come to see the fight scenes. However, for the Fame fans nostalgic for the Christopher Gore (writer of the original) open street dance scene, you may be disappointed.
What do you think: Which version of Fame do you like better -- the re-make or the original?
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