This comic stems from another one of our conversations on The Triple Feature this Monday. It’s largely a rant that I tied off with a punchline here, but went unchecked during the recording of the podcast.

I’m greatly annoyed by the remake of Fame. Not because I’m a fan of the 1980 original or even the lousy TV spin off that spawned from its success. As a matter of fact, I hate the movie Fame and pretty much cite it as the flash point of a generation deluded into thinking that they were amazing singers/dancers/actors just waiting to be discovered.

More and more, the culture seems to advocate fame and popularity by birthright rather than by hard work and talent. I don’t know if it is a uniquely American expectation or not, but I’ve noticed an upswing in the last few years. People seem to fall ass-backwords in to fame with increasing regularity. Blame YouTube, I guess.

With that in mind, will a remake of Fame even resonate with today’s audiences? Is having talent and a work ethic even attractive to a culture that is willing to accept humiliation on national television if it means they get their 15 minutes of infamy?

You can stand in line for 18 hours to sing for Simon Cowell. If you’re good enough, you might get to go to Hollywood. But even if you’re a piss-poor singer, maybe they’ll throw you onto the highlight reel of all the dismal failures so America can have a good laugh at your expense. So what, right? As long as someone is paying attention. William Hung took that lack of self-awareness all the way to the bank.

One could argue that this comic is its own desperate plea for attention. I would be hard pressed to argue with them. Am I proud of the success I’ve found with Theater Hopper? Of course. Could I do with a little more exposure? Well, sure. I mean, who wouldn’t want that? So I’m just as guilty as everyone else.

But then, I’m not exactly the audience this remake of Fame is shooting for.

So if you’re a teenage girl with aspirations to become a great singer, are you going to watch a movie like Fame that promotes the concept of hard work and sacrifice or are you going to tune in to American Idol three times a week an nurture the fantasy that maybe you too can be America’s most popular karaoke singer?

Food for thought, I guess.

What about the rest of you? Any aspirations to see Fame this weekend? Are you a fan of the original movie?Do you think a remake can possibly bring anything new to the table? Leave your comments below!