Fame (2009) (PG, 2009)

common sense media says

Teen musical remake has edgy content for a PG movie.


parents & educators say
  • 88% say language is an issue
  • 75% say sexual content is an issue

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this remake of the 1980 movie musical Fame has been heavily marketed to tweens and teens on television and online. Although it's rated PG (unlike the original, which was rated R), it feels more like a PG-13 movie, especially in regard to underage drinking (the high schoolers are shown drinking several times, and in one scene a girl gets so drunk that she throws up) and language, which includes more than a few uses of "s--t," "a--hole," "bitch," and the like. The sexuality is also more obvious than in most PG movies, with several kisses and one video-taped "casting couch" make-out session. On the bright side, there's considerably less consumerism than in comparable teen-focused movies, the cast is incredibly diverse, and the underlying messages about working hard and fighting for your dreams are definitely worthwhile.

Positive messages: The movie aims to convey positive messages about hard work and following your dreams. It doesn't sugar coat how hard it is to succeed as a performer (some students are told frankly that they won't make it, and others have to make very difficult choices), but it also promotes dedicating yourself to whatever you feel passionate about. All of the students have overcome personal odds to be at the school, and a couple of them make decisions to follow their own dreams instead of those their parents have imposed upon them.
Positive role models: The students are an impressively diverse, tolerant bunch. Almost all of the students work hard and are wholly committed to their art -- but they're also typical teens who sometimes drink and lie to their parents. One boy gets mad at his girlfriend when another guy comes close to assaulting her (not the best example for teens), and two others are resentful when their friend is offered an opportunity that they aren't. Some of the parents aren't very sympathetic to their kids' dreams (though most of them come around).
Violence: No on-screen violence (though performers definitely fall down several times), but Malik discusses his family's violent past, including how his little sister was killed by stray bullets from a gang-related shooting. One character looks poised to jump in front of a subway train but doesn't at the last minute.
Sex: Several kisses, some involving major characters and others between extras in the background. A couple of the kisses are quite passionate, and one (within the context of a "casting session") ends up briefly horizontal. A character warns his girlfriend that another guy is hitting on her and only wants to "hook up"; another girl seems to be flaunting her boyfriend to annoy her stuffy parents. Some of the dances are quite sensuous.
Language: More swearing than you'd expect in a PG-rated film, including several uses of "s--t," plus "bulls--t," "ass," "bitch," "hos," goddamn," "a--hole," "my God," "hell," "screw," "retarded," and more.
Consumerism: Considerably less than many teen-targeted films; mostly just minor references to YouTube, OK magazine, and Sesame Street (one of the students lands a spot in the cast).
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Most of the extracurricular scenes involve obvious or implied underage drinking -- often at parties, but also at a club. In one case, a teen girl purposely gets drunk (to "expand her life experience") and throws up; she subsequently says she'll never do it again. Teachers are present at some of the occasions when teens are drinking.

More on Fame (2009)

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about how "fame" is different now than in the '80s. With so many media outlets for getting your name "out there," is it even necessary to go through lots of special training to be discovered?
  • The teens drink pretty openly at parties and clubs. Is this common behavior for teens?
  • Are the parent-child relationships in the movie realistic? What about the choices that some of the characters have to make about work vs. school?
  • If you've seen the original, you may want to compare the two movies. How is the music different? Which version has stronger characters?

What's the story?

What's the story?
The new FAME, like the 1980 original, follows a diverse crop of students through their years at New York City's prestigious High School for the Performing Arts, where every lunch hour turns into an impromptu jam session and every teen yearns for fame and fortune. The large ensemble includes wealthy dance queen Alice (Kherington Payne); Malik (Collins Pennie), a Harlem-bred tough who dreams of a stage career; Denise (Naturi Naughton), a classical pianist who'd rather sing hip-hop; budding music producer Victor (Walter Perez); Kevin (Paul McGill), an Iowa boy seeking ballet stardom; Joy (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle), who lands a job on Sesame Street junior year; Jenny (Kay Panabaker), a slightly uptight actress, and Marco (Asher Book), the sweet-as-pie singer who wants her to loosen up. Do they have what it takes? Some seem to, but not all of them are destined to "light up the sky like a flame."

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

After seeing the updated Fame, anyone old enough to remember (remember... remember...) the original will want to listen to Irene Cara's rendition of the theme song and wax nostalgic about how that high-school musical became a cultural touchstone of the early 1980s. Sure, the 2009 version has the same premise, an equally diverse cast of newcomers, and even a supporting role by Debbie Allen -- whose famous quote from the first movie -- "You want fame? Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying, in sweat" -- is played over the opening credits. The problem is, unlike the original cast of memorable misfits and prodigies, the new generation of performing students is quite bland. Yes, they're cute, and a couple seem poised for Disney flicks, primetime teen soaps, or musical careers, but it's hard to really care about any of them. 

As the school's teachers, the always-excellent Kelsey Grammer (music), Bebe Neuwirth (dance), Megan Mullally (musical theater), and Charles S. Dutton (drama) are all much, much more interesting than any of the students. You almost starts hoping for an extended sequence in the faculty lounge, a la Glee. Parents and Gen-Xers hoping to hear the songs from the original film will be mostly disappointed (sorry, no "I Sing the Body Electric"), although Naughton does a lovely job with "Out Here On My Own," and Book capably delivers short covers of "Ordinary People" and "Someone to Watch Over Me." But despite a few entertaining numbers, it's hard to believe that this Fame will have anything close to the cultural impact on teens that the original did in the age of leg warmers and off-the-shoulder sweatshirts.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: MGM/UA
Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Cast: Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Kay Panabaker, Naturi Naughton
Genre: Musical
Run time: 105 minutes
Theatrical release: September 25, 2009
DVD release: January 12, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG
MPAA explanation: thematic material including teen drinking, a sexual situation and language
Watch our review

This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
 
 

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What parents & educators say

12
Based on 8 parent & educator reviews:
  • 88% say language is an issue
  • 75% say sexual content is an issue
  • 50% say there are positive messages
  • 50% say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking

Most useful reviews by all members

Moviegirl1015251
kid, 10 years old
 
Bad for tweens but good for older people
I have watched the movie (Even if i was 8 yrs old) and i think this is a good movie but the language,drinking and behavior isn't good. I watched it by my self. I would love the movie if there wasn't any bad language,drinking and behavior.

magenta20
kid, 12 years old
 
kinda ok

ERER10
teen, 14 years old
 
It should be rated PG13

DoubleLou
parent of and 9 , 13 , 16 year old
 
Dance and Musical Numbers Were Good, The Rest Wasn't
Our family enjoys musical performance of just about any type, but especially singing and dancing. So we were pretty excited about the new Fame coming out. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to our expectations. The dance, music, and acting class performance scenes were well done. However, there was an excessive amount of cursing for a PG film. Kissing was mostly appropriate (mostly between high school aged characters) and not excessively gratuitous except for one scene in which it looked like it was going to proceed to the next step. There was also a scene where an underage girl drank until intoxicated. While most movies with this level of questionable material wouldn't normally deter me from allowing my kids to see it, when it's a bad movie there really isn't a need for the exposure to it. The movie lacks a strong plot line, character development, and acting by a number of the younger actors. It almost appears as though they had to edit out SOOO much material that what they had left just couldn't hang together as a story.

haddad fan
kid, 12 years old
 
Parents need to Know
Parents need to know that it's rated R (for 17+) in the 80s, but csm says that 17+ rating is for 15+, and also, parents need to know that sexual and sexy is not a bad word, but not a term for kids to use. but one f--k.

massie11
kid, 11 years old
 
for tweens but maby not for youngsters
if concider edgy words bad this is not for you. and some drug drinking in one sence and in another secne mildy fliting is int it

moviegirl987
kid, 11 years old
 
Bad for everyone
This for me I really hated it. I was very mad it was very bad . One guy tried to commet sueisid.Moms and dads do u want you're kids to see that din't think so.

MillyMolly
teen, 15 years old
 
a bit boring for me
I found this movie a bit boring to be honest. I would of expected more excitement...but no. This singing and dancing was so good though!

awsomeman2
kid, 13 years old
 
lots of sexual contekidsnt launguage and drinking to excess not for young tweens and little kids but awesome movie

smartbabe6
teen, 16 years old
 
Ok so this movie is good but it was a lot different than i thought it would be. It was dramatic. It was a drama:). I don't usually like dramas but this was an acception. There was a seen where one girl was drunk, quite a bit of language, and just a little bit of sexual stuff. Nothing my kids haven't heard of or seen before. Great movie and it was good because it tells how you can live your dream even if someone doesn't believe in you!

supamomma
parent of and 8 , 11 , 12 , 14 year old
 
12 and up
Lets just start by saying that there is no way this should be rated pg. There were tons of teens drinking at parties and teachers and adults just sitting there watching. Also, one girl (who your kids might recognize from Disney like Hannah Montana and Camp Rock) gets intentionally drunk then throws up. Also there are many kisses. One adult invites this girl to his trailer to audition for a tv show then tricks her and makes out with her and tries to take of her shirt. But she has a boyfriend! Another thing was language. There was just about every swear word in there. I was so surprised! They swore like every 2 minutes! There was way more language than a normal pg movie. Now for violence. This wasn't a huge problem but there were a few issues. First of all, one boy was describing how his sister had gotten killed in a gang shooting then the teacher laughs at him. Also another boy is really depressed and he tries to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train. People pull him back just in time, but it was still a scary scene.. even for me. So all in all, I would reccomend this for ages 12 and up only

Spartan 101
kid, 13 years old
 
good movie it had a great message to never give up. i liked it

Entertainer of ...
kid, 12 years old
 
Amazing Movie
I love this movie so great my fav movie

LuckOfTheIrish11
kid, 11 years old
 
One Of My Favorite Movies Of ALL Time!!!
i watched this movie when i was 8 and like it very much but i watched it again now and i LOVE IT!!

HelloKitty101
kid, 11 years old
 
Yuck
Okay, I saw this movie when I saw was nine because it was PG. But now I know it is not okay for kids younger than 12, and it's probably pause even then! The drinking is over the top and innapropriate, and the whole movie is really bad.

Kassie243
kid, 12 years old
 
Enjoy my little story
I was SO disappointed. One of my friends and I were going to see Fame because it's kinda nice that it was a remake of an old ''famous'' movie... I am so glad we didn't go. Unfortunately, my mom grew up on the original movie- forgetting it was R- my brother thought it would be a nice surprise to get the movie for her. So we sat down and started watching it. Immediately I saw and recognized to Disney channel ''stars'' so I figured this could not be bad... I was wrong. A few minutes into it I saw a not so ''boyish'' boy to say the least. OK, I know what your thinking, so what, that's the world we live in. A few moments later I heard something that is not appropriate for a PG movie- witch is normally appropriate for 8+- if I'm not mistaken it was the ''S' word. Then I heard others. Soon I started hearing more and more. I questioned myself if this was really PG. After the ''BIG'' wave of profanity passed I saw a DISNEY star DRUNK- and she said it was to ''expand her life experience'', not the type of ideas I would want to give a teen viewer... if you catch my drift. Anyways, to my long story short, even though the rating is PG, moms, go with the original rating, R. Kassie

taylorswift2122
teen, 14 years old
 
fame
fine for teens, original is worse than this,far more inapproriate for teens, other than a little drinking and kissing its not to bad.

moviefan22
teen, 13 years old
 
Should of been PG-13, but still a great movie!
Ok, here's my review on Fame. The violence is practically nothing but two things. One is where a boy is kicked out of the school and almost jumps in front of a train. The other is a student often talks about his family's past, which is quite disturbing. The sex is all kissing. Several kissing between kids, and one that gets quite sensual. Some dances are sensual also. The drinking is more than an usual PG has to offer. One scene a girl tries to get drunk and throws up after she does it. Several kids are drinking at a party, and sometimes the teachers are there too. Lots of underage drinking. Last, the language. OK , where do I start? Here's the basics of what they said: s--t," "bulls--t," "a*s," "b***h," go***mn," "a--hole," "my God," "hell," "screw," "retarded," and a few more. Definetely one of those PG movies that expands over the rating, and deserves to be PG-13. Great for mature 11 year olds and up!

aidanqm1996
teen, 15 years old
 
Could have been PG-13
Fame is a remake from a movie made in the 1980s or something. That movie was rated R, so they had to tone it done quite a bit to make is PG. But I don't think they toned it down enough. There's a lot of sensual dancing, and a handful of language. (Some other stuff, too.) But overall, I loved the movie.

MissAmi
teen, 13 years old
 
For Teens!!!
This movie really is for teens! yes it may have some drinking, kissing, and swearing, but for teens its ok! the movie brings out a very possitive message! has great music and dancing!!!!

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