Fame is Great For Tweens.

I took both of my girls to see Fame last night and they loved it and so did I. I remember the original movie Fame from 1980 and even though it was rated R I saw the edited version on TV and I loved it. The music, the dancing, the characters I loved it all. I wanted to be a student at the School For Performing Arts. When I was younger I took dance class and I loved it for the most part. Dancing made me feel free and alive. I never did care for performing in front of a crowd, but I did love to dance. In fact I would go to my room and crank up the music and dance till I couldn't move. There was nothing better except maybe when my family would go out and I was by myself and could use the larger family room to let loose. Occasionally I still do it. Both of my girls take dance now and my youngest in particular was thrilled with Fame. She asked me when it was over. Mom could I be one of those kids. I said if that's really what you want, but you can see how hard it is. The movie really brought back memories. I don't think I liked it as much as the original, but never the less it was still wonderful. It showed the ups and downs of striving for your dreams. There were funny scenes and there were scenes that brought tears to my eyes. One scene in particular was a little scary. I hate to put a spoiler about the movie here but I think if you're a mom and taking your younger daughter you may want to be aware. The character Kevin who wants nothing more than to be a ballet dancer is told that he just doesn't have what it takes and in a moment of complete depression he almost jumped in front of a train. Luckily his friends were there and pulled him back in time. I was very nervous because I could see it coming so I told my 8 year old to look away. My friend who was with me looked at me like oh no. Thankfully it was only a scare because honestly I wasn't expecting anything like that with a PG rating.

The music in the movie was wonderful. The kids in it were really talented. I particularly loved Marco who was played by Asher Book. He was adorable too. My oldest daughter seemed to really relate to the Jenny character as she was shy and quiet just like her. My girls will most likely want the Fame soundtrack. I actually want to get the original Fame Soundtrack I bet they will like the music just as much as I did. Only 2 songs were the same. I have to say I was disappointed that the song Fame was only played in the credits. I was hoping someone would perform it during the movie but no such luck. The music for the most part was updated but in a good way. When looking for the soundtracks I was also thrilled to find that they now have both Fame Seasons 1 & 2 as a set on DVD. I didn't think I would ever see that show again. That may be something my girls might like to check out. All in all a great show and if you have girls that are dreamers this is the movie to take them to.

One final note. The movie starts with the best line ever by Debbie Allen. She said it in the opening credits of the 80's TV show. "You got big dreams. You want fame. Well fame costs and right here's were you start paying with sweat." I love that quote. Now I can only hope they will start a new TV series. Fingers crossed.