This movie breaks down a lot of the expectations that most audiences have in regards to musicals. However, this movie is still very clearly a musical through and through.
One of the biggest expectations audiences have going into a musical is that the characters will frequently just start singing and dancing for no reason. Parker decided to take a different route on how he presented the song and dance numbers. The movie revolves around a group of high school students as they progress through their four years of school at a performing arts high school. Since nearly every character in the story is a singer or dancer, it makes sense for them to sing and/or dance every once in a while. And since I'm sure every one of you knows at least one person that's involved in the arts somehow, I'm also sure you know that it's not completely out of character for these people to randomly start singing and dancing. The characters in "Fame" hold true to this personality trait. Whenever the characters start randomly singing and/or dancing throughout the movie, it may be "weird" according to societal norms, but for actual performers, it's something that could and often does actually happen in real life.
"Fame" also challenges the purpose of songs in the musicals. Normally, songs in musicals either are vital in progressing the plot or are simply for entertainment. The music in "Fame" does neither of these things. While the songs are vital to the plot, it is not in the conventional sense. Most of the songs in the movie are sung by musicians as they are auditioning, practicing, or performing, rather than simply being a tool to move the plot along. If someone were to take all the songs out of the movie the plot would not make as much sense, because without them the characters singing them would have to be removed from the script. Another thing that is expected out of most musicals is the big production number at the end of the musical that either ties all of the loose ends of the story up or celebrates everyone's good fortune. "Fame" still has a production number, but it fulfills neither of the expected uses. This production number takes place at the students' graduation. It serves as the final chance for both the audience within the movie and those of us watching the movie itself to see all of the characters perform before they go off into the "real world." None of the characters' story lines end with a sense of finality. No one is shown getting a professional job, or an agent, or even a relationship. The characters graduate and that's the end of it. For most audiences, they are expecting the final number to tie up loose ends. Sadly, these people will be left hanging.
Even though "Fame" is definitely very unconventional in it's delivery, it is still very strongly a musical. The songs are still very vital to the storyline even though they aren't quite delivered how you would expect. In my opinion, it does a great job at trying to reach to both musical loving audiences and non-musical loving audiences.
One of the biggest expectations audiences have going into a musical is that the characters will frequently just start singing and dancing for no reason. Parker decided to take a different route on how he presented the song and dance numbers. The movie revolves around a group of high school students as they progress through their four years of school at a performing arts high school. Since nearly every character in the story is a singer or dancer, it makes sense for them to sing and/or dance every once in a while. And since I'm sure every one of you knows at least one person that's involved in the arts somehow, I'm also sure you know that it's not completely out of character for these people to randomly start singing and dancing. The characters in "Fame" hold true to this personality trait. Whenever the characters start randomly singing and/or dancing throughout the movie, it may be "weird" according to societal norms, but for actual performers, it's something that could and often does actually happen in real life.
"Fame" also challenges the purpose of songs in the musicals. Normally, songs in musicals either are vital in progressing the plot or are simply for entertainment. The music in "Fame" does neither of these things. While the songs are vital to the plot, it is not in the conventional sense. Most of the songs in the movie are sung by musicians as they are auditioning, practicing, or performing, rather than simply being a tool to move the plot along. If someone were to take all the songs out of the movie the plot would not make as much sense, because without them the characters singing them would have to be removed from the script. Another thing that is expected out of most musicals is the big production number at the end of the musical that either ties all of the loose ends of the story up or celebrates everyone's good fortune. "Fame" still has a production number, but it fulfills neither of the expected uses. This production number takes place at the students' graduation. It serves as the final chance for both the audience within the movie and those of us watching the movie itself to see all of the characters perform before they go off into the "real world." None of the characters' story lines end with a sense of finality. No one is shown getting a professional job, or an agent, or even a relationship. The characters graduate and that's the end of it. For most audiences, they are expecting the final number to tie up loose ends. Sadly, these people will be left hanging.
Even though "Fame" is definitely very unconventional in it's delivery, it is still very strongly a musical. The songs are still very vital to the storyline even though they aren't quite delivered how you would expect. In my opinion, it does a great job at trying to reach to both musical loving audiences and non-musical loving audiences.