Pardon my “Rocky Horror Picture Show” Dr. Everett Scott attitude here but the Canadian documentary “Anything for Fame” is a deep dive into the elusive chase for fame on social media channels we can label “internet fame”. Jamie Cohen holder of a PHD in Digital Culture notes the odds of being a super famous internet celebrity within the 3,000 plus channels are equal to going to Harvard and being drafted by a professional sports team.
Of course these stupendous odds are challenged by several desperate youths featured in the documentary displaying such stellar talents as licking an airplane toilet seat, stapling ears to a wooden plank, having eyebrows ripped off by a speeding Lamborghini, selling JOI (jerk off instructions), urinating in the aisles at a Walmart or knocking goods off the shelves at a CVS pharmacy and more “culturally significant” acts fuelling the short attention span of our youth. Ahhh that Dr. Scott feeling is sweeping over me. Rome is indeed burning; social media is the fiddle and the thousands of followers are playing it.
While easy abhorrence/pity can be directed at those desperate for fame it is the followers and viewers that prop up this imbecilic nonsense. Thank you, Dr. Scott!
Fame, if ever attained and defined of course by those seeking it, can be analogized to a dopamine hit. The seeker is propelled for another moment of fame fuelled by inane and sometimes dangerous stunts.
Follow the dreams of those desperate for fame in this documentary and none are, except perhaps for one, obtaining it. In this Tik Tok world attention span and intelligence are instant and fleeting. The abbreviated mind can’t retain the outrageous for too long.
Receive the commentary from the experts too. But they are all old gizzards like me a bit Dr. Scottish as regards to the characters featured desperate for fame and their legions of followers and Propper Uppers. Unabashedly I say it feels good to be Dr. Everett V. Scott but I do not like the smell of Rome burning.
This 84-minute 2023 National Film Board of Canada documentary is directed by Tyler Funk.
RKS 2025 CANADIAN Documentary Rating 91/100.
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