The film, especially the acting, was very well-done but I think I don't like the message. Is it arguing that the people who don't succeed in show business, or life more generally, don't deserve to succeed?
shareIt's a study of celebrity obsession. And I'm not sure what your title has to do with your OP
shareEven if what you claim was the intended point of the movie (which it was not), how would it be "pretentious"?
shareIt does seem pretty pompous and self-important, and certainly self-serving, for highly successful and acclaimed people to make a movie arguing or insisting that they deserve to be that way, that people who don't have that level of success don't deserve it.
shareAre you a failed actor or something, because you're clearly projecting something into this movie that isn't there.
Pupkin was living in a fantasy land and wanted to be famous without doing the work. He hadn't performed anywhere, but he felt that he deserved to start right at the top on the Jerry Langford Show.