I felt a huge relief when I heard Jason Solomons review of “21 and Over” on Robert Elms show this morning.
Solomons said “it made me glad I wasn’t 21, glad I wasn’t American and glad it’s all over very quickly. It’s quite vile in places and stupid.” adding, “What’s a frat, what do you do there?” – “I don’t understand the Greek alphabet”.
It’s how I’ve felt about almost the entire genre since Animal House, including “The Hangover” franchise. Animal House was a classic for many reasons. Are college guys really like this? I don’t think so. Even as an extreme these films serve no real purpose, and just encourage arrogant, slob like behavior which further serves to “normalize” this type of behavior.
I used to live behind a frat house when I was in college, and they were pretty rowdy. So I’m not convinced that at least some college guys aren’t like that.
I’m sure Sam, the problem is that movies like that encourage this type of behavior by those who don’t have the critical thinking to see why its wrong. There are lots of things in life that we don’t make movies about, I wish this were one of them.
I came quite close to being a frat boy when I was in college. It’s basically joining a group of friends, so that you can do “really futile and stupid gestures” (Animal House quote). I had unseriously ‘pledged’ a frat at a college just before deciding to transfer to Texas A&M and get serious about my education. However, when I landed at a dorm in A&M, which at the time proudly disallowed fraternities, I discovered the dorms acted as fraternities. I’m smiling now thinking of all the ridiculously stupid and destructive things we did. I guess at that age you just have to ‘get the stupid out of your system.’ Hollywood is just cashing in on Americans’ adolescence. Unfortunately, this genre will exist until America is no more.
Monty, right, you have to get it out of your system somehow. Thats why I walk with a limp. With conscription off the table, and unemployment at record highs, too many are being hoodwinked into thinking an expensive college education is REQUIRED to get a good job, when in reality, you can still work your way up. http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/01/its-crowded-at-the-top-a-new-marketplace-podcast/ – Thanks for the comment.