This makes me want to vomit
 

I was watching "We Were the Mulvaneys" on Lifetime this evening since I read the Joyce Carol Oates book and was curious. While watching the movie, there was a preview for the Lifetime series "For the People". One of the upcoming episodes is all about a sorority "pledge" that dies from a cocaine overdose. The few snippets show these girls in a very negative light. Granted I watch Lifetime because the movies are SO OUTRAGEOUS, but this is just influencing a negative stereotype and not factual at all. One part of the preview has a girl saying how she wants to be a "Zeta". It shouldn't take too long for someone to think this is reality.

Thanks for not empowering us women Lifetime, would it be so had to do a movie about a group of women in a sorority that are there for each other their whole lives, that is touching? Or a factual show about all the philanthropy or a historical show? I think I may have to shoot off an email like I did when they had all these commercials and what not about loving yourself as you are, yet had on weight loss infomercials at night. :mad:

There will be three weeks of sorority bashing on Lifetime. January 5th and 11th you can catch "We The People" and on the 19th that movie with Jenna Von Oy and Hilary Swank "Dying to Belong" is on. How wonderful that this is all on during spring recruitment.

*edited to add dates*

actually I was under the impression that many of the movies on Lifetime were based on true stories. I also don't think that people can/should judge any one sorority based on one person. There are people with worse lifes than everyday common people, and Im sure that happens to non-GLO individuals, as well as GLO individuals. JUst my input. It would be nice to see a nice story about a GLO though.

is "We the People" the one w/ Jo from Facts of Life? I was confused, I thought you were talking about "Mulvaneys" too.

as far as "Dying to Belong" Hillary Swank and Jenna von Oy are both so frigging obnoxious in it, any sane person would agree that the sorority was justified in pushing their sorry asses off the roof. :p

Law & Order had an episode based on the V's but I've never seen it in reruns. I think that once they found out what a load of BS the ripped from the headlines! story was in real life, they pulled it.

To my knowledge "Dying to Belong" was not made by Lifetime. It doesn't show up in their own database. I remember watching it with one of the girls from my church in the summer of 1998, on network television. She was greek at U North Dakota but I can't remember what chapter.

The "We the People Show" has Caroline from "Caroline in the City" on it. The one with Nancy McKeon (Jo from The Facts of Life) is the other Sunday law drama, "The Division". The show coming up with the cocaine death is an original lifetime series. My old roommate was a Law and Order addict and I remember one episode with sorority sisters and they drugged one up to get her raped.

"Dying to Belong" was originally on NBC, I believe.

I can't get too worried about this, even though it's poorly timed bad PR. Maybe the NPC should issue a joint statement to Lifetime about how their timing is a little off, just to make them conscious of the fact that they're doing this. Other than that, not much else anyone can do. Lifetime movies should be taken with a grain of salt. If anyone comes to rush parties thinking that they're going to die of cocaine overdoses or falls from a clock tower--do we want them anyway?

Sending a letter might not be the best idea. I doubt they do it on purpose. If they did it would make sense to run it in late August.

Also a letter is just negative publicity. All publicity is good for a TV station.

Although the negative publicity is never good, it is also important to consider that the highest rated cable channel (probably ESPN or CNN -- I haven't seen any Neilsons lately) still has only a tiny fraction of the viewership of the lowest rated broadcast network.

Bottom line, bad publicity, but not seen by all that many people.

I know we're supposed to hate movies that bash sororities, but some of my favourite cheesy TV movies have had sorority storylines! There's the one "Dying to Belong" that you mentioned, as well as the one with Shannen Doherty, "Friends to the End" where one of her sorority sisters tried to steal her identity and murder her, and then there's a classic one from the 70s - I don't remember the title, but Morgan Fairchild is in it in a small role - where these girls go to university to join a sorority, but find out that it's a sorority of witches. I love it!

But yes, I'd like to see a movie with a positive representation of sorority women, but if there were more of those, what other movies could they show on Lifetime? ;)

Really? I'm kind of surprised that she was in a sorority -- I'm reading her newest book, I'll Take You There, right now, and it puts a really bad spin on Greek life, once again portraying sorority girls as shallow, cruel, and only concerned with boys and partying.

Do any of her other books involve sororities at all, or is this the first?

I know we're supposed to hate movies that bash sororities, but some of my favourite cheesy TV movies have had sorority storylines! There's the one "Dying to Belong" that you mentioned, as well as the one with Shannen Doherty, "Friends to the End" where one of her sorority sisters tried to steal her identity and murder her, and then there's a classic one from the 70s - I don't remember the title, but Morgan Fairchild is in it in a small role - where these girls go to university to join a sorority, but find out that it's a sorority of witches. I love it!

But yes, I'd like to see a movie with a positive representation of sorority women, but if there were more of those, what other movies could they show on Lifetime? ;)

Slightly off topic
 

Is it me, or has anyone else noticed that LMN and Lifetime channel all show movies that portray the leading woman as a victim?

IMHO, that format has gotten *really* old for me. Women are NOT victims by definition, dammit, so why does a "womens' network" cater to that stereotype?

Which is why I switched to Oxygen channel. :-D

(/soapbox)

Adrienne
:)

Anne Rivers Siddons is another greek (Tri-Delta) who puts a somewhat negative spin on Greek life (particularly Greek life in the South during the 1950s-1960s) in her book Heartbreak Hotel. She also writes about sorority suitemates in the book "Outer Banks", but I haven't read that one yet.

I am SO embarassed that I know this, but the name of the movie is "The Initiation of Sarah"

What can I say, I'm a veritable fountain of useless information!

Hey, I'm not embarassed by liking the movie, so you shouldn't be embarassed that you know the title!:D

I wonder if it's available on video? Hmm....

Yep, Anne Rivers Siddons is an Auburn alum. I met someone who was a Tri Delt active when she was and she said that she was surprised that Anne was making fun of the people who follow the unspoken rules because she was one of those people herself. I believe one of the terms she used was "very prissy".

Randolph University is a veeerrrry thinly disguised Auburn. About the only differences are that the Auburn sororities don't have houses and that Auburn didn't have Kappa and Pi Phi (the protagonists' sororities) in the early fifties.

ok explain this one to me. How come in "HH" she used real sororities and got away with it, and she used a fake one (Tri Omega - LOL) in Outer Banks? Does it have anything to do with the fact that in "OB" she talked about the (fake sorority's)initiation ritual?

I think anyone watching Lifetime knows what they're going to get. If it's a movie about marriage, the marriage will crumble when she finds out he's sleeping with crack whores. If it's about the perils of growing up, the daughter is anorexic or bulimic. If it's about that nice new neighbor, you know he's going to turn out to be psycho. It's always worst-case and victim-y. I think viewers know that, and don't expect it to be a realistic portrayal of anything - just the worst case scenario. I mean, if anyone learns their life lessons from Lifetime, they'll never leave their house - so I wouldn't take it too seriously.

Actually, in Heartbreak Hotel she never claimed that Kappa was Kappa Kappa Gamma. It's referred to as "Kappa" consistently throughout the book; the sorority's full name is never mentioned. Those familiar with sororities would know that Kappa is a nickname for KKG, but those who don't know much about GLO's wouldn't -- and I think the fact that she never used the full name keeps her from getting sued or something.

As for Pi Phi, I'm not sure how she got away with using that name. Maybe because they're not central figures in the story? I've found a lot of books that use real GLO names just in passing. And does anyone remember the Sweet Valley University books where they used real GLO names? How did they get away with that?

And yes, I would bet that the initiation ritual is part of why she used a fake name in one but not the other.

James, you're absolutely right. It doesn't bother me that much (nor did the Snapple thing), but if people are that upset, it's the only viable path to do anything. I don't think it was intentional--just weird timing. I figure if someone's that impressionable to think that joining a sorority will lead to a fatal fall from the school's clock tower or a cocaine overdose, do we want them in the first place?

I don't have cable back at school so I can't watch Lifetime... but everything on there seems to be a soap opera to the extreme. But also, I think Lifetime's target audience are women out of college so I don't know how many freshman girls will be tuning in in the dorms. (Our dorms don't get Lifetime either so....:rolleyes: ) No worries here... but "Friends to the End" is kind of a funny story that I happen to catch when I am home for vacations.

Still LMAO on this one, 33.

At first I used to get really offended by these Lifetime-type-movies that bashed Greeks. Now, I can watch them for the comedic stupidity factor.

Yeah, you can read about that episode here:
http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...=&threadid=884

here is the synopsis (thanks to shopgirl):
Here's the quick summary...

Sorority member goes out partying w/ 2 sisters and ends the night at a fraternity house. The 2 sisters leave her there because she's giving one of the guys a lap dance. The next day the girl wakes up in the bushes across campus. At the hospital she finds out she was raped. (She was a virgin.)

During the investigation the cops look at a couple different members of the fraternity and discover that the girl was drugged w/ GHB. Later they find out that the guy (#1) she was giving a lap dance to, is the ex of one of the other girls. The victim had flirted w/ the guy at a party before she knew that he had dated the other sister. Guy #1 has been accused before of rape and has a rep for getting girls drunk then taking them home.

The detectives eventually figure out that the victim had sex w/ 2 different guys that night. Then they discover that it was the 2 sisters that made the GHB and drugged her.
They do this as payback for flirting w/ the guy.

The 2 guys had sex w/ her thinking that she was drunk but clueless to the fact that she was drugged. (Guy #2 didn't know that guy #1 had also slept w/ her that night.)

So both guys and both sisters get charged w/ rape. The guys get off because they didn't know she was drugged and the girls get off because one of them is the daughter of a judge.

The school has their own discipline board and expell all four. The victim is distraught at the end because not only did they all get off; but she hadn't told her parents, and never took the pills the doctor gave her. So she could be pregnant. That's on top of the gonarhea (sp) that guy #1 gave her!!!!

I never noticed that she didn't come out and say "Kappa Kappa Gamma"! :) She does, however, say Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha, Chi Omega, Phi Delta Theta, and Alpha Tau Omega. It seems like she actually says Tri Delta in HH too; she also mentions sororities by real name in other books. As I recall, the heroine nicknamed "Pie" in of one of her books was a Chi O.

Go see About Schmidt!
 

Hey, this is a little off the main topic, but I think it's a nice example of a positive Greek portrayal. If anyone has heard of the movie, "About Schmidt", which came out recently - it is a fantastic dark comedy/drama, and stars Jack Nicholson, who is as always, brilliant - there is a scene where Schmidt(Nicholson), a recently retired 60 something man revisits his college during a road trip, and stops by his old fraternity house. It brings back happy memories to him, and as he leaves he says(quote approximation) "I think that everybody should join a fraternity." I have a feeling that this movie will have much more exposure and a greater impact than any lifetime movie in the next few months, so yay!

Re: Go see About Schmidt!
 

About Schmidt (2002)

Synopsis: Warren Schmidt is a retired insurance salesman, who at age 66, has no particular plans other than to drive around in the motor home his wife insisted they buy. He's not altogether bitter, but not happy either, as everything his wife does annoys him, and he disapproves of the man his daughter is about to marry. When his wife suddenly dies, he sets out to postpone the imminent marriage of his daughter to a man he doesn't like, while coping with discoveries about his late wife and himself in the process.

http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/415040

Which sororities did Elizabeth and Jessica end up joining in SVU? I read the books so long ago and I don't remember the names at all.

Unless they made 2 Law and Order episodes with story lines about fraternities/sororities then that episode did air. I believe it was on Law and Order:SVU. I remeber watching the tail end of the episode and the detectives were qiestioning two girls who were wearing greek letter shirts. I didn't see the episode, but it was aired.

Mullvaneys
 

In Carol Oats book We were the Mulvaneys she metnions other sororities, and how in a sense slutty they were. I can't remember which one she said but I remember thinking wow! we have them at my school and that is so far from the truth!

Jessica joins the fictional "Theta Alpha Theta" (known as the Thetas) and Elizabeth doesn't join a sorority. However, I think I remember the name Pi Beta Phi being used for one of the other sororities in the series.

I thought Elizabeth joined the sorority full of hippies and tree-huggers. I remember she had a good time at their Recruitment parties at least.

I believe Pi Beta Phi was the tree-hugging sorority . . . and I don't think Elizabeth joined -- she liked them best out of all the sororities, but she was only rushing because Jessica made her.

I think this subject has been brought up on the board before so if you're really curious you could do a search -- I bet somebody else has more information on it than I do.

:D First of all, I am glad that there are others out there who see the Lifetime (PMS Channel according to my son, a Delt) as pathetic!
Second, sororities are spotlighted because they represent for better or worse, an ideal or a goal for so many young women in college. A GLO is thought of as an integral part of campus life, even if you are not part of one.
You never see a movie where Mortar Board is the nucleus of the plot.
Go figure...!

That sounds like a LOT of fun!!

honeychile

Re: Mullvaneys
 

I agree about Lifetime. Seems like no matter what movie I turn to it's "doom and gloom"!

Unfortunately, I have a city-owned utilities cable company which limits the channels I cannot get..like Oxygen and SoapNet!

There was a episode, sorry I can't remember what progam it was, but the member was charged with hurting her boyfriend by giving him drugs, turns out it was the athletic director??

During the middle, the sorority sisters dissed the member, but at the end, they realized that she was part of them and supported her. I was glad the way it turned out.

Hey AGDLYNN!
 

The movie you mention was a new released for TV Nancy Drew movie and it was filmed at my alma mater the great University of Southern California!! The ADPi house was the main house used although scenes outside of the Alpha Chi Omega house (which is across the street from the ADpi house) were shot too -- the movie was corny but had an okay ending -- the best part for me was seeing The Row -- my old home -- sigh!

Note to AGDLynn -- hope to see you at our next Panhel event at my house on 2/23!

As far as Oxygen, trust me, you're not missing anything. They play the same movies over and over and the talk shows are duller than dull. I want my Plex with cheesy 70's TV movies back.