The Freshmen Diaries

Honeykiss1974 · #1 09-15-2003, 04:06 PM

Has anyone seen this show and if so, what do you think? I just saw a promo for it (sorry, i don't watch much TV) and it looks interesting........

http://www.showtimeonline.com/freshman/

A documentary television series focusing on the lives of University of Texas freshman produced in Austin Texas from September 2002 - May 2003.

The series follows the lives of a group of students from move-in day to finals, taking the audience on a journey of what it means to be an adult for the very first time.

The shooting style is pure documentary filmmaking; the aim -- to become part of the woodwork. Tiny crews of just two or three people closely follow the day-to-day lives of the students. Small cameras and minimal sound gear is used, and there is never any lighting, cables or heavy equipment whatsoever. The filmmakers pride themselves on being unobtrusive and consider it critical that they impact the environment in which they work as minimally as possible.

ilovemyglo · #2 09-15-2003, 04:26 PM

I watched some of it for the first time last night.
It puts ALL college students in a bad light. I am sure they edited out all of the normal stuff, but it basically is a lot of drinking, making out and experimenting. It is really quite disturbing.
My aunt said if she saw it and any of them were her kids she would not allow them to EVER go back to school. It is out of control there.
I have to say it really does paint college freshman as idiots who are sex crazed alcoholics.

Steeltrap · #3 09-15-2003, 05:46 PM

I've seen it, and I don't think it's that bad. Understand that it's been over 20 years since I was a freshman in college, so I have a skewed view. I like the kids, and I think that some of their situations are interesting, such as Kyle feeling like the odd man out when Aiywasammy (sp?) and Jerry start gravitating toward other Asian students, and Nicole being straitlaced. I'm also looking forward to seeing Rashan and Michael's relationship growin.

MeLikey · #4 09-15-2003, 06:07 PM

My dad pointed the show out to me, I only caught it for like 5 minutes. Both of my parents were there and I was like this is not how everyone is.

cashmoney · #5 09-15-2003, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ilovemyglo
it basically is a lot of drinking, making out and experimenting. It is really quite disturbing.
My aunt said if she saw it and any of them were her kids she would not allow them to EVER go back to school. It is out of control there. I have to say it really does paint college freshman as idiots who are sex crazed alcoholics.

I don't know about being disturbing, but it's pretty dead on where I come from. And if you didn't know college freshman as idiots who are sex crazed alcoholics, you may need to meet a few these days. The only thing different from my freshman year and the one on that show is that it's televised. I think it's true in a lot of people's case.

LeslieAGD · #6 09-15-2003, 09:05 PM

I caught about five minutes of it and then changed the channel. I know I probably didn't give it enough of a chance to say whether it's good or not, but I obviously didn't enjoy it.

Honeykiss1974 · #7 09-19-2003, 10:00 AM

I finally caught it last night. I thought it was pretty boring, except for Luis! He was hilarious and made the episode. Especially when he tried to cut his own hair and messed it up.

I did notice an Alpha Phi sticker in the background as one girl gave her "diary", but I don't know if she's a member though. (Her roommate could be).

socialbutterfly · #8 09-20-2003, 03:49 AM

I watched the first one and thought it was pretty good....I was watching it more to see if I saw any of my sisters in the background around the campus.

I know one thing I could really relate to was one of the guys talking about how well his high school prepared him for college, and his answer was zero...I have to raise my hand and say me too. Sad but true.

If I catch it again, I'll watch it, but I'm not going to go out of my way.

SATX*APhi · #9 10-25-2003, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974

I did notice an Alpha Phi sticker in the background as one girl gave her "diary", but I don't know if she's a member though. (Her roommate could be).

One of the girls from the show was initiated into the Alpha Phi chapter at UT-Austin Spring 2003.

About the show, I've only caught a few episodes, but I like it.

Honeykiss1974 · #10 10-25-2003, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SATX*APhi
One of the girls from the show was initiated into the Alpha Phi chapter at UT-Austin Spring 2003.

About the show, I've only caught a few episodes, but I like it.

Thanks for the info. Since my firstpost, I had seen Alpha Phi (I thinkit was a plaque or paddle) a few more times. I can't think of the girl's name off the top of my head, but I do like her and her story so far.

I do like how they continued to follow that one guy who dropped out in order to move back home and be with his pregnant girlfriend. I KNOW he is stressed.

SATX*APhi · #11 10-25-2003, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
Thanks for the info. Since my firstpost, I had seen Alpha Phi (I thinkit was a plaque or paddle) a few more times. I can't think of the girl's name off the top of my head, but I do like her and her story so far.

Casey? Gal whose dad wanted her to be a computer science major?