Sammys review Fraternity Life

[DeltaSigStan]

A couple members of Sammy at our school watched Fake Greek Life with our school paper. What do you think?


3/5/03

IN FOCUS

Reality check:
Sigma Alpha Mu members chime in on MTV's

"Fraternity Life"

By Dee Dee Chew
Senior Staff Writer

"That looks about right," laughed Vice President Brian Poochigan of the San Diego State chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu. He watched dozens of beer-drenched college guys run amuck in the opening credits for MTV's "Fraternity Life."

But as the guys of Sigma Alpha Mu watched more of MTV's latest bastardization of greek life, they soon learned that you can't judge a show by its credits.

"Fraternity Life," which serves as the testosterone-enhanced version of MTV's "Sorority Life," shadows the State University of New York at Buffalo chapter of the fraternity Sigma Chi Omega. Much like its successful female predecessor, the show is filled with everything that MTV viewers thrive on: parties, alcohol and drama.

Sigma Chi Omega brother George managed to sum up the show's fraternity in one simple sentence, "We are the Animal House on campus, but we still have our sh** together."

As SDSU's Sigma Alpha Mu President Jaime Ralph watched the show, he nodded in agreement with George.

"That's seriously like us," he said. "We have our sh** together."

But having their sh** together may be one of the few things Sigma Alpha Mu has in common with the boys of Sigma Chi Omega. As the Sigma Alpha Mu brothers watched the reality television show, they often shook their heads in disappointment. Though many aspects of the show were correct in portraying the average fraternity life, they believed much of the show was dedicated to the unnecessary drama of the pledge brothers.

"It's a TV show and drama sells," said Sigma Alpha Mu member Jim Lee. "I'm afraid they're gonna show that more."

"I think it's way more dramatic than we are," laughed fellow brother Phil Smith as he watched the active members of Sigma Chi Omega complain about a pledge hitting on a Hooters girl. "I don't think a fraternity would ever drop a guy for picking up chicks."

Despite its tendency to over-dramatize the greek life, MTV's new show does call attention to a few fraternity-related issues that many fail to recognize such as the importance of parental support. In one show, one of the Sigma Chi Omega pledges encounters several problems with his parents about joining a fraternity.

Members of Sigma Alpha Mu said that a lack of parental support isn't uncommon in their house.

"I'd say a quarter of all the pledges in our house - their parents didn't want them in," shared active Griff Eaton as his fellow brothers nodded in agreement.

Many parents often buy into the stereotypes that they hear about fraternities and refuse to provide their sons with financial support. This makes things much more difficult for the active members of the fraternity who must work even harder to gain their pledge parents' trust. One way SDSU's Sigma Alpha Mu does this is by providing a parents' weekend, in which the parents of the incoming pledge members can see what really goes on inside their house. Smith said that activities such as parents' weekend really help put a lot of minds at ease.

"(It helps) parents see these guys actually care about them," he said.

Another issue that "Fraternity Life" addresses is the effect that joining a fraternity can have on a pledge's romantic life. One aspect which the show focuses a lot of time on is pledge member Alex's relationship with his girlfriend, Lindsay. Alex, who's twin brother Adam is also in the show as an active, had pledged for Sigma Chi Omega a semester before but dropped because his girlfriend didn't want him to be in a fraternity. This semester, Alex is back, bringing with him all the drama and heartache from his relationship.

Though the members of Sigma Alpha Mu think that Alex's relationship problems were hyped up to increase the show's drama factor, the guys do agree that having a girlfriend does have an effect on a pledge's level of concentration.

While pledging for Sigma Alpha Mu, Smith had a similar experience to Alex. Unlike the Sigma Chi Omega pledge, Smith didn't let his relationship with his girlfriend influence his chances of becoming a part of the fraternity.

"I had a girlfriend when I pledged and she was put on the backburner," he admitted.

"Girlfriends come and go, but brotherhoods are forever," shared Ralph.

"As a pledge, the fraternity has to come first," Lee added. "After that you'll have friends for life."

Besides addressing a fraternity's effect on a pledge's outside life, MTV's new show also addresses the pressures pledges must face inside the fraternity as well.

One of the only ideas which MTV seemed to portray correctly was the idea that pledging a fraternity is a not an easy task. Sigma Alpha Mu brothers agree that joining a fraternity is a big commitment. In the Sigma Alpha Mu house, this requires concentration, dedication and a lot of hard work. Like the show's Sigma Chi Omega, the actives of Sigma Alpha Mu expect their pledges to help clean up the house. Unlike the guys at Sigma Chi Omega, clean-up is more of a responsibility than a punishment.

Members of Sigma Alpha Mu also strongly disagreed with Sigma Chi Omega's choice of housing. They almost went into uproar when they saw the extravagant pledge house MTV provided for the Sigma Chi Omega pledges.

Eaton said that he didn't like the idea of having all the pledges live in one place.

"By putting all your pledges in one house, you stop them from branching out," he said.

Eaton also said that he will probably continue to watch "Fraternity Life" even though he doesn't necessarily agree with what goes on.

"I'm gonna watch the show I'll tell you that now," Eaton admitted. "(But) it's gonna give fraternities a bad name."

As entertaining as it may have been, most of the brothers of Sigma Alpha Mu were sorely disappointed by the time they had finished watching the first few episodes of "Fraternity Life." It wasn't only because the show commercialized the traditional idea of Greek life, but because it did a poor job of communicating what real fraternities are all about.

"This show is exactly like every other television show - it's bullsh**. Mainly, it's all negative (and) it's gonna (make fraternities) look bad," Ralph said.

For the rest of the brothers of Sigma Alpha Mu, their only hope is that MTV viewers will be smart enough to realize that what they see on "Fraternity Life" is far from reality.

"Any fraternity that is willing to let their sh** be put on MTV isn't a real fraternity," Eaton said.

Smith agreed and added, "No respectable fraternity is gonna let cameras follow them. All you're gonna see is Boys Gone Wild."

"Fraternity Life" airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. on MTV.