Book pledged: the secret lives of sororities

[Lady Pi Phi]

There is an excerpt from Robbins' Skull and Bones" book in this months "Vanity Fair". The one with David Beckham on the cover.

[decadence]

Originally posted by ADPiShannan:
Do ya'll think we could make Paramount change their minds with a petition or something? I know this isnt a big deal, but it stinks that this lady is getting more money off this and now a possible movie deal... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I'll be blunt, a petition will be a waste of time. I don't support the goal, either. Buffy and Angel fans sent deluges of mail etc but the series were still axed. Kenny is no longer in South Park despite petitions etc. It's well known that people sign up to those things even if they feel lukewarm to its object. They aren't taken seriously. As for it 'stinks she's making money off this'; I disagree. She spent a lot of time on the book and I realise you dislike the book but it isn't as if she's gleefully rubbing her hands watching the greek system erode as a result nor will it happen.

Originally posted by 33girl:
http://movies.themovieinsider.com/?mid=427
LMAO at the cast list. There are 6 males and one female. Is this going to be "Sorority Boys II"?

As the rights have just been purchased recently and the project may have been just greenlighted, I wouldn't take much notice of any cast lists or synopses you see. The information published at that stage is usually based on rumor or unbsubstantiated references in foreign magazines that state "so and so is involved". At best the agents of the people listed might've got sent a script (along with many others).

Also... it doesn't necessarily mean a film will be made at all just because the rights to a film have been purchased.

[ISUKappa]

Originally posted by James
Kudos to Robbins for being that published at an early age. I wonder what her family and contacts are like? Thats unusual without outside help and guidance.

I bet she slept with her publisher.

[sugar and spice]

As much as I've claimed I don't mind the book, I wouldn't want to see it turned into a movie. Because movies need plots and plots require drama, chances are they're going to play up the rape/hazing/etc. plots. And since it's not going to be in book format, there's not going to be this whole "Some NPC sororities haze, but the majority don't" disclaimer.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't go see it if it was made into a movie. But I kind of doubt that it will.

[tamber]

It's funny, for people who have (well-deservedly) trashed this book so much you seem awfully supportive! on second thought a petition would probably give her the wrong kind of attention.
James, getting published isn't as much of an accomplishment as you think, there are actually lots of published people her age. However her unethical, crooked tacticts do help, which is why i can't say any more, b/c she's made sure that anyone she crushed in her path would face fines for slamming her.

[kaydeelady83]

How would it be possible for AR to impose gag orders on journalists? Can't that only be done by a judge?

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by James
Where did you come from Tamber? Why would we want to stop the book being made into a movie? Although it would have to be spiced up, its not a good standalone story.

Kudos to Robbins for being that published at an early age. I wonder what her family and contacts are like? Thats unusual without outside help and guidance.

Maybe she's in Skull and Bones. Also--never underestimate the Yale alumni connections.

[AXOKatie]

i want to know what happened to the girls....i mean, regardless of whether or not they knew that she was writing a book - though when i was reading it, i read something that gave me the impression that she kept her real identity secret so she could protect them - at least a couple of other sisters have to know enough about their lives to guess that they were the ones written about...i wonder if anything happened to them as a result...maybe the sisters who knew them are here on GC and we don't even know it

plus i really don't think that those girls were the 'average' members of the organization, more like the negative ones. i think it would have been much more fun if she'd made friends with the real die-hard zealots, what kind of stuff she could have spun there with her creative nonfiction!

[ISUKappa]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
Maybe she's in Skull and Bones. Also--never underestimate the Yale alumni connections.

She was in Scroll and Key and, depending on what day you talk to her, she either "accepted out of curiousity and stayed for the beer" (direct quote from an interview) or was a contributing member.

[ms_gwyn]

Well I'm almost finished reading this book, I had to put it down a couple of times because of the awful writing of the "fiction/dramatizations" parts. I was laughing as some of the "facts" that she had and the "secrets" she revealed, I have to say that I think she is really guillable if she believes these things and people told her. Some of this stuff leads someone with common sense to say....are you serious, you believed that? If she does believe these things, I've got some great land in Florida to sell her

There were some informative parts, but the overwhelming content of bad writing and BS out weight the informative content.

I'm sorry I bought it and gave her my $$ and didn't get on a library waiting list.

[AXOKatie]

well, look at is this way, even if you did spend money on buying the book, at least now you're prepared for any questions other people might have and can actually discuss its content without uninformed i've had relatives read it and, since i'm the only sorority girl in my family, i've had to set them straight on numerous things

[ajuhdg]

I'm sure this is repeating what someone else said, but I don't really feel like scrolling through 12 pages!

Anyways, I was at the doctor's office the other day and there was an excerpt from an interview with Robbins about this book. It talked about 'naked parties'. I was laughing out loud! We never had naked parties, so I kind of feel jipped by my collegiate greek experience.

aj

[jharb]

Originally posted by ajuhdg
Anyways, I was at the doctor's office the other day and there was an excerpt from an interview with Robbins about this book. It talked about 'naked parties'. I was laughing out loud! We never had naked parties, so I kind of feel jipped by my collegiate greek experience.

My mom read the book and kept asking me about naked parties. I just thought it was too funny and was like sorry mom, I missed out on all the fun!

Dare I say that I enjoyed the story for light reading, but at the same time her "research" kind of bothered me. I don't think GC is a scholarly source, neither are AIM away messages! Oh well...if we take the book at face value and not as fact it's not as bad.

Going Greek is an example of a movie about greek life that didn't do much. We have one copy at my blockbuster which is semi-defective! I wouldn't like to see this in a movie, but at the same time if it did end up a movie then we'd be the ones actually watching it.

[gphiangel624]

I'm late in actually starting to read the book, but hey I'm broke...

So I'm about halfway through right now and in reading it, it seems to me like Robbins observed these women in an almost omnipresent fashion, as if they didn't realize she was there at all and obviously did not include her. There have not been any references to the sorority women actually asking her to participate or even speaking to her outside of their personal interviews. I find that slightly disturbing. It also bugs me that she writes about the girls' lives as if she were writing for a college-aged Sweet Valley High book... very annoying.

Like a lot of other sorority women on GC, I haven't found much of anything in this book that can relate to my own sorority experience or that of any other sorority woman I know. Seems her research was definitely very biased. I hope she can make some true girlfriends later in life because it's sad that she probably did not in or before her college years.

[LilMissTNT]

I just stumbled upon the GreekChat site so hello everyone :-)
Had to add my 2 cents' worth. I also read "Pledged" and felt that the 4 girls didn't in any way have an unordinary college experience. I can honestly say that the discussions about boobs, excessive drinking, moderate drug use and promiscuous sex DO exist on EVERY campus and that these girls are no exception. When I lived in my sorority house we would have made dirty old men blush with our language and blunt descriptions of sexual encounters, etc. so the convos in the book didn't exactly appall me. While I can tell this book takes place in the south (I think), I go to school in California, and I think the girls' experiences could have been those of any co-ed at any school anywhere in the country.
The most intriguing part of the book was when Robbins blasted the cover off some sorority secrets (pg 285) I was flabbergasted when I saw my own GLO mentioned. And then I laughed, what she claims is our "closed motto" is absolutely incorrect. The phrase she uses is relevant to a Sigma Kappa but our closed motto is different. She must have been talking to some rather confused sisters...