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Originally Posted by EM1843
Finally watched last weeks episode (gotta love DVR). I thought it was really funny and suprisingly accurate. Sometimes I think that we forget that sterotypes are based on something.
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I agree. Sure fraternities are stereotyped by the wild stories everyone has heard. That's because each of us has one or two stories that we tell over and over that eventually become the stuff of legend. String those stories together and attribute them all to one fraternity, and you've got Caligula's palace. What people don't realize is that those stories are the standout moments of a four or five year undergraduate experience. In between, there were months of classes and studying and unbearable tedium that is college. If that was the show, no one would watch it. The fraternity that Rusty is pledging had a lot of things that reminded me of my experience. I thought the clean, well groomed mansions were a bit of a stretch.
I saw part of the first episode when they reran it over the weekend. I figured it would be discussed on message boards (this one and others.) I expected to see comments ranging from, "It's a show with some potential," to, "It was stupid and I won't watch it again." I did not expect to see the petitions (on other boards) trying to get the show canceled.
I waited to comment until they ran the second episode, and of course I missed 2/3 of it. To me, though, if there's an objectionable stereotype on the show, it's Rusty's roommate, the "Christian." Amongst the "greeks," so far I've seen cool, not so cool, rich, poor, drinkers, spitters, gay(er...I mean "drunk",) straight, nice, mean and slutty. Meanwhile, there's only one so-called "Christian" character, and he's the one with poorly developed social skills and a confederate flag on his wall. He goes around blaming God when his roommate passes out and doesn't get his homework done.
Still, the worst stereotype of all is the GLO members on the web who are calling for the show's cancellation. What's the stereotype? That we as a society have become so uptight and bitchy that we have lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. It's funny how so many people are against censorship until something offends
them.
Of course they don't portray fraternities and sororities as they are. Real fraternities are not a monolith of rich narcissists and they don't all have fancy houses. The president of the college I went to didn't have a house as nice as those fraternity houses. And the women at the parties don't all look like Victoria's Secret models.
That's because it's not a documentary, it's a soap opera. Western's don't show the American West as it really was. Shows about the middle ages don't show the middle ages as they really were. It's an
entertainment show. As long as it continues to entertain me, and so far it does, I'll continue to watch it.
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