New movie-making fun of greeks??

[SWTXBelle]

Happy to hear dissenting opinions, but telling someone they don't have a right to feel the way they feel? That's a little different.
It's one thing to say "I would not be upset in a similar situation." It is another to say "You shouldn't feel the way you do."

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by heyitszeta

What about the incoming freshman this year? What if they see this movie and it seriously hurts our chances of meeting our quota? Then is it enough harm? Or should we feel safe enough because there is a higher likelihood that the rest of the nation would think ZTA? If the movie portrays the Zetas badly, it could certainly have an effect on the PNMs. If we did choose to be upset about this, would you think that we are as justified as ZTA, or would you say that because we are a local our concerns are not as important?

You know, I don't know that I would want some idiot who was taking the reputation of a fictional sorority to be the gospel for all chapters in my sorority anyway.

From what I understand, the Phi Mus here have hardly said a word in this thread and the Phi Iota Mus or whatever the fictional sorority is, is the one being portrayed as the "evil" ones in this movie.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

You know, I don't know that I would want some idiot who was taking the reputation of a fictional sorority to be the gospel for all chapters in my sorority anyway.

From what I understand, the Phi Mus here have hardly said a word in this thread and the Phi Iota Mus or whatever the fictional sorority is, is the one being portrayed as the "evil" ones in this movie.

It may be because all of the promo materials I have seen have featured the "Zetas" more than the "Phi Mus".

[heyitszeta]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Happy to hear dissenting opinions, but telling someone they don't have a right to feel the way they feel? That's a little different.

That's not what I said. They can feel however they want. I said they shouldn't be offended, which is my opinion. I did not say they have no right be offended, which would have been an infringement on their personal liberties. Although now we're just getting into technicalities.

Originally Posted by texas*princess

You know, I don't know that I would want some idiot who was taking the reputation of a fictional sorority to be the gospel for all chapters in my sorority anyway.

Exactly.

[SWTXBelle]

Which is it - they can feel offended, or not? Feeling offended is just that - a feeling. Saying they shouldn't be offended is indeed telling them how to feel. And it's only a tecnicality because you are trying to parse this a particular way. So if you don't wish to infringe on their personal liberties, don't tell them how to feel, or that their feelings are not justified. Disagree with the premise all you want - share that you personally do not feel offended. But don't try to dictate the appropriate response for others.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

It may be because all of the promo materials I have seen have featured the "Zetas" more than the "Phi Mus".

Right.. but the Zeta ALPHA Zetas are supposed to be the underdog sorority that prevails in the end and become the super hot sorority that everyone wants to pledge. Tell me again why everyone is pissed off?

For those crying foul and getting pissed off at those not sharing your opinion of the movie, what can you seriously do about it by bitching on a message board?

Let the IO handle it and don't bother watching the movie. It'll be forgotten in no time.

And yes, this is the same opinion I'd have if it were my letters featured in the movie.

ETA: There was so much Greek outcry when "Pledged" was published. I know a lot of people wanted to know what all this brouhaha was about, so they bought the book. It'd suck if The House Bunny were the same way.

Just sayin'.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

Right.. but the Zeta ALPHA Zetas are supposed to be the underdog sorority that prevails in the end and become the super hot sorority that everyone wants to pledge. Tell me again why everyone is pissed off?

I can only speak for myself - I'm not "pissed off". I wonder why the film makers felt they had to reference existing orgs - and no, I don't believe it "just happened". I don't like the idea of any GLO's copyrighted/trademarked or just identifying symbols being used without their permisson. I can't pretend that I would have seen the movie even without the apparent reference to Zeta and Phi Mu - but it's one more reason why they won't be getting my money.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by SthrnZeta

Hardly....

They clearly use our colors and our nickname and ZTZ has only been around since 1926 - ZTA since 1898. We're far more widely known than a small local chapter and I seriously doubt anyone outside of Oxy's area would think of ZTZ before ZTA, especially with the many "coincidences" in this movie.






And those are just from the preview... who knows what all is in the movie.

And I still say that Local trumps National.

You can't prove otherwise, either.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Members of GreekChat, just like you.

If people don't want to hear dissenting opinions, they're more than welcome to not discuss sorority business on the internet.

Afterall, this is a Greek Life thread about a new movie making fun of "Greeks."

If the ZTAs had started a thread in THEIR forum about THEIR concerns and THEIR national headquarter's statement, perhaps we wouldn't have cared to comment.

[UGAalum94]

While it's not a movie I really see myself seeing, the Zeta sorority in the movie doesn't really seem bad in terms of making sisterhood look bad.

I'm not saying that Zeta groups shouldn't be upset about their own letters and colors being used, just that in terms of movies that make fun of GLOs or make Greeks look bad, this one seems far more geared to making fun of airhead bimbos and maybe even sympathetically presenting the problems of chapters with image problems.

It's Revenge of the Nerds with girls under the leadership of a Playboy Bunny. It's hard to see that it has anything to do with any group in real life.

[SWTXBelle]

I went back to the start of the thread to see if I had missed something- and the OP is not a Zeta getting angry. It is a Zeta asking Greeks - not just sisters - for their take on it. It went a little off the tracks when instead of offering opinions on the movie some started stating that there was no justification in feeling offended by the blatant ripping off of some letters/symbols of at least two national and one local fraternity.

The score seems to be pretty even - some don't see it as an issue at all, some are offended, and some, like me, are sympathetic to those who are offended while also seeing that it is no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Am I missing anything?

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I'm not saying that Zeta groups shouldn't be upset about their own letters and colors being used, just that in terms of movies that make fun of GLOs or make Greeks look bad, this one seems far more geared to making fun of airhead bimbos and maybe even sympathetically presenting the problems of chapters with image problems.

Re: bold--- Last time I checked, ZTA did not own all greek combinations that start with the greek letter 'zeta'. Zeta ALPHA ZETA does not = Zeta TAU ALPHA.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I went back to the start of the thread to see if I had missed something- and the OP is not a Zeta getting angry. It is a Zeta asking Greeks - not just sisters - for their take on it. It went a little off the tracks when instead of offering opinions on the movie some started stating that there was no justification in feeling offended by the blatant ripping off of some letters/symbols of at least two national and one local sorority.

The score seems to be pretty even - some don't see it as an issue at all, some are offended, and some, like me, are sympathetic to those who are offended while also seeing that it is no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Am I missing anything?

Who asked for a score keeper, though?

[alphagamgirl06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

These types of things are part of the reason that so many groups have moved to Greek Licensing. It was explained to us that if you do not show effort to protect your trademarks, then you can lose a battle over them.

Yes this is true for all trademarks, it is only valid if it is being used and their is an effort to protect it. But ZTA does not have a trademark on the word Zeta. I mean after all it is a letter in the Greek alphabet. Also when it come to movies, when they show run down building they often show the vowels in the middle of the word falling off. In this case it happens to be the letter E, therefore leaving Z_TA left. But Zeta only has four letters and it just so happens that ZTA is the word zeta minus the E. I honestly think even if they changed the colors of the group there was always going to be that half a sec when the house said ZTA sad to say.