Real sororities - Fictional characters

[mochaberry]

First, I want to say 2 things:

1. i am not greek.
2. i not trying to start a controversy, i'm just asking.

i was reading a book called "Getting to the good part". i don't know if you all have read it, or if Lolita Files (the author) is an AKA.

Anyway, the main character, Reesy, was, in my humble opinion, on the sleazy side. She seemed to sleep with men willy-nilly, with no thought to the recourse of her actions.

During the middle of the book, she started talking about her sorority sisters, and her sorority. Later, she mentioned that she was an AKA.

I don't know about this. How does it make you all feel, when somebody who is less than reputable (at 1 point in the book, she tells her bestfriend that she thinks she's a hoe) is made out to be a member of your organization?

Do you ignore it, because the character is fictional, or does it still burn?

Do you think it's cool that an author would even stick a fictional character into a real sorority (any of them)?

I wasn't comfortable with her portrayal of the main character, and I was really tripping (for lack of a better term) when she made the girl an AKA.

I think it's offensive to any organization. I just want to know if you all find it offensive.

[PositivelyAKA]

i havn't read the book, however why there was a need to associate this character with my organization is beyond me. i would perhaps like to ask the author since it was her call to do so.

[Miss. Mocha]

Okay, I can hold my piece no longer.

An opinion is just that, an opinion, and I don't in any way, shape, form or fashion want to belittle anybody's opinion. I just want to speak.

I read this book, recently, and I was outdone.

First, Reesy slept with Donovan, when she knew he was a dog and said so herself.

Then, she slept with Helmut, because she got TOO drunk, and thought she was in the bed with her man.

Plus, she was sleeping with Dandre, when she was plotting all along, how she could get back at him for causing her to lose her job, because he revealed that she was an ex EXOTIC DANCER.

How do you get back at somebody by giving them your body? Maybe I'm too old to reading a book about a character who was 32 and THIS messed up. I don't understand behavior like this, granted she is a fictional character and not a real person, it's still troubling. Is this what 21 year old girls are reading? I hope not. This behavior is not healthy!

While, the author did wait until the late middle of the book to eastablish Reesy as a member of AKA, she started establishing her as somebody with a questionable reputation (read: slut)right from the jump.

Reesy was not somebody who had high moral fiber. There's no way around it. She couldn't keep her panties on from one page to the next! As Mochaberry said, she thought she was a hoe, herself.

I found the book offensive to black women, period. It epitomized the sereotype of the black woman/ hoe, who can't get enough sex. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm taking a fictional book too seriously. But as a female who is currently working on completing her third novel (the first 2 are too close to my heart to let others read, let alone try to get published), I don't understand the need to make a character a member of a real sorority. There are enough letters in the greek alphabet to come up with a fake name. Spike Lee did just fine in SCHOOL DAZE.

To make a character, who in my opinion, loved sex more than self-esteem a member of a real sorority is over the top.

BUT HEY, THIS IS JUST MY OPINION.

Miss. Mocha

[TempleAlum1993]

Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooa!!!!! Ok I read all three of the author's books.

First, it is my understanding that the author is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Check the book, I think its mentioned in the acknowledgements section). It is my thought that every author throws a bit of themselves in the book. For example, Eric Jerome Dickey uses some things from his life (experience in the computer field) in his books.

I think that it is ridiculous to start drawing conclusions about a fictional character. Because it is "just a book", I don't draw any conclusions about any affiliations mentioned. I think the author mentions this because she wants to give nore "background" on the friendship between Misty and Reesy. Afterall, because they are so different, a reader may want to know why they remain so close.

Mochaberry, this is just my opinion BUT would you have posted this question if she (Reesy) were portrayed as a Delta, a Zeta, a Link, a Girlfriend etc......

I think sunnydays96 summed it up pretty well.

Miss Mocha.....You gave away a lot of the story line and that may bother folks who haven't read the book yet. (Just my opinion, ok)

I think that Ms. Files first book was the better of the three. Probably because I liked Misty's character.

Note . I am not a member of AKA. I am an avid reader.




[This message has been edited by TempleAlum1993 (edited November 13, 2000).]

[Miss. Mocha]

TempleAlum1993,

Your point is well taken.

However, I don't know how fair it is to compare an authors use of his occupation with somebody's use of an organization. I don't care if it was the coalition of 100 black women, or the NAACP. I think it's questionable to have a character act like a fool, then stick them in a real organization.

I have a really hard time accepting the lack of moral judgement that seems to occupy all facets of the media nowdays. Books are not always harmless, look at that book (can't think of the title) where the author supposedly proved that blacks were inferior to whites. Movies are not always harmless, look at BIRTH OF A NATION.

It's too simple, to me, to just say, "Oh, it's only a book."

P.S. I do apologize for ruining the plot for those who haven't had the opportunity to read the book. My bad.

[sunnydays96]

Miss Mocha, I understand what you are saying. However, just as there are black women who have themselves together mind, body and sould, there are black women who don't. There are black women who do act like the main character in this book. This is just a reality.

Not all members of an organization have themselves together personally. I know members with problems(in all organizations). They may have personal issues that causes them to make bad moral decisions, but that doesn't interfere with them getting the necessary grades and doing what they need to for their organization.

Yeah, the main character was in her 30's, but age is just a number. People develop differently. A question I would have is why so much focus on the negative? What about the positives of the book which I won't state for those who haven't read it. What about the mistakes made and lessons learned in the book? There are many positive aspects in the book especially at the end which of course is the most important part of the book and need to be acknowledged in my opinion.

There are other books by authors that portray black women in a positive light, but this one doesn't. Maybe the author knew someone that was like this(may have be a soror to explain why she added the greek part) and was writing from personal exprience. We as the public may never know. But I just think that it wasn't supposed to be taken this seriously.

[Miss. Mocha]

I have a few comments about this book, and the fact that "Miss. Thang" was made to be an AKA. However, I will kep my comments to myself, until the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha have had their say, if they choose to do so.

[sunnydays96]

I read the book myself and thought that it was a pretty good book. I didn't take it as the main character being an AKA and being out of character as an AKA. I took it as a woman who had problems in life and dealt with them the best way she knew how. It just so happens that she was an AKA. I didn't interpret is as the author trying to belittle AKA's or disgrace them in any way. In the end, the main character realized her mistakes and started to make positive changes in her life.

To answer your question if members are offended. In my opinion, I'm not offended because the book wasn't about a AKA acting out of character. One doesn't learn this status until later in the book. The emphasis was on a woman learning to make right choices.

Everyone isn't perfect and just because you are a member of an organization that doesn't automatically make you perfect. And that's my say.