College where you leave your parents and go get drunk every
night of the week, yeah that’s how it seems to be like in the movies and T.V.
shows. Animal House is one example of how media portrays college. In a
film like Animal House fraternities
are shown to be places where people get completely trashed everyday of the
week. Also in movies with frats that host parties have a bartender which is not
completely unrealistic but the thing that is unrealistic is that they have the
top shelf vodka and tequila that no college kid can afford like Ciroc, Grey
Goose, Patron. Partying definitely
happens in college for sure but there are no bartenders, no fires at parties.
Here at Merrimack College we do not have those cool frat houses like the movies
but the closest thing I’ve seen to that is University of New Hampshire they
have frat houses and what not. The T.V. show Blue Mountain State poorly portrays college as well because those
guys never go to class all they do is party have sex and play football. My mom
who has not gone to college and neither has my dad they’ve seen movies like Project X, Animal House and others and
they think college is all about partying and no studying.
The only film that I have seen that
people actually go to class is the Legally
Blonde movie but that takes place at Harvard and that’s where everyone
enjoys going to class. According to theprospect.net less than 25,000 people go
to an Ivy League school like Harvard or Princeton. If you think about how many
college students attend school in the United States this is such a small
fraction. Many people who haven’t gone to college can say negative things about
it, but at the same time they can say positive things.
Being a
college athlete and comparing my life with the people of Blue Mountain State there is a huge difference because to play
sports here at Merrimack you have to go to class and maintain a certain grade
point average. Unlike the show that we have all watched where they do drugs,
drink and skip classes that is the image that was put into my head before
college and many others who have seen that show before attending college. The media showing this on T.V. it shows that
they want college kids to get drunk and do drugs and not get an education. I’m not
saying don’t go out and party but seriously we are paying all this money to get
an education why not go to class at least and try to get some participation
points.
In high
school songs like “I love college” by Asher Roth came out and the music video
for the song shows tons of partying at a frat house. “Pass out at 3, wake up at
10, go out to eat and do it again.” Is a famous line his song that reiterates
that class is optional in college and it’s all about partying.
A local
rapper named Sammy Adams also remixes “I love college” to “I hate college” and
he says “I hate college but love all the parties” also shows that class is
optional in the ideal world.
Another
weird topic that you won’t think is poorly portrayed is the size of the dorm.
Dorm rooms in movies like Pitch Perfect are
only things college students dream about. Lets be honest coming in as a
freshman you brought way to much stuff to your room that you either had no use
for or way too much stuff you could not fit in there. Don’t worry it happens to
all of us. No way can you fit all your stuff and your roommates stuff in one
small area maybe 14’x9’ room. When I saw Pitch
Perfect and according to USA today there was a DJ set in Beca Mitchel’s
room and they had so much extra room than any dorm that I’ve been in.
The media
portrays college in a way we can only dream to go through college. In some ways
it is negative but in other ways it is something we wish we could through.
College is what you make of it though. If you want to party hard like they do
in the movies you can, if anyone happens to find a place like that please let
me know I want to join the fun. Media can make things seem better or worse than
what they are but that all comes down to what you believe in.
Works Cited
"5 Reasons Why: TV Gets College Life
Wrong." USA TODAY College. N.p., 23 July 2011. Web. 25 Sept.
2015.
"6 Movie and TV Misconceptions About
College Life." The Prospect. N.p., 09 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Sept.
2015.
Adams, Sammy. I Hate College. 2010.
MP3.
Blue Mountain State. N.d. Television.
Legally Blonde. MGM Home Entertainment, 2001. DVD.
National Lampoon's Animal House. Dir. John Landis. 1978. DVD
Pitch Perfect.
Universal, 2012. DVD.
Project X. Warner
Bros., 2012. DVD.
Roth, Asher. I Love College. Asher
Roth. Rec. 19 Jan. 2009. Mike Caren, 2009. MP3.
I really agree with you, the parties and dorm rooms that audiences see in the movies and T.V. shows are not realistic. The parties are Merrimack are not like the frat house parties that we see in the movies. Also, in movies where the setting is a college campus, the viewers never see the inside of a classroom, or students doing homework.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the media portraying negativity towards colleges. Of course their are parties, but not to the extent of how television, movies or songs portray college to be. Rarely any movies show students going to class or focusing in college, it is strictly just showing partying. I can see how this can worry the older generation when it comes to sending their kids off to college because of what they see in the media.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on this argument. I remember watching Blue Mountain State in high school and wondering if thats what the college life is actually going to be like. Of course, here at Merrimack the party scene is completely different. Media in general gives off a different image of what the college life is really like.
ReplyDeleteI have talked to my mom about this before and she has a common misconception that college is way more out of hand then it really is and this is due to the fact that tv portrays college in a way that is completely unrealistic. My mother has never been to college so she has no base to go off of except of what she sees on tv.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your article Constantinos. While there are parties and other fun social activities in college, I believe that in most cases it is nothing like television shows like Blue Mountain State. Why do you think that the media hypes up college to such an extent?
ReplyDeleteGreat post agree with and I love it your content I hate college
ReplyDelete