Since the debut of "Animal House" in 1978, Dartmouth, and especially Green Key Weekend, has been associated with strong images of drunken debauchery and fraternity life.
"Animal House" is based largely on the experiences of its writer, Chris Miller '63, when he was a brother at Alpha Delta fraternity at Dartmouth and part of the general chaos he describes in his movie.
The fraternity brothers in "Animal House" rebel against the administration of the mythical Faber College and against Dean Wormer, who decrees that there will be "no fun of any kind."
Miller described to The Dartmouth in a previous interview how AD was generally considered to have the best, most outrageous parties at Dartmouth. The ongoing, weekend-long parties every Green Key were the staple of life at the fraternity.
Besides throwing a host of wild parties, each of the approximately 24 fraternities that existed during Miller's time at the College hosted a band that weekend and waves of music flowed in every direction from Webster Avenue.
The influx of women from area schools -- such as Smith, Mount Holyoke and Skidmore colleges -- was another eagerly anticipated aspect of Green Key Weekend, Miller said.
But the most appealing aspect of Green Key for College men in Miller's time was still the opportunity to participate in unrestrained, irresponsible and wholly self-indulgent mischief.
Although many of the crazy situations in "Animal House" were based on events that Miller and his AD brothers actually experienced, Miller said that the craziness of "Animal House" was even crazier in real life.
"This is a Hollywood movie. Hollywood movies clean things up. The truth was far more hilarious and horrifying in terms of behavior," Miller revealed to The Dartmouth.
Miller named many scenes from "Animal House" that he himself had experienced.
Miller said the scene in the film in which John Belushi pours mustard all over himself originated from a Green Key incident after a brother discovered an industrial sized mustard bottle Sunday morning of the weekend as a party at AD was still in full swing.
Additionally, the scene in "Animal House" when a Delta Tau Chi brother skis down the stairs and the band breaks out in "Shout" also actually occurred one fateful Green Key.
In a column that Miller wrote for the Washington Post two years ago regarding the College's residential and social life initiative, Miller said he found nothing wrong with "good, old-fashioned frat house fun."
Miller contended that college is a time to have fun and be wild after leaving your parents' home and before settling into the constant responsibilities of adult life.
"With nothing crazy, life is bland," he said. "You can be really crazy one time in your life, the college days. You have a four-year window between living with your parents and then living with your wife and kids. You have to jam it all into a four-year period. You have to do things that are wild and outrageous and offend all sense of decency."
In 1989, Miller returned to Dartmouth for Green Key Weekend at the invitation of the editor of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
The editor asked him to do a story comparing the fraternities of today to the fraternities of yesterday, the time Miller made legendary.
"The editor of the Alumni Magazine expected me to say it was so sedate," Miller said. "But at Phi Delt, Theta [Delt], even a sorority, it was wild as shit. It was excellent. People were partying their asses off."
Miller said he was most struck by the never-ending and undiminished sense of fun among the College's students, despite a now much more complex system of rules with registered parties.
Unlike parties in Miller's time at Dartmouth, students now have to show their ID's to get into a party and must abide by stricter alcohol rules.
"I found that Dartmouth kids still knew how to party despite having to abide by a whole lot of rules that weren't around back in the '60s," he said.
However, contrary to what many Dartmouth students may think, Miller does support most of the points in the Trustee's Five Principles.
"I think a lot of what they're shooting for in those Five Principles are good things. I like the notion that men and women should learn to get along better with each other," Miller said.
Miller said although many of the features of the movie are based on events that took place in his fraternity house during the '60s, the Dartmouth of today has very little in common with the fictional Faber College of "Animal House." Dartmouth has, in fact, changed since that time, he commented.
"As far as Faber College as it's presented in the movie bearing any resemblance to the Dartmouth of today, I doubt if there is any," he explained.
