Beer pong, pledge mothers, and parties. Welcome to the latest breed of MTV's reality television: Greek Life.
Last year MTV added to their long list of reality shows by introducing "Sorority Life," which followed the spring pledge class of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi at UC Davis. The girls of Sigma Alpha ended up making the program one of MTV's five highest-rated shows.
It is no wonder, then, that when "Sorority Life 2" premiered last night it was immediately followed by the premiere of a new show, "Fraternity Life."
What, after all, could do more for ratings than a show about catty girls undergoing hell? That would be a show about good old American boys undergoing hell, of course.
And thus MTV takes us to the University of Buffalo, where 19 rushees are trying to charm their way into the Delta Xi Omega (DZO) sorority and, just down the block at Sigma Chi Omega, over 20 rushees are trying to bond their way into brotherhood bliss.
At DZO such important issues as sorority legacy, cute tee shirts, and number of fat rolls showing will play an essential role in determining the pledge class, promises social chair Janel.
At Sigma Chi Omega, on the other hand, meaningful things like cockiness, manliness, and girlfriend-related issues will take precedence in choosing the pledges.
Scenes from future episodes promise more than a fair share of debauchery, promiscuity, and pretty people -- basically, all the ingredients of successful reality television.
This all sounds fine and well, except for the minor problem that the two shows aren't even meant to be reality shows as we know them.
Other MTV reality shows are fairly honest in showing their true colors; it is no big secret that this year's "Real World: Las Vegas" throwing together seven good-looking people and letting them live together in Sin City. It is trash, but it is admitted trash, and therefore perfectly enjoyable, an indulgence of sorts.
While I cannot say that "Sorority Life 2" and "Fraternity Life" aren't entertaining, their failure to admit their own ridiculousness takes away from their appeal. In other words, the fact that either show even makes the pretense of constituting quality television subverts the very basis of their allure.
One of the producers of "Sorority Life 2," Sergio Myers, even went so far as to refer to it as a documentary.
He went on to claim that the two shows will break down the stereotypes normally associated with Greek life.
If these are documentaries, then the film industry has gone to hell. If the DZO girls are supposed to be the sorority girls defying stereotypes, that doesn't speak well of sorority girls.
At Dartmouth, where the social life basically revolves around the Greek system, most people would like to believe that fraternities and sororities don't live up to the stereotypes usually assigned to them.
Yes, we love beer pong just as much as the brothers of Sigma Chi Omega and yes, we are as interested in partying as are the sisters of DZO. But most of us would like to think that our Greek life is more than just pong, that are sororities and fraternities are not filled with stereotypically shallow girls and dumb guys.
Thus while the hour spent watching "Sorority Life 2" and "Fraternity Life" last night was an enjoyable one, it was difficult to fully take pleasure in the trashiness of the shows knowing that this trashiness was meant to challenge the stereotypes of Greek life. Claims of a higher purpose aside, however, MTV's latest reality shows are definitely a success.
