At Columbia University and Harvard University, soap operas produced and directed by students have come to captivate audiences on campus, online and in the media. The shows, which focus predominantly on the experiences of freshmen, provide snapshots of everything from roommates' first meetings to college parties, drugs and sexual endeavors.
"Have you been to the Pollock exhibit at the [Metropolitan Museum of Art]? It's all about trying to find the perfect form," Sasha, a character in Columbia's new soap opera, "The Gates," says just before she kisses the male character in the dormitory room with her.
These soap operas have become well-known by many on their respective campuses, with the pilot for "The Gates" garnering over 7,000 hits on YouTube.com and "Ivory Tower" holding a launch party for over 100 people.
"It's not necessarily a satire, but it's a way to get a glimpse into our own lives and be affected by it," Stephen Black, a senior at Harvard and the executive director of "Ivory Tower," said of the show, which many describe as racy.
"Ivory Tower" started in the 1980s as a small project, with episodes shown in upperclassmen's common rooms to friends of those involved its making. It was not until 2002, after a several-year hiatus, that the show began its broadcast online and through Harvard's campus television station. Now in its fourth season of consistent production, the show has a large, loyal following, Black said.
"There's a lot of humor in situations that are specific to Harvard, like the exclusivity of finals clubs or the tradition of peeing on John Harvard's foot," Black said. "But our idea is also to reach an audience larger than Harvard, in that someone outside Harvard might get a good idea of what it's like to be here."
While "Ivory Tower" is more established, "The Gates" premiered its pilot episode last month.
"What makes ['The Gates'] distinctly [Columbia] is the character of Julien Tamber," Davide Barillari, a Columbia sophomore and creative director of "The Gates," said. "One of the stories behind Columbia's Core Curriculum is that's its designed to mold students into worldly adults by the time they graduate -- people who can use their talent and knowledge to fit in and adapt to any situation. Julien comes to school already as that person, and his presence questions how much of an ideal it really is."
Both directors credit the success of their endeavors to the evolution of electronic editing and electronic distribution, with free internet video publishing through Google.com and YouTube.com.
The reach of these soap operas, however, appears to be largely confined to selective institutions thus far.
"It may just be that these elite schools admit people who have varied interests and are motivated to create," Black said, "Or maybe at the elite schools we are more self-critical. We're more observant of how we live."
Chair of Dartmouth's film and television department Mary Desjardins, who said that she has not seen any of the episodes, explained that the localization of the soap operas to more elite schools is due to the schools' smaller size, which in turn fosters close relationships.
"Usually people in college are at transitional moments in their lives," Desjardins said. "There are certain power dynamics that are written into the college environment that make soap operas appropriate."
Louisa McCarthy '08, in contrast, said she thought that smaller schools make the television shows less viable.
"I think the concept is very interesting, but I think with that kind of genre there is a line between being cheesy and being entertaining," McCarthy said. "I think [Dartmouth] is a Greek-dominated school, so you would have one episode about the characters in a frat and then where do you go from there?"
Desjardins, nonetheless, said she believes that the soap operas represent a good medium for focused social discussion.
"It is a way for society to talk to itself within the safe parameters of a soap opera line," Desjardins said.
In this vein, both shows attempt to use their titles to bring the pertinent issues of their respective institutions to the forefront of the dialogue.
"Ivory Tower," according to Black, is a literal reference to the term that denotes an intellectual disconnect from everyday life.
"The title doesn't completely relate to the show in any definitive way, as a lot of our show this year just shows the weird expectations of being a Harvard student, how we all aren't this elitist society," Black said.
Barillari explained that "The Gates" is a reference to the actual gates of Columbia University, but that it serves a metaphoric purpose as well.
"Part of what we're trying to get at is Columbia's position as a place that exists both inside of and apart from New York City," he said.
McCarthy, however, still questioned the applicability of the soap operas to Dartmouth.
"At Dartmouth you would fall into the trap of stereotypes," she said.
