Documentary Pitch #1: Greek Life

The problem or issue I want to focus on is the misconceptions about Greek life. This is interesting to me because before I was apart of a Greek organization, I had so many misconceptions about all of it. Now, it is one of the most important things in my life. It has given me so many incredible service opportunities, my best friends, the greatest support system, leadership opportunities, and allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and achieve things I never thought were possible. I want the heart of the story to focus on what being apart of a greek organization positively impacts your life instead of the negative misconceptions many believe in.
The individuals I want interview consist of some of my sisters within my chapter, our leadership consultants, other Greek students, alumnae, others who have misconceptions and possibly share my own personal journey before and after going greek. Obviously I will have to narrow this list of individuals down, however, I am just brainstorming as much as I can right now.

I want to understand why others share my love and positively surrounding Greek life and why others struggle with believing all of the misconceptions. This interests me because I never thought I would go greek. If you had asked me a five years ago or even a two years ago, I would’ve never considered going greek. I want this to be a learning experience for not only myself but for others who have reservations about giving Greek life a chance.


Lexie Seamons

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 12, 2018 at 11:28 PM

    This sounds like an interesting topic, but where's the SOFT in this? It seems like you really want to clear up a lot of people's preconceived notions about Sororities and Fraternities, but it would be a lot more impactful if you really examined the other side and maybe interviewed some people who hold those ideas. This could also be a really interesting piece about people's expectations about things, and those getting subverted, something about keeping an open mind.

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  2. UnknownMarch 13, 2018 at 6:45 AM

    If your aim with this doc is to dispel misconceptions about Greek life then I believe it is super important to emphasize why these misconceptions are harmful near the beginning of your piece. If you do this it should create stakes for what you are talking about that will make it easier for audiences to get engaged.

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  3. UnknownMarch 13, 2018 at 8:12 AM

    I have to admit to being one of the people who has those misconceptions; I think that popular culture in the form of 80's movies like Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, and even on to more recent movies have a lot to do with the conception of Greek life as nothing but booze, sex, pranks, entitled wealthy kids, and the lot; I guess the positive aspects don't make for good film.

    I think it could be interesting to try to dispel these myths, but I think you can't simply talk about the good: you have to address the negative connotations head on as well.

    Just my thoughts on it, anyway.

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  4. Ben SargisMarch 14, 2018 at 10:22 AM

    As someone with my own prejudices about Greek life (it always seems like there is a pack of sorority girls gossiping loudly in the library when I try to study.... also the frat boys pumping Young Wild and Free in the quad... come on fellas) this could be a really interesting topic. I do think, like John mentioned, that you'd have to get both sides of the issue and really not ignore problems associated with Greek life. Interviewing only gungho Greek members could lead to essentially a Greek recruitment tape depending on how you handle it. I do think there is a story about where peoples preconceived ideas about groups like this intersect with the reality.

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  5. BballengerMarch 14, 2018 at 10:25 AM

    Lots of good suggestions here, Lexie. The pitch doesn't provide too much for us to work with, so I'd like to hear more. It does seem like you have identified the "trouble" you want to explore: Greek life is misunderstood. But this is pretty general. How is it misunderstood, and by whom? It makes a lot of sense to interview your Greek sisters and others in the system about what they appreciate about Greek life, but do you also talk to people who harbor the misconceptions that interest you? How will you dramatize the problem? We haven't talked much about this in class, but this is one of those topics that could really benefit from research. There's considerable data about how many fraternities/sororities there are in the U.S., and certainly high profile stories about things like hazing that have led to closures. Do you integrate any of that kind of material in the story?

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