College has been coined as “the best four years of your life.” The opportunities for self discovery, newfound freedom and constant socializing with peers help create that notion. It is no wonder that this time of great change in a young person’s life is such a popular setting for so many movies.

But the “college movie” does not do the adventure of higher learning justice. Hollywood’s portrayal of the college experience not only exaggerates but also glosses over the realities of university life.

Hollywood ignores the banal nights of being stuck in a dorm room swamped with assignments, the repetitive rotation of food in the dining hall and the general ick of communal bathrooms. Instead, it makes sure to massively play up the party scene and coed shenanigans.

And while the genre of “college movies” is certainly not the most well-respected in film, due to the over-used narratives, audiences still flock to them in droves. As a result, viewers can come to some unrealistic conclusions of what college has to offer them.

Hollywood has led us to believe that men entering higher education fall into one of three categories: super geniuses, party animals or surprisingly successful underdogs. And in the handful of movies that follow a female protagonist’s journey through college, her quest is to pave her own way to success. It may sound like the better deal at first until one is reminded of the execution.

In “House Bunny”, an ex-playboy bunny becomes house mother of a nerdy sorority and helps them become more popular. In “Sydney White”, a tomboy helps overthrow the corrupted Greek and student government systems. And in “Legally Blonde”, Elle Woods proves that a sorority queen has what it takes to hack it at Harvard Law School.

Well, technically “Legally Blonde” isn’t about undergrad, but considering the remaining well-known college movies with a female lead are“Pitch Perfect”, “Mona Lisa Smile”, “Spring Breakers”, “Jennifer’s Body” and “Bring it On Again”, there has to be some leeway here. While women in film are broadly underrepresented, the college movie genre is most definitely tipping the scale.

This is not an exclusively female issue; the male characters are particularly pigeonholed too. Not every man can realize his innate ability to solve mathematical equations that have stumped scholars for years, somehow be able to drink 24/7 without ever attending class, or overcome all of the insurmountable obstacles to reach the top of his field and somehow land the girl of his dreams.

But“Good Will Hunting”, “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder” franchise,and“Drumline” make it seem as though these goals are not so far out of reach.

Not all of these college movies are just the inner workings of a delusional screen writer’s jumbled brain. Some of the most successful “college movies” have been based on real events, “The Social Network”, “Animal House”and “Rudy” are all drawn from experience, but they are without a doubt glorified versions of what actually happened.

The fundamentals of these Hollywood hyperboles do have some grounding in reality — one will encounter people who have unheard of perspectives, attend memorable parties and be able to shirk off adolescence. But it’s not all fun and games. There will be new challenges of time management, having to find footing in uncertain terrain and for the unlucky, the sinking feeling that this is the wrong school.

First semester of freshman year won’t live up to Hollywood’s standards, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be a great time. Who knows, these could shape up to be “the best four years of your life.”

Erin G. Kelly is a senior broadcast and digital journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at egkelly@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @egknew.

Published on August 20, 2014 at 1:03 am