“Brotherhood” is a film that chronicles a fraternity during a pledging ritual that turned into a terrible mistake. Will Canon’s debut film takes the audience through the process of hazing and how it can have major consequences. Robbing a convenience store as a ritual doesn’t seem safe and proves not to be as the brothers of Sigma Zeta Chi are taken on a catastrophic all-night adventure filled with high energy, humiliation and violence. (Listen to the radio review of “Brotherhood” here.)
While “Brotherhood” is an intense thrill ride, there are more mellow fraternity-related movies and TV shows you can enjoy.
“Animal House” is a 1978 film, featuring John Belushi and Kevin Bacon, which follows the Delta Tau Chi Fraternity and their battle with Dean Vernon Wormer, who tries getting them expelled. This movie is a great comedy packed with mannequins being thrown out of windows, food fights, the infamous toga party and a memorable performance of “Shout” by Otis Day and the Knights.
Another high-energy fraternity film is the 2003 comedy “Old School” featuring Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson. If you like seeing Will Ferrell streaking and girls wrestle an old man in a pool of lubricant, then this is the movie for you. Wilson’s character, Mitch, discovers his girlfriend cheating on him, so his friends decide to cheer him up by throwing a party he won’t forget. This party inspires the gang to start a fraternity so they can relive their college days. Some scenes featured in the film were shot at UCLA.
A TV show that also features shots of the UCLA campus is “Greek.” “Greek” is the longest-running show on ABC Family and is in its fourth and final season. The show follows students in various sororities and fraternities as they deal with relationship drama, Greek rivalries and the fears of graduating college. This show isn’t for people that get offended over the stereotypes that are associated with the Greek society like constant partying and hookups.
“Glory Daze” is a TBS show that follows a group of guys who pledge a fraternity in the 1980s during their first year in college. The titles of the episodes are takes on famous ’80s songs. For example, “Hit Me with Your Test Shot” and “Fake Me Home Tonight” are parodies of the songs “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar and “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money.
I didn’t forget about the ladies. A chick flick surrounded by fraternity and sorority life is “Legally Blonde.” President of the Delta Nu sorority, Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) fights to get her ex-boyfriend back by going to Harvard Law School. In the end she discovers that she is more than a fashionable girl with a floral-scented resume.
An American thriller that is centered on a sorority is “Sorority Row.” The 2009 film is based off of the 1983 horror film “The House on Sorority Row.” In the 2009 adaptation a prank goes horribly wrong and leaves a sister of the sorority dead. The slasher film follows the sorority sisters as a mysterious killer is taking them out one by one.
These movies and TV shows are worth watching if you are in the mood for a good laugh or seeking a thrill. If you have any suggestions for good fraternity- or sorority-related shows or movies, leave a comment below.