Frat House

-“How are your social skills?”

-“My social skills are pretty fuckin’ damn fine.”

Thanks to Ted for sending me the link to this.

Todd Phillips isn’t a mystery anymore.  He once was a while back but it’s clear the path he’s chosen for himself.  He used to be one helluva documentarian.  If you haven’t seen Hated: G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies then you really should.  It’s one of the filthiest and also best docs out there.  It’s a pretty incredible thing to see someone like Allin not care about a single solitary thing, his music, his friends, his health or his life.  He’s a fascinating subject and the movie is well made too.

From there Phillips wanted to tackle fraternities and the shit you have to go through to join one.  It’s another great topic of discussion.  The physical and mental abuse that the pledges go through is horrific.  And it’s one thing to hear stories about that kinda shit and another to actually witness it.  The whole process is relentlessly brutal and of course the question posed at the end of the movie is ultimately the driving factor: “why is it that some guys are so afraid of standing out that they will do almost anything to fit in?”

The idea was to film the entire pledge procedure, including the infamous hazing, but Phillips was shut out before getting too deep into it.  One frat tells him that they’ll let him film everything but the catch is Phillips needs to pledge himself.  And he actually does it!  Now that’s being dedicated to your art.

This was shot for HBO as part of their America Undercover series but they never aired it.  According to Wikipedia the reason for this was because some people who either worked on the doc or who were in it claimed that parts were re-enacted and not genuine.  I understand the thinking behind this because if you’re gonna call something a documentary it should be authentic; otherwise you’re just making a regular fictional movie.  But at least in this case, does it really matter?  I mean even if the hazing shit was re-enacted that doesn’t automatically make what you’re showing a false representation.  The frat brothers did in the past and will continue to do in the future more or less what you’re watching.  Of course there’ll be variations and new techniques developed but if you’re repeating for the camera in full fashion what you did a couple of months ago then I don’t see there being a big problem here.  Phillips and the other pledges really are getting beer, food and other shit poured on them.  They really are doing pushups and standing on their heads ‘n shit.  The idea undoubtedly comes across.  If these are re-enactments it’s fine because we know that frats do this shit for real.  There isn’t any speculation.  It’s not like Phillips is exposing something that people have no clue about.  He’s painting a clearer picture of what we already know.

Maybe it’s because of what happened with this film that made Phillips decide to become a bro comedy director.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make those movies.  I’m sure in a lot of ways they’re easier to make than these docs he was doing.  But it’s kind of a shame because I think we lost a great documentary filmmaker.  Whatever, Frat House is a really interesting and great watch.  Check it out.