A couple days ago, my guitar teacher turned me on to this clip. BEFORE YOU WATCH IT. Let me preface that there is not one big "Aha!" moment or punchline. Moreover, it is a series of just completely ridiculous antics.
Okay, have you watched it? Are you laughing? I wasn't the first time I saw it. I was actually pretty confused as to what the hell was going on.
So I took another watch.
Okay, NOW I'm laughing. I decided immediately that I needed to break down this video.
The first thing that jumped out at me was the awkward way in which Oprah holds Steven Tyler's hand in the beginning as they are walking towards the woods. It looks as if they are not so much holding hands, but as if Oprah is literally holding Steven Tyler from falling down. And honestly, I don't think that's too far off from the truth, judging by the amount of drugs Tyler took throughout his career with Aerosmith.
The next thing that I thought was hysterical was about a minute in. Oprah stops to admire a rock covered in moss and highly obliviously, Steven Tyler ushers her on saying, "Okay, come on". It almost sounds like he's talking to a dog.
At one point, Tyler and Oprah are standing in the middle of the woods, and it's quiet and Oprah says, "It's the stillness..." with an inflection that maybe was supposed to have a lasting impact. If there is any silent, sacred magic to being in the woods, and I am inclined to believe that there is, Oprah, Steven Tyler and that camera crew are totally ruining it.
The part that really got me though, was when they were sitting on the moss, in the middle of the woods, smelling grass and talking about NOT being on drugs.
To end the video, Oprah proclaims, with a certain amount of unwarranted grandness I might add, "I don't think God is in the music, I think He... IS the music." Wow, like we all didn't know that one was coming.
The whole time, it seems as though Oprah is trying to be on Steven Tyler's level. That is impossible. Steven Tyler does not live on Earth, he's in his own little world, man.
Anyway, just thought I'd share this little gem. Lemme know what ya think.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
In Retrospect...
So to start off, I apologize for my tone in that last post. My
"ranting" tone as someone pointed out seems to have clouded the message I
was really trying to get across and I also seem to have offended some
people. I am sorry about that.
Let me see if I can be more clear and a little bit nicer.
I do not have a problem with the Greek system in and of itself. I am well aware that there are highly influential people who have come out of fraternities and sororities and I am also well aware of the positive things they stand for, especially, but not limited to their involvement in community service and raising money for organizations that help to cure diseases. These things are wonderful. I also know, because I have friends in frats and sororities, that you have to maintain a certain GPA to remain in good standing with the frat or sorority you are a part of. So the people in these things must be intelligent. They must be.
But it is because I know these things that I have a problem with the image they project.
When I was on my high school cross country team, my coach always reminded the team to represent our letters (our school) well and to hold the team in high regard, because we as individuals OF the team, have an effect on the ENTIRE team and by proxy our entire school.
Similarly, when I see girls and guys walking around with Greek letters, they represent not just themselves, but their own fraternity or sorority AND the Greek system as a whole. So I hope I am very clear when I say that my problem is NOT with sororities and fraternities inherently but with the manner in which their members portray them.
As someone pointed out in a comment on my previous post, not everyone in the Greek system is this way. I am not trying to say that 100% of the students in sororities and fraternities give their letters a bad name, but it is certainly enough of them that a stereotype has been created and is very well known. I would venture to say that most college have heard of the "ditsy sorority girl" and the "ultra-bro frat guy". Neither of which are particularly positive images.
Think about the riot that occurred after JoePa was canned. That created all kinds of terrible media for the ENTIRE school because of the less than 10% of students who participated in the destruction of public and university property while wearing the Penn State letters. It doesn't even take the majority of a population to cause a bad name for everyone.
So when a bunch of people wearing Greek letters are walking in front of you and not one of them holds the door, or you hold the door and not one of the says, "thank you". Or you drop a couple books and a couple people in frat or sorority sweatshirts just stares at you while they walk by without offering a helping hand. Or you've noticed that a group of girls or guys wearing letters act in a highly unpleasant manner, you tend to forget about all of the things that those Greek letters SHOULD stand for. Being in a fraternity or sorority should be a privilege, especially in a school where Greek life is so prominent. These people are all presented with incredible opportunities; most of them give up the occasional weekend to go canning for Thon, are very intelligent students and probably very interesting people...
But I would never know because of the way they represent themselves. And no, I'm not saying it's all of them, but it certainly is the majority of those I've interacted with. So just as I'm sure some of you will now view me differently, probably negatively, because of the way I represented myself in my last post, I view Greek life differently because of the way its members have represented themselves to me.
I imagine these organizations would garner much more respect if they held themselves in a manner which bespeaks the things their organizations really stand for.
I genuinely hope something changes or occurs for me to be able to change my mind about this subject.
Let me see if I can be more clear and a little bit nicer.
I do not have a problem with the Greek system in and of itself. I am well aware that there are highly influential people who have come out of fraternities and sororities and I am also well aware of the positive things they stand for, especially, but not limited to their involvement in community service and raising money for organizations that help to cure diseases. These things are wonderful. I also know, because I have friends in frats and sororities, that you have to maintain a certain GPA to remain in good standing with the frat or sorority you are a part of. So the people in these things must be intelligent. They must be.
But it is because I know these things that I have a problem with the image they project.
When I was on my high school cross country team, my coach always reminded the team to represent our letters (our school) well and to hold the team in high regard, because we as individuals OF the team, have an effect on the ENTIRE team and by proxy our entire school.
Similarly, when I see girls and guys walking around with Greek letters, they represent not just themselves, but their own fraternity or sorority AND the Greek system as a whole. So I hope I am very clear when I say that my problem is NOT with sororities and fraternities inherently but with the manner in which their members portray them.
As someone pointed out in a comment on my previous post, not everyone in the Greek system is this way. I am not trying to say that 100% of the students in sororities and fraternities give their letters a bad name, but it is certainly enough of them that a stereotype has been created and is very well known. I would venture to say that most college have heard of the "ditsy sorority girl" and the "ultra-bro frat guy". Neither of which are particularly positive images.
Think about the riot that occurred after JoePa was canned. That created all kinds of terrible media for the ENTIRE school because of the less than 10% of students who participated in the destruction of public and university property while wearing the Penn State letters. It doesn't even take the majority of a population to cause a bad name for everyone.
So when a bunch of people wearing Greek letters are walking in front of you and not one of them holds the door, or you hold the door and not one of the says, "thank you". Or you drop a couple books and a couple people in frat or sorority sweatshirts just stares at you while they walk by without offering a helping hand. Or you've noticed that a group of girls or guys wearing letters act in a highly unpleasant manner, you tend to forget about all of the things that those Greek letters SHOULD stand for. Being in a fraternity or sorority should be a privilege, especially in a school where Greek life is so prominent. These people are all presented with incredible opportunities; most of them give up the occasional weekend to go canning for Thon, are very intelligent students and probably very interesting people...
But I would never know because of the way they represent themselves. And no, I'm not saying it's all of them, but it certainly is the majority of those I've interacted with. So just as I'm sure some of you will now view me differently, probably negatively, because of the way I represented myself in my last post, I view Greek life differently because of the way its members have represented themselves to me.
I imagine these organizations would garner much more respect if they held themselves in a manner which bespeaks the things their organizations really stand for.
I genuinely hope something changes or occurs for me to be able to change my mind about this subject.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Girls Next Door
Hi, I'm Jeremy Eckstein and this year I have the unfortunate displeasure of living next to a sorority dorm. That is, 3 of the 5 floors of the building are sororities. Now, before I go further into this post, I would like to say that if you are in a sorority, or you are planning to Rush: I hope that what I'm about to say does not offend you.
To start, I suppose I should explain that in order to get from my dorm to my dining hall, I can completely avoid going outside. However, instead of braving the harsh Penn State winter, I must suffer through the inane happenings, dialogues and general antics that occur in the sorority building. Suffice to say, I can't wait until it gets warm again.
At first, I didn't think it was so bad, and after a while, it was actually pretty entertaining to observe the goings on of the ladies in the building. But just a couple days ago, I heard something that nearly made me lose faith in the entire human race.
Okay, here's the story: On Monday, while I was walking to go get dinner, I got stuck in the hallway behind two sorority sisters. They were having a conversation about their respective winter breaks and this is (basically) how the conversation went, I'll try to quote as best I can:
Girl 1: (Excitedly) I was super excited to see my boyfriend over the break, even though he only came up for a couple days.
Girl 2: Oh yeah! That must have been great, what'd you guys do?
Girl 1: Oh my god, it was sooooo cute, he took me to the zoo
Girl 2: Awwww!
Girl 1: Yeah, I think my favorite animals that we saw were (get ready for this) the striped horses
...what. The what horses? Striped? You mean the ones that look like this:
Because that has a name, IT'S CALLED A ZEBRA, NOT A STRIPED FREAKING HORSE.
THIS is a striped horse:
(Note how it's not actually a real horse.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the fact that zebras exist was fairly common knowledge, especially for a college student. When I heard this, I didn't know how to react. I knew it was funny, I mean come on, a striped horse? But she was just so sincere, I didn't know whether or not to laugh. Is it possible that this girl actually doesn't know what a zebra is? I almost felt bad for her... almost.
So then I got to thinking. I started thinking about every interaction I've ever had with sorority girls, and I used those interactions to try to figure out why I hold so much resentment towards this type of person and I think I've finally come up with a conclusion. It's because they perpetuate their own stereotype, seemingly on purpose. Now, I'm not saying that 100% of sorority girls are like this, but most of 'em sure are and I can't imagine why a young woman enrolled in an institution of higher learning would want to purposely degrade her own intelligence. I honestly can't believe that these girls are stupid or ignorant enough enough to make mistakes like calling zebras "striped horses". But as far as I can tell, this seems to be the case. Furthermore, I've never encountered a more judgmental group of people (and actually this goes for hardcore Frat Brothers as well). So, to summarize, Sororities are a group of young women who want to act like total morons, flaunt their sexuality in an almost vulgar manner on weekends, and judge each other and everyone else behind closed doors. And they call each other sisters?
This brings up the ultimate question: Why would any girl want to pay to join such an organization? Surely there are better ways to spend your time and more worthwhile people to be spending it with.
But somehow, these organizations continue to gain membership, and are actually quite popular. How could that possibly be?
Well, let's see if we can't break it down.
I would say that the number one reason that girls join a sorority is the number one reason why most people join any organization- to be a part of something. Simple as that. People like to feel like they are a part and that they matter and in a school the size of Penn State, it's easy to get lost, to be just another face in the crowd. For many girls, I imagine being in a sorority is one way to "make a big school small" so to speak.
Closely following at number two would be the party scene. It's much easier to get into frat parties if you are a Brother or Sister, so I would say that is also a leading cause in girls being attracted to sororities.
Coming in at number three would be the Greek involvement in Thon. This, in my opinion, is the best of these three reasons for joining a sorority. Fighting for a cause, especially one like Pediatric Cancer, is an excellent reason to join an organization. However, students can be involved with Thon without being involved in Greek life at all.
So there might be other reasons, but I think these three are the biggies.
I still don't get it.
I can't fathom why you would pay these people to pretend to be your friends while they secretly (or maybe even not so secretly) judge you based on your appearance and encourage you to demean and misrepresent your own intelligence and individuality to better fit the "sorority mold". Sororities (and fraternities for that matter) are the ultimate identity suppressor. How can you be yourself when there is an unquestionable stereotype in these groups that seems to be purposefully sustained by their own members and that they expect new recruits to uphold?
Maybe there is more to Greek life that I'm missing by not being a part of it, but at this point I feel I understand them pretty well. Suffice to say, I am not a fan.
To start, I suppose I should explain that in order to get from my dorm to my dining hall, I can completely avoid going outside. However, instead of braving the harsh Penn State winter, I must suffer through the inane happenings, dialogues and general antics that occur in the sorority building. Suffice to say, I can't wait until it gets warm again.
At first, I didn't think it was so bad, and after a while, it was actually pretty entertaining to observe the goings on of the ladies in the building. But just a couple days ago, I heard something that nearly made me lose faith in the entire human race.
Okay, here's the story: On Monday, while I was walking to go get dinner, I got stuck in the hallway behind two sorority sisters. They were having a conversation about their respective winter breaks and this is (basically) how the conversation went, I'll try to quote as best I can:
Girl 1: (Excitedly) I was super excited to see my boyfriend over the break, even though he only came up for a couple days.
Girl 2: Oh yeah! That must have been great, what'd you guys do?
Girl 1: Oh my god, it was sooooo cute, he took me to the zoo
Girl 2: Awwww!
Girl 1: Yeah, I think my favorite animals that we saw were (get ready for this) the striped horses
...what. The what horses? Striped? You mean the ones that look like this:
THIS is a striped horse:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the fact that zebras exist was fairly common knowledge, especially for a college student. When I heard this, I didn't know how to react. I knew it was funny, I mean come on, a striped horse? But she was just so sincere, I didn't know whether or not to laugh. Is it possible that this girl actually doesn't know what a zebra is? I almost felt bad for her... almost.
So then I got to thinking. I started thinking about every interaction I've ever had with sorority girls, and I used those interactions to try to figure out why I hold so much resentment towards this type of person and I think I've finally come up with a conclusion. It's because they perpetuate their own stereotype, seemingly on purpose. Now, I'm not saying that 100% of sorority girls are like this, but most of 'em sure are and I can't imagine why a young woman enrolled in an institution of higher learning would want to purposely degrade her own intelligence. I honestly can't believe that these girls are stupid or ignorant enough enough to make mistakes like calling zebras "striped horses". But as far as I can tell, this seems to be the case. Furthermore, I've never encountered a more judgmental group of people (and actually this goes for hardcore Frat Brothers as well). So, to summarize, Sororities are a group of young women who want to act like total morons, flaunt their sexuality in an almost vulgar manner on weekends, and judge each other and everyone else behind closed doors. And they call each other sisters?
This brings up the ultimate question: Why would any girl want to pay to join such an organization? Surely there are better ways to spend your time and more worthwhile people to be spending it with.
But somehow, these organizations continue to gain membership, and are actually quite popular. How could that possibly be?
Well, let's see if we can't break it down.
I would say that the number one reason that girls join a sorority is the number one reason why most people join any organization- to be a part of something. Simple as that. People like to feel like they are a part and that they matter and in a school the size of Penn State, it's easy to get lost, to be just another face in the crowd. For many girls, I imagine being in a sorority is one way to "make a big school small" so to speak.
Closely following at number two would be the party scene. It's much easier to get into frat parties if you are a Brother or Sister, so I would say that is also a leading cause in girls being attracted to sororities.
Coming in at number three would be the Greek involvement in Thon. This, in my opinion, is the best of these three reasons for joining a sorority. Fighting for a cause, especially one like Pediatric Cancer, is an excellent reason to join an organization. However, students can be involved with Thon without being involved in Greek life at all.
So there might be other reasons, but I think these three are the biggies.
I still don't get it.
I can't fathom why you would pay these people to pretend to be your friends while they secretly (or maybe even not so secretly) judge you based on your appearance and encourage you to demean and misrepresent your own intelligence and individuality to better fit the "sorority mold". Sororities (and fraternities for that matter) are the ultimate identity suppressor. How can you be yourself when there is an unquestionable stereotype in these groups that seems to be purposefully sustained by their own members and that they expect new recruits to uphold?
Maybe there is more to Greek life that I'm missing by not being a part of it, but at this point I feel I understand them pretty well. Suffice to say, I am not a fan.
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