Hollywood’S Intoxicating Effects A Qualitative Analysis of Alcohol Use in 50 Popular College Fraternity Films

Film has the potential to not only entertain audiences, but also teach and persuade them. After a brief review of the salient research on the role of popular film in promoting alcohol consumption, I present a qualitative content analysis of the 50 most popular college fraternity films, according to IMDb. When examined collectively, these films create a cinematic world in which social fraternities hold a virtual monopoly on their campus’ social life. With membership, these films promise a college experience filled with unlimited access to alcohol, meaningful male friendships, never-ending parties, and promiscuous coeds. Without inclusion in one of these selective student organizations, however, films present audiences with a dismal college alternative where students spend their weekends alone in their dorm rooms, pathetically sober, friendless, and celibate. Specifically, this study found that these 50 films featured 125 parties, most of which were hosted and regulated by fraternities. Along with offering unlimited access to alcohol, 20.6% (26) of these parties also supplied illicit drugs to their guests. When comparing the myriad of “social” scenes to their scant “academic” counterparts (i.e., scenes that showed students studying, attending class, meeting with professors, etc.), a supporting narrative emerges that disproportionately teaches viewers that partying constitutes the primary objective of higher education. When read collectively, these films sell the necessity of fraternity membership, especially to adolescent (pre-college) male audiences, in transforming the joyless and isolating world of higher education into a social, meaningful, and memorable life experience.