Short skirt, high heels, large breasts, and a large butt; a typical female being gawked at on the street. As a car rolls by, a fraternity boy hollers out the window, “fat ass!” Fed up with being made fun of for having a large butt and ugly face, Roberta picks up a rock and launches it at the car, causing the back window to shatter. The car then swerves and smashes into a bus stop. An unbelievable girl power moment takes place, except it is a pissed off fraternity boy pretending to be a girl. Confused yet?
In the movie Sorority Boys, three best friends are falsely accused of stealing money from their cleverly named, KOK, fraternity house which results in the boys being kicked out. However, the boys believe they must get back into the house, which causes them to take drastic measures to prove themselves innocent. In order to show that they did not commit embezzlement, the boys must retrieve a security tape from the frat house, even though they have been forbidden to enter the house. Desperate for a place to live and get the tape back, the characters cross dress and join the DOG sorority house. Even though there are KOK rules against interaction with the DOGs, the character Dave (Barry Watson) winds up falling for the house leader. Characters Dave/Daisy, Adam/Adina (Michael Rosenbaum) and Doofer/Roberta, (Harland Williams) make up the group of the ex-frats. They find themselves showering with the girls, going to class, and sharing emotions while still hiding their identity. Gruesome treatments, that the boys once inflicted upon the DOG girls, come back to nip the boys in the butt, as they now have to deal with the nasty tactics they themselves invented.
Through penis, period, and party comedy, the director Wallace Wolodarsky amazingly puts a positive spin on the movie. Wolodarsky touches on a lot of gender issues in a comedic way. He compliments the self-conscious girl image with the cross-dressed boys worrying about the size of their thighs and matching clothes. The three fraternity brothers are constantly struggling with being known as the ugly girls. Their alienation causes the boys to use make-up, talk about tampons, and wear skirts, dresses, and high-heels. The completely over-the-top outfits and acting accentuate the plot, and attempt to make the message of the movie stronger. No matter what the boys do, they are still mocked, and cannot pull off the female look. As stated in an article from all-reviews.com, “The guys-in-drag are never even remotely credible or convincing as gals” (Granger, para. 1). Any viewer who watches this movie would clearly be able to establish this by themselves, but if the movie were realistic, it would have ended as soon as it began.
The camera often focuses on their female features, or lack of features, which is aided by gruesome comments of men. These actions bring focus to the issue of sexual and verbal abuse that many females encounter on a daily basis. Furthermore, the constant humor on the uniqueness of the females in the DOG house puts a lot of feminists in a fury. Constant name calling such as freak, sasquatch, and fat ass instill and almost annoy the viewer of the point the director is trying to make. As a filmcritic review put it, “There are only so many jokes about the degradation of women we can endure in order to get the point of the movie” (Levine, para. 4). The movie concludes when the boys choose to reveal their identities, in order to save one of the DOG girls from getting thrown overboard at a yacht party. This is the epiphany moment, as the boys realize they have been treating females like animals for too long. After walking a mile in the opposite sexes’ shoes, the boys are now more sensitive to the female race. This allows the audience to leave some what satisfied if they were unhappy with the content of the movie.
Overall, I would suggest renting this movie. However, I would not suggest spending the money to take the family out to the theatre. It is aimed towards a 17-25 year-old audience, so beware to take your kids. Many of the jokes revolve around mature material and many are meant to gross out the audience. Ultimately, the movie is equally as stupid as any other comedy with cross-dressing males and the college lifestyle. As for the plot, it is predictable and immature. Many of the jokes are humorous, but are repeated and can be foreseen. The director did a good job by balancing humor and trying to make hist point. Sorority Boys deserves a chance. If a rainy day forces you to be inside, Sorority Boys should be a choice. However, here are a plethora of movies I would choose before Sorority Boys.