Whether or not you've seen it, you probably have an opinion about the new movie, Neighbors.
The movie is about a couple (Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne) who move in with their new family next to a fraternity house, with Zac and Dave as President and Vice President. Hilarity ensues, just as any other Seth Rogen film. What's not to like, right?
I was a bit disappointed.
I'm in the minority, I know but, to me, this movie was a poor depiction of college life. I'll give you this: there are aspects of the movie that make it definitely worth seeing, such as Zac Efron and Dave Franco's glorious abs and the raucous duo, Rogen and Byrne. But besides these factors, I thought Neighbors was a misrepresentation of college life.
Sitting in the movie theater I was all about giving Neighbors the benefit of the doubt. But as the movie played, and the audience around me laughed, I couldn't help but feel a little unsettled. Neighbors was supposed to be about your typical hilarious college students involved in a not-so-typical situation with a 'hip' couple. In reality, all they really did was glorify the assumed drug use of college kids and exaggerate the way we act around adults. It was funny, at times, to watch the couple go after the frat boys and vice versa but, at the same time, it was insulting to think that somewhere in Hollywood screenwriters and movie directors believe that college kids act like that.
At the end of the movie the writers have Zac Efron working as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch. We may dream on occasion about running into a shirtless Efron at the mall, but that's besides the point. I like to think that my colleagues have a little more aspiration for their lives than that! The girls were portrayed as sleazy and a bit stupid, and I do not want anyone to think that a college town is similar to that! Many people might think differently, however I would hope that I am not alone here, because I don't think others involved in Greek life want to be thought of as classless, disrespectful students.
Regardless of my own opinion, Neighbors did amazing its first weekend, grossing $51 million and making people laugh, nationwide. Hopefully, we won't see many more movies as offensive as this one on the big screen, anytime soon. But please, Hollywood, keep bringin' on the abs.