Students smooch in a scene from "Undergrads." The Web series was produced by James Franco. (jamesfrancotv.com) |
"Undergrads," the USC-centered Web reality series, focuses on a bacchanal a la "The Hangover": Amorous, good-looking young people hooking up, wild parties, run-ins with the law and booze. Lots and lots of it.
These scenes could be captured on any Friday night at almost any university. But for many students and administrators at the school, the show that debuted Thursday was a real buzz kill.
"I can't help but laugh and be disgusted at the same time," said Travis Newhouse, 29, a junior cinematic arts major. "It's irresponsible."
The Web series was produced by actor and perennial student James Franco and follows a wolf pack of USC students through the travails of off-campus life.
"We want to take YOUR LIVES, YOUR STORIES, and YOU, and turn them into an amazing scripted web series about college life," an online casting call from 2010 said.
Based on the promo, the show depicts a "senior year bucket list" that includes a young woman painting her body in Trojan colors and going to a football game, young men chasing after women and, in one scene, chugging vodka from a bottle. It also includes grainy, night-vision shots of police shutting down parties.
This is all happening at a school that for years has attempted to move away from a perception of being the so-called "University of Spoiled Children" — a culture centered around a hard-partying Greek system where wealthy young people lead a pampered existence. Greek life, however, remains prominent at the school.
In the last year, eyebrow-raising incidents have occurred. Photos were posted online of students having sex atop a campus building, and an email sent by fraternity members using crudely explicit terms to rate women went viral.
Such episodes have come amid a decades-long investment to build up the university's reputation as a world-class research institution.
And, by many measures, the school has undergone a notable shift, with an investment to attract stronger faculty, more research dollars and an increasingly diverse student body, higher education experts say.
"It's a very strong university, and it's clearly gotten quite a bit stronger over the past 15, 20 years," said Hunter R. Rawlings III, president of the Assn. of American Universities.
In 2010, for the first time since U.S. News & World Report began its annual top college rankings, USC narrowly beat out UCLA (tying with Carnegie Mellon) for 23rd place. This year's admitted freshmen had, on average, a GPA of 3.80.
And for the 10th year in a row, USC enrolled more international students than any other school in the country.
So a show centered on coed hijinks has rankled many on campus.
"More accurately representative of USC are the students who provide hundreds of hours in community service, who rank among the country's most academically and artistically gifted, and who value diversity in cultures, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds among their peers," said Michael L. Jackson, vice president of student affairs, in a statement.
Ellie Newcomer Smith, a junior film major, found the idea of the show irritating and potentially detrimental to the reputation of the school and, in turn, her degree.
"It so undermines the strides the school has made academically," said Smith, 26. "It's not the school it was in the '80s, when your dad could buy you in."
Her husband, Leslie Smith, added: "I still want my two hours back for watching the Oscars," referring to Franco's 2011 hosting gig that received decidedly mixed reviews.
Miles Levy, Franco's producer and partner on the show, was unavailable for comment.
Ryan Navar, 20, a computer science major, said, "Everybody knows that USC has a lot of parties. But that doesn't define us."
angel.jennings@latimes.com
rick.rojas@latimes.com
These scenes could be captured on any Friday night at almost any university. But for many students and administrators at the school, the show that debuted Thursday was a real buzz kill.
"I can't help but laugh and be disgusted at the same time," said Travis Newhouse, 29, a junior cinematic arts major. "It's irresponsible."
The Web series was produced by actor and perennial student James Franco and follows a wolf pack of USC students through the travails of off-campus life.
"We want to take YOUR LIVES, YOUR STORIES, and YOU, and turn them into an amazing scripted web series about college life," an online casting call from 2010 said.
Based on the promo, the show depicts a "senior year bucket list" that includes a young woman painting her body in Trojan colors and going to a football game, young men chasing after women and, in one scene, chugging vodka from a bottle. It also includes grainy, night-vision shots of police shutting down parties.
This is all happening at a school that for years has attempted to move away from a perception of being the so-called "University of Spoiled Children" — a culture centered around a hard-partying Greek system where wealthy young people lead a pampered existence. Greek life, however, remains prominent at the school.
In the last year, eyebrow-raising incidents have occurred. Photos were posted online of students having sex atop a campus building, and an email sent by fraternity members using crudely explicit terms to rate women went viral.
Such episodes have come amid a decades-long investment to build up the university's reputation as a world-class research institution.
And, by many measures, the school has undergone a notable shift, with an investment to attract stronger faculty, more research dollars and an increasingly diverse student body, higher education experts say.
"It's a very strong university, and it's clearly gotten quite a bit stronger over the past 15, 20 years," said Hunter R. Rawlings III, president of the Assn. of American Universities.
In 2010, for the first time since U.S. News & World Report began its annual top college rankings, USC narrowly beat out UCLA (tying with Carnegie Mellon) for 23rd place. This year's admitted freshmen had, on average, a GPA of 3.80.
And for the 10th year in a row, USC enrolled more international students than any other school in the country.
So a show centered on coed hijinks has rankled many on campus.
"More accurately representative of USC are the students who provide hundreds of hours in community service, who rank among the country's most academically and artistically gifted, and who value diversity in cultures, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds among their peers," said Michael L. Jackson, vice president of student affairs, in a statement.
Ellie Newcomer Smith, a junior film major, found the idea of the show irritating and potentially detrimental to the reputation of the school and, in turn, her degree.
"It so undermines the strides the school has made academically," said Smith, 26. "It's not the school it was in the '80s, when your dad could buy you in."
Her husband, Leslie Smith, added: "I still want my two hours back for watching the Oscars," referring to Franco's 2011 hosting gig that received decidedly mixed reviews.
Miles Levy, Franco's producer and partner on the show, was unavailable for comment.
Ryan Navar, 20, a computer science major, said, "Everybody knows that USC has a lot of parties. But that doesn't define us."
angel.jennings@latimes.com
rick.rojas@latimes.com
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