The Seven deadly sins of college life

By Om Khandeparkar 

Everybody knows that movies exaggerate college life to no extent. But do they get every aspect wrong? Probably not. Here are 7 movies representing the 7 ‘deadly’ sins that every college student can relate to and probably has committed!

Having spent a year, or more in some cases, ferrying ourselves from our beds to our desks with a detour to the bathroom every so often, it feels like the Big Ol’ College Experience was nothing but a massive sham. Life online has begun to feel stale; this was supposed to be the era in our lives where we could genuinely expand our horizons and reach for frontiers anew! Instead, it feels as though this vivid future that we had idealised has been sedated to the point where the only thing we’re reaching for is the tiny red X at the top right of the Microsoft Teams app. 

However, as the world renews its frantic pace and universities, including our own, gradually begin to resume regular programming,  we may yet have some hope left in store for us.

 To bask in the glory that heralds an era in our lives where the memories we forge will stick with us for a very long time. We’re all guilty of silently manifesting for situations not under our control to return to the way they were. To reinvigorate your spirits, here is a list of seven movies that serve as a dramatised prelude to what awaits us when we *finally* reach campus. Each film represents one of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ reimagined from a college perspective.

 

1.      Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)

Sin: Parties

Directed by: Richard Linklater

 

Set in 1980’s Texas, Everybody Wants Some follows Jake Bradford, a college freshman, as he meets his fellow teammates on the baseball team for the first time. The film takes place in this honeymoon period in Jake’s life, i.e. before his classes actually start. The first half takes a meandering glance into the mind of a party-loving, carefree fraternity of guys whose sole objective is to incapacitate their livers as soon as possible. Richard Linklater: of ‘Before Sunrise’ fame manages to make a film that is essentially without a plot, feel like a carefree breeze through your hair on a summer afternoon. The wild parties and solemn camaraderie among the teammates are the cherries on top of a cake for college students. By the end of the film, you feel anxious to experience college life like the characters onscreen.

 

2.      Accepted (2006)

Sin: Rejection

Directed by: Steve Pink

 

Accepted is about a high school graduate named Bartleby, whose college essay about the ambiguity of his future and having zero passion for anything he does, leaves him with a pile of rejection letters from every university he applied. Harshlycriticisedd by his authoritarian father, who firmly believes that everyone must go to college, Bartleby decides to run an elaborate scam and erect a makeshift college where a mental institution once stood. The film attempts to convey that rejection is a part of life. Although the message itself feels layered in various bad arguments, Blake Lively and Justin Long’s stellar performances try their hardest to convince you otherwise.

 

3.      Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

Sin: Friendships

Directed by: Farhan Akhtar

 

Less about college life itself and more focused on the bonds between the friends you make in college, Dil Chahta Hai is a Bollywood classic that feels more memorable and relevant today than a large number of other films from the early 2000s. The masterful characterisation of the three protagonists, Sid, Akash, and Sameer, plough the seeds for a fruitful dramatic comedy that takes us through a period in the lives of these three young men as they navigate complexities in their journeys. Dil Chahta Hai takes its viewers through the gauntlet of life and shows us, through the vivid accounts of these three intertwined character arcs, that the hurdles that life chucks in your path are easier to deal with when your friends are by your side.

 

4.      Starter for 10 (2006)

Sin: Extracurriculars

Directed by: Tom Vaughn

 

Bidding goodbye to his widowed mother and metalhead friends, a young man by the name of Brian Jackson sets out to obtain the answers to the questions that have been lodged in his brain since he was a child. ‘Making mistakes is a part of the experience’ is a tenet that ‘Starter For 10’ firmly abides by as James McAvoy’s portrayal of a bumbling college student whose knowledge-saturated brain desperately aches to carve out a niche for itself among the cutthroat competition that envelops him. The irregularities that lurk around every corner and the burden of wanting to make your parents proud weigh heavily on his soul as Brian struggles to juggle his academics, personal relationships and extracurriculars.

 

5.      Shithouse (2019)

Sin: Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone

Directed by: Cooper Raiff

 

Shithouse is a story about a shy young man wallowing in the throes of homesickness, attending college 2400 kilometres away from his hometown of Dallas, where familiar faces make him feel warm and loved. However, this wild new place he finds himself in feels so miserably alien that he hopelessly searches for an excuse not to tuck his tail between his legs and return home. One night, a chance encounter with his resident advisor, perhaps inspired by the movie ‘Before Sunrise’, gives him the push he needs to break free from his comfort zone and acclimatise to this foreign environment. Written, directed, and led by Cooper Raiff (Alex Malmquist), ‘Shithouse’ is a beautiful indie film about meeting new people, adjusting to a unique situation, and prevailing against loneliness.

 

6.      Chhichore (2019)

Sin: Hostel Life

Directed by: Nitesh Tiwari

 

A tragedy in his adult life forces Anirudh, played by the late Sushant Singh, to reminisce about his college days. Heunique led an ensemble cast of outcasts in their revolution against being labelled as losers. Chhichore has its moments of goofy water-fights and pranks and a unique ability to change gear incredibly quickly to these deadpan moments of tragic silence.  The movie paints an entertaining landscape of hostel life that feels much more relatable to the Indian context than other films, with an exciting formula that takes our characters through adventures of mischief, sports, reunion, and romance. 

 

7.      The Internship (2013)

Sin: Internships

Directed by: Shawn Levy

 

‘The Internship’ follows fast-talking salesman Billy (played by Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) as they get booted out of their profession and quickly realise that their antiquated abilities won’t do them any favours in this concentrated job market. Somehow, they manage to wriggle their way into an internship at Google where they feel more out-of-touch than ever, among the horde of freshly graduated college students whose savvy technical skills far surpass their own. ‘The Internship’ will make you wish that your boring old Internship was as exciting and glamorous as this one. While the movie does have a message for college-age youngsters not to take failures too seriously and experience life as it plays out, it also feels rather old-fashioned, as though it was made in an attempt for older generations to try and figure out young adults rather than the other way round.  

Now whether or not you attach a tremendous value to your life in college, this list of movies can probably give you a couple of things to add to your bucket list. Experience is gained through the decisions you make when you’re burdened by a heavy load of either coursework or alcohol. The mistakes may be a by-product of it, but they sure do help in the long run. Reality may often be disappointing, but it's on you to endure however you want to! 

Happy College Life!

Graphics By: Vaibhav Singh