In the opening scene I would like to create a
feeling of calmness. I will start with a panoramic shot of the street corner on
Woodland Ave and Columbia Lane. It will show cars passing, people walking and
the stone wall with University of Kentucky. I would like to play the song Big
Bad World by Kodaline. It has a joyful melody but lyrics talk about what it’s
like to be on your own for the first time. I chose these images and this song
because it will be very relatable to my audience. This scene will be almost
like the calm before the storm since my topic is quite touchy to some people.
The opening scene is meant to grab people’s attention and with all the familiar
surroundings it will give a home-y feel.
Continuing with Kodaline’s Big Bad World, I would
like the next scene to be shots of different places around campus. I will
include walkways by White Hall, Patterson Office Tower, Miller Hall, and
William T Young Library. I want this scene to have serious tone. This scene
will introduce my topic. Mental illness is something to sugar coat. I do not
want to overwhelm my audience but I will be fairly blunt in presenting my
facts. I continued this song choice because I
think it fits well with the statistics that many college age students
are most likely not aware of. I will start my voice over about general facts
concerning mental illnesses today “Mental
illnesses are a prevalent issue in the U.S. today one in four adults experience
mental illness in a given year. Around 20 percent of youth ages 13 to 18
experience severe mental disorders in a given year. These serious mental
illnesses cost America $193.2 billion a year. And mood disorders are the third
most common cause of hospitalization for Americans ages 18 to 44”
(Duckworth, 1). “Out of the 61.5 million
Americans affected by mental illness, 4.9 percent or thirty million people are
affected by eating disorders. Over one half of teenage girls and one third of
teenage boys participate in unhealthy weight control behaviors. The rate of
development in cases of eating disorders has been increasing since 1950. Today
ninety five percent of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of
twelve and twenty five” (Averett, Terrezzi, Wang, 5).I chose these images
with this quote because for a lot of the statistics the age range was college
age students.
I
will transition this next scene with a change in song from Kodaline to Luke
Bryan’s Sorority Girl. This song has a cheerful, southern swing to it. Bryan
talks about each chapter and talks about how much fun the ladies have
frolicking about campus. I will pair this song with rolling clips of the Alpha
Delta Pi, Delta Gamma, Delta Zeta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta and Phi Mu
houses. Each house has a different feel to it which is corresponding to the
types of girls in the houses and what each of their philanthropies benefit. I
will also show a panoramic view of Greek Park with a couple sisters walking through
it. I want this scene to have a joyful tone as I start my voice over with
general facts about Greek Life at University of Kentucky. “As of the 2015 – 2016 school year, there are fifteen chapters that are
members of the National Panhellenic Counsel on the campus of University of
Kentucky. This year there was a record high number of girls who participated in
rush week. This means that there are limited spots to fill within each chapter.
These cuts can be devastating to Potential New Members. In early August over
1400 girls moved in early to school, hoping to find sisters and home before the
school year begins. Each chapter has a variety of girls with different things
to bring to campus but for girls during rush week finding a loving and
accepting sisterhood is the most important thing” (Britt, 1). “When girls receive their bid they tend to
look up to active members such as their bid day buddy and later on their big
sister. The intitial connections made have a huge impact on the way New Members
see themselves. In the present study, almost half (49%) of the memorable
messages concerning weight and physical appearance were individually targeted
toward the participant, suggesting that these messages were received outside of
formalized, collective sorority socialization processes. This shows that from
an early stage New Members can be constructed to have a view of themselves that
is not necessarily correct which is a huge issue” ( These images and voice
over and song will fully showcase the different aspects of Sorority life.
In this scene I will be changing the song again to
Ed Sheeran’s Be Like You and keeping this song until the final scene. I chose
this song because it has a soft and sweet tone but the lyrics talk about what
it is like to love someone struggling with an eating disorder. I think this
will speak volumes throughout the rest of my film. For this scene I would like
the audience to feel a sense of empathy and hopefulness as a friend gives a
testimonial on living with an eating disorder and how if she joined a sorority
what sisters could do to help. Because many people do not understand the
reasons why people develop these certain disorders I think it is crucial for
them to realize that this could be happening right in front of our faces but we
would not even know it is happening. The fact that many people do not
understand these reasons this topic is even harder to talk about. “People
think that someone with an eating disorder just wants to be skinny, often
making gagging sounds and joking about "oh you ate a cheerio? Better throw
it up, too many calories." But it's almost never about being thin. It's
about having control. Being able to control the way you look, the way you feel,
and the way others react to you. 9/10 times someone with an eating disorder
will have it because they feel like some aspect of their life is falling apart.
And they think not eating, or throwing up, isn't really hurting themselves the
way cutting may, but it really is. They need that control that they are
lacking. If I was rushing for a sorority I would want my sisters to try and
help me feel like I'm in control by saying something and trying to help me find
something that could satisfy that need control I am lacking. Whether it be
trying to decide a major or helping me with grades. All someone can really ask
for is people to take notice and ask what is really wrong instead of assuming
we are just trying to lose weight.” – Female High School Senior (BHS ‘16),
History of Bulimia Nervosa. I would blur out this text and highlight key points
while my voice over read the entire text. I think this passage will give the
audience something to think about, such as the correlation between these two
communities and what is being done to help. Another reason I think this passage
is very insightful is because this girl plans to be a professional
psychiatrist. It is very important to realize that most people who are
extremely eager to help others are struggling themselves which can come to life
in other ways besides mental health.
Next I will show a picture of a graph from a scholarly
article. It shows the effects of sorority membership on mental health as well
as general wellbeing. I want this scene to have a serious tone because the
statistics shown in the graph are startling. For almost every statistic the
rates are higher for Greek students which should be something that Greek
communities. After all many girls in this organization talk about “sisters
helping sisters”. My voice over will talk about other aspects of sorority life
beyond the sisterhood. “After young women
receive their bid to a sisterhood of choice, there is a lot of expectations
thrown at them all at once. This can be very intimidating and extremely
overwhelming. It is not expected that New Members automatically become best
friends with all two hundred or so girls right away. However there are many
different things these young ladies have to keep in mind. Number one is grades
of course. Each chapter has a set minimum GPA requirement in order to be accepted
into the sisterhood. For those who do not receive stellar grades they are
required to have a certain amount of study hours each week in order to remain
in good standing with the chapter. New members are assigned to committees and
have mandatory events to attend. General ladylike presentation is absolutely
expected and enforced with in the chapter as well as on campus as a whole. Each
Sorority on campus has a philanthropy that they contribute to with fundraising
events. These can range from arthritis research to heart foundations to the
children’s miracle network hospitals. All of these different aspects of Greek
life can have a great impact on the day to day lives of these young women which
can cause added stress to already busy lives” (Britt, 1). This image with
this voice over will show the constant demand to always be “perfect”.
For the next scene I will show a picture of our
current President of Phi Mu Fraternity, Caitlyn Gastfield. She is the one in
the middle. This picture portrays three girls happy with their choice they made
in picking which sisterhood best fit them. In this scene I would like to convey
a sense of understanding and determination with her responses to the following
questions: 1. Have you had any
relationship with mental illnesses or eating disorders (ie. a friend, family
member or yourself)? explain to the extent you feel comfortable.
2. Do you think that mental illness is a large issue
on college campuses?
3. Are eating disorders or mental illnesses in any
way related to Greek Life?
4. As Phi Mus and Greek members in general, are we
doing enough to raise awareness about this issue? if not what could we do?
5. What would you say to PNMs who have struggled
with this issue and wish to rush but feel that they are not fit to be in Greek
life? I will do a voice over
of the questions followed by the corresponding answers which are:
1. I have known people who have suffered from a
variety of illnesses such as eating
disorders, bipolar disorder, and depression. I have
had friends who have previously
struggled with eating disorders and I have family
members who are still struggling with
these disorders.
2. I think that mental illness is an issue on all
fronts. While I do believe there are many
students in college who have these disorders, I do
not think it is isolated to college
campuses.
3. I do not believe that mental illnesses or eating
disorders are in any way correlated to
Greek Life. I think many organizations make a point
to educate their members on issues
like these and they provide information to seek
help. I do not believe that belonging to a
Greek organization encourages or promotes eating
disorders. Most disorders are caused
by chemical imbalances and have genetic correlations
so I do not think that being
involved in Greek Life would be the cause of them.
4. I think that we are doing a good job internally
to have an open forum about these issues
but I think there is always ways to improve
communication as a whole community.
5. I think it is important to let everyone know that
the Greek community is about acceptance
and support. We are organizations build on the
betterment of others and strive to help
and support those in our organization and in the
community. This testimonial
gives insight on what an executive member of a Panhellenic sorority thinks
about this issue. I find that this is very telling in the way that people see
mental illness from a Greek point of view. Caitlyn is very helpful and
determined person which is exactly the kind of young woman Panhellenic needs in
executive positions.
For the second to last scene I would like to change
the music one last time to Kodaline’s All Come Down. It has a smooth melody and
a driving beat. The feel to this song is inspirational and hopeful which are
the feelings I want to leave the audience with. This song talks about things we
need to change in the world but nobody wants to help. It says that if one
person brings about a certain topic it can spark a domino affect. This is the
ideal solution for this issue in the documentary. This issue is understandably
hard to talk about however once discussed, remarkable things can happen that
will help those in need. This is very important to the end of my documentary as
my call to action less explicitly will be: raising awareness about this issue
can help save lives. I would like to first show a picture of many members of
the National Panhellenic Counsel represented at the University of Kentucky.
Each girl is doing the hand symbol for their respective house. I will start the
clip zoomed out then slowly zoom in more and pan across the landscape photo.
This shows a sense of community and sisterhood. Sense of community on this
topic would be very beneficial. In order for there to be change on this topic,
people need to come together in making college campuses a safer place for
people struggling with mental disorders. I will start my concluding voice over
in this scene which will carry over to the last. “Although at UK there is not much talk about mental health within the
greek community we are definitely starting to make an effort by participating
in the National Eating Disorder Awareness Week in early February. We can come
together as a whole campus wide sisterhood to raise awareness.”
The
final scene will quickly transition into a picture of a girl painting on a
canvas that says ‘I am better than a Barbie because…’ I would like this final
scene to convey a sense of promise and hope for the future. These words are
very powerful especially for someone struggling with body image issues. I will
start my voice over about a beneficial philanthropy. “Within UK’s Greek life there is no philanthropy that benefits those
with mental illness or eating disorders. Through my research I found that the
Delta Phi Epsilon sorority is partners with Anorexia Nervosa and Associated
Disorders (ANAD). For their philanthropy events they hold fashion shows that
emphasize body positivity and have candle light vigils for those who have lost
their fight with these diseases”(Bailey, 1). This is a positive note to end
on with hopes for the future of mental illness and eating disorder awareness.
Works Cited
Bailey,
Ben J. “About ANAD and Delta Phi Epsilon”. Web. 1 March, 2014
http://www.dphie.org/philanthropy/philanthropicpartners/anorexianervosaassociateddisorders(anad)/anadanddphie
McCrory,
Martinique. “Delta Phi Epsilon and ANAD Week”. The Odyssey Online. Web. Oct 10,
2014.
http://theodysseyonline.com/georgia-southern/delta-phi-epsilon-anad-week-gsu/70429
Vines,
Madeline. “Eating Disorder Testimonial by Gabrielle Hernandez”. Written. 23
October, 2015.
Averett,
Terrizi, Wang. “The Effect of Sorority Membership on Eating Disorders and Body
Mass Index”. 2013: 2-6 Web. http://ftp.iza.org/dp7512.pdf
Duckworth
M.D, Ken. “Mental Illness: Facts and Numbers”. Web. March, 3013
http://www2.nami.org/factsheets/mentalillness_factsheet.pdf
Britt,
Emily. “Pictures”. University of Kentucky Panhellenic Counsel. Web. 1 January,
2015
http://fraternitysororityaffairs82160.orgsync.com/org/panhellenicassociation84368/Pictures
Allison,
Kelly C., Park, Crystal L. “Prospective Study of Disordered Eating among
Sorority and Nonsorority Women”. International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Volume 35. Issue 3. (April 2003). Pages 354-358. Web.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eat.10255/epdf
Richardson,
Haley. “Sisterhood Photos”. Phi Mu at University of Kentucky. Web. 1 January,
2015. http://uky.phimu.org/photo-albums
Vines,
Madeline. “WRD 110 Interview with Caitlyn Gastfield”. Written. 11 November,
2015
