Goat

At first glance, Andrew Neel’s Goat appears to be an inside look into the secret life of fraternity hazing, but upon its ending we realize it is much more.  The opening credits of the movie show shirtless college-aged men jumping around and yelling in slow-motion, implying something to do with fraternity hazing.  While the hazing is an important aspect of the movie, the plot of Goat actually focuses around what is going on inside of the minds of those being hazed, creating a much deeper and darker plot.  At the start of the film, high school senior Brad Land is assaulted after agreeing to give two strangers a ride home from a party.  The suspense builds up as Brad drives down the road, not exactly sure where he is taking the strangers to.  The drive concludes next to a field as one of the strangers grabs Brad’s neck while the other yells for him to get out of the car.  They take his wallet and continuously kick and punch him.  This disastrous beginning immediately separates this film from other fraternity-based films such as Animal House or Neighbors, which were humorous and tended to glamorize the Greek system.  Brad finds his way home after the men leave him on the ground and begins his recovery process.  At the police station he is almost immediately accused of wanting to buy drugs from the two men, because it isn’t normal for a teenage boy to give a ride home to a complete stranger. I found that masculinity was an overarching theme throughout the movie, starting with the detective not believing Brad was completely innocent, and continuing during his mission to “prove himself” through the fraternity hazing.

The post-traumatic stress Brad develops as a result of the assault gives him the desire to wait a semester to start college.  However, his mind changes after going to a party with his brother, Brett, a member of Phi Sigma Mu. This continues the theme of masculinity in that he then felt the desire to start school during the fall, because the “cool” fraternity didn’t hold rush in the spring. Occasionally during the scenes of hazing we see the screen go blurry, representing the post-traumatic stress kicking in inside of Brad’s mind.  While the members of the fraternity know the situation Brad is in, the only one who truly realizes the emotional impact of it is Brett. We see Brett go through a inner struggle of wanting his brother to prove himself and be in his fraternity, while also debating if it is worth it if it triggers his brother’s dark thoughts.  Fraternity hazing in this film, as well as others, is portrayed by the pledges (known as “goats") being constantly yelled at and ridiculed by the initiated members of the fraternity.  This stage of humiliation is meant to give the pledges a chance to prove that they want, more than anything, to be in the fraternity. 

Often in the real world, although hazing is forbidden, it happens this way as well.  Serious injuries and even death come as a result of Greek-organization hazing every year.  Despite this being an issue that keeps parents awake at night, Goat is one of the first films to ever tackle the subject in a serious light.  Other films typically cast hazing in a comical light and don’t dwell on it for long.  The subject has become taboo, perhaps due to the forbidden nature of it.  Fraternity hazing is a hush-hush, don’t ask don’t tell subject that seems to be ignored and not talked about, until someone is dead.  For the members, hazing is almost a mark of pride, proof that they belong in their fraternity and have earned their spot. Therefore, they also rarely speak about it outside the walls of their fraternity houses.  Goat has the power to speak out on this because it’s based off of a true story, a memoir by the protagonist, Brad Land, who went through the pledging process at Clemson University. “If anyone says that that stuff doesn’t exist, they are woefully misinformed. This exists like air exists,” Land said in an interview with Men’s Journal about the way hazing is ignored.  I applaud this movie for having a real look into the inside of the organization, as opposed to speculation.

Throughout the film, the viewer can catch similarities between the hazing events and the assault, especially through the scenes with Brad’s roommate, Will.  In one scene, two of the members run into the dorm room and wrap tape around Will’s face and hands before leaving him there.  This is eerily similar to the way the men left Brad in the field at the beginning of the film.  The film takes a turn when the one who ultimately ends up being conquered by the hazing is Will instead of Brad, who makes it through the end of Hell Week (seven days of almost non-stop hazing).  After Will’s death, the members of the fraternity tell themselves it wasn’t a result of the hazing.  This scene is sadly realistic, because nobody wants to get in trouble and see their fraternity’s charter ripped off the wall.  However, this is the fate that falls upon them when Brett, Brad’s brother, ends up telling the school officials what happened.

Overall, I found Goat uncomfortable to watch, but very enlightening.  As a member of the Greek system myself I can say, off of the stories I have heard, it seemed to be a fairly accurate portrayal.  However, I believe that sometimes the hazing activities are even more secret than the movie implied.  In one scene the “goats” were sent out of the house without clothes on, and they needed to retrieve their clothes from a pool in the front yard.  Perhaps in the 90s (when Brad Land pledged) this was common practice, but due to the deaths and injuries that have since occurred, it is now more secretive than ever, with almost all activities going on behind closed doors.  To a degree I also believe things are controlled to avoid serious injury.  This film makes the point that everyone has their own past experiences and demons that they deal with, and it can impact how they handle the hazing.  It would be interesting to have a 2017 Brad Land emerge in the upcoming years and to be able to measure how different the experiences were.