For some reason I’ve always been fascinated by fraternity culture. I didn’t have the traditional four year college experience after high school (I enrolled in a screenwriting program at Los Angeles Film School) so my only exposure to this lifestyle is through film and tv or through stories that some of my friends have told me. I can see a movie like Neighbors, which pokes fun at frat culture, and think it’s grounded in complete reality. Essentially I’m a blank slate in regards to my knowledge about the subject but what’s instantly relatable in Andrew Neel’s Goat, is the desire to belong.
Shirtless men bounce in slow motion during the opening title sequence for Goat which right off the bat shows fraternity hazing rituals in primal terms. Goat has moments that are obvious and may hit you over the head with its message but there is no denying that the film powerfully shows the way frat life preys on the week while hiding the insecurities of those running it behind a wall of crass machismo.
Goat is unflinching in its depiction from the start because it’s based in reality. The film is based on the 2004 memoir by Brad Land and, at the start, revolves around the fallout of Land’s experience being mugged after a party. In a sequence that is unsettling, but powerful, it sets the tone for the psychological mindset that Brad (Ben Schnetzer) will be in as his journey continues. After the incident Brad transfers to Clemson University in South Carolina to not only follow his brother Brett (Nick Jonas) but also start over.
Eventually he wants to belong by joining the fraternity his brother and some of his friends from his hometown have joined. At first the rough hazing rituals actually provide Brad with a catharsis to become stronger after his earlier traumatic experience but eventually the situation becomes much more problematic.
The commitment to the hazing rituals actually become pretty horrific as the film rolls along. They involve a lot of alcohol and on various occasions, more than one bodily fluid as they subject their pledges to embarrassing forms of torture. I call i torture because being locked in a crate made for dogs as people urinate on you seems as tortuous as it can get for someone trying to find brotherhood in college. Brad’s willingness to go through all this makes for a great psychological discussion. The level of disrespect he goes through is similar to the beating he took when he’s mugged during the opening sequence so it’s interesting that he would put himself in a position to be weak once again. He’s striving for an impossible ideal and even his real brother, who is in the frat, can’t seem to comprehend his stone-faced disposition.
The idea of actual frat life is poked fun at a bit in the beginning. James Franco (in a pretty spot on cameo), returns to the college as an aging frat boy that the brothers respect despite how pathetic he is (at one point he exclaims how he’s expecting a kid now while he’s pounding beers with people who more than ten years younger than him). The scene is presented like something out of a Seth Rogen comedy and it does provide a bit of a chuckle when stop to think that people like him actually exist. The hazing dominates the middle section of the film is unsettling from start to finish but it isn’t until something tragic happens to one of the more innocent pledges, that Brad realizes how inane some of these rituals actually are. It really adds new meaning to the phrase “shit just got real.”
The film not only speaks to the mindset of someone who would go through this (in the end we’re all just looking to belong to SOMETHING, right?) but it also tackles those who embrace this lifestyle. The film suggests that those committing the torture think that those who go through it show a sense of profound commitment. What I honestly took from it was that this was more of an excuse to hide their true nature and their underlying desire to rule over others because their battling with their own insecurities.
The performances are all top notch with Ben Schnetzer hitting all the right notes as Brad. He shows equal parts sensitivity but also a bit of volcanic rage that is simmering beneath the surface. He doesn’t want to be weak anymoe and his stoic resolve is powerfully portrayed by the actor. Also showing some serious chops is Nick Jonas, who displays no signs of the top 40 pop star that dominates his main profession. I was reminded a bit of Justin Timberlake in the sense that both of them have to strip away personas that are familiar to the world in order to be believable. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. The rest of the actors manage to convey frat stereotypes that we’re familiar with while making them less of a joke and ultimately a little frightening.
Sometimes films come out of nowhere for me. I wasn’t expecting a lot out of Goat but the good reviews got me interested. As the credits began to roll I was left unsettled by how powerful it was and how easy it was to connect with the central idea of brotherhood at all costs.
