Okay, this week I’m really going off the deep end to talk about something I really, truly love: my alma mater. I suspect most of us get a little thrill whenever we hear our college get name-dropped on a TV show, in a movie, or in a song. I’m kind of a super nerd (could you tell?) and I get really, really excited when I catch a reference to my alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, in a TV show or film. Especially since my college–an all-women liberal arts institution in Massachusetts–often gets lovingly lampooned. Women’s colleges often get satirized or represented in the extreme in movies. We single-sex attendees are often portrayed as man-hating collectives of feminists with Sapphic desires. Misunderstandings and misrepresentations of women’s colleges abound–in both real life and fictional universes. I can’t count how many times people have asked me what it was like going to a college where men weren’t allowed and we had curfews (newsflash: much to the chagrin of parents everywhere, men are allowed at our parties and our dormitories, and you can come and go as you please.)
Real women smoke and drink simultaneously.
MHC is often used as a means of setting up a quick backstory for women in film and TV. In dramas, characters who are said to have graduated from MHC are often presented as intelligent, independent women (woot!), but they are also outsiders. This list includes the character Donna from the TV show “Judging Amy,” an intelligent but socially awkward law clerk, and Helen Bishop, the (gasp!) divorcee neighbor of Betty and Don on “Mad Men”, who is essentially shunned by her friends because she is divorced and (golly!) makes her own living. The most well-known TV reference to MHC is probably a 2003 episode of “The Simpsons”, when Lisa dreams of attending one of the Seven Sisters (America’s seven historically all-women colleges). Each of the Seven Sisters is satirized, and MHC is personified as a martini-swilling woman who promptly passes out after imploring “Come play with me!” This episode, which aired when I was still attending MHC, was the talk of the campus. (Side note: I never drank a martini while attending MHC, though I did enjoy a few cocktails and attended you know, only a couple of parties before focusing largely on my studies and never ever flirting with boys or making bad decisions, okay mom? Right, so…
Perhaps the most famous reference to my alma mater is present in the early minutes of Dirty Dancing: “Baby’s starting Mount Holyoke in the fall!” Incidentally, the reference to MHC is two-fold, as Baby is actually named “Frances,” after the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet and an MHC graduate herself. My first week at MHC the Student Union sponsored a screening of Dirty Dancing, and everybody cheered at this line (and I still do every time I watch the movie because, as we’ve established, I’m a nerd). Of course, if you think about it, this reference isn’t particularly flattering. Yes, the namedrop is meant to indicate that Baby is intelligent or worldly–the entire scene is meant to set her apart from her flighty sister–but it’s also part of a negative set-up, as well. This is the start of the movie, before Baby has learned her lessons about class and the real world–our indication that for all of her liberal talk, she’s prone to assumptions about social class and
Typical Saturday night at a women's college, obviously.
status. The reference to MHC–or at least its placement in the script–seems to suggest that she’s both learned, independent, and kind of a snob.
Lastly, many people consider MHC the basis for the women’s college featured in the Jim Belushi fraternity comedy Animal House. Yes, legend has it that MHC was the inspiration for Emily Dickinson College, the women’s college the boys plunder for Saturday night dates with a fantastic story about dating the girl who died in a “tragic kiln accident.” The protagonists’ school (the fictional Faber College) is based on Dartmouth College, a school with which MHC has long been affiliated. In addition, Emily Dickinson grew up near MHC and is touted as one of our most esteemed graduates (although ::cough cough:: she never actually graduated.)
In the end I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to represent the varied and amazing moments that comprise my time at MHC, but I can’t help but smile and cheer every time I hear it used as a reference point in popular culture–even if the reference isn’t perfectly flattering. My only complaint is that the summer before my first year at MHC I was decidedly not making love to Patrick Swayze. But I guess I can’t expect my life to be exactly like Baby’s. On the plus side, at least my nickname wasn’t Baby.
So, what I want to know is: do you catch yourself perking up your ears whenever your school gets name-dropped? How is it usually represented? And do you agree with it?
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Lol. Cute. Having now known girls who went to Smith and Mount Holyoke, I giggle at that Simpsons episode all the time.
Yeah, alums of my school are usually portrayed as snobby Anglos and Anglo wannabes – the school of Oxford/Cambridge rejects. And most of the questions I get when I say I went to St. Andrews are either ‘Oh, did you know the Prince?’ (Yes, we lunched together every Tuesday), and ‘I didn’t know there was a university there’ (that’s because you spent all your time on the golf course, you prat). That’s in this country. In Britain it has often been assumed that I’m either a snob or rich or both.
But, hey, my school was in ‘Chariots of Fire’. So there.
Chariots of Fire reference? Nice!
Chariots of Fire is always my first reference when I heard someone went to St. Andrews (a grad school colleague of mine is there now doing doctoral work, and I’m kind of jealous of her).
I’m not ashamed to admit that when I visited St. Andrews years ago i totally did the running on the beach thing with Vangelis music in my head. Okay, only a little ashamed.
No shame! I had a boyfriend once run down steps of a judicial building while humming “Eye of the Tiger,” and we weren’t even in the right state. LOL.
You were one of THOSE people! My God. Not that I ever did that myself. Not at all. I was totally cool.
I’m watching season 3 of Friday Night Lights. When Julie Taylor included MHC in her list of schools to apply to, I’m pretty sure I fist-pumped and said “woo-hoo” out loud.
Oh, there’s a reference I didn’t know! Thanks for the note!
I remember that reference Jandy. I wasn’t much into the show, but I remember hearing the reference while DH was watching and said something along the lines of “Go, Girl!” … yeah, I know I should have said “Woman”.
I love MHC references and am not at all embarrassed to cheer when I hear one
Fun post and much appreciated. Like you, I do get disproportionately pleased when MHC is mentioned and have a bit of pride, even if the reference is less than flattering. Sometimes, those “less than flattering” references have a hint of truth that make me laugh too and I can laugh at myself. Thanks for injecting some MHC pride in my day. Been a while since I have thought a lot about it.
Class of ’90
Thanks, Karen! I agree that even the less flattering references often have a nugget of truth in them; sometimes they’re like inside jokes about how we’re perceived, too.
There’s also that lovely little nugget of untruth on The L Word when some random girl rejects a trans-man (she proceeds to call him a “freak” I believe) for a date because she is an uppity and proper Mount Holyoke girl. Which is ridiculous because MoHo is one of the most accepting schools in the world! I know a lot of Mohos who were up in arms about that episode!
Wow! That’s probably the most negative use of MHC I’ve heard yet!
Don’t forget “What’s Up Doc” – Barbra Streisand’s character majored in new math at Mount Holyoke.
(BTW, the name is spelled Frances. Francis is the male spelling, and definitely not how Frances Perkins spelled her name.)
Oh thanks for catching the typo–not sure how I managed that one!
What is Streisand’s character like in “What’s Up, Doc?” I haven’t seen that film in years! Does the MHC reference set-up her character as an independent woman?
In “What’s Up Doc” Barbara’s character doesn’t reveal until the last 5 minutes of the film that she completed a degree (among many others) in new math at Mount Holyoke. She enumerates many other degrees that she completed and Ryan O’Neil sits looking at her with puppy dog eyes because he realizes that he is in love with her. She is portrayed as an extremely intelligent woman, but her numerous degrees represent her nemesis because she has not been able to decide on a career and gain some stability in her life. In the film, she is seen as very spontaneous and comfortable with being a free-spirited type. I own a copy of the DVD and I think I have seen the film at least 20 times! Great slap stick comedy. So, what is the title of the Simpsons episode? I am not familiar with it but would like to see it. Thanks for the article. Jennifer, Class of 1992
Clearly I need to see this movie again!
The “Simpsons” episode in 2003, called “I’m Spelling as Fast as I Can”.
The original In-laws movie with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. Arkin’s daughter went to Mount Holyoke.
::Movie now added to queue:: I love me some Peter Falk!
I like how you forgot to mention the Mount Holyoke supernumerary and gymnast Don dates on Mad Men after his divorce. Her most memorable action was giving him a bj in a cab.
I actually hadn’t caught that reference; I thought Helen Bishop was the only (fictional) MHC alum on the show. I guess I’ll have to go back and see how the gymnast was portrayed, thanks.
There have been two MHC references on Mad Men that I’m aware of – the previously mentioned MHC gymnast as well as the divorced neighbor, Helen Bishop, in season 1 who said she honeymooned in Paris and had taken four years of Mount Holyoke French.
Thanks! I touch on Helen above, but both you and Ella mention a reference I hadn’t caught!
Keep the references coming, ladies!
In a Damon Wayans film, his character is at a job interview and the interviewer is reading his resume and asks–you went to Mount Holyoke–I didn’t know they went co-ed.
Love it!
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November 20, 2012 12:08 am
Joanna,When I was a young office worekr commuting to Mid-town Manhatten each weekday, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry became a normal part of my daily routine. (My commute, in fact, added three hours to my normal eight-hour workday between the bus ride to/from the ferry, the trip across the harbor, and the journey across town on the subway a long trip to undertake twice every day!)Yet, for all the routine regularity of it all, the ferry always held a special charm. No matter how used to it I became, I could still enjoy its magic whenever I rode the ferry for sheer pleasure. I can definitely relate to the emotions the ferry has stirred in you!Thanks for inspiring those nostalgic reminiscences!Jeanne
Damn, MHC has quite the (mixed) reputation!
As far as I know, my alma mater has never explicitly been referenced in pop culture. Only indirectly: students there invented Oregon Trail, a scene in The Mighty Ducks 3 was shot there… um, there’s our Schiller tradition. And that observatory-as-R2D2 thing a couple years back. That’s about it.
I would definitely say that people like to pick up on our reputation as unique, independent women and present it in a negative light. I’m obviously very biased, but I find most MHC women independent but also very loving and friendly.
Can you tell me more about the Schiller tradition? I’m intrigued!
Unless there’s ever been a movie that referenced or shown footage of Winston Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” speech (aka the Iron Curtain Address), my alma mater has never been featured in a movie.
Where I went for undergrad, as far as I know, has never been mentioned in television or movies. I haven’t seen anything set at NYU since I finished my M.A, so I don’t know how accurate the depictions are.
It’s very rare (if ever) that my alma mater (Franklin & Marshall College) gets name-dropped, but I’m also a very proud alum. While we are name-dropping, we do have a few noteworthy alumni in the cinematic world:
Franklin Schaffner (director of Patton and Planet of the Apes)
Roy Scheider (Jaws, All That Jazz and The French Connection)
Treat Williams (Hair)
Not bad for a small college. Go Dips!
Those are certainly some illustrious alums! And I knew some people in my study abroad from F&M–they were lovely!
what about on law and order that time when a woman was accused of some heinous crime and her husband told the cops, “she couldn’t have done this, she went to mount holyoke for god’s sake!” or some such thing. i had mixed feelings about that one.
On the plus side, we don’t commit murder? Hmm….