So, the housing office is trying to liven up the otherwise unbearable process that is room draw. Their efforts are not unappreciated. But even if we accept the idea that lip sync is basically a good thing, it still has some serious problems in the way it's run.
One thing that's wrong with lip sync is the serious gender imbalance that has appeared. In the last three years, eight groups have won the lip sync. Only one of those groups has included women.
Why do men have such a seemingly unassailable advantage in lip sync? The reason is fairly obvious: men in drag are funny, always and everywhere. Women, on the other hand, wear "men's" clothing-jeans, tee shirts and the like-as an every day thing. For that reason, it's much less funny. Unless Amherst men take to regularly wearing sun dresses to class, this phenomenon is likely to remain.
The way I see it is this: in a system without room draw, women have, more or less, a 50-50 shot of getting the top pick in their class; with room draw, the odds drop precipitously.
The other thing that's wrong with lip sync is how unsettlingly explicit the whole thing has become. I'm thinking mostly of the entries from this year's group of rising sophomores. Between the "The Boy is Mine" skit and the "Like a Virgin" number, it seemed like the central idea behind the freshman performances was: If we're the group that gets the most nude, we've got this thing locked up.
And, of course, that's exactly how it happened. The "Like a Virgin" group, featuring Kerry Harwin '05 in a white corset and panties, flashing his only-just-concealed crotch all over the place, walked away with the first pick in the freshman class.
I'd be surprised if Dean Boykin-East and the students in SHAC aren't just a little embarrassed to be associated with this kind of crap. (I know I would be if I were in their shoes.) But the problem isn't just that this stuff is obscene. It's worse: it's not funny.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'll be the first to admit that sex and nudity are funny. Anyone who's ever watched a porn, y'know, ironically, can tell you that. But, especially in the context of Lip Sync, sex and nudity are usually, more than anything else, a sign that not a whole lot of thought was put into the piece.
Think back to last Thursday night. Which was more entertaining: "Like a Virgin" or the "Duos throughout the Ages" medley (which garnered first pick for those rising senior men)? "Duos" had costumes, props, well-rehearsed choreography, a variety of songs and so on. "Like a Virgin" had ... Harwin's crotch! (Woo-hoo!)
I guess what I'm saying is that if we've arrived at the point where we're handing out the top pick in room draw to the person most willing to approximate the money shot, it may be time to reconsider the way lip sync works.
Future judges should place a premium on performances that are funny and entertaining without resorting to near nudity and explicit sexuality.