What's on your wall?

I love looking into other people's dorm rooms. I don't necessarily care to meet those who inhabit them. I don't really care about how the beds are set up or the fancy lamp shades. My attention goes straight to the posters on the wall. \nLately this game has become a bore. Every room seems to have the same posters. It's time for people to be different. We need to escape the lure of what I deem the "college posters." \nThere are several overused posters. The first is the "Pulp Fiction" poster featuring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta. Don't get me wrong, I love "Pulp Fiction." I laugh hysterically every time Christopher Walken freaks out at a young Bruce Willis for not appreciating that he kept his father's watch up his ass. But it's not the movie that's being celebrated when someone buys this poster. It's the idea of two badass hit men pointing a gun at you. It's the image of cool. The same goes for the bloodied and beaten Brad Pitt "Fight Club" poster. After having the crap kicked out of him, Pitt is still alive and crazy as ever. Other examples are "Goodfellas," "The Boondock Saints" -- and don't even get me started on "Scarface." Do people really think these characters are that cool? Or do they know these images are established as being cool and therefore they should buy them? Choosing these posters is a small form of conformity. It's as if coming into college, people have seen these posters on older college students' walls and think this is something they need to emulate; it is what's expected of them. \nThe female equivalent to the "cool" posters is the close-up picture of Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn has always been an icon representing fashion, glamour and style. Obviously many girls want their rooms to be stylized by the presence of Audrey. Upon walking into a girl's room and seeing the Audrey poster, I asked her what her favorite Hepburn movie was. "Breakfast at Tiffany's," she replied, a justified response that I would agree with. I then asked if she had any other favorites. "Ummm… ya know, that one where she sings," she answered. Hmmm...the one where she sings. I'm assuming she means "My Fair Lady," but if she knew enough about Hepburn, she'd know those weren't actually Hepburn's vocals. I doubt this girl was even aware of Hepburn's other great work like "Funny Face" or "Roman Holiday." \nThe most overused example of the college poster is the John Belushi "Animal House" poster. Once again this poster probably isn't hung because people love the movie, a shame because it's one of the funniest films of all time. The poster symbolizes the college lifestyle. It's the idea of going out and getting wasted and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it. The poster basically is a sign used to say "I party." And who doesn't, especially at a party school like IU? But do people have to be so blatant about it? Good. You party. We all do. Maybe we should party together. Just don't be so obnoxious about it. \nI realize I'm being a little harsh and judging people for something as trivial as posters. However, there's one instance that I can't forgive. While at a poster sale I overheard a girl ask her friend, "Should we buy this Jim Belushi poster?" At first I just thought she made a mistake. John and Jim are similar names that are easy to mix up, but she kept saying "Jim." "This Jim Belushi poster would look great in the living room," she said. Was she serious? Was she really giving credit for John's comedic genius to his untalented, jackass brother -- the man responsible for "According to Jim?" I hope that living room wall crumbled down the second the poster was hung. \nSo since I know so much about dorm room decorating, you're probably dying to know what takes up my wall space. Well, truthfully my room is nothing special. I even commit some of the sins I judge. I have a "Pulp Fiction" poster, though I opted for the Uma Thurman version. Next to Uma there's a poster of my girlfriend, Lindsay Lohan. There's also "OC," "Royal Tenenbaums" and "Sopranos" posters.\nNot everyone has the same posters up. Among the colored drapes and pictures of high school friends I've seen everything from random bands to "Full House," and I applaud these people. I understand most of us buy our posters from the same places and there isn't always the biggest selection available. But let's try to be a little more original.