Every New Sorority Member Seems to Love 'Big' Starring Tom Hanks, For Some Reason
Graphic by MJ Kang. Photos by Alan Light / CC-BY-2.0 and araza123 / CC-BY-2.0
February 12, 2018 at 2:45 pm
With each new year comes another crop of new sorority members. However, social media users are pointing out something strange with the new pledge classes: every girl is posting about her deep love for Big starring Tom Hanks.
Big is a 1988 fantasy-comedy film directed by Penny Marshall. It stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a young boy whose wish to be an adult comes true. The film saw major box office success and two Academy Award nominations.
Now, the film is seeing a resurgence of buzz in social media posts from new sorority members.
Sabrina Turner (W ’21) posted a photo of herself and a new sorority sister on Facebook with the caption, “I love my big!”
Kelly Marcus (C ’21) Instagrammed a picture of a large group of her bed covered in gifts, with the caption, “My big is the best!!!”
Film scholars are noting the rabidity with which young, female fans seem to have re-discovered the film. They note the use of possessive language which refers to the film as “my big,” indicating how deeply younger viewers are connecting with Big.
At press time, Tom Hanks could not be reached for comment.