I’ve watched 45 movies since the start of the semester. Whether that was a healthy decision is probably beyond the purview of this article, but it seemed like a strong statement to open with. Some of these were heinously bad, like “Paul”, while others were exceptional, like “12 Angry Men”, but regardless, almost all of them were watched in the confines of my dorm room. That’s a problem. Film was never meant to be enjoyed on my laptop screen, nor does the tinny sound of earbuds particularly improve it. Film was meant for the silver screen, or at least for a screen that isn’t four feet from my face.
I propose a solution that will make my film habit a little less sad, and might even help grow our campus community. Fairfield should screen more movies. Now, I know what you may be saying. Fairfield does screen movies. I’ve seen “Brokeback Mountain”, “The Dead”, “Rashomon” and “Michael Collins” in the basement auditorium of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library. That may seem like a lot, but it’s four movies over the course of nearly two years, and I basically snuck into film class events for two of them, so I’m not sure they actually count. Fairfield University itself doesn’t show films on anything approaching a regular basis. They leave that to the individual departments and the occasional Quick Center event.
Who doesn’t love going to the movies with their friends? Who doesn’t love popcorn, soda and a chocolate bar? It would be no small task to show a movie or two every week, and maybe buy a popcorn machine. Just look at our tuition costs. I’m pretty sure Fairfield University can afford a Netflix account, and maybe HBO Max, if they’re feeling adventurous. The library has an auditorium, and the Quick Center has an even bigger one. It’s clearly not an issue of space, though I do envy Sacred Heart the SHU Community Theatre.
You may not know this, but SHU’s theater shows movies. As an objectively superior institution of higher education, can we really let them get away with one-upping us here? Our pride is at stake.
In all seriousness, Fairfield University suffers from a lack of events during the week. Fairfield at Night covers the weekend, and there are sports games some nights, but how many Tuesday or Wednesday nights have anything interesting going for them? What better way to get students together, and to stave off boredom, than some film magic and buttered popcorn? I’m not asking for Fairfield University to start running its own private theater that shows new releases, but I’m also not not asking for that. At the very least, weekly screenings of beloved classics would be a lot of fun and could bring people together.
So please, take to the streets. Protest for your rights. Help me take my movie habit out of my dorm room and back into the warm embrace of humanity.