SPB provides students with fall break film

On Oct. 4, a night during fall break, the Student Programming Board (SPB) screened “Aladdin” in Isaac’s Café at 8:30 p.m. The original thought was to give the students that were staying on campus over break something to do. SPB decided the best solution for this was to show a movie and serve pizza, so students could eat as well.

Weeks before, the students had the choice to choose among  “Toy Story 4,” “Aladdin,” and “Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw.” “Avengers Endgame” was originally in the discussion, but the members of SPB decided that most may not want to see this film if they hadn’t already seen the other “Avengers” films. The students chose “Aladdin” for the movie night.

Some students complained that the options weren’t that good, and that they wish there were more to choose from. Most of them had seen two of the three films and didn’t want to see the other.

 “Although I love the movie and pizza—Disney is a good choice because most people enjoy it, I would like some variety with the options,” said sophomore Kaitlyn Foust. 

“I would prefer movies other than Disney and Pixar remakes,” said junior Jason Nix. Although others felt like this about the film, “Aladdin” still won majority votes. SPB member Jordan Muse had a possible answer for that. 

 “Aladdin’ and “Toy Story 4” were neck and neck, so we figured students didn’t want to see ‘Hobbs and Shaw,” Muse said.

This meant that although students didn’t want to see another Pixar or Disney film, they really didn’t want to see “Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw” either. This could have been solved before when complaints were made if the process to show a movie was simpler. Coordinator for the event, Dallas Brock broke down the problem for showing all types of films. 

“We have to go through Swank, which is a company that allows us to use certain newly release films,” Brock said. “There is a timeline that must be followed. If we miss it, we miss opportunities.” Although “Aladdin” ended up winning the majority vote because others would have rather re-watched that than “Toy Story 4,” it is understandable that they wish there were different options all together.

 “Of those three movies on the survey, I chose ‘Aladdin’ because it had something to offer to everyone, unlike the other two,” said senior Brinley Knowles. “Jasmine was given a sense of agency, which is what she was looking for the entire film …  so it was nice to see her become a sultan. She eventually had the choice to rule with choosing a husband even though she still chose Aladdin to be with.” 

As the film seems like it was the right choice because of the polar decision of the students, the movie nights have always been split decisions. There were always students that didn’t like the movies that were shown, but they still would come out. The event is ultimately considered a success.

 “The movie night is one of our many popularized events, and it will continue to be along with the homecoming dance, blister in the sun, bowling nights, and skate nights,” said Muse.