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OPINION
riday, February 18, 2000
THE BATTALION
Page 9
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Texas Film Festival does not receive the attention it deserves from theA&M student body
p:
sst — here’s a secret:
the nation’s largest
student-run film fes-
ival is taking place this
ery moment at Texas
\&M. Surprised? I lere's
he real shocker — the
ame festival has taken
dace here every year for
he past six years. Run by
Bergman, who did the voices for the “South
Park” characters, and yet another follows Stan
ford students through four years of college, a la
“The Real World.” Some have already made it
big in the independent industry, w ith new direc
tors w ho are quickly becoming household
names. MSC Film Society is offering students
not only the chance to see these up-and-coming
films but also the rare opportunity to interact
with their producers and directors. In addition,
the festival folks have also created a new film
making workshop series that should inspire all
the wanna-be directors and producers on cam
pus. Shows, workshops and Q&A sessions that
should be packed houses are strangely marked
with low attendance.
It must be disappointing, not only to the stu
dents who run the TxFF, but also to the directors
and producers who have come to interact with
festival attendees.
On the opening night of the TxFF, audiences
had the opportunity to screen Flirting With
Power. The documentary covering the rise of
the Reform Party during Ross Perot’s 1992 and
1996 presidential campaigns was produced by a
current A&M professor and a former student.
The fact that they chose to premiere the docu
mentary at this TxFF is not merely an issue of
loyalty to A&M but also an acknowledgment of
the festival’s prestige and widespread stature. At
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he Memorial Student Center Film Society, the
Texas Film Festival (TxFF) has evolved into a
formidable haven for independent filmmakers
and film buffs from all over Texas and the na
tion. What the festival has not become a haven
for is a large part of the A&M student body —
and that lack of student support is both disap
pointing and unacceptable.
In 1993, MSC Film Society inaugurated the
Texas Film Festival “to help educate the stu
dents of Texas A&M and the Brazos Valley
about the importance of film as an art form.”
One might note the primary emphasis here is
given to students — yet students are not buying
a whole lot of tickets. Maybe they feel they
learned all they w anted to learn about indepen
dent filmmaking when they paid S6.50 to see
The Blair Witch Project at Cinemark. In that
case, paying S4.00 to see a screening at the fes
tival would seem unnecessary.
MSC Film Society does some great promo
tions to attract fickle twenty-somethings; how
ever, the response it gets is still weak at best.
Perhaps students cannot get past the idea that
they may have never heard of some of the films
that are being shown at the festival. If they
would just show up with some friends anyway,
they would realize what an opportunity they
have been missing.
For instance, this year’s festival focuses on a
college-age favorite— independent film. The
scheduled screenings this week have been full
of those irreverent, anti-establishment pictures
that come out of nowhere and make it big. One
film is similar to Clerks, which is undoubtedly a
favorite of many Aggies. Another film comes
from the husband of the late Mary Kay
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
least someone realizes the breadth of opportuni
ty MSC Film Society is attempting to provide.
Now, if only students would begin to under
stand this as well.
Lack of student attendance is not just disap
pointing; it is also an inaccurate reflection of the
festival’s stature. One certainly could not get a
true perspective on how well-run and presti
gious the festival really is by counting the num
ber of students at the screenings. Only 88 week-
long passes had been sold on the second night
of the TxFF, and though this is an increase from
last year, it is still insufficient. Students must re
alize what an effort this undertaking is for Film
Society, and not showing up is unacceptable and
even reflects badly on A&M itself.
This University is extremely lucky to have
students like those in MSC Film Society who
are willing to devote themselves to bringing a
stellar lineup of films, directors and speakers to
this campus.
If nothing else, these students deserve their
fellow students’ support — they have classes,
tests and homework just like everyone else, but
they are attempting to provide the rest of the
University with an experience that few colleges,
or even few communities, can equal. Even the
University of Texas, which claims liberal arts as
its forte, can claim nothing comparable to the
Texas Film Festival. It is as important as it is
unique to this University, and it is time for more
A&M students to realize its worth.
From the first Texas Film Festival, when a
young Spike Lee was the featured speaker, the
event’s influence in the film world has contin
ued to grow, and it may even be following in the
footsteps of festivals like Sundance and Cannes.
This year’s TxFF, to put it bluntly, is better than
ever. Aggies should trade in their Blockbuster
nights, get off their lumpy couches and find
themselves seats at the festival screenings. Two
more nights remain — and it is up to students to
make those two nights the best nights of the fes
tival, simply by showing up.
Melissa Johnston is a senior
English major.
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Good intentions lost in student revolt
A ridiculous specta
cle of student arro
gance has finally
ended, thanks to the Mexi
co City police’s raid on the
National Autonomous
University of Mexico
(UNAM) last week. The
early-morning raid was
carried out by thousands
ofmanned police officers with few injuries and
little resistance. It brought to an end a 10-month
student strike that was instigated by a proposed
tuition hike the Mexican government announced
last year which would increase the yearly tuition
from pennies to $140.
The existing cheap tuition rates give UNAM
the proud tradition of providing any qualified stu
dent a free college education, but with the new
rates, the Mexican government hoped to raise ad-
revenue. Needless to say, the government
did not foresee the explosive response that com
pletely shut down the most influential institution
ofhigher learning in Latin America.
Although it is considered a footnote in the his
tory of the strike, it must be kept in mind that the
student leaders managed to pull the ultimate of Dr.
- Mr. Flyde jobs — underneath their sincere
exterior lay an opportunistic and selfish agenda.
Instead of sticking to their objective of getting the
tuition increase eliminated, the students abused
their undeserved power and began making irra
tional and impractical demands of the government.
History must remember the shameful demise
of this otherwise commendable protest — to for
get would be a disservice to the future of legiti
mate student protests. In addition, the vilification
of the Mexican government in their handling of
the strike must cease.
Granted, the strike began as an honorable act
of non-violent defiance by a united student body
against an unreasonable government. The vast
majority of the 270,000 students would have been
unable to pay the new tuition rates and would
have been forced to discontinue their education.
Although it would have been the first tuition in
crease since 1948, the students were rightfully
outraged at the sheer magnitude of the increase.
The level of resolve and solidarity exhibited
by the students during the early months drew awe
Av the strike dragged on,
the title of "badguys"
gradually transferred
from the government to
the students.
and praise from observers around the world.
Countless political activist organizations used the
students' struggle as a lightning rod for their cam
paigns. The most notable of these efforts was a
free concert held on campus during the strike by
the politically-motivated rock band Rage Against
the Machine. With the concert broadcast world
wide on MTV, millions of people became aware
of the strike and the students’ cause. They were
portrayed as visionaries who were fighting
against a grave injustice. At the time, such a por
trayal was accurate.
MAIL CALL
As the strike dragged on, the title of “bad
guys” gradually transferred from the govern
ment to the students. What had been peaceful,
student-held rallies became increasingly violent,
with police officers being pelted with eggs, fruit
and rocks. Even after the government bowed to
the public pressure and voided its planned tuition
hike, the strike continued. Strike leaders changed
their demands and refused to return to class.
Making matters worse, members of a small
group of anarchists managed to seize power
amongst the strike leadership — their nicknames
included Mosh, the Devil and the Snake. These
leaders managed to fonn a riit between the stu
dents by refusing to recognize the results from a
university-wide election held last month. Drawn
up by university rector Juan Ramon de la Puente,
the students, faculty and university workers over
whelmingly ratified a plan to end the strike.
This mutiny steered the strike to its apex as
two weeks ago students who opposed the strike
clashed with supporters. Under the watch of uni
versity police, 37 people were injured and 248
were arrested. This was by far the most violent
demonstration during the course of the strike.
The student leadership involved should be
condemned and prosecuted for their actions dur
ing the latter months of the strike. They are a tes
tament to the adage “power corrupts.”
Everyone who has been duped into sup
porting the students’ plight must be able to dif
ferentiate the strike’s honorable origins from
its disastrous finish.
David Lee is a junior economics
and journalism major.
What matters is
talent, not sex
In response to Jessica Crutch
er's Feb. 17 column.
Crutcher’s article began
h an excellent point, that
“society is obsessed with fe
male habits,” but attempts to
support this idea with teeny -
bopper icons such as Britney
Spears and Christina Aguilera.
She cites bare midriffs
and suggestive dance styles,
but apparently never consid
ered this sexy, sultry image
is what is used to sell al
bums. Crutcher condemns
LF0 for endorsing Abercrom
bie and Fitch in their lyrics,
and praises Spears and
Aguilera for “at least” not go
ing that far. As shallow and
just downright lame as these
lyrics are, are Spears’ or Aguil
era’s any better?
The fact is that ali these
performers have the same
thing in common; no talent.
Why do you think it’s so impor
tant for them to keep their fig
ures thin, their faces smiling,
and their tight t-shirts handy?
Crutcher also argues that
Jewel has been criticized for
joking about smoking ciga
rettes, whereas Kid Rock
sings about drugs and is
candidly obscene with no
repercussions.
No one can compare these
two performers. Kid Rock has
toured with bands such as
Korn and Limp Bizkit. To place
him in the same musical
genre as Jewel is absolutely
ridiculous.
Music is not categorized
between men and women. It
is categorized between talent
and no talent.
An e/7 Naik
Class of '02
Grade listings
help students
In response to Brandie Liffick
Feb. 15 article.
It is my opinion that to
deny grade distributions being
made available is an effort to
protect bad professors from
being exposed. Grade distrib
utions are one of the few
methods that a student can
use to make informed deci
sions about what professors
are fair and what aren't.
If a professor fails a large
portion of the class or has a
lot of q-drops in his classes
then chances are that he is
not a very good teacher or is
not reasonable.
Consequently, it is impor
tant for students to be able to
access this information to de
termine if a class or a profes
sor is reasonable. If this infor
mation and course syllabi are
not made available then it
would appear that the universi
ty is ashamed of its profes
sors and the material and re
sults from these classes. This
should not be the case.
The University needs to re
alize that they are here to
serve the student, not protect
themselves and make money.
Ben Borgers
Class of ’00
The Battalion encourages letters to
the editor. Letters must be 300 words
or less and include the author’s name,
class and phone number.
The opinion editor reserves the right
to edit letters for length, style, and ac
curacy. Letters may be submitted in
person at 013 Reed McDonald with a
valid student ID. Letters may also be
mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
VIEW POINTS
Youth movie plots No reason to get
hit close to home excited about law
T he surprising commercial success
of blockbusters like Toy Story 2
and Stuart Little proves that G-rat-
ed movies are not immune from the tru
ism that art often imitates life. And it is
not hard to glean insight about modern
American culture from movies made for
kids because most of the plots in the
recent spate of popular children’s films
hang transparently on the same allegor
ical structure.
In Stuart Little, an orphaned mouse
trying to find a stable family is torn be
tween his adoptive human parents and
his fraudulent biological family.
In Muppets from Space, Gonzo finally
meets his alien biological family and is
invited to return to his home planet,
but, in the end, he decides to stay on
Earth with his “adoptive” family — Ker-
mit the Frog and company.
In Toy Story 2, Woody, a cowboy-clad
action figure, discovers his long-lost
companions from the classic TV show in
which he starred. Fie is torn between his
love for Andy, his human owner, and
these fellow toys. Eventually, his plastic
buddies from the first Toy Story per
suade him that his real home is with
them.This past Friday, Disney release its
latest feature film, The Tigger Movie. The
title character bounces off to find his bio
logical family, but eventually he discovers
that his real family is the one who loves
him — the Christopher Robbin gang.
It does not take Mrs. Doubtfire to
discern the moral of these stories:
Home is where the heart is, and the im
portant thing for. characters with divided
familial feelings is to realize this practi
cal truth.
Of course, it may be going too far to
say that the adventures of a computer
generated mouse say something pro
found about the state of the American
family, but it is not ludicrous to suggest
that these plots point to some hard re
alities about the limbo in which Ameri
can children often flounder.
The tug-of-war over Elian Gonzalez is
only a high-profile, international example
of what happens every day in this coun
try, where almost 50 percent of mar
riages end in divorce or separation. Un
fortunately, the fairy tale dream of too
many children is no longer to find Prince
Charming — it is just to find a family.
Could this trend be a rare case of
Hollywood telling the country something
it needs to hear?
— Caleb McDaniel
G entlemen: the State of Mississip
pi wants you to keep it in your
pants. To be precise, they want you
to keep it in a certain state in your pants.
A new law passed in Mississippi
makes it a crime for a man to show
himself in a state of arousal in public.
This does not mean showing up in pub
lic in the buff while... happy, it means
being in such a state at any time.
According to this new law, strip joints
are considered public places. By mak
ing it a crime for a man to be found
“locked and loaded,” it is hoped that
the frequenting of such clubs will be di
minished. This, the backers of the mea
sure hope, will put strip joints out of
business. Either that, or someone is
very kinky.
There are two major questions left
unanswered by this law. The first is
what happens to the young ladies who
assist the men to get to their “state
of grace.”
But the other is the real catch —
who is going to check and see if some
one is “packing heat”?
Very few men go into strip clubs in
order to watch the big game or judge
the dancers on their ability to bump
and grind. They are there to judge
their other talents.
One of the effects of such judg
ments can be a man — how can this
be put nicely? — breaking the law.
If a dancer’s skills induce a man into
“fighting the battle of the bulge,” is she
aiding and abetting a crime? Will males
be forced to think of "Margaret Thatcher
in a bikini on a cold day”?
Also, how is this law to be enforced?
Will the police stand outside a club and
frisk those leaving? Will they conduct oc
casional raids? Will there be an 800
number set up to report those that have
“bulked up”?
Mississippi has successfully enacted
the first stupid law of the 21st century. It
is not only pointless, it is unenforceable.
If Mississippi would like to attack
strip clubs, it should do so directly and
not do so through some moronic piece
of legislation.
Until then, males found in a compro
mising situation should remember to pour
cold water on themselves when a stripper
dances to “pour some sugar on me.”
— Mark Passwaters