In print | March 22, 2007

To the editor:

What do the films “Pursuit of Happiness,” “Casino Royale,” “Babel,” “Stranger than Fiction,” “The Departed” and “The Prestige” have in common? With the exceptions of “Casino Royale” and “Stranger than Fiction,” all were nominated for at least two Academy Awards. Quality is the most important factor the Swarthmore College Movie Committee takes into consideration when choosing which films to show on campus. This is why we showed “The Departed,” which garnered universal critical acclaim and went on to win the big three Oscars (Best Picture, Director and Screenplay), rather than, say, “Music and Lyrics,” the reviews for which were lackluster. In fact, the Movie Committee, which is made up of five men and three women, discussed the possibility of showing “Music and Lyrics” and agreed to shoot it down. The purpose of the Movie Committee is first and foremost to entertain students at Swarthmore College.

I join Tatiana Cozzarelli in lamenting the sexism in Hollywood. I wholeheartedly agree that female directors are at a distinct and unfair disadvantage when it comes to getting their stories told. Diversity of film types is certainly a consideration for the Movie Committee. In fact, had Ms. Cozzarelli gone to our website and looked at our schedule for the rest of the semester, which has been finalized and public for weeks, she would have seen that we will be showing “Dreamgirls,” “Volver,” and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” all of which have female leads and have earned wide critical acclaim and awards. We will also be showing “Children of Men,” based on a novel written by acclaimed female author P.D. James. While we would have loved to show these films earlier in the semester, we can only show them as soon as our distribution company receives them; we’ve had them scheduled since January and are getting them as soon as they become available. I assure Ms. Cozzarelli and Swarthmore College that we take diversity in film selection very seriously, and we believe that we’ve struck a wonderful balance between diversity and quality.

Charles Decker ’09
Chairman, Swarthmore Movie Committee

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