Movies

The sunset, a beautiful sandy beach. Their eyes meet and it is true love. Two weeks later they have overcome some ornery obstacles only to find that they are even more in love. Every problem guides their love at first sight. They get married (still in bliss) have two kids and they live happily ever after. This is the common scenario in every love story that comes across the big screen today.

I have been a resident of the city of La Verne for almost five years and I am a recent applicant to the University of La Verne. I am writing in regards to Edwards Cinemas’ selective showing of films. I, too, made the observation that the theater was not showing movies of diverse ethnicity.

A college community is known for fostering diversity and challenging traditional ways of thinking. In a city such as La Verne, with a university within its boundaries, not to mention schools in the neighboring cities of Claremont and Pomona, diversity should be encouraged everywhere, but this is not entirely the case.

According to some faculty and community members, moviegoers in La Verne have not received exposure to a full range of quality movies, due to booking policies at the La Verne Edwards Cinema which have excluded many movies of ethnic, artistic and international distinction since its opening nearly two years ago.

“Can’t we all just get along?” Yes, I know this phrase has been over-used and has lost any serious value since the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Yet, it was this phrase alone that kept running through my head time and time again after watching John Singleton’s thought-provoking film “Higher Learning.”