If you read my article last week, you already know I am in favor of giving local acts more face time. I feel movies and plays shown on campus are also important. It is a plus when an organization on campus hosts events, and I think this should also be recognized. It makes closer ties between the school and its students because it shows the school knows what to bring to campus that is interesting to our generation.
Normally the only kind of movie I would associate with a fraternity would be one involving beer, girls and possibly the “frat pack.” But Sigma Alpha Epsilon could turn the tables on students who feel this way. Mississippi State’s SAE chapter has decided to present to campus a showing of “Darius Goes West” on Tuesday in Lee Hall. This may not sound like the most interesting title for a movie; I turned my nose up at it when I read it on paper. But then I talked to Reid Stribling, a member of SAE, about the movie.
“This [movie] is a great story and an even better cause. Our campus needs to know about this story because it truly is a powerful film that explores handicap accessibility across the U.S., but most importantly are the friendships that are made and Darius’ selfless act to educate his generation about [Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy],” Stribling said.
After hearing this, I researched background information about the movie on its Web site, dariusgoeswest.org. In short, the movie is about 15-year-old Darius Weems, who has never left his hometown of Athens, Ga., because of his disability, and 11 of his close friends who made a trip across America in 2005 to get his wheelchair “pimped” on MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.” In the movie, Weems is diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, but from what I have seen, it doesn’t slow him down at all. While watching the movie, you will get to be with him as he sees things for the first time.
Once I saw a few clips on the Web site and recognized it is an entertaining movie and a non-profit effort to raise money for DMD research (most of the DVD proceeds go to research), I knew that this would be a good movie to show on MSU’s campus. To be honest, the 24 awards it won in 2007 didn’t hurt either.
I ran into Hunter Futch, SAE’s treasurer, at the library and asked him what he knew about this movie and how students would react to it.
“If there is one thing on campus that people need to see this year, it’s this movie. I mean come on, the movie is only an hour and 15 minutes long, and it’s actually a really good movie, and it’s helping out DMD so much. You will leave there with a completely different state of mind. And if people are interested, they can attend a Q-and-A after the movie,” Futch said.
The thing that caught my attention about this movie was DMD took the life of Darius’ older brother at age 19. Darius will turn 19 on Sept. 27, yet he doesn’t let that affect him in any way other than as encouragement. Some in the film said they felt sorry for Darius, but his friends knew he didn’t need or want any sympathy. He was just glad to be alive.
The director of the movie, Logan Smalley, a good friend of Darius, said, “Part revolution, part revelation, this film proves to people of all ages how life, even when imperfect, is always worth the ride.”
I think this is the perfect movie to show on a campus like MSU, where so many people are uneducated about DMD, the No. 1 fatal genetic disease to affect children in the world. Furthermore, there are so many people who just haven’t seen a good movie in a while, it would be nice to see something worth the time.
Bailey Singletary is a senior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].