Box Office Poison

Some things in life just mesh; peanut butter is nothing without jelly, and Oreos just don't cut it without the cream filling. What I can not understand is how one of these truisms has just failed, well, at least in YU. I have always thought that lots of people here are movie fans. Just walk down any of the cafeteria aisles and you'll hear the scoop on what is a great date movie. One would think people would take their enjoyment to the next level and take a class or two about films. This is sadly not the case.

What am I talking about? I'm speaking of Professor Sultanik's classes. Prof. Sultanik has been teaching film courses for years on at the uptown campus. Recently the attendance in his classes has dwindled, with only handfuls of people in a class. This should not be happening. Do people doubt the sophistication of the class? I should hope not, as Prof. Sultanik is quite the academic, and his classes are just as fascinating as Latin or Physics.

In a school whose students unfortunately pride themselves on apathy with the exceptions of Judaic studies, money and dating, the common observer may easily be led to believe that guys are 'afraid' of taking fun and intellectually stimulating classes. Students owe it to themselves to experiment with a fun class in their lives - and this is a perfect opportunity. If one feels movies are forbidden by religious doctrine, if one or is worried about objectionable content in the class, there isn't any. This semester he's teaching History of Film 1, the Genre of the Western and Mass Media in Western Civilization. There's still time to join. I'll see you in class.

Yair Oppenheim

SSSB/IBC '00