(Image via @umassd_sustainability / Instagram)
Staff Writer: Brian Galindo
Email: bgalindo@umassd.edu
UMass Dartmouth’s student body cares a lot for sustainability, as shown by the Office of Sustainability’s popularity. Their official Instagram account has over 600 followers, with that number growing every day.
A part of their popularity is the sheer number of free events they host on campus, including their Sustainability Movie Series.
The Sustainability Movie Series is part of the office’s sustainable programming, a collection of events designed to educate the campus community about energy, money, and resource conservation.
The first event this semester, a movie screening, occurred on Thursday, February 8th, at 6 PM in Charlton College of Business, room 149. The movie shown was FernGully: The Last Rainforest.
Typically, these films are chosen by Green Navigators, students who work for the sustainability office. Gayle McNulty, a student leader within the office, chose this film, believing its content was meaningful and enjoyable.
“Usually, we like to start our movie nights for the semester off with a fun, nostalgic, animated movie, to try and get the most amount of people in,” McNulty explained.
Films fitting that description that have started the Sustainability Movie Series in semesters past include The Lorax, Happy Feet, and Over the Hedge. Additional movies hosted by the office include Don’t Look Up, Before the Flood, and Cowspiracy.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest follows the story of a young, naive fairy named Crysta who meets a human named Zak and accidentally shrinks him down to her size. The two, along with other fairies and a talking bat named Batty, must work together to defeat the spirit of destruction known as Hexxus and the greed-driven humans it teams up with.
The film’s environmentalism themes are most evident when looking at the film’s antagonists. Though the main antagonist, Hexxus, is seen as a force of nature and, therefore, within the control of the fairies of FernGully, the humans working with him are not.
The reasoning behind this distinction is obvious: There are natural disasters, and nature will recover, but human greed is beyond nature. Undoubtedly, human greed can be a force more powerful than nature, and we need to do everything we can to control it.
The film’s environmental message made it an excellent pick for an event focused on sustainability. Additionally, even those who hadn’t seen the movie before were delighted to hear voice performances by some of their favorite actors, including Tim Curry and Robin Williams.
The event was also catered, and the food choices were perfect for sitting down and watching a movie. There were chips and salsa, drinks, and desserts to snack on.
CCB witnessed a massive turnout for the event, as students, faculty, and community members attended to view the film. Many stayed throughout the event, some of whom even helped clean up afterward.
“We just wanna see students get involved,” Gayle McNulty said, describing the office’s goals for the series. “It’s a Thursday night, most people are free, there are plenty of sweets. Just come on down and watch a movie.”
Overall, the first screening of this semester gave a very bright picture for these events going forward.
If you want to come to the next movie or any other event hosted by the Office of Sustainability and Green Navigators, keep up with them on Instagram at @umassd_sustainability!