The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 30, 1998 Page: 4 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30. 1998
One of Houston's Truly Unique Events!!
Texas Mennonite Sale & Auction
for World Relief
• Houston's Latest Charity Quilt Auction
• Handicrafts from Around the World
• Delicious Food & Baked Goods
November 7, 1998 9 a.m. — 4p.m.
Houston Mennonite Church
1231 Wirt Road (713) 464-4865
Proceeds benefit the worldwide relief and development work of
Mennonite iCentral Committee
I
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Guest column
Real life not based on 'Sleepless in Seattle'
Certain movies are corrupting so-
ciety. They give us misconceived
views of the world. They lead us into
perilous generalizations about life.
They latch onto our imagi-
nations and slowly insinu-
ate themselves into our
reality. These dangerous
movies are, of course, ro-
mance movies.
As far as I have been
able to discern, romance
movies revolve around
several key principles.
Principle 1: In a given
relationship, the man is
always at fault for any
problem which may arise.
Principle 2: The man always
knows precisely how very wrong he
obviously was and how to repent for
his ineptitude.
Principle 3: The relationship will
always be wonderful in the end, be-
cause if something is wrong, the
man is at fault and is certain to re-
pent soon.
1 am the last person to suggest
that men are not often at fault in
relationships gone bad. However,
the Hollywood version alarms me
for its simplification of the situation.
It seems clear that these movies
are marketed towards women. I be-
lieve the demographics will back
me on this one. It is Hollywood's job
to please its audience at the expense
of reality, so I do not object to the
existence of these movies (though I
Phil
Mayor
object to being frequently subjected
to them). The problem is not the
movies, but the suspension of disbe-
lief.
The argument is often
made that violent movies
desensitize their audi-
ences to violence because
viewers fail to separate re-
ality from fiction. Yet vio-
lent movies are much fur-
ther from portraying situ-
ations most people en-
counter than romantic
movies are. If there is even
the slightest bit of truth to
.theclaimregardingviolent
movies, then it would seem that ro-
mantic movies are even more likely
to influence their audiences.
It is easier to separate Arnold
Schwartzenegger killing hundreds
of aliens (Total Recall) from reality
than it is to separate a sports agent
falling for his self-sacrificing secre-
tary (Jerry McGuire) from reality.
The relationships presented in
romantic movies are inevitably idyl-
lic. Many moviegoers inundate
themselves with this Cinematic ide-
alism. If viewers are able to com-
pletely detach reality from the mov-
ies, then there is nothing wrong with
this. The problem is that fact and
fiction often begin to blur.
Slowly and subtly audiences start
to expect the romance of the movies
in their lives, but movie principles
simply don't exist in real life.
Men are not always at fault in a
relationship. A relationship is a com-
plex two-way street, and it is rare for
a problem to arise which is not a
joint effort. More importantly, men
cannot be expected to always know
the best way out of a situation, even
if they have done something wrong.
And, as most of us are well aware, it
is the exception, not the rule, for a
relationship to turn out well.
On a conscious letfel any rational,
human being recognizes these facts.
But movies operate as much on our
subconscious as our conscious. Cer-
tainly some viewers do not allow the
fiction to permeate their own life.
However, a great deal of strife in
relationships can be attributed at
least partially to the romantic ideal
advocated by these movies.The ideal
is larger than just movies, but mov-
ies provide a huge medium for'ex-
pressing the ideal.
I am not a censor; I have no inter-
est in the cessation of movies that
entertain so many people. I am not a
chauvinist out to victimize men and
crucify the movie industry. My
thoughts regarding romantic mov-
ies are simply observations. I am not
even encouraging women who en-
joy romantic movies to stop watch-
ing them — I'm encouraging them
to not expect their lives to work like
what they see on screen.
Phil Mayor is a Will Rice College
freshman
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
For more information, call Jan McCormick (919) 966-3935
or email milg@med.unc.edu. Find us on the web at
www.med.unc.edu/physiolo/
WOMEN, from Page 2
The real decision-making at Rice is
handled solely by men.
Fourth, of the 87 endowed chairs
at Rice, only six belong to women;
the rest had been granted to men.
Fifth, generally few of the big
teaching awards are ever granted to
women. Last year, only one of the
seven Brown teaching awards went
to a woman.
Sixth, the new Humanities Build-
ing going up in December is in-
tended for departments primarily,
or nearly all, male (Philosophy, His-
tory and Religious Studies), while
the rest of the departments, in which
women represent a third to nearly a
half of the faculty, are stuck in the
old buildings (Rayzor and Sewall
Halls), where offices are inadequate
in number and space and where fac-
ulty have to squeeze in on floors and
spaces wherever they can. It is true
there have been plans mentioned to
renovate Rayzor and Sewall, but not
one dollar has been raised to cover
tho^e renovations. So much for equal
working conditions, even in the hu-
manities.
Seventh, and perhaps most
tellingly, the recent Retirement Sur-
vey of faculty just up on the Web
reveals a striking inequity: Women
faculty appear much less likely than
male faculty to be planning to retire
at Rice after completion of their ca-
reers. It is not clear what this means
(there was no other significant dis-
parity in age or division to explain
this anomaly).
Perhaps the seventh point ex-
plains the first through sixth; Rice is
simply a dreadful place for women
to have ideas, lead groups, sway
opinions and make a difference. I
say this despite all the Rice News
hoopla about the women deans
("first woman this," "first woman
that"), all the anxiety about the stu-
dent newspaper creating an atmo-
sphere hostile to women, and a ratio
of male to female students in the
recent freshman class that suggests
parity is close.
Until Rice actually treats women
faculty equally to men, in leadership
opportunities, clerical support, perks
and bonuses, and endowed chairs
and creates an atmosphere in which
the merit of women is generally ac-
cepted and recognized, we will con-
tinue to educate our students in the
real lesson that life teaches us, that
gender does matter, that uppity
women get put in their place and
that academic, social and political
freedom is simply a lie.
It would be refreshing for the
women academic deaas, the Affir-
mative Action Committee, the Com-
mission on Women (for which I was
one of the founders) and the syco-
phantic Rice News to look into "all
these instances where the climate
for women, if not hostile, simply
sucks (to appropriate a popular stu-
dent idiom) and to do something about
it, for the benefit of the real women
who work here as faculty and staff
and for the very women and men we
are charged with educating.
And I dOn't mean by this giving
more money to the program
on the Study of Women and Gender.
And hey, Malcolm, don't you and
David Austen approve all those
deans' recommendations for
chair appointments and salary in-
creases that come your way ? Doesn't
the buck stop with you? How about
it?
Thanks, Thresher, for letting me
speak publicly. Now why isn't there
a forum even like the Thresher in
which Rice faculty can speak?
(Malcolm? How about freedom of
speech for faculty? Or is that, like
freedom of speech for students, too
dangerous during a fund-raising
campaign?)
Jane Chance
Professor,
Department of English
Time to rethink the
celebration of NOD
To the editor:
Tonight will be the 25th celebra-
tion of the.Night of Decadence. This
tradition has continued throughout
the years. But why do we do it?
Why do we let this tradition con-
tinue? What does "Night of Deca-
dence" really mean? Why do we risk
the dangers? What about the
themes? Is it right?
NOD. Why?
What are our intentions when we
throw a party of this type? What are
our intentions when we go to a party
like this? What are we really doing
when we expose "Ourselves in this
way? What will ypu think of others
that you saw at the party? What will
they think of you after seeing you at
the party? Does it bother you?
What does NOD really mean?
According to Webster's Dictionary,
"decadence" means "a process of
decay or deterioration; a period or
condition of decline, as in morals."
So does NOD mean "Night of
Decay," "Night of Deterioration" or
"Night of Decline in Morals"? Is this
what's really going on? What do you
think?
Why do we take the risk that we
do by participating in this party?
Why do we risk rape?
Why do we risk getting drunk to
the point of passing out?
Wby do we risk other dangers
that result from not being able to
think straight due to drunkenness?
Why do we risk unplanned sex?
Why do we'risk pregnancy?
Why do we risk disease?
Why do«we abuse ourselves this
way?
Is it worth it?
Because this is the 25th celebra-
tion of NOD, what do some of the
past themes signify? For example,
the 1994 theme wa^Lust in Space."
According to Webster's Dictionary,
"lust" means an "intense sexual de-
sire; an intense longing; a craving."
What does this theme represent?
Other past themes have been
"Dante's Inferno," "Co-eds in
Chains" and 'The 30th Anniversary
of the Erection of Wiess."This year's
th«me is "Silver NOD," but what are
we really celebrating?
Is this celebration right? I ask
you to realfy search yourself. I ask
you to be truly honest to yourself. Is
this right? Is it right to throw a party
of this sort? Is it right to participate
in any way?
If this party goes on tonight, I
encourage you not to go. I encour-
age you to r<espect yourself by not
going. But what if you already bought
a ticket?
I encourage you to try to get a
refund, and if that is not possible, I
still encourage you not to
go because it would be better to
"sacrifice the money in order to re-
spect yourself. I also encourage you
not to participate in the future
if this party continues; if this
party does continue, I encourage
you to stand against it. May Wiess
College and Rice University be
better places with the ceasing of
NOD.
Christopher Carr
Wiess senior
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 30, 1998, newspaper, October 30, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246631/m1/4/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.