Sundays are lame. You know what's not lame?
"MindFuck Monday."
(In order to minimize profanity, I must censor from this point on.)
Now, what exactly is MindF--- Monday?
After a long week of Orientation, Sir David Fegley concocted the seemingly simple yet undoubtedly brilliant idea of screening Fight Club in the Barrows lobby. What started out as 8 or so Barrows residents watching a wholesome, feel-good family movie (not) turned into more than 40 (I kid you not!) Barrows residents watching a gritty, hard-nosed movie with a twist ending. Thus, the tradition known as MindF--- Monday was born.
From that day forth, David began screening movies with twist-endings every Sunday night at 10:15 PM.
But... er...Why is MindF--- Monday on a Sunday?
One would assume that MindF--- Monday would take place on a Monday. However, since MindF--- is a social phenomenon based on the intrigue of movies with twist-endings, having it on a Sunday is in itself a TWIST! Get it? Yeah? I know... corny.
Suggestions for other movies were taken and MindF--- Monday came into fruition. MindF--- Monday gained publicity, and people came to the lobby ready for their minds to be f-ed.
I never considered myself much of a movie person before Oberlin, but MindF Monday has fostered a greater appreciation for movies. Here's a list of what has been played up until today. In sequential order, might I add!:
Fight Club
American Beauty
Memento
The Crying Game
Donnie Darko
Requiem for a Dream
The Usual Suspects
Tell No One
Pulp Fiction
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It's safe to assume that jaws have been dropped every week. When watching American Beauty, a certain point in the movie evokes a bunch of "WHAT!?"'s and "HUH?!"'s. In cases like Requiem for a Dream, everyone is left in a total state of shock after the movie, with eyes wide open and mouths agape. I myself went through the whole night wanting to call my grandma to tell her to stay away from infomercials and drugs. (Yes, I am aware that this possibly is not good for my "rugged" campaign.) After Donnie Darko, a Q&A session follows the viewing to clarify what just happened. And in odd cases like The Crying Game, everyone is just too weirded out to talk about it.
By far, the best person to watch for crowd reactions is Melanie "The Emotional Narcoleptic" Berk. In her case, emotional is an understatement. A small, 30-second scene of two children kissing in Tell No One was enough to have Melanie bawling her eyes out and gasping for breath. Further, a 15-second commercial for Jim and Pam's wedding on The Office brought Melanie to tears.
Unfortunately, there is a recurring theme of death, drug usage and mental disorders in most of these movies. Because of this, MindF--- Monday often leaves you feeling a bit melancholy. Are twist-ending movies obligated to have a somber ending? Not totally sure.
Sundays are almost always a downer. The fact that Monday is right around the bend is enough to dampen anyone's mood. If you're looking for an outlet for stress, MindF--- Monday is way better than doing homework.
On a related note, much to the delight of Sarah and my mom, American Beauty is now my favorite movie.
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On an unrelated note, CHELSEA DIED. A couple weeks before fall break, she stopped shifting gears. It was stuck on gear 2, which wasn't that big of a deal since Ohio is so flat. Alas, that was not the end of her suffering. The front wheel brakes stopped working the week after break and the back wheel brakes broke a few days later. I took her to the bike co-op, but the person working there told me that Chelsea was very old and poorly made. Thus, fixing might be a little impractical.
You were a wonderful bike! R.I.P.
