Carleton’s Student Union Movie Organization (SUMO) is one of the most generous resources available at Carleton. It’s a program that allows students to experience movies in the Weitz theater free of cost. It’s a great program that can introduce new pieces of art or provide a night of entertainment for a handful of students. And from its long history, SUMO will continue to be a valuable part of Carleton. However, when looking at SUMO this term, something has felt different. In terms of movies chosen, there feels like a disconnect compared to previous years. Some of you may have paid attention to this, some of you may have not. Either way, I intend to explain the way SUMO has been this term, and how it does not make the most of the concept.

For a point of reference, let’s use last year’s array of movies. There were around four new (2023) films, four modern (2020s) films and six old films. This is a very nice variety of time eras represented, and the genres represented were pretty great too, from small comedies, to foreign horror and action blockbusters, it felt like there was a unique palette, with each week bringing a different slice from the world of cinema. Now, let’s look at the movies from this year. The initial lineup had all 10 of the featured movies released around 2024. “Anyone But You” was the only one from a past year, that being the distant time period that is 2023. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” did get replaced with “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” but that was a last minute decision because they were unable to get the license. To put it simply, the 2024 fall term movies lineup for SUMO was a highlight reel of all the major blockbusters that came out this year. There’s not much in the way of variety, in terms of release, in terms of region, in terms of genre. It’s not a bad list of movies per say, but there’s a good chance that people have already seen most of the movies on this list.

A consequence when it comes to choosing from purely just modern movies is the budget. Screening movies in the Weitz Cinema requires Carleton to pay the original studio. Understandably, newer releases are a lot more expensive to license. This is why the movie lineup is a lot less in terms of quantity. This smaller amount of movies meant that the same movie had to be screened on Friday and Saturday. While not consistent, last year had two different movies on Friday and Saturday. There were even some days where two movies were shown on a single Friday/Saturday. Put simply, there were more movies to watch. This larger quantity of movies led to more interesting events, such as Halloween season, where there were five horror movies screened back to back, all distinct from each other in terms of tone and style. 

The explanation to this change in movie selection can be chalked up to the temporary change in leadership for the organization. Previously, there was a student in charge of choosing the movies for SUMO. However, this student is currently traveling abroad for the term, meaning they are unavailable to manage SUMO. With the position left void, someone had to be put in charge of SUMO. It seems like this was planned ahead of time, and the members put in charge decided to go with the goal of bringing more recent releases to the Carleton students. It’s not a bad plan, but it’s one that feels safe and less diverse.

SUMO is a valuable program. SUMO can provide us the chance to watch movies (both classic and niche) on the big screen surrounded by an audience of avid moviegoers. When a movie has been released in theaters just a few months ago, there’s not too much of a reason to play it again at SUMO. That’s not to say there isn’t any value in putting on a recent movie, SUMO provides entrance for free and it’s convenient for students who stay on campus, but it has to be a movie worth seeing. A movie such as Twisters could have easily had its slot taken up by a more interesting pick. Go for an old classic that’s popular among students, be experimental with a niche foreign film that people would have likely not heard of anywhere else. If possible, you could have two movies take that spot. When the entire lineup is a recap of movies that were in theaters a few months ago, it takes away the value of SUMO.

Hopefully, this term should be an exception in terms of the SUMO lineup. The former student who traveled abroad should be returning next term, and with that, we should see a return to the former SUMO. Regardless of the difference in lineup for SUMO, it’s still great to have it around campus.