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"Super
Bad" for the Students?
by Lindsey Saldin, Staff Writer
Typically stereotyping is not true, however El Segundo High School
is the epiphany of what other states expect Californian schools to
be like when they envision it in their minds. How many students in
the United States can say that when they walked into their fifth
period class, they found out that it was being used as a dressing
room for a blockbuster box-office hit? For the past couple of weeks
we have no longer been attending the "Home of the Eagles" but Clark
High School, or so it is called for the newest Hollywood production,
tentatively called Super Bad. Unlike other schools, El Segundo gives
its students a behind the scenes look to a movie set, but being one
of the top videotaped high schools has both its perks and negatives.
For example, some students are
questioning whether these movies are compromising our education. It
wasn't bothersome when they filmed outside, but in the second week
of production, our school's hallways have become a warehouse for all
their miscellaneous lights, cameras, props, and ladders. The
hallways were already crowded before they started filming, but when
one adds a coat rack in the middle, people now have to get from one
class to another in a single file line. "This is worse than the
Freshman hallways! Everything was at a standstill. I think we moved
about 2 m.p.h.," said Junior John Burriga. One would think that they
could move their equipment off to the side, but that poses even more
problems because then people can't get into their lockers. For
example, Sophomore Megan Adams said that she had to go to her locker
and get her books for her next class, but an extra was in the way.
When she told him to move he said, "They told me to stay here and I
am not moving…I am getting paid to stand here." Other students'
locker woes include those who had to give them up temporarily for
the movie, like Freshman Carolina Paredes who explains, "It was hard
because I had to use my friend's locker and everything was
disorganized; when I opened the locker, books and binders would fall
out."
In addition, school shouldn't be a
safety hazard. However, there are only so many sardines one can fit
into a can, just as there are only so many people that can walk in
the same area. Sophomore Alex Richardson stated, "It got so bad that
a person on crutches actually fell! This is an outrage." Also,
Senior Marcus Lacey declared, "I tripped on one of the cords in the
hallway and fell flat on my face."
Some students, such as Sophomore
Camille Kuebler also noticed how they have changed the landscape of
our high school, "We have dumb fake leaves attached to the trees
with twist ties." Sophomore Milan Trisna added, "I don't care
whether they are big shot Hollywood producers or not. This is OUR
school, and they shouldn't be telling us to walk quietly through the
hallways or make us wait while they are in the middle of a scene."
Just like for every ying there is
yang, for every piece of bad news there is good news, which puts the
situation in a different light. Principal Mr. Garza clarified, "We
get paid 6,000 dollars and up, more if they have to hire an extra
custodian or use a classroom. As long as they do not obstruct, then
it is too good of an offer to pass up." Sophomore Taylor Hughes
agrees, "Although the frequent and intensely rasperous filming may
be a nuisance, it is a necessary procedure to insure that our school
is financially sound for future ideas, activities, and projects
funded by our education system."
If we "walk a mile" in the film
crew's shoes, the students have to realize that they are just as
irritated with us as we are with them. During passing period, there
were a couple of extras and a few assistants who got trampled by the
onslaught of the crowd. Also, to have to stop production every hour,
lunch, and snack would drastically slow the progress of the filming
and possibly set them behind schedule.
In order for everyone to get rave
reviews from both sides, both the students and the Super Bad crew
need to compromise, because we are both just doing our jobs; the
first are going to school, which just happens to be the working
place for the latter. This goes for future filming as well, because
if the students promise to resist the temptation of the set buffet
tables and the crew remembers that we as the students need to get to
class, then perhaps when the director says "Cut!" with the clapper,
everyone will have something to clap about.
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