By Jade Mardirosian
Staff Writer
Baylor’s philosophy department will host a special advance screening Tuesday of “The Adjustment Bureau,” starring Matt Damon.
The free advance screening will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Starplex Galaxy 16. The event is open to all Baylor students, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Dr. Michael Beaty, chair of the philosophy department, was enthusiastic that Baylor was chosen for a sneak preview.
“An event like this creates a lot of excitement and energy, and is something cool for our students to do,” Beaty said. “The philosophy department has good name recognition way beyond Texas, and I am delighted we were given this opportunity.”
The movie will be followed by a brief discussion concerning the themes of the movie, led by Dr. Trent Dougherty, assistant professor of philosophy; Dr. Thomas Hibbs, dean of the Honors College; and Dr. Sarah-Jane Murray, associate professor of medieval literature and French and faculty Master of the Honors Residential College.
The movie deals with philosophical issues and themes, such as free will and fate. Matt Damon stars as a man who glimpses into the future fate has planned for him and realizes he wants something else, according to the invitation to the advanced screening.
The post-movie discussion will cover questions the movie raises.
“One of the questions will be, ‘Is there a destiny, is there a fate for each person?’” Dougherty said. “One of the ways it is to manifest itself for Christians, is there one mate for me out there or not? Is that idea correct? Is it true that there is any kind of fate and if there is can you change it? What is the value of a choice? Are our choices real?”
Grace Hill Media is working with Universal Pictures, which produced the movie, to contact different universities to host special screenings and discussions of “The Adjustment Bureau.”
Johanna Cruz, representative for Grace Hill Media, worked with Beaty to bring the movie to Baylor and said Universal Pictures wanted to reach out to a few universities to not only show the movie but also encourage a dialogue.
“Grace Hill Media does marketing and public relations for the faith community, and we’ve known about Baylor so we thought this would be a perfect fit,” Cruz said.
“The movie was also screened at Fuller Theological Seminary and brought about a huge response, so we wanted to go ahead and give other Christian universities an opportunity,” she said.
Grace Hill Media and Universal Pictures hopes the preview screening will stir a dialogue and help students to address philosophical questions.
“One of the questions raised in the movie ‘Is, is there one person you’re meant to love and how far do you go to be with someone you love?’” Cruz said.
Dougherty hopes students gain two main things from the movie and post discussion.
“First, I’d hope they come away with a more thoughtful attitude towards the idea of fate, especially as it exits in the Christian context,” Dougherty said.
“Secondly, that they would come away with a greater inclination and ability to analyze the ideas presented in the movies they watch.”
Starplex Galaxy 16 is located at 333 South Valley Mills Drive.
