In 2015, students across UCSB were shocked and angry about the impending release of the feature film "Del Playa", a horror film based off of the 2014 IV tragedy that took the lives of six students in this small community. A change.org petition was started and garnered over 29,000 signatures (22,000 within 48 hours) and the movie was temporarily halted for release. The director released a statement that he wanted to "publicly apologize to everyone who has been offended in any way by the making of this film". He went on to say that it was a portrayal "of many similar events", not just the events taking place in Santa Barbara.
However, this week the director, Shaun Hart, an UCSB alum, announced he was going to release the movie in early 2017. The university had been in contact with the director about cutting out all the parts that showed a UCSB logo or anything related to the university itself. He agreed, and now since this has been done, he seeks to once again make money off an awful situation.
It is true that I was not a UCSB Gaucho on May 23, 2014. I know only a few people who were on campus that day, but for many it was the worst day of their lives. The Deltopia riots had happened only seven weeks prior and this shooting was in the heart of the community most Gauchos call home.
As any film director, Shaun Hart has a right to make a movie about many different topics, making money as he sees fit. He has free speech to talk about bullying and violence issues, but I believe he has crossed the line. The movie depicts a outcast young white man who because of issues surrounding women becomes isolated and eventually violent. He goes on a killing spree throughout the "community" in revenge for all the wrongs done to him. For a movie to use this as the plot and then be named "Del Playa" seems insensitive to the community he called home.
Shaun Hart, do you "stand with the Isla Vista community" when you make this movie? Time doesn't always "heal wounds". For some, the wounds grow deeper when the friends and family members they know are gone. There does not seem to be any kind of communication with the victim's families. To me, it looks like a grab at money that is completely and utterly unnecessary.
You may have seen this week a viral video released by the victim's families from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newton, CT. It depicts a story about a young couple starting to be in love while a young student is completely ignored by the video's viewers. At the very end, tragedy strikes when the outcast young man takes it out on his peers who never took time to care.
For me, this two minute clip sends a much bigger message than a two hour long horror movie about the problems of violence in our schools and colleges.
On the bright side, there is still time to speak out. Gauchos have each other backs, whether near or far from the sunny one mile square we call home.
There's this new change.org petition with only a few hundred signatures. Without a response, this film may go to theaters. Yes, you can choose to skip the movie, but there is no justifiable reason to produce this film. Change the title, donate the profits to charity, or speak for the victims.
That's all we ask. To Gauchoback.
