Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Letter to the Editor: “22 Jump Street” shooting has made our campus ugly

I love that, lately, so many television shows and movies have chosen New Orleans as their shooting location. It makes me proud to live in New Orleans and excited to watch the shows. I truly cannot wait to watch shows or movies with my families and point out places – and potentially people – and say “I know where that is,” or “I’ve been there.”

However, it is less exciting and a little more aggravating when it is on your home turf. For example, the current filming of “22 Jump Street” was the coolest thing – when it was at Tulane University.

I tried to go to the Lavin-Bernick Center, Bruff Commons or Crepes a la Carte just so I could pass through Tulane hoping to get a glimpse of Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill or that girl from “Greek.”

I wished and hoped that I would be caught on camera and be in the background of the movie.

Then, they came to Loyola and I was not amused.

I can understand the use of props for a believable set that is one thing. But they put in huge statues that a film crew only has to look at for a few hours a day. Meanwhile, we have to live with them.

That is where I draw the line.

I love the sculpture garden. It is one of the reasons I fell in love with Loyola. I love the use of negative space and the monochromatic theme.

The sculptures that Hollywood brought into the picture just made me mad every time I passed by them. All I could think about when I saw them was how happy I was that my grandparents left just a few days before they got put in.

And then I thought about the tours that came through. I’m sure that the ambassadors that were giving the tours explained that our school was to be featured in a movie, but did they explain that those eye sores weren’t ours?

The next thing that popped into my head was all the trucks and tents everywhere and the residents, students and tourists that had to look at them.

Our city is so beautiful, especially Uptown, but not lately. I have overheard so many tourists on the bus saying things like “last time I was here it was so pretty” or “I promise when these tents aren’t here it is beautiful” and it kind of makes me ashamed.

Although the whole movie thing is cool, it has made our little part of uptown pretty darn ugly and made me a little less proud to live here. Aside from the fact that things aren’t as beautiful as they once were, there is the issue of the delays due to filming. I cannot count the amount of times I have been going somewhere and been told I had to stop and wait for filming to stop.

I can describe it in one word: aggravating.

To say the least, I cannot wait for all of this filming to be over, to get to places in a timely fashion and to have the beauty of Loyola, Tulane and Audubon Park back.

Most of all, I want to feel proud that I live in New Orleans like I did before all this craziness.

Stephanie Magid

Biology sophomore

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