Occidental College’s Media Arts & Culture (MAC) professor John Trafton and the video store and movie theater Vidiots partnered to give a screening of the neo-noir thriller “Nightcrawler” Nov. 5th. The screening was followed by an interview with the director, Dan Gilroy.
According to Trafton, he put this event together for his Los Angeles and Film class, where they explore how LA is portrayed in film.
“Every time I teach this class, I do a screening series called Los Angeles in Film,” Trafton said. “The Los Angeles in Film Screening series will hold events at the Choi Auditorium, Oxy Arts and often with special guests who come and do a Q&A.”
According to Trafton, his love of film started with dreams of becoming a filmmaker, but after spending some time in the industry during his undergraduate years, he found that his passions lay elsewhere.
“It was really towards the end of my undergrad when I took a course in horror literature that inspired me to take my love for storytelling, especially love for telling true stories, in a different direction,” Trafton said. “After that, I pursued a master’s degree and then a PhD. I’ve been a professor for more than 10 years now.”
Trafton said he grew up spending time at video stores and has been aware of Vidiots since visiting their Santa Monica location. Trafton said he worked with Vidiots many times, and it was during a conversation with people at Vidiots that “Nightcrawler” came up as a good film noir to show his class.
“I really love the people at Vidiots,” Trafton said. “It’s such a wonderful film community to be a part of, and we were chatting about some of the things on our wishlist, and Nightcrawler came up.”
According to Amanda Salazar, the director of programming at Vidiots, she is a movie lover who believes in film’s ability to create community.
“Movies are everything to me. Film is deeply personal and also communal,” Salazar said. “I believe it’s an art form that is really accessible. The other arts, like classical music, can feel siloed and less accessible. But with film, it’s common ground. Everyone has seen a movie, it connects us.”
According to Salazar, as a community-run theater, Vidiots finds community-connected screenings to be essential. She said the screening of “Nightcrawler” is an example of the kinds of community-connected screenings that come together thanks to their partnership with Occidental College.
“Some screenings tie in to classes and programs happening at Occidental,” Salazar said. “We’ve been talking to John about LA films specifically, and we’ve wanted to play Nightcrawler for a long time.”
According to Salazar, Vidiots typically shows older movies, but believes “Nightcrawler” is a film that is very relevant to what is currently happening in society.
“‘Nightcrawler’ toes the line for us because it’s a newer film, from 2014, and we usually play older films. But it’s clearly become a beloved LA film—a raw, dark LA story,” Salazar said. “It’s very relevant today. It’s a provocative film exploring the darker side of humanity.”
According to Trafton, he believes “Nightcrawler” is a relevant movie because of its themes of how kinds of information spreads, the allure of get-rich-quick schemes and the information economy.
“Since the early days of classic noir, this has been a topic that noir films have focused on to some degree, where Hollywood becomes a stand-in for corporate/political power and capitalism,” Trafton said.
Amelia Darling (sophomore), a MAC student, said she loves being creative and is excited by her major. According to Darling, she was at the “Nightcrawler” screening and has Trafton as a professor. Darling said the movie was very worth watching, and being able to meet the director was also a highlight of the night.
“I was super hyped to see Nightcrawler. It was a little longer than I expected, and I was getting tired by the end, but it was totally worth it,” Darling said. “It was a very interesting plot and a super well-done movie. I really liked the director’s interview too.”
According to Darling, the movie was dark and twisted, but at the same time, it was comedic, and had the whole crowd laughing
“The director said, ‘An antihero doesn’t really change throughout a story. They enter stage right and exit stage left pretty much the same, and they hold up a mirror to the audience.’ That was such a brilliant take and [it] perfectly described the movie,” Darling said.
According to Trafton, he hopes students will come away from the film uncomfortable with their own ambitions and aware of the dangers of the gig economy.
“I hope they look at Jake Gyllenhaal’s character and they see reflections of themselves and their own aspirations and they get really uncomfortable,” Trafton said. “Absorb these picturesque images of LA. It looks so beautiful at night under the street lights and LED lights. And it comes from a very rich tradition of depicting LA at night. A place that is both beautiful and ugly at the same time.”
Contact Edgar Zatarain at zatarain@oxy.edu
