Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Security on 'Batman v Superman' set was too strict, inconvenient

Photo by Deon Howard | The State News

We don’t need to remind you of the frenzy surrounding the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.

It’s pretty cool to have scenes from “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” shot on our campus. It’s been fun to debate whether or not the museum will be Lex Luthor’s house and to tweet about Ben Affleck hanging out with our football team.

When the film comes out, there will undeniably be a legion of Spartan fans looking forward to seeing even a small part of MSU on the big screen. And that’s great.

But that doesn’t change the fact that students and faculty were inconvenienced these past few days with road closures, heavy traffic and strict security.

The traffic might be manageable, but anyone with classes in Berkey or Old Horticulture Halls had to jump through hoops to get to class. The Student Services building was also caught in the fray.

While it’s understandable that people involved in the film might have privacy concerns, it’s not reasonable to expect students not to gather near the set, cell phones in hand, to take a peek. It’s one thing to direct students away from a restricted area, and another to be openly rude at passersby.

At the end of the day, those involved in “Batman v Superman” were guests at our school, not the other way around. It’s wrong to make it seem like students are intrusive, especially those who have already had to re-route their walk to class.

The level of security is too extreme. While something as high-profile as this movie could easily bring positive attention to MSU, we have to wonder how much manpower was actually needed to guard the set.

There was more green-shirted security than we have seen at any other event as of late, and many police officers were patrolling the area as well.

So far this year we’ve had a non-fatal stabbing, several student deaths and a sexual assault near Beaumont Tower. Not to mention smaller police matters, like theft in residence halls, which is always an issue.

Is there truly nothing better for police to do with their time than make sure someone doesn’t snap a grainy photo of Ben Affleck?

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