Let’s chat on Netflix!

Gabriel Lizama, Staff Reporter

With the stay-at-home order in place and classes completely virtual, students can still participate in Monday Movie Madness through Netflix Party. Netflix Party allows people to chat while watching a Netflix program.

Monday Movie Madness is an activity sponsored by Campus Activities, normally held in the SURC. Monday Movie Madness provides students the opportunity to watch a variety of movies from different genres throughout the quarter.

In the past, Monday Movie Madness was free with proof of a CWU ID and open to the public for $3 per person.

This quarter Monday Movie Madness is held online by Campus Activities offering two showings for movies, one at 7 p.m. and one at 10 p.m. The next Monday Movie Madness on April 27 will be the film “Marriage Story” (2019).

Mario Garcia, a senior majoring in business and marketing, said with Monday Movie Madness getting moved online, it seems like a great way for CWU to provide a type of social event for students. When Garcia was a freshman, he saw a poster on campus about it and was curious and wanted to see what it was like.

Garcia said Monday Movie Madness is a good way to get out of the dorm room and a good community event to share with students. His favorite part about Monday Movie Madness was the crowd involvement, especially when students make jokes and share the same experiences.

He said it is a great opportunity overall. The variety of different movies shown is something Garcia enjoys. He said they have a mix of horror and comedies and they’re  good most of the time.

Grant Josephson, a freshman undecided major, learned about Monday Movie Madness by working as a mascot handler and seeing posters around campus. Josephson said he felt that Monday Movie Madness being moved online will be more of a challenge for students.

With classes online, he said Monday Movie Madness will not be the same. Attending Monday Movie Madness was a great time to meet up with people and to just go see a movie, according to Josephson. Josephson said Monday Movie Madness was usually packed and he liked how much variety was provided for students.

 “Monday Movie Madness is a benefit for students because not too many students can afford to see a movie with the cost of college. It was great to have available,” Josephson said.

Libby Williams, a sophomore majoring in digital journalism who works for Campus Activities, believes with Monday Movie Madness going virtual, it will be interesting to see how many students attend. One of the difficulties Williams mentioned was getting students to check social media to see what activities are being offered on campus virtually.

According to Williams, the first Monday Movie Madness hosted on Netflix Party this quarter had 15 students join.

Williams said it was not in full attendance compared to when it was in person, and it could’ve been because students didn’t know.

On average, depending on the movie being shown, there were some nights where there were over 150 people in attendance, whereas other nights there were around 70 people, according to Williams.

The movies picked for Monday Movie Madness depend on what the new releases and hits are on Netflix.

According to Williams, the Monday Movie Madness schedule for the quarter is posted on the CWU calendar of events.

Williams said Monday Movie Madness has been a cool experience for students, and that “being surrounded by students your age with the same sense of humor is great.”

Williams recalls a moment watching Monday Movie Madness where students were making jokes and having a great time while also yelling at the movie screen.