Today’s weather forecast is predicting cloudy with a few possible sprinkles with a high of 47 degrees and a low of 39 degrees. For the weekend it looks like just cloudy skies with temps in the low to mid-40s.

MSU community grieves on Transgender Day of Remembrance

People gathered on campus Wednesday evening to grieve the loss of those who have been murdered due to transphobia.

The event, Transgender Day of Remembrance, was held in the Erickson Kiva where students and other community members gathered to memorialize transgender people who have died by suicide or murder, and cisgender people killed as a direct result of transphobic violence in the past year.

Transgender Day of Remembrance occurs annually and was started 25 years ago in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed the year prior.

The event was presented in partnership with the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, The Alliance of Queer and Allied Students, Women*s Council, Salus Center, TransAction, MSU Libraries, Associated Students of Michigan State University and the Center for Gender in Global Context.

Oprah Jrenal, assistant director for the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, gave opening remarks. She said that transgender people have existed in all communities, cultures and countries since the beginning of time, and will continue to do so.

She explained that this day serves as a space to build community and awareness about the realities and persistence of anti-trans violence.

She said Black transgender women are especially vulnerable in their community, with them being a significant portion of those who were grieved Wednesday night.

Lucas Trainor, a mechanical engineering junior, spoke to the audience about his upbringing and experience of joining the queer community. He said he grew up in a very conservative town in New Jersey.

Lucas said those in the audience should take the time to feel their emotions and connect with others, reminding people that they are in this fight together.

Exploring what comfort movies mean to MSU students

When life gets hard, people employ different coping mechanisms to get through tough times. For college students, these strategies can range from making phone calls home to watching comfort movies.

But, what are comfort movies and how can they provide solace in times of need? Digital media film production manager for the film studies program at Michigan State University Pete Johnston said comfort movies are films that provide security and familiarity in times of turmoil.

“Comfort movies are films that we fall back on, that are our kind of guilty pleasures that we can put on, and we’ve probably seen them a hundred times, and they’re like a warm blanket wrapped around us,” Pete said. “They’re comfortable. They don’t necessarily challenge us too much, but that’s kind of why we like them. They give us a feeling of familiarity and of comfort. So they’re warm, they’re cozy and we can watch them again and again.”

For college students, there are multiple factors that create stressful periods, such as homesickness, the abundance of assignments, finances, and much more. Pete said comfort movies can provide a break from the harsh reality and individuals can temporarily enter an environment of familiarity and comfort.

Public relations junior Johanna Williams said individuals, especially college students, gravitate towards comfort movies during hard times because of the memories associated with them.

Johanna said people can choose to watch comfort movies instead of other genres when the world at large is something they want to escape temporarily.

Furthermore, Pete said filmmakers can use certain strategies to emulate those feelings of comfort.

Filmmakers sometimes go into creating a film knowing that it will fall into the comfort movies category, Pete said. However, he said sometimes the movie can just end up falling into that category by chance, due to the viewers.

Individuals often have their own ideas about what makes a comfort movie special or unique. Johanna said they are unique because of the lack of surprises within the plot.

As Thanksgiving break comes and the end of the semester, students think about what movies will help you stay comforted and relaxed?

Based on original reporting by Anish Topiwala and Amy Cho.

To end our last episode of the week, here are a few announcements!

Here is the MSU home Athletic line-up for the weekend…

Tonight

• Football will play Purdue at 8 P.M. at Spartan Stadium.

Tomorrow

• Volleyball will go against Maryland at 1 P.M. at Breslin Center.

Here’s the MSU events lineup for the weekend…

Today

• The Student Osteopathic Medicine Association Fundraiser will take place with games such as trivia and jeopardy and food from 4-7 P.M.
• The MSU Chamber Music will be putting on a performance at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at 5:30 P.M.

Sunday

• The Rocky Horror Movie Night will take place at the MSU Union Ballroom at 6 P.M.