Professors Lance Kayser and Ja’net Danielo from the Safe Zone Committee teamed up with the Social Awareness Committee to bring a new series called “Popcorn and a Movie” to Cerritos College.

Danielo was the person to come up with the original idea of Popcorn and a Movie.

She said, “We’re always thinking about events that […]would be both fun but would also draw attention to issues within diversity, whether that is gender, race or culture.

“I love movies, I think a lot of students love movies, so I thought this would be a way to bring those two things together.”

The inaugural movie “Ma Vie en Rose” as stated by Kayser, “[…] Is about a transgender child, in the process of figuring out his/her gender identity.

He added, “We thought this was really good to coincide the LGBTQ history month. To talk about some of those issues […] because there is a lot of misunderstanding about it, so we this would be great to get out there have a conversation (about it).”

Kayser also cleared up confusion by defining terms such as gender identity and transgender.

He said, “Gender identity is how you identify in terms of your gender. I was born male and I identify as male, which is cisgender, if I identified as female i would be transgender. That’s just the gender aspect.

“Based on what we see in the movie he’s attracted to males, so they identify him as gay […] but if he transitions than he would be a straight female.”

Students came and signed in for the event, some receiving extra credit for attending others simply curious. All grabbing a small bag of popcorn before heading into the Teleconference Center.

Before the film started, Danielo and Kayser put up questions for students to ponder as they watched the film. A discussion took place after the film, guided by the professors.

Kayser said, “[The film] is from a child’s perspective […] I think in some ways that makes it easier to identify with, to understand.

“We were actually pleased with the turn out but we were more pleased by the discussion,” he said.

Juliana Villarreal, english major, said “I think the event was cool and there should be more, especially more foreign movies.

“I think foreign movies touch upon things that american movies tend to not touch upon because it is a sensitive topic. I think topics like this should be discussed more.”

She added, “I feel like people should be more exposed. If they see it through a movie or hear people talk about it they may, not be more accepting, but have more of an understanding.”

Kayser said “We’re hoping to one during black history month and women’s history month. We’re going to tackle ideas of race and culture and hopefully gender in a different way.”

Elizabeth Requejo-Garcia, studying to be a social worker said, “(The topic) is something that some have issues with, I really don’t, it’s very cut and dry for me, you love people for who they are.

“We should be more liberal […] We really shun difference and we shouldn’t.”