On your 65th coffee and perhaps only your third hoodie/t-shirt combo of week 12, it may feel like campus is a million miles away. Alternatively, if you’ve manipulated the library booking system so that you’re holding a prime Ussher seat captive for the final days of term, it may still feel like your college education has become a solo voyage.
Either way, in the depths of JSTOR jargon, it’s easy to lose sight of who’s manning the ship as a whole. With this in mind, Photo Editor Alex Connolly and I took a wander around campus one damp Friday afternoon to check in with the people who have been keeping college afloat throughout this turbulent term.
Unlike the many remote-learning students who are hoping against hope for increased in-person classes next term, the Trinity staff we encountered (from a safe distance) are simply looking forward to time spent at home this Christmas – ideally, by the heat of the fire, enjoying their favourite festive films.
Joe Yeates, Library Assistant at the Berkeley
According to Yeates, who identifies as “not a huge fan of Christmas movies”, The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992) is the best there is. This statement is met by a nod of agreement from a fellow masked librarian within earshot. “Yes, thank you! This is not up for debate”, he responds. “Anyone who has made a Christmas Carol version that didn’t have Muppets or some kind of animals in it, was doing it wrong. I don’t know why you’d want to watch a version that didn’t have the muppets in it?”, he says, genuinely confounded by the thought. “They’ve got a few human actors, but it’s basically just Muppets and Michael Caine – that’s really my only reason for why it’s so good!”
Gabriel Peelo, Part-time Technical Officer at the Samuel Beckett Theatre
Outside the Samuel Beckett Theatre, we manage to nab part-time technical officer and full-time friendly face, Gabriel Peelo, in a rather wistful mood. “When I was younger, I used to love when it came time for The Great Escape(1963)… because growing up we were raised on a diet of war films”, he says.
Studying at Pearse College, before coming to Trinity as a student himself, Peelo was faced with an assignment for which he wrote about James Joyce’s “The Dead”. “As part of my research, I also looked at the film and I was blown away by it”, he tells me. “Ever since, it has become my favourite Christmas film because it’s set around Christmas, it’s beautifully shot, acted, directed, [and] all the characters have a contribution to make.”
On a more personal note, “it kind of reminded me of home, in my parents house”, he adds, “where, on Christmas morning, it was very steamy with the various pots boiling of sprouts and spuds and marrowfat peas”. He recalls there being “a lot of concern about whether the dinner was going to be perfect, and that’s reflected in the story of The Dead (1987), among many other attributes.”
Susan Dillon, Catering Assistant and Barista at The Buttery
Stepping inside the Buttery for a moment to revive our festive (but frozen) fingertips with a take-out coffee, we come across catering assistant and barista, Susan Dillon. “My favourite festive film is Miracle on 34th Street”, she says, “both the old one (1994) and the original (1947), because it’s just so sweet! The little girl in it is beautiful and the old style”. She peters out, lost in thought, as if watching the film’s open credits unfold inside the screen of her visor, before concluding with a shy smile: “It’s just a lovely Christmas film.”
Charlotte Wingfield, Trinity Gym Sports and Recreation Intern
Standing inside the reception of Trinity gym, sports and recreation intern Charlotte Wingfield reveals her soft spot for the Cameron Diaz-Kate Winslet classic The Holiday (2006). “I just think it’s got a bit of everything – it’s got the Christmas scenery, but it’s also got the hopeless love, romantic story behind it, and you know it has a happy ending, so it’s one of those films that you can just sit there on your own and watch”, she says. “Sometimes I do cry watching it, sometimes I don’t”, she admits, looking away for a brief moment to hide the laughter brewing beneath her mask. “I just think it’s a good all-round movie for someone my age – mid-twenties. It’s one that you can just sit there and watch on your own!”
Eddie Beggs, Campus Security at the Pearse Street Entrance
A little while later, against a backing track of Pearse Street traffic, we stand scratching our heads with Eddie Beggs of campus security. “What’s the one where your man becomes Santy Clause?… I can’t think of the name of it”, he says. “He keeps putting on weight and all?” Following a rather shameful google search, we each feel an incredible urge to put our heads in our hands upon discovering that it is, in fact, The Santa Clause (1994).
“He kept shaving and his beard kept growing back and all. The grandkids loved that now”, Beggs explains, trailing off in an attempt to preserve his inscrutable, tough-guy demeanour, before adding: “I didn’t!”, despite knowing full well that the game is already up. “I tell ya, all of us would be watching with them…” Before he can finish this thought, it’s abruptly replaced by a bellowed: “Hello! Have you got a swipe card?”, and his nine to five gameface is reinstated once again.
Once the passing perpetrator has been righted, he turns back to our festive film conversation with a glimmer of mischief in his eye. “I love to say this one sometimes, and some people enjoy it, but I think others think I’m being a bit cheeky”, he prefaces. “Did you ever do a play in school?” As a TSM drama student, I concede with a wary nod. “Did you ever do The Wizard of Oz?”, he continues, to which I say that I haven’t. “Well you mustn’t have, because you don’t follow the yellow brick road!” At this, Beggs’ mask creases in what can only be a winning grin, as he gestures to the yellow arrows on the ground, which dictate the flow of pedestrian traffic through the Pearse Street entrance. In the same gesture, he nods subtly towards three students, approaching from campus, who are striding, bags swinging and student cards in hand, towards the entrance path.
