Plans for a screening of an Indiana Jones movie in a suburban cemetery have gained the ire of a woman whose son is buried there. Michelle Relerford reports.
Plans for a screening of an Indiana Jones movie in a suburban cemetery have gained the ire of a woman whose son is buried there.
Leyla Drumus says it’s disrespectful to the buried—including her son—for an “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark” to be screened at Memory Gardens in Arlington Heights this weekend. The event is to raise cash for the Arlington Heights Historical Museum.
Drumus’ son Kaya, who died from an opioid overdose on Christmas Eve in 2016, was laid to rest at the same cemetery. She said it’s where she goes to visit him and mourn. He was 21 when he died.
“He was a blessing for 21 years, I’m blessed to have him for that long, and I want him to be able to rest in peace,” she told NBC 5.
A spokesperson for Memory Gardens says they’ve held similar events at cemeteries in the Chicago area and the feedback was positive.
“Our intent in hosting these types of events is to serve as a gathering place and to foster a sense of community,” they said. “The movie night event is hosted in a field within the cemetery and not where graves or grave markers are present.”
Christine Sesko Berek, who was visiting the cemetery Friday, said she has no problem with the movie, but understands why others would.
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“I personally feel like the spirit is gone, but I do feel like a lot of people want this to be sacred and there’s plenty of places to have a movie so why here?” she pondered.
Durmas says she’s pleaded with the cemetery for two months to cancel, now she can only hope for rain.
“They’re using the cemetery as a place for people to gather and have fun when it shouldn’t be that, people are going there to mourn,” she said.
The show is still scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
