‘Bully’ Movie Review: A Must-See Film and a $40 Challenge

Each month, 3 million students are absent because they feel unsafe at school. If you don’t think there is a difference between “kids will be kids” and bullying, the new documentary film Bully will be an eye-opener.

Directed by Sundance and Lee Hirsch, Bully is a documentary to which every single person reading this can relate. The film is emotionally raw and very real, as it follows five families over the course of a school year. Cameras follow parents and kids into their homes, and also trail bullied kids from school bus to classroom.

I attended a pre-release screening and before the film began, director Lee Hirsch noted, “Everybody has a story. I’ve also learned that writing and art people were disproportionately bullied.” Kids who seem quiet or different become targets. After the screening, I commented to someone about how moving the film had been. A guy in his thirties said, “I may look like a tall guy, but this movie reminds me of when I used to get thrown in garbage cans as a kid.” 

There is a growing controversy regarding the rating of the film. Some groups feel the material is too violent for some viewers, while others feel that a PG-13 or R rating will keep away the exact kids who should be seeing the film. As of March 29, the movie will hit theaters as Unrated, but Regal theaters will be sticking with the R rating. Personally, I feel the Motion Picture Association of America is doing a disservice to a documentary film with a highly-relevant topic. Regardless of your opinion: The film is poignant, touching and disturbing, while providing a ray of hope for the future. Warning: Even if you were never teased, mocked or bullied as a kid, you may find the film enraging during certain scenes. And isn’t that the point?

Bullying has proven to be a major challenge in many schools around the country - and this isn’t a case of over-sensitive parents. Two families featured in the film have lost children to bullying-related suicide, while another mother awaits the fate of her traumatized daughter who is in prison after bringing a gun onto the school bus. Yes, this is a tearjerker, especially when the school principal tells one set of parents that the kids on the school bus are “good as gold” because she has ridden the bus herself. This is before they show her a tape of a student being stabbed with pencils and beaten up on his bus ride home.

Alex (12) is bullied because he looks different, Kelby (16) because she is gay. Other kids, like Ja’Meya (14), can’t explain why they are picked on, but they know about the problems that result from the anger, shame, tormenting and loneliness they experience. When Alex is speaking with his mother about the cruel treatment he has gotten used to on the school bus, it is heartbreaking to hear him ask, “If they aren’t my friends, who are my friends?”

Note that cyber-bullying is not addressed in the film - bullying is explored purely on a personal communication, in person level.

Some of the most touching and uplifting moments come from the parents of bullied children. David and Tina Long’s son Tyler committed suicide at age 17, as did Kirk and Laura Smalley’s 11 year-old son Ty. These parents now carry the legacy of their children, doing everything they can to bring more attention to bullying-related issues. View the trailer here.

The $40 Challenge

Hopefully this film will inspire parents, school administrators and kids themselves to become more aware of the challenges surrounding bullying. Here’s a challenge, which I hope will catch on. No matter where you live, one adult and two kids can see this film for less than $40. I hope that every adult reading this can take two kids to see this film. Don’t have kids? Find some. Go with your neighbors, make it a community effort. This film is powerful and can help to start conversations.

Learn more about the film at www.TheBullyProject.com. Please comment below if you have seen the film or would like to share thoughts about the topic. Will you take the $40 challenge?

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