The movie “Bully” exposes the ugly truth about bullies and the things that they put their victims through. All too often, we only hear about an instance of bullying once the victim has attempted or committed suicide. Unfortunately, that outcome has become all too common. The stories of victims killing themselves are so common that most don’t ever make the news.
You may know of the highly publicized case of college student Tyler Clementi who jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death when he discovered his new college roommate, Dharun Ravi, had made it possible for others to view Tyler’s sexual encounters with a male partner through the internet. Ravi was later charge and convicted with a variety of crimes for his part.
You may have heard of Phoebe Prince, a beautiful high school student who was bullied and committed suicide because she couldn’t take the taunts anymore. Even after her death, crude comments were posted to the memorial Facebook page that was dedicated to her. Her tormenters were also taken to court and convicted.
One of the most horrifying cases of bullying was that of young Kathleen Edwards. Kathleen was a 6 year old girl when her mother died of Huntington's disease. Tragically Kathleen was also diagnosed with Huntington's and given a few years to live. Huntington's’s is an extremely torturous way to die, and although Kathleen and her family had been through enough, Jennifer Petkove felt otherwise.
Their neighbor, Jennifer Petkov, felt slighted when her children were not invited to a gathering at Kathleen’s house and she vowed to get revenge. Jennifer was an adult who targeted a dying child and her family in the ugliest and most hateful ways possible. Jennifer posted vile pictures of Kathleen, made fun of the Kathleen’s deceased mother and taunted Kathleen’s family in many ugly ways that I don’t even want to have to repeat. Jennifer eventually lost custody of her own children over her aggressive behavior and Kathleen died not too long ago.
The movie “Bully” introduces 12 year old Alex Libby and other students, and gives an unsanitized view of what the victims and their parents endure at the hands of the bullies. Film maker Lee Hirsch was given access to schools, school buses, bullying victims and their parents. What Hirsch saw and captured on film was so distressing that he wondered if he could or should continue to allow it. It is shocking to see that the bullies knew they were being recorded and boldly continued their behavior.
“It’s a very personal film,” says Hirsch. “I was bullied when I was a kid. So it’s like that project that you carry with you in your pocket and you say ‘One day I’m gonna make this film when I have the guts and I have the courage.’”
Ironically, the way that the victims were treated by the bullies, and the words used against him were the reason why the movie was initially rated “R”, which meant other young teens could not see it without their parents. How ridiculous that we allow children to be treated that way in real life, to be called those ugly words, and yet we ban them from watching it as a movie?
The movie has since been re-rated as PG-13, so that teens will be able to see the movie. We can only hope that people will make people think and prompt a change for the better. In the case of the victims portrayed in the movie, it already has.
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