Directed by: Lee Hirsch.
Bullying has reached epidemic
proportions in America – and around the world. I have lost count of how many
stories there have been in the last year where a teenager has ended their own
life just to get out from underneath the constant harassment and torment they
go through at school – or on the internet. The problem is not just the bullies
themselves – but the adults around them who do nothing. `Kids will be kids`,
`They have to learn to deal with it themselves` are among the things most often
said. School administrators complain their hands are tied – there is nothing
they can do, because they simply do not have the evidence. Bullies are not
stupid – they aren’t going to break someone’s arm, or leave them bloody. But
the constant harassment, threats and intimidation can be far worse than the
physical injuries sustained.
What the new documentary Bully succeeds
at doing is putting a human face, not on the bullies, but the victims. You do see a few bullies – mainly in passing on the bus tormenting one
of the subjects, Alex, of the documentary, or most memorably in a scene where a
clueless vice principal makes two boys shake hands. One kid immediately sticks
out his hand with a smile on his face, the other refuses, and gets a lecture
from the principal. The boy tries to explain – that other boy is his tormenter,
so no, he doesn’t want to shake his hand, at which point the vice principal,
amazingly, tells the kid that he’s just like his tormentor – because by not
shaking his hand, he is hurting his feelings, just like his feelings are hurt
whenever the boy torments him – which appears to be daily. But hey, boys will
be boys.
The stories that the
victims of bullying in the movie tell are heartbreaking. There is Alex, who is
a little strange to be sure, but also sweet, but whose bus ride every day is
caught on hidden camera, and the result fairly shocking – getting punched,
stabbed with pencils, having his head slammed into the seat, being called
countless names and suffering other abuse. The bus driver doesn’t pay
attention, and the other students cheer it on. Then there is Kelby, who was
once a popular female athlete, who came out as gay, and immediately found
herself ostracized from her small Oklahoma town. And Ja Meya, who was so
distraught at constantly being bullied on the bus that she does the unthinkable
– and brings a gun on the bus, and although she doesn’t fire a shot, is still
in deep legal trouble. What she did was wrong – incredibly wrong – but yet you
can see why she did it. There are also a few heartbreaking stories from the
parents of teens who killed themselves as a result of bullying – and their
efforts to have someone, anyone, listen to them – because the schools certainly
do not care.
Bully is not a great documentary, but it a heartbreaking one. I would have preferred if they had been able to talk to any of the bullies at some point, and explored the causes of bullying. Perhaps none wanted to participate. The movie is most effective in its first hour when it tells the stories of the victims of bullying, and how they get through day after day. The last half hour lays it on a little thick – and advocates a wonderful idea in theory – that everyone needs to respect each other – that has no chance of working in the real world. And yet, I hope Bully does have an impact in the real world – that the bullied will realize that they are not alone, and they can get through it, and the bullies see what they are actually do to their victims – and that it isn’t funny, or just a joke. And that perhaps schools will start to this seriously, so more kids do not feel so hopeless that they take their own lives. O hope this movie helps that – but I have a feeling it won’t.
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