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You might have already heard of this movie even though it doesn’t hit mainstream release until March 30. Bully is a gnarly-hard look at the generated cycle of child-on-child violence. Tonight, you can see it for free at 7 at Studio Movie Grill (11170 N. Central Expressway). Go early, these things fill up fast.
Sundance and Emmy Award-winning director Lee Hirsch was picked on in school. While he overcame the situation by his upper teens, he never forgot it. In his new documentary, Bully, Hirsch enters the lives of five families, each with a child who is being, or had been, bullied.
Easy for many to write-off as flirting, childhood lumps or other youthful cliches, bullying goes well beyond gentle teasing. Two of the families interviewed are dealing with the loss of their own children. After enough students at school informed their kids that they were worthless, something struck a chord. Another girl came out as a lesbian only to be intentionally hit by a car.
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Bully should be required education, save for one great detail: it is rated R. There is nothing scandalous about the documentary to warrant the rating aside from violent language, which is derived from the real-world conflicts the film is based on. Many, including high schooler Katy Butler who started a campaign to change the doc’s rating, would like to see the association rethink their stamp. Ellen Degeneres has also joined the fight to have the film deemed PG-13 or PG.
