There’s a documentary coming to theaters March 30 entitled Bully. Bully follows kids who are bullied for an entire school year and touches on the suicide of children which was caused mainly by bullying. The MPAA has decided to give Bully an R rating due to strong language. The Weinstein Company who helped distribute the film and the film’s director Lee Hirsh are working to appeal the rating down to PG-13. The argument is that this documentary was meant to be seen by children the bullied and those who choose to bully others. The hearing to appeal the film’s rating occurs on February 23rd in Sherman Oaks California.
Having watched the trailer for Bully and having been a victim of bullying myself during my high school days, I can understand why the Weinstein Company wants the rating changed. Bullying is a severe and violent issue in the United States and that a director was brave enough to make a documentary on the subject is nothing short of extraordinary. I will say it pained me a great deal to see children bullied but I think that more often than not a film’s purpose is to educate and enlighten and that’s what this film and its director seek to do. When a film elicits such an emotional response that means it is making us feel something and I hope that this film at least raises the issue of horrible an epidemic bullying is.
