'Bully' helps bullying conversation

After a hot dispute regarding the rating of the film, “Bully” hit the big screen this weekend.

The film premiered without any rating at all, rather than with an R rating, so as to encourage parents to bring their children to see it.

Creators followed several students during their early teenage years as they shared their experiences with bullying, both past and present.

The movie does an excellent job of tugging at the heartstrings of the audience, getting them to truly relate to children’s suffering caused by the all-too prevalent threat of bullying.

The one caveat to that is, unfortunately, a very small selection of demographics was featured in the film.

All of the participants were from relatively rural environments, most from the South. All but a few of the children featured fell into a “standard” category of bullying: homosexuality, social disability and cultural minority.

The goal of this film was to show the far reach that bullying has into general society and how it is a detriment to the country and to the world as a whole.

That being said, with the children presented, it can be something of a challenge for people from the coasts or upper-Midwest to connect.

Those who experience bullying, but are from different backgrounds than those featured in the film, might not have the same reaction as those in similar environments.

The documentary cannot tailor every element of the film to the specificities of every child who experiences bullying. That is the exact opposite of the film’s point. There are two intentions that, if experienced fully, will make this project a success.

First, parents need to bring their children to see the film. Both young and adult audiences need to feel the pain that comes with a constant stream of hate from fellow school bus passengers.

They need to feel helplessness as the vice principal does nothing to ease the situation. They need to feel the loss when a man and his wife must bury their son who killed himself because he was different.

The second need is for people to start talking.

Everyone, in some form or another, has experienced bullying. We must change the way people are treated.

If students begin to “come out” about bullying and to share their own experiences and hurts, we will get the full picture that the film can’t fully give.

The documentary is a first stop, not a be-all-end-all for the discussion.

After seeing this film, my hope is that the audience will hit Twitter, Facebook, blogs and, yes, even newspaper columns, to talk about the importance of the movie and the effects of bullying.

This is neither a beginning nor an end. It could be the beginning of the conversation for a wider audience. But I hope it will also be the beginning of the end for bullying.

­— azoot@indiana.edu