Hellmant

(2013-05-20 17:22:46)

This film definitely could make a difference if given a chance!

'BULLY': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five) A feature documentary film attempting to address the very serious issueof bullying in American schools. It follows five high school studentsduring their day to day lives as they deal with bullying and thedepression and mental issues that come with it. The film was directedby Lee Hirsch and written by Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen. Hirsch has saidthat he was bullied as a child and that was his main inspiration forthe film; he wanted to show the world what it's like to be a bulliedchild in hopes of working towards a solution for the problem.The documentary was filmed during the school year of 2009/2010 at highschools in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. It focuseson five students during their time at school and at home with theirfamilies. Two of the main film focuses are students severely harassedon their school buses: Alex and Ja'Maya (who was bullied so much shebrought a gun on her bus and drew it on fellow students). The film alsopays special attention to the families of two students (Tyler Long andTy Smalley) who committed suicide due to bullying that school year. Thefilm does point fingers largely at the schools (which are at leastundeniably partially to blame). A great deal of controversy has been made about the film's rating: itwas originally rated R which would have been a severe injustice as itwould have prevented it's most important audience from seeing it. Apetition was created to get the rating revoked and more than 300,000signatures were collected in support of it. Still the MPAA wouldn'tbudge on their decision. After first releasing the film unrated thestudio backing the film later cut a few bad words in order to receivethe desired PG-13 rating and a compromise was reached. I've only seenthe PG-13 version of the film but I can't see any reason why kids ofalmost any age (barring small children) shouldn't see this film. It isa very important movie and really could make a difference in people'slives around the world if it would only be seen. Sadly most peoplewon't see the film as the average mainstream moviegoer has no interestin it. I found the film very compelling, emotional and relatable. I wasobviously bullied in school and still am to this day, mostly by socalled friends (which is my fault for tolerating it, where as kidsdon't have a choice). I think this film definitely could make adifference if given a chance.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNk88XWi4A4

F Herrick

(2013-05-19 22:59:46)

A film about adults who encounter children who are bullied

The MPAA made the right decision when it assigned this film a rating ofR. Bully not a movie appropriate for children.It's a movie about adults who put children's lives in danger.The filmmakers tell the stories of four young teenagers who have becomethe targets of school bullying. Throughout the film we feel a sense ofempathy with these four children, all of whom are in difficultsituations.But the real story is about the adults.Throughout the film, parents, school administrators, law enforcementofficers, court personnel, and even the school bus driver all encounterchildren being bullied. Each adult reacts in a slightly different way.Unfortunately, none of their reactions seem particularly helpful oreffective.I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who has been bullied, as thefilm could easily hit a raw nerve. Neither would I recommend Bully toearnest parents searching for solutions to the bullying problems intheir communities, as he film offers no proper solutions.Bully should, however, be required viewing for school administrators,as it presents a textbook example of a terrible administrator. KimLockwood, the assistant principal of East Middle School of Sioux City,Iowa, makes herself the unwitting villain in this tale. The viewercomes away from the film with a sense that Ms. Lockwood is a danger tothe children around her. Lockwood's school has a bullying problem, andshe's so clueless about the lives of the children that she interrogatesand berates the hapless victims of the bullying. She only shows skillwhen she is whitewashing the problem after parents complain. Lockwoodcomes across as cold, uncaring, calculating, and self-serving. And hervictims are children, the very children at the school where she she isemployed.Bully is a disturbing film. But bullying in America is a disturbingproblem. As adults, do we have appropriate solutions? No. Will moreawareness help? Maybe. But is this film hopeful or helpful? Not really.

Greg

(2013-05-17 21:57:39)

Generally a very engaging and balance depiction of a complex phenomenon

Many of the people who see this documentary seem to react strongly tooit. In some in strikes chords about their own experiences while in manyit elicits a response of "The responsibility for preventing this liesprimarily within the child's (victim's) family." While that is themajor factor in most cases, the first thing to keep in mind is that thefilm is reflecting upon and reporting on a phenomenon, is not thephenomenon itself. In general, it presents the wide gamut of responsesto the problem and the different viewpoints, varying from suicide,fighting back, finding additional means of support. The film's strengthlies in the fact that it provides no easy answers but instead ofplethora of viewpoints and several examples of kids who dealt with theissue unsuccessfully to somewhat successfully.The central issue of the film is of course bullying. Most haveencountered it, some have even been the bully and many feel that theonly real means of combating the problem is from within the victim'sfamily and instilling in him/her the necessity to fight back. The filmmakes it quite clear that the institution, other children or parents oreven society as a whole is not particularly able or interested indealing with the problem. On a larger scale, we often have environmentswhere the contempt of people who are different is actually encouraged.In some states where a teacher can now not utter the word "gay," it isreally hard for a child who is gay to seek assistance. An overarchingtheme throughout is that society as a whole actually promotes those whoare aggressive and the subtext in the film is that school officials areoften tacitly behind the abuse of kids who do not fit the mold or arecompletely inept in dealing with the situation, they themselves justcogs in a hierarchical machine.While it is true that the first and only real line of defense againstbullying is from the victim's family, there are a few problems with theabove 1) What happens if for whatever reason the parents do not providethe support that the child needs to stand up for himself? It is likethe child of an alcoholic or an abused child or a child who arrives toschool without being fed. Yes, it is the parent's failing. But failureto intervene can lead to grave circumstances later, including the deathof the child or their inability to be a productive adult, an abuserthemselves etc. 2) Bullying can be the traditional form, bigger kidbeats up younger kid but these days it can take other forms, e.g. olderboy attacks younger girl, institutional abuse where the teachersthemselves join in the abuse, abuse by multiple attackers. In all ofthese scenarios, the "just smack 'em back" rule doesn't work. 3) Ifleft unchecked, the result can be for the bullying victim to lash outand there can be real violence; many see the tragedy at Columbine asbeing in part due to an environment where bullying was not addressed(but this greatly simplifies the issue)The documentary also makes clear that the system is always ready todoll out the harshest punishments to the victims themselves. In thefilm, an African American girl almost goes to prison for brandishing agun on a bus as a reaction to bullying, definitely a tragic andinappropriate response. But it's interesting that the same surveillancecamera which caught her with the gun on the could "not possibly" beused to see the multiple attacks on her on the bus. In other instances,the harshest talking-to is reserved for the victim. It is also interesting to note that lip-service given by theadministrators to the problem. Do they not care or are just unable todo anything? It is interesting to note, if, for example, one of theparents did a similar act to the school counselor, smashing his headagainst the wall etc., the police would be called and if there wasphysical evidence, there would be immediate arrests or sanctions. Yetwhen the exact same act is perpetrated on children by children, no oneacts.The film is very good because it shows several different scenarios ofbullying, from kids who committed suicide to those who are dealing withit. It is also of value in that perhaps it will encourage 1) Parent'sto talk to their children about seeking aid/defending themselves 2)School districts to be more aware of what is going on, several havealready enacted "zero tolerance" bullying policies and c) Perhaps someparents will ask their children how they are treating other children.Many will say, "bullying has always been there". Yes, but now it hasbecome a social phenomenon. Is bullying worse? Is government/societyemphasizing aggressiveness more through its policies? Whatever thereason, more kids are killing themselves over the issue now. As MalcolmGladwell notes in his book The Tipping Point, certain conditions haveto be present for an epidemic to occur. In the late 90's there was arash of school shootings, including that at Colombine. In recent years,this phenomenon has occurred much less. Why? Perhaps because schools,students became aware that conditions had reached a critical level andbecame aware of signs. The same could be try of bullying. Perhaps thefilm can appeal to the one kid not getting the support from his parentsor the bully or the one kid to reach out to the unpopular kid or theschool administrator to change a culture of aggression that sanctionsbullying. As cheesy as it sounds, even it it saves a few lives or makesit easier for a few kids, making the epidemic a non-epidemic, it willbe worth it.

KineticSeoul

(2013-05-17 14:50:12)

Hits the core emotionally

This is a documentary where I couldn't help but be moved and feel forthe people that got bullied in this film. Especially they aren't actorsor actresses but real people that go through struggles because ofbullying on a daily basis. It shows multiple different people that arestruggling from getting bullied at school and shows what is goingthrough their minds while showing a bit of their inner life. And howthey cope with it. I guess this movie has even gotten to Meryl Streepcause she somewhat tried to promote this movie and even talked about itin public. This flick shows how sometimes bullying doesn't even have tobe physical for someone to get deeply hurt and even lead to suicide.And also felt for the parents that has to go through traumatic andhurtful times because their own children are emotionally scarred to thepoint they don't want anything to do with school. This is a documentaryabout the American school system. And just thinking and knowing abouthow it's even worse in when it comes to bullying in other countriesmakes it even more depressing. The documentary sort of gets a bitannoying when the constant finger pointing starts, but that isunderstandable. Out of all the kids that got bullied the one that stoodout the most to me a kid named Alex in this. I don't know if it'sbecause this documentary mostly focuses on him. But I found what hegoes through and his actions to what he goes through and what he had tosay to hit the core emotionally. And really felt for the guy. Althoughthis is a good intentioned documentary it isn't really really well madeor anything like that. But it's still a documentary really worthseeing.7.2/10

Jan Falk

(2013-05-17 08:14:46)

Bully may not be the most entertaining movie you will see this year: but is the most important

Went to Bully, largely because there was nothing else playing thatrepresented escapist fare, which I usually opt for. I am a therapistand mother of three and I certainly hear enough about Bullying to makeme a steadfast believer that it is not only happening, but happening toMOST kids, regardless of who and what you are, you will be a target. Ihear about it everyday and the central theme is-educators not onlydon't do anything about it-but heres the origin- the teachers aremodeling it. They pick on certain kids, harass and joke about kids andeven engage in screaming and name-calling, at least here in FairfaxCounty, Virginia. I think this is where it starts, as well as at home.Kids do NOT do these behaviors naturally. In small groups when it isstructured to create emotional safety, kids work together well and areVERY tolerant of differences. It is when schools make everything acompetition (and it is DOG eat DOG in our schools), and parents (lotsof tiger moms and dads) do nothing but encourage kids to compete withother kids regardless of the price (some kids at our school aresuicidal). This could be fixed but it requires a societal shift,electing Barack Obama is a great first step in this regard. Loved themovie, loved Alex-I want to know how he is doing?

george.schmidt

(2013-05-17 01:33:46)

The year's first must-see film for all families & those who have no voice involving the onset of the epidemic of bullying; one of the year's best films.

BULLY (2012) **** A must-see documentary by Lee Hirsch and CynthiaLowen focusing on the epidemic of bullying in the schools of Americawhich in and of itself can be presumed a pandemic as well in the senseof where anger, hatred and simple narrow-mindedness can manifest fromand eventually spread. Five separate mid-Western families are depicted– two attempting to salvage their remaining family in the aftermath oftheir beloved's suicides confirmed from the relentless attacks theyendured to the point of no return – showcase how a blind eye toincredibly frustrating situations (i.e. the closed environs of theschool bus as a haven of beatings and humiliations thrust on theirprey) are attempted to be dealt with or in the majority simplyoverlooked and ignored altogether. The one subject, Alex, a shy, sweetand smart adolescent is shown on the first day of school literallytrembling (and brilliantly conveyed on the soundtrack of his hinderedbreathing in knowing what hell will ultimately be unleashed upon him),will have you rooting for him to get through the year and angrilyscreaming at the screen at the imbecilic school head and her myopicviewpoints that you want to step into the screen and throttle her! Attimes incredibly sad and tragic, the film is in essence a triumph inhow the families stay together to battle this onset of violence andrefusing to back down for the sake of their children – and moreimportantly – other children who have no voice of their own! Thankfullythe MPAA JUST re-rated the film as PG-13 (for a few 'F' bombs!) and isa necessity for all parents AND children to see together and begin adialogue for something that can be avoided/stopped. I urge you all tosee this.

Karl Ericsson

(2013-05-14 05:22:50)

the American way of life

In a world of competition one less competitor is a victory for thesurvivor. We know today that it is cooperation that brlngs aboutdevelopment amongst humans and not competition which only brings aboutdegeneration and death. The American society that allows rich men tobully poor men to death is a society of apes, more or less. Actuallyit's worse than a society of apes. Competition is hailed because, likethis film and other occurrences show, it keeps the poor fighting eachother for the crumbs from the rich's table and keeps them fromcooperating to get rid of the rich bullies. The American way of life isan abomination - get rid of it.

sheilaechano

(2013-05-13 16:13:52)

Adults needs to handle bullying with a better approach instead of allowing it to go by.

The children in this film are constantly bullied and put down. Theydon't tell anyone about how they are feeling because they areintimidated. They think that nothing will be done, or it will makethings worse. The bullies are not well disciplined so they don't knowany better. Nobody is telling them that it is not right nor are theypunishing them. I believe that the adults around them should seriouslydo something about it instead of letting it slide.In the film, the principal is shown going around the school andobserving the kids. She sees the bullying going on, but she doesn'tstop it right away. She waits until the end of their recess and getsmad at the victim instead of the bully. Doing so allows the bully tothink that what he did was okay. She did not punish him at all.Instead, she lectured the victim and made him feel worse about himself.If I were the principal, I would talk to the two kids together and getthe full story. Instead of just a handshake, I would also give thebully a real punishment to show him that he should never do it again. Iwould make sure he knows how sorry he should feel about the wrongs thathe has done.Adults should never allow kids to continue to be violent and hurtful.As soon as they see it happening, they need to stop it. The idea of"kids will be kids" should get out of their minds because it isallowing kids to think that it is okay to hurt other people when it'snot. They will grow up that way and it may get them into all kinds oftrouble. Adults should stop the bullying while it is still early,before it carries on throughout their lives.

joe blow

(2013-05-13 09:36:33)

Full of emotions

This movie gives you an inside look on what goes on with children thatare bullied and their family. You get to see that its not just thebullied that are effected, but their families too who have to deal withthe aftermath and watch their child or sibling suffer through it. Evenif you have no personal experience with this, like me, you will feelall of their emotions. I was angry, happy and sad at various points inthe film.Spoiler: The Vice Principal was useless. She lives in a bubblegum worldwhere a child can do no wrong. She forces a kid who is being bullied toshake hands with the bully, and tells him he is wrong for not wantingto. He then tells her of all the incidents that he reported about thebully, and she tells him if its reported then its been taken care of.Obviously not if it is still occurring. One child's parents tell herabout the bullying occurring on the bus, after watching videos of ithappen, and her response is that the kids on his bus are good as gold.All they do is talk and tell these parents kids will be kids, or letthem work it out. No action is ever taken. They try to make it seemlike the person who is being bully is doing something wrong. That isthe main issue, no one with authority ever takes action until somethingextreme takes place.

cadillac20

(2013-05-13 02:45:26)

One of the most important documentaries in recent times

The most powerful documentaries are those that speak for themselves.They let their subjects do the talking and lead the film. This is, byfar, Bully's greatest strength. This powerful doc. tells the story ofseveral different families who encounter bullying in different ways. Wefollow a few families dealing with suicides as a result of bullying,one family whose son is dealing with bullying on an everyday basis, andone family whose daughter is in youth behavioral detention from havingbrought a gun onto a bus. Each story is a different, powerful facet ofbullying and the journey is moving and heart breaking. At the center,however, is the main argument that not enough is being done by theadults to prevent bullying.As stated, the film is told by it's subjects. We witness the bullyingthat occurs first hand, follow the subjects in their everyday lives,and see first hand the divide between the kids who are bullied and theadults who either do nothing or are unaware of the problem. Otherparents deal with the loss of their child through suicide stemmed frombullying and their efforts to change the school systems and lawenforcement that ignore the problem. Like any good film, anddocumentary for that matter, we have our heroic underdogs and ourvillains. In this case, our heroes are the bullied and our villains arethose behind the broken system that allows bullying to continue. Onewoman in particular displays aptly the real problem and does so withfinesse. I will say, by the end of the movie, you'll want to punch herin the face for being such a....well, I can't use that word in thisreview.The tragedies in this film are supplemented by a handful of momentsthat really grab at you. From hearing a man who lost his son usepolitics as an example to a confrontation in the aforementioned woman'soffice, the film has a good arc about it. We root for change to happenand for these kids lives to improve, for there to be hope, and thereis. Even though the tragedies are rough and even a bit tough to watchat times, we are rewarded with the hope of better days and animprovement. As someone who was a victim of bullying and has known manyothers to also be victims of bullying, it's refreshing to see thatpeople are standing up all over the world and attempting to dosomething about it. To say that this film is important is just touchingon what it means for this doc to be made.That isn't to say the film is perfect. Far from it, there's a lot thatcould have been done. First, the film isn't especially well rounded. Wedon't get the opposite point of view. Having some of the bulliesinterviewed would have been a bit interesting I think. It would havealso been nice to see some bullies and bullied as adults and what theythink. The film also doesn't really look at anything beyond theimmediate situation. We don't get any statistical data about bullies ora big variation on the kinds of bullying that occurs. We are simplypresented with a few not so unique victims. Perhaps it was simply thefilmmakers intention to show us a broken system and those trying tochange it, but I would have preferred more variety, however, in thepresentation of this problem.Beyond this, the film is truly great. I can't stress the importanceenough of this documentary. With all that goes on in this country thesedays, it's easy to overlook how important this matter is and how vitalit is for the adults involved to put an end to bullying. Especiallypowerful are the numerous stories of child suicides which reinforce theimportance of the issue. I'd even go so far as to say this documentaryshould be mandated watching for schools. If you have children, find away for them to see this film. It is one of the most important films ofour time.

valentinemd45

(2013-05-08 10:08:31)

Children of All Ages Need to See This Film

This was an extremely excellent documentary that not only exemplified ahuge problem in our society but also took great pains to create apersonal documentary experience that will certainly stick with viewerslong after they have watched it. The movie is very gritty and real,following one of the most basic rules of documentary film making; don'tturn off the camera even if it hurts, because the documentary will havethat much more of an impact on those who watch it. I am very proud ofthe film makers and very impressed with the way they handled thesubject. I would also like to point out a disturbing aspect of thefilm, one that I have reflected on at great length: The assistantprincipal's treatment of the child who was bullied on the playgroundwas painfully awful. The vice principal's actions in dealing withAlex's bullies, however, was even worse, if that's humanely possible.Not only did she fail to grasp the situation, but when Alex tried tosuggest action other than a limp warning, the administrator who'salways supposed to be on Alex's side jumps on the defensive, claimingthat what she's done is sufficient to handle a problem that is bothongoing and very serious.If you do that again, the vice principal warned, you'll get in trouble.That's hardly the mentality I'd expect from a harden veteran ofeducation. Rules in school are there for a reason; the "boys will beboys" well is dry at this juncture. If I were in a schooladministration and I was privy to evidence clearly implicating studentsin serious acts of physical violence, I would, no pun intended, throwthe book at them. But I wouldn't stop there. I would sit them downalone in my office and ask them why they felt the need to do this. Agood doctor knows treatment goes beyond alleviating symptoms; if wecould ascertain the root of this epidemic, it could very well changethe world. Lastly, Alex is a human being, not just a student. I wouldtreat him with kindness and compassion knowing just how much he'ssuffering.The vice principal's job is hard, absolutely. She has to look at testscores, plan events, talk to teachers, handle money, coordinate fieldtrips, make sure every bus gets there on the dot and much, much more.But when push comes to shove, her job is about the students. Most kidsare doing well. Alex is not, and that should shake her core as it doesmine.

dalydj-918-255175

(2013-05-07 21:09:20)

Bully shows the true horror of bullying and how a difference can be made

"Bullying is a serious world problem and this film shows that adifference can be made if the world comes together to try make adifference whether big of small any difference would be good" Bullying is not well dealt with throughout the world because the youthdo not see the horror they cause which is why many adults do not try toget involved until some horrific occurs which bands many peopletogether to make a difference. Filmed over the period of one year wefellow a group of American children and parents as we here currentstories of bullying but we also see the parents talk about theirdeceased children and how bullying had affected their children'ssuicide's.The film is not a message of depression but it is a message of hopethat can come from tragedy. Many of the stories were sad for me becausehearing these horrific stories made me want to get angry at the peopleresponsible but when I got to the end of the film I was not as angryanymore because the ending of the film try's to say that an agreementcan come together when people come and work together to make adifference. The film is small even being set through one year of thesepeople's life's but it still is small because the film is set in onearea of the states but the film just could be now big enough to make aworld wife difference if people spend the time to watch the film.I was very sad when hearing about the children that we only got to sawpictures of because of the suicide they had committed. However thesechildren's parents wanting to make a difference is inspiring and showsthat when one door closes another one opens. The film focused a lot ofa child named Alex who I felt sorry for getting bullied but they waythe film was shot it looked like he may have been badgering people butI'm still not saying it was right to smack his head on the seats oreven stab him. Dealing with the girl Kelby just had me mad at thissmall town that would exclude her because of the being gay which justseems like something people nowadays would bother to bully. The childnamed Ja'Maya was scary and sad to listen to because of the sheriffsaying bullying should not make a difference about jail time which ofcourse had be furious at him thinking he was once a bully.The film is sad and showing the bullying scenes was hard to watch butthe most emotional parts of the movie were when parents would talkabout their children's suicide's because it got to personal and washard to hear that stuff like that happens in a lot of places.MOVIE GRADE: B+

JR

(2013-05-03 21:25:49)

A Documentary that EVERY parent should be required to watch.

--- As a retired law enforcement officer I literally shook with a rageand a fury I haven't felt since I retired while watching thisdocumentary. The problem I saw in these schools was school officialswho were more interested in whining about the issue and hoping it wouldgo away on its own rather than becoming pro-active in dealing with it.You start anti-bullying programs in the schools, counseling forvictims, a zero tolerance policy and mandatory penalties towardbulling, group sessions with accused kids about what harm they areinflicting, get the PTA involved, require REQUIRE all parents to attenda meeting at the start of school years at which the school's zerotolerance policy and penalties are explained and if they do not attendthen their kids do not start school just like vaccination policies.Instead these so called leaders were not really doing much of anythingother than trying to defend their zero action response to bullying. ---The documentary makers did a good job in showing the problem and thenleft the rest up to others. I think they should have maybe spent a bitmore time in being a resource about what can be done to deal with theproblems rather than just showing it. I also know that I would havebeen interested to learn a little more about what happened to the kidsinvolved. Though I give credit to the makers for taking a hidden issueand shining the light of day on it.

John DeSando

(2013-05-03 06:14:41)

An unbalanced bully pulpit.

"I've never had real friends that would stick around and help me."Bullied StudentThe Weinstein Company fought a winning battle to get Bully classifiedPG-13 rather than R because of "f" bombs.The documentary about bullying in schools is slow and without insight,a disappointing PG 13. Because two of the boys (11 and 17) commitsuicide, no one can deny the impact of bullying on young people, andthis documentary has multiple examples, yet Bullying appears notinterested in the point of view of the bullies or any possibleremedies. The lack of bullying professionals such as sociologists isitself a serious deficiency.Set in a majority of red-neck locales east of Tuttle, Oklahoma, theindividual stories concern only whites and blacks, with no Latinos orAsians for instance. Where are the latter two or the educated? Surelyit is to be expected that much bullying occurs in lower socio-economicareas, but no class or level of wealth is immune. While a gooddocumentary allows its subjects adequate time to state their cases, thechoices of whom to highlight rest squarely with the director andwriters.Although Michael Moore is notorious for loading his documentaries andin his narration with his point of view, director/writer Lee Hirschcannot be accused of the same. Rather, he is so far removed that thereis no point of view other than an accepted universal condemnation inourselves the minute we witness the actions.Sixteen-year old Kelby's story as a lesbian is particularly wellpresented as she chronicles being purposely hit by a car and herefforts to make a difference in the local minds. Central charactertwelve-year old Alex, with the nickname "Fish Face," is caught by thecamera being abused relentlessly on the bus. Perhaps most pitiable ishomely fourteen-year old Ja'Maya, who ends up in juvenile detention forbrandishing her mother's gun to stave off her attackers.The Weinstein Company should be applauded for producing a documentaryon one of civilization's most pervasive oppressions. I just wish thestatement had been writ larger.

bobbobwhite

(2013-05-03 01:00:57)

Didn't go deep or far enough into the entire problem

Good pictorial of victimized kids in a slice of life film on theresults of intense and unrelenting bullying, primarily in school and onschool buses. As the film showed very well these kids being bullied,the results of bullying and the bullied kids' commentaries on thefrustrations they felt about themselves and others as a result, it is asuccess. However, on the minus side, it gave no suggestions forsolutions or possibilities for control, no statements of judgmentregarding incompetence or inadequacy of school officials and parentstoward ending the bullying, thus I became less involved as the filmprogressed, as there was no progress made toward anything other thanprogressively showcasing the bullied kids and what can result ifnothing is done about it.A few things I saw that were consistent in the bullied boys were thatall their fathers were nice, quiet and perhaps weak men who did nottake any action themselves toward ending the bullying, but left it upto the mothers. The kids' mothers were shown to be much stronger thantheir fathers were in their attempts to protect their children.Pro-action by both parents must be undertaken immediately upon beinginformed of any bullying for best chances of ending the problem.Only one child, the boy from Iowa, had his back story examined in theleast as to possible reasons behind his being bullied. He was bornpremature at 26 weeks and had unattractive facial features as a result,thus these were the obvious things other kids picked on. Nothing in theother bullied kids' pre-natal pasts were mentioned as possible reasonsleading to their being bullied. I perceived this as imbalancedbackground research, and a failure of the film's intent. Perhaps therewas nothing, but perhaps also there may have been drugs in the otherparent's pasts, or genetic or mental illnesses, or whatever? Nothingwas stated or explained so we were left in the dark to speculate. Kidstypically pick on something mentally, physically or behaviorally"different" in those they bully, reasons for any of which should havebeen shown if known. My grammar school nurse required completebackgrounds of all student's health histories, thus school officialsthen could not claim ignorance if later bullying resulted. Why has allthat changed? The school officials shown should be immediately terminated for theirapathy and unconcern and "what can I do about it?" do-nothing approachto the problem. Also, the school bus scenes showed that adultsupervision on board was nonexistent, with rampant rowdy studentbehavior constant and leading to obvious bullying situations. Wouldn'tanyone seeing those scenes, even those moronic and lazy schoolofficials, think something was wrong and needed immediate and seriouscorrection?Overall, the film was a pretty good slice of life of this seriousproblem but a pretty bad suggester of possible solutions to it. Noin-control schools or good parental examples were shown where bullyingwas not accepted and was non-existent due to immediate and pro-activeparental and school responses to it, as it was in my school. As aresult, I give this film a grade of "incomplete", and suggest that ittake a make-up test(a sequel covering my above suggestions).

pazu7

(2013-05-02 14:15:25)

A reluctant criticism of an important film. (lite spoilers)

This is the second time I am sending a review of Bully. The first onedisappeared somehow, so this sequel will be abbreviated. Bullying isone of the critical issues of our time, but 'Bully' fails to really gointo any of the factors, be they social, socio-economic, parental, peerdriven etc... that drive bullying. It comes off like a reality showrather than a documentary. And for that reason it did the subject ofbullying an injustice. I felt for all the kids in the film, but afterit was all over, I knew nothing more about bullying than when I walkedin. I was a victim when I was a boy in the 2nd grade and I would haveliked to have seen a more detailed and concise documentary. I do thinkthe whole "R" rating issue is nonsense. There is nothing in this filmthat kids shouldn't be able to see. As with the first review, I am notgoing to rate it negatively because I think it's important. It's justnot very well done.

dmaire1221-222-44515

(2013-05-02 03:18:40)

Zero Tolerance

How many more shooting must there be ? How many more suicides mustthere be ? Before everyone holds the schools accountable. There shouldbe zero tolerance ZERO ! It is really easy for reporter to say this oneis a monster and that one is a psychopath . Listen to the children andnot the physiologist . These children are building up anger and moreanger . For a world that made them and now rejects them. This problemwasn't around in the 1950 or even 1960 . These children that arebullies have a mob mentality . Your children send 8 hours in school andfor it to be a torture not a learning experience . Tell me what willthe turn out to be in society . This movie should open your eyes towhat is really happening . Ask yourself will your child come home andtell you they are the most unpopular child in the school ? The scaresthat they will receive will last forever .

sloppyjoe911

(2013-05-01 13:56:36)

Well done documentary

We saw this at the LA Film festival (we are big festival goers) andreally enjoyed it. In fact, I was surprised there weren't a lot ofreviewers here. There was a packed crowd where I saw it. It's sad thatwe really don't address the problem of bullying until the newmillennium but folks should see this or at least show it in schools. Wehear from parents whose kid committed suicide as a result of bullyingand other kids who were bullied and how little is done about thisproblem. In this day and age when everyone gets a trophy and everyoneis seemingly pampered, how can kids still have this happen to them? Awell done film with a some brave kids.

trnjamesbond

(2013-05-01 00:31:52)

Eye Opener

I recently watched this film and I must admit having a child of my ownwho does get bullied, this film truly does open my eyes on how theschool systems these days is nothing but red tape and saving face. Theprincipals seemed more interested in making the child getting bulliedthe one that has a problem. The principal doesn't seem to care too muchabout the welfare of the children getting bullied.In one scene we see concerned parents come in for a meeting with theprincipal and she seems more concerned about her own image then helpingthe concerned parents take care of the problem at hand.What does it really take to get these school boards to get awareness tothe faculty on how to properly deal with these situations? Why do theyalways shun the person getting bullied and act like they are the onesthat are in the wrong.Another scene that we see is the principal of the school making twoboys shake hands, the bully of course offers his hand to shake but theone getting bullied doesn't whole heartedly agree. In my opinion I'd dothe same thing. The bully in this instance is just trying his best tonot get in trouble, and walk away and save his bullying for next time.The victim here knows this, but the principal doesn't see the light.How unfortunate is this fact, when the students know more than theprincipal. What about enforcing zero tolerance, expelling these kidsindefinite until they wise up. Not at this school it seems.Bully gives us an in depth look at the world of our education systems,well directed, and a very touching story that I think effects all of usparents and what they go through in school, and also on the internetsocial sites. Very entertaining 9/10 for me

Howard Schumann

(2013-04-30 14:26:22)

Should be seen by everyone

Whether you think bullying is a recent cultural phenomenon, or one thatsimply reflects human nature and has been around for thousands ofyears, the reality shown in Lee Hirsch's heartbreaking documentaryBully, is devastating. It is one thing to read about incidents ofbullying and teen suicides, but when a face is put to the story, itsimpact takes on an entirely new dimension. Hirsch's documentary focuseson three young students who have been subjected to merciless verbal andphysical attacks during the school year and on the parents of twovictims who committed suicide as the only way they could see to endtheir torment.The film opens with a look at the grieving parents of Tyler Long ofMurray County in Georgia watching home videos of their son when he wasa little boy. His father David says that as Tyler became older hebecame more and more introverted and that they only became aware of theextent to which he was bullied after his suicide at the age ofseventeen. There is no mention of whether or not he was gay but theimplication cannot be denied. The Longs have become activists,organizing town meetings to let other parents know how the schoolsystem failed in its responsibility to protect their son.In another tragic situation, we see Kirk and Laura Smalley of Perkins,Oklahoma as they attend the funeral of their eleven-year-old son Ty whocommitted suicide after being relentlessly bullied for a long time.Like the parents of Tyler Long, The Smalley's take action by creatingan organization called "Stand for the Silent" devoted to the preventionof bullying. Hirsch, who says he was bullied as a young man, also let'sthe viewer witness school bullying as it takes place, captured by ahidden camera. A very disturbing sequence on a school bus makes usaware of Alex, a 12-year-old boy from Sioux City, Iowa who was bornprematurely and is called "fish-face." On the bus, he is punched,choked, and verbally harassed while the bus driver continues the ridewithout so much as blinking an eye.During school hours, Alex is without friends and wanders aroundaimlessly during recess. His father, unaware of the real fear their sonhas, urges him to fight back. When the threats against Alex becomeunbearable, Hirsch shows the footage he shot to Alex's parents, thepolice, and the school administrators, but the principal andvice-principal tell him that it will be dealt with but it is obviousthat it their words are just empty reassurance. There's also14-year-old Ja Meya from Yazoo County, Mississippi who was sentenced toa term in juvenile hall for confronting her bullies with a loaded gunon their school bus. Though she and her mother know that she made amistake that will give her a criminal record, she claims that she wasdriven to take such drastic action because no one listened to her.Another victim of bullying is Kelby, a sixteen-year-old girl from asmall town in Oklahoma who describes herself as a lesbian. She was astar athlete, but when she came out, she was kicked off the team. Inher classroom she is treated as an outcast with students around hermoving when she sits down. Though her father says he is willing tomove, Kelby refuses to leave her hometown because she thinks it wouldbe a signal to the bullies that they have won. Though it will not stopthe attacks, Bully can offer hope to those who feel alone and helplessand the film has launched an active Internet campaign to enlistcommunity support against bullying. Though it is difficult to watch andthe tears may flow, Bully should be seen by everyone - kids, parents,administrators and yes, bus drivers. (Originally rated R, after muchprotest, the film's rating has been changed to PG-13).