Movie posters like this showed up around America to spread the message. Image Courtesy of Google Images
Five students from five different states. They have no connection besides the fact that they all suffered from vicious bullying. This documentary shows what the five kids go through to get their bullying to stop. All the students actually experience these traumas, some before, some after, and some during the film.
One student moves, while another one completely snaps, pulling a gun on a bus. One actually gets an adult to intervene, but only after they had seen some of the footage of how much bullying the student suffers. The other two kill themselves. The film Bully tells not only the stories of the kids whose lives took a turn for the worse, but also how they wind up helping everybody learn something and encouraging others to speak up.
This movie expresses some concepts that are usually ignored when the topic of bullying is brought up. The fact addressed is how the students are either unwilling to approach an adult about the bullies, or how society does not provide enough steps to stop the bullying from happening in the first place. This is shown by following an assistant principal who deals with bullying at her school. At one point, a student who isn’t covered by the film is pulled over to talk to her about problems between him and his bully. All she does is try to make them shake hands, but when the victim refuses, he is mistaken as the student causing problems. The principal and the victim proceed to talk after the bully leaves, with her saying he needs to speak up about it, and the student saying that he had not only talked to her about it before, but he had even talked to the cops. The principal dismisses the student’s statement and that is all that is told about that.
Students stand up to spread the message in a town hall meeting. Image Courtesy of Google Images
This lack of intervention is also covered when the parents of a deceased student, one of the two who committed suicide because of bullying, hold a town council meeting. None of the school board members bothered to show up, even though they had been invited. The city council meeting shows video of many different people speaking out about how their children had suffered from bullying and no action was taken, even though the parents and students spoke out towards the school board, but also the local sheriff and the town council.
The most moving part of the film though is when the directors get the information directly from the students. The scenes where the crew is taken into the instances of bullying, where they get the kid’s first hand recollections of the bullying—that is when this picture hits its mark. One of the biggest problems that people have with bullying is that they do not know the full extent to which it is taken, or how it affects the victims. But when the directors get testimonial from the students about how kids would leave desks empty in a full classroom just to be away from the victim, making the kid an outcast, then the audience really is shown what bullying is. Another touching part is when the producers show kids sitting on a bus stabbing and punching one kid. Scenes like that is when the message gets out to the public.
Some families are forced to mourn the repercussions of bullying. Images Courtesy of Google Images
Then comes the tales from the people who knew the children who killed themselves. The parents make sure to tell the immediate effect of the suicide, from nightmares to the brutality that their child suffered coming to light. One family, who still lives in the house that their son committed suicide in, had to switch where the younger siblings slept because of how strongly the suicide impacted them. The parents of both children who killed themselves have led rallies to put an end to bullying, in memory of all the kids who commit suicide because of bullying.
In the end the documentary does exactly what it sets out to do, which is make sure that everyone knows exactly what bullying does to people. The film plays on peoples’ heartstrings, shocking them with the effects on the victims. The film never loses track of its message, sending out the message to end bullying.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
