If you need any more evidence of why Harvey Weinstein is still the best in the biz at taking a movie and making sure it gets some shine, look no further than this afternoon which saw the trailer for "Bully" drop shortly after The Weinstein Company announced it would be fighting the MPAA over the rating. Now that's marketing. But in this case, it's not so an actress or a director can get an award, but so a worthy cause can get some shine.
From director Lee Hirsch comes "Bully" (formerly known as "The Bully Project"), and the documentary centers on the bullying problem among youth that seems to be reaching epidemic levels. It's a noble cause (and apparently a helluva doc, and certainly the trailer is quite stirring) but once again the MPAA has reared its ugly head. Due to profanity in the film, it has been stamped with an R-rating, effectively making it unable to be seen by the very teenage audience this apparently seeks to address. Harvey will meet with the MPAA on Thursday and help bolster his cause, he's going to be bringing along Alex Libby, one of the kids bullied in the film. How are they gonna say no to that? But ultimately, still more evidence of why the MPAA needs to be overhauled dramatically.
Anyway, give the trailer a spin below. It will roll out into theaters on March 30th. [Moviefone/IndieWire]
I just wanted to say, that I'm 18. When I was in elelementary school, I was always bullied. 7 years later, it's still cralling under my skin. I've always been shy, I've always been quiet, and totally inocent. But if I was still living there, where I was being bullied, I don't know where I'd be. I'm sure I'd still be a good girl, but I'd probably be one of those pissed off teens that does drugs, and other bad stuff. All because of these jerks, and all becaue it was ignored. Have you ever seen an episode of the show "Beyond Scared Straight"? I think it would be a good idea to put all bullies on that show, just to show them, that some are in there, because they acted out all becaue they were bullied. Bullying of ALL kinds are extremely serious. It needs to be stopped now.
And yeah, the MPAA needs to have some kind of oversight committee to hold member accountable and needs to set strict guideline on what warrants what rating instead of the "Well one fuck is PG-13 but two is R" bullshit they use now. Being run by people other than Mormon housewives would help too but we have to be realistic here.
I teach in Japan and the bullying here makes what goes on back home look like pre-school nonsense. It always sucks to have a quiet kid who you know is getting picked on. That said I'd be interested to see some statistics comparing today with twenty or so years ago. On one hand I can see how social networking could make bullying more intense but on the other hand I'd be curious to see if the media has a hand at playing up the problem.
Tried to make a substantial, intelligent comment. Told it was spam and couldn't post.