(USA, 98 min.)
Dir. Lee Hirsch, Writ. Lee Hirsch, Cynthia Lowen.
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| Alex |
Boys will be boys and kids will be kids. It’s disturbing,
but not surprising, how much the status quo prevails in some of the communities
observed in Bully. The documentary,
directed by Lee Hirsch, shows how bullying remains a widespread problem that
greatly affects, if not damages, countless youth across America. It’s a
universal problem, as the film shows by following several storylines throughout
America that tell of young students facing endless torment in the schoolyard. Bully shows that the problem is brazenly
evident – regardless of what the politicians at the schools say – and its one
whose solution is difficult, but not altogether unrealizable.
The film offers five stories of kids who are victims of
bullying. Alex, a twelve-year-old boy in Sioux City, Iowa, faces both physical
and non-physical violence each day he goes to school. The kids on the bus
strangle him, punch him, and stab him. An assistant principal at his school
says that the bus is safe and that the kids are “as good as gold,” but Hirsch’s
camera captures them tormenting Alex as he goes to and from school. The hooting
and hollering of the bullies goes unacknowledged by the bus-driver. Her
indifference ripples through the community as several school officials, police
officers, and more simply shrug off the situation and say that there is nothing
that can be done about bullying. The school board even opts not to send a
representative when a town meeting assembles to address the problem.
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| Ja'Meya |
A similar story emerges in the thread that tells of
fourteen-year-old Ja’Meya. Ja’Meya is an honours student and star basketball
player at her school in Mississippi. Despite her aptitude and kind spirit,
bullies torment her too. Nothing is done to resolve the problem and it
escalates with Ja’Meya bringing a gun onto the school bus and demanding that
the problem stop. As with Ja’Meya’s story, the narratives featuring the parents
of Ty and Tyler show that few people take bullying seriously until the problem
explodes in violence. Both Ty and Tyler committed suicide because the bullying
bothered them so deeply. Their parents, visibly shaken with grief, make it
their mission to stand up for the children who succumb silently to bullying.
Not all the stories tell of kids who remain silent. One
thread follows Kelby, a sixteen-year-old who became a target in her small town
in Oklahoma when she came out as a lesbian. Kelby, however, offers a candid and
refreshing positive attitude and expresses how she realizes that the problem
lies not within herself, but within the closed minds of her community. It’s
sad, though, to see this smart, articulate girl be driven away from her friends
because her neighbours are so immune to acceptance.
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| Kelby |
Hirsch weaves between the stories and builds a case for the
need to address bullying as a serious issue. The film offers some shocking
footage of the kids being victimized by their peers; however, the more
distressing footage comes in scenes with the elders and authorities in the film
who simply deny the problem or avoid addressing it for fear of sensitivity.
(One presumes that the few actions taken are done solely because a camera is
present.) The worst, though, is seeing how some of the elders compound the
problem by turning it back on the victims. An assistant principal (her again)
skirts the issue by turning the blame on one boy who is reluctant to shake
hands with a bully because, as he says to the principal, the problem is not
going to stop with a phony handshake. The principal simply tells the boy that
he is as bad as the bully is and she walks away.
Bully takes the
route of playing the blame game a bit too often. The school board, admittedly,
comes off quite poorly, but there are some teachers who genuinely work to
address the issue; likewise, it shows that some parents need to be more sensitive,
and that the assigned officials need to recognize non-physical violence as a
problem. Bully does little to solve
the problem when it points the finger because bullying is a problem that
essentially effects and implicates everyone; however, the film works when it
uses these situations to illustrate the importance of speaking up. The film
suggests that acknowledging bullying is the first step towards solving the
problem, and it uses the stories of the kids and their parents to show the consequences
of what happens when the problem remains hidden.
Bully might not
make for the most striking piece of filmmaking (the cinematography is annoying
and the narrative threads lack are sporadic and a bit incoherent), yet I cannot
help but admire the earnestness and idealism of its message. It gives a voice
to silent victims and tells them that they are not alone; likewise, stories
such as Kelby’s show that perseverance and a positive attitude go a long way,
and are much more productive than anger. The kids in Bully are brave for appearing on camera and intimately revealing
themselves to the peers who torment them. If Bully neglects to offer a clear and concise solution to the issue,
one should acknowledge that bullying is a problem too difficult and too deeply
rooted to pose an easy answer. The film succeeds by showing that addressing
bullying is the first step. Bully
turns victims into victors.
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Bully plays at the Mayfair (Bank) on Thursday July 5.
