A new movie is out this week. If you haven't seen promos or news stories about it's MMPA rating, take a moment to check out the main website for Bully and a few of the video news stories. The film is a portrayal of the real life stories of bullied kids. It's being lauded by conservatives and liberals alike for taking on this serious issue in a way that illuminates the massive problem bullying has become in this country.
One problem is that the MMPA, which rates movies, originally gave this film an R for the use of the F-word, as none of this film is scripted, but real interviews. There's been a groundswell to change the rating to PG-13 so it can be shown to kids and in schools and it looks like they've succeeded thanks to many famous personalities, including Ellen. The other problem that's addressed in the following interview is if the word 'bullying' is too antiquated to really express how bad this form of torment has become. For instance, our own youth group rated bullying as a 6 on a scale from 1 to 10 of how 'wrong' it is, slightly worse than profanity, cheating on a driver's test or ignoring lonely people, but several levels below sexism, racism and hardcore drug use. Whereas 'being cruel' got a 7. Perhaps, we do need new language to describe this sort of harassment. As believers, we're called to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves.
One problem is that the MMPA, which rates movies, originally gave this film an R for the use of the F-word, as none of this film is scripted, but real interviews. There's been a groundswell to change the rating to PG-13 so it can be shown to kids and in schools and it looks like they've succeeded thanks to many famous personalities, including Ellen. The other problem that's addressed in the following interview is if the word 'bullying' is too antiquated to really express how bad this form of torment has become. For instance, our own youth group rated bullying as a 6 on a scale from 1 to 10 of how 'wrong' it is, slightly worse than profanity, cheating on a driver's test or ignoring lonely people, but several levels below sexism, racism and hardcore drug use. Whereas 'being cruel' got a 7. Perhaps, we do need new language to describe this sort of harassment. As believers, we're called to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves.
1 comment:
Thanks for that--I hadn't heard about this movie coming out. I need to be checking for US news more...
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