After a recent plea to the MPAA by Bully teen Alex Libby and The Weinstein Company Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein failed, by only one vote to get the film its deserved PG-13 rating, The Weinstein Company is choosing to move forward with releasing the film unrated by the MPAA on March 30.
The films R rating would make the film unable to reach many of target audience of parents, teachers, school officials and children, that that film is meant to educate and help with what’s become an epidemic in schools across the country.
The fight against the rating continues on, with support by politicians, schools, parents, celebrities and activists for the film’s mission to be seen by those it was made for, children. Nearly half a million people have signed Michigan high school student and former bullying victim Katy Butler’s petition on Change.org to urge the MPAA to lower the rating.
The small amount of language in the film that’s responsible for the R rating is there because it’s real. It’s what the children who are victims of bullying face on most days. All of our supporters see that, and we’re grateful for the support we’ve received across the board. I know the kids will come, so it’s up to the theaters to let them in. – Bully Director Lee Hirsch
Bully opens a window onto the pained and often endangered lives of bullied kids, revealing a problem that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic borders. It documents the responses of teachers and administrators to aggressive behaviors that defy ‘kids will be kids’ clichés, and it captures a growing movement among parents and youths to change how bullying is handled in schools, in communities and in society as a whole.
Parents or teachers looking for more information or who may have concerns about showing children a movie unrated by the MPAA, please read Common Sense Media’s rating details of the film here: http://www.commonsensemedia.
Bully will be released in theaters on Friday, March 30, 2012.
