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by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:27 pm

Movie About Bullied Teens Too Offensive For Teens MPAA Says

This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. BULLY is the first feature documentary film to show how we've all been affected by bullying, whether we've been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness.

But the MPAA has given the movie an R rating because of adult language meaning no one under 17 can be admitted without being accompanied by a parent. It also means that the film cannot be shown in schools where it's most needed.

While other countries have given the film a PG equivalent rating the Motion Picture Association of America has refused to budge on it's position. The Weinstein Company which is producing the movie has already lost one appeal to have the rating lowered and 17 year old Katy Butler presented the MPAA with 4 boxes totally over 200,000 signatures requesting that the rating be reduced and was also rebuffed.

http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-do ... n-r-rating

Stupid fucking MPAA :smt011

by **Timbales** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:29 pm

hey, here's an idea - how about if a PARENT actually took an interest in their teen's life and went to the movie with them, then discussed it afterwards?

by **US Agent** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:30 pm

So... bleep out the offensive language.

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:30 pm

Timbales wrote:hey, here's an idea - how about if a PARENT actually took an interest in their teen's life and went to the movie with them, then discussed it afterwards?

What's stopping the parents from going to a PG movie?

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:31 pm

US Agent wrote:So... bleep out the offensive language.

Let's bleep out all the bad parts of Schindler's List too.

by **Timbales** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:32 pm

Benderbrau wrote:What's stopping the parents from going to a PG movie?

what's stopping them from taking their kid to an R rated movie?

or do young teens flock to documentaries on Friday nights nowadays?

by **US Agent** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:35 pm

Benderbrau wrote:Let's bleep out all the bad parts of Schindler's List too.

Yes, School bullies are Jew exterminating Nazis

Way to make that jump on the first page.

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:35 pm

Timbales wrote:what's stopping them from taking their kid to an R rated movie?

All kids should have a chance to see it and learn something from it. Not just those with responsible parents.

Timbales wrote:or do young teens flock to documentaries on Friday nights nowadays?

That Facebook movie was pretty popular

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:38 pm

US Agent wrote:

Yes, School bullies are Jew exterminating Nazis

Way to make that jump on the first page.

You missed the point entirely. The movie is a documentary and is trying to illustrate the brutality that can arise from bullying. This is not the kind of movie you soften up. Besides kids are seeing this shit every day in school so why censor it in the theaters?

by **Rockman** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:43 pm

13 million kids would be bullied? That's about 1 in 5 kids. I wonder how accurate that is.

by **US Agent** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:45 pm

Benderbrau wrote:You missed the point entirely. The movie is a documentary and is trying to illustrate the brutality that can arise from bullying. This is not the kind of movie you soften up. Besides kids are seeing this shit every day in school so why censor it in the theaters?

No, I didn't miss the point. You're just being overly dramatic on problem with a simple solution.

The tone and content of the documentary isn't causing the R rating. The word FUCK is. Simply silence the word FUCK and the movie is in schools.

Whether you hear the word FUCK or see someone's lips say FUCK, but don't hear the word FUCK really doesn't make a difference, because in your mind you know what's being said is FUCK.

It won't change the fact the kid killed himself during filming or the impact of the kid getting pushed around will have on viewers.

by **Rockman** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:50 pm

The only problem I see with this rating is potentially keeping it out of schools.

Of course anything with swearing in it period is supposed to have parent permission slips. At the school I work at the teachers can only show G movies period, because the district doesn't want to deal with the headache of it all.

But in cases of educational stuff like Schindler's list (r rating no?) the schools will generally allowe it with the permission. This is no different than that.

And it's not like they have to do the whole permission to see it thing, they could just send out a slip that the parents would sign if they DID NOT want their kid to watch it, way simpler that way.

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:55 pm

Rockman wrote:13 million kids would be bullied? That's about 1 in 5 kids. I wonder how accurate that is.

I imagine that it depends on your definition of bullying. If bullying is measured by every time you call someone a bad name then yes I could imagine it is.

by **Rockman** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:01 pm

Benderbrau wrote:I imagine that it depends on your definition of bullying. If bullying is measured by every time you call someone a bad name then yes I could imagine it is.

I wouldn't consider that bullying myself.

Sadly it's an inevitability that these things will happen in a school enviroment. The only way to stop that would be to completely restrict social interactions. That's why every parent should teach their kids to stand up for themselves in an appropriate manner.

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:08 pm

Rockman wrote:I wouldn't consider that bullying myself.

Neither would I but sadly American society is becoming more and more sensitive each day.

Rockman wrote:Sadly it's an inevitability that these things will happen in a school enviroment. The only way to stop that would be to completely restrict social interactions. That's why every parent should teach their kids to stand up for themselves in an appropriate manner.

I think the movie's goal is to help educate everyone on this and the MPAA is getting in the way. The fact that the MPAA thinks the behavior that kids see in school every day is inappropriate for kids to see in the theater is fucking ridiculous and makes the MPAA look like clueless fools.