Bully wants to highlight a serious problem for kids in the world today. Bully showcases in as broad of strokes as possible the effect it has on those bullied and some of the institutional and societal inefficiencies that have escalated bullying into a larger concern than in the past. Although it neglects to consider the bullies themselves and the reasons they choose to be this way, it is a touching and maddening look at the results of their actions on the people they hurt. While some of the profiles are more heartbreaking/intriguing than others, Bully successfully highlights how serious of a problem bullying is and how there is no easy way to fix it other than to get the word out, but it leaves some key parts of the issue on the table to humanize the issue.
Bully follows essentially 4 tales: the Long/Smalley families seek to get the word out about bullying after their sons commit suicide as a result from it, a Mississippi teen Ja’Maya goes to prison after confronting a bully in a more forceful manner, Oklahoma teen Kelby recently comes out to the community and is effectively shunned as a result, and Sioux City’s Alex is abused daily on the bus because he looks like a “fish face.”
The broad stokes across multiple facets of life give Bully a ubiquity to make the problem more accessible. Focusing on the institutional “shrug of the shoulder” is a really frightening way to show how helpless some of the kids are. Principals believe that shaking hands with the bully is like Pontius Pilate: wiping their hands of the situation. The best scene in Bully involves one of those bullied not shaking hands with his tormentor and being criticized for it despite his logical reasons why he doesn’t do it. Parenting doesn’t escape the criticism either. Some of the prouder parents think the kids should just stand up to the bully, telling him that no one likes the timid kid (thus inflicting parental brand of bullying) and most parents turn a blind eye to the situation. The generational divide is present throughout Bully, especially in Ja’Maya’s and Kelby’s story. Kids will be kids is no longer a reason to not care; talking about it and forcing someone’s hand is clearly the message Bully gets across.
The frustrating aspect of Bully is the fact that it is not adequately modernized. There is little to no mention of cyber bullying, a more recent trend that can only continue to get worse as kids continue to get plugged in earlier. Also, Bully tries to show how institutions are the biggest problem for these kids, but the movie makes the bullies themselves faceless individuals. Perhaps they were worried how they would look on camera or because director Lee Hirsch did not want to sympathize with a bully, but a little information into the psychological reasons as to why people bully other people would have shined a light into a perspective that would also help people understand the seriousness of the situation and how to possibly resolve it.
These criticisms do nothing to diminish the emotional impact Bully should have on those who have walked in one of the kids’ shoes. I was tormented on buses growing up, but nowhere near the level of Alex. It strikes a sad and angry note that makes me want to help out as much as I can, which is the best compliment I can pay to Bully: it gets people fired up to get involved to make kids’ lives just a little bit easier.