Every five years or so we get to see a massively good
documentary which is hard hitting and inspiring or eye opening. Michael Moore
made a ton of money for doing stuff like “Fahrenheit 911”, “Bowling for
Columbine” and even “Sicko” detailing the healthcare system of the United
States which has been a very central topic for the presidency; even today the
Obama Administration is still getting mixed reactions regarding this topic. Morgan
Spurlock also became such a huge hit in the US as well as here in the
Philippines when “Supersize Me” went viral.
I’d categorically put “Bully” up there with those
ridiculously awesome documentaries. It’s a docu/film detailing the life and
struggles of kids that are bullied at school plus the plight of their families
and loved ones. This of course is brought to us by our friends from Solar
Entertainment in support of the “Not In Our School” anti-bullying campaign.
I’ve already seen the trailer a couple of screenings before
so I knew that this review was going to be personal seeing that I was ‘picked
on’ a lot of times growing up in the quiet, sleepy municipality of San Pedro. After all, being an overweight kid who reads
books and stuff rather than play stupid basketball easily paints a target on
your back and forehead.
In Bully we meet several normal kids (some deceased, most
still living and at the time bullied). We get to ride shotgun at how bullying
has damaged the lives of the kids as well as the parents and how a family takes
a stand against bullying at school. It more importantly conveys the message
about how schools should take a more serious look at the issue and how they
should properly address this.
There’s one particular scene in the film where I gave a big “what
the fuck” in the darkened cinemas while shaking my head in disgust. The
assistant principal calls the attention of the two boys that’s been quarelling
in the school yard and coerces the bullied kid to shake the hand of his bully
rather than address the problem of why he was bullied in the first place.
That scene alone riled me up pretty good. I knew that, I was
there. Rather than tackling on the problem of the relationship between the
bully and the bullied, these elder educators and administrators think that a
handshake would suffice; that a pat on the back will ease all the hurt or that
a handwavium will disperse the problem. It’s not. It’s only going to make it
worse. The best analogy for this getting a wound and rather than cleaning it
properly, salt is rubbed into it followed by more alcohol. It’s a bandaid cure
for something that should be dealt with at the very root.
Bully also shows the two very distinct sides of the
aftermath of bullying. You either grow up cold and bitter, or afraid, or afraid
and violent, or you just assume the role of bully and do it to other people.
The other end of the spectrum is ending everything with suicide or pulling out
the gun and just threatening everybody with it hoping that after that people
would give respect.
(Boy, this post sure
is starting to grow longer than what I expected, keep going anyway.)
Going back to the documentary, it’s got this very nice,
grainy feel to the footage which adds more intensity to the visuals. The nice
choice in musical scoring definitely adds flavor to the mix and its also worth
noting that they made a good call in centralizing on the life and times of
Tyler Long, the 17 year old boy who hanged himself after being tormented by
bullies at school all his life. The structure is nice as it steers away from
Tyler’s story to focus on other kids who are bullied then zooming back to what
Tyler’s parents are doing.
Bully isn’t just a touching look at bullied kids, it’s also
a call to action for parents who have seen their kids suffer from bullies. It’s
timely especially here since we’ve had the case of child X who was threatened
at gunpoint by this well to do parent, who also happens to be the dad of the
bully.
Major props for using Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag" as the opening song for the documentary. It really was something.
Bully serves as a wakeup call for school administrators and
teachers as well as parents. It’s also an outsider’s view about this secret
world where our kids live in when they leave the safety of our homes.
I recommend you see the film which is locally distributed by
Solar Entertainment and is now playing in cinemas including SM Cinemas and
Robinsons Cinemas...
Verdict:
10/10
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