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Should 'R' Ratings be influenced by societal good?
?Bully? movie?s ?R? rating protested
The preview for the movie can be seen at this link...
The movie ?Bully,? which follows five children from the Midwest and South who were brutalized by classmates over the length of a year, may not be seen by as many children as it hoped.
The film has received an ?R? rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which cited concerns about foul language, CBS News reports. The rating is believed to have been decided by just one vote.
In a statement, Joan Graves, Chairman of the Classification and Rating Administration at MPAA, urged people to remember that the R rating does not mean children cannot see the film, as their parents can still take them to the theater. ?The R rating is not a judgment on the value of any movie. The rating simply conveys to parents that a film has elements strong enough to require careful consideration.? she said.
But many people aren?t keen to accept the rating, including Katy Butler, a Michigan high school junior who was bullied after she came out as a lesbian in the 7th grade. Her campaign on Change.org now has more than 300,000 signatures. Celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Meryl Street and Justin Bieber have signed the petition, as well as 26 members of Congress.
?Over 13 million American youths will be bullied over the course of this year alone, making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people in our nation,? begins a letter from Rep. Mike Honda (D.- Calif.) to his colleagues, in support of Butler?s campaign. ?We cannot hope to control this epidemic ... without discussing tough issues publicly and bringing them to the forefront of the consciousness of the American public.?
Some have also suggested that the MPAA are the real bullies here. Kirby ***, who exposed MPAA secrets in the documentary ?This Film Is Not Yet Rated,? told E!online that because the MPAA is controlled by big companies, ?they've been bullying small independent films for decades.?
But ?Bully? both is and isn?t an independent film. It was made by Lee Hirsch, an independent documentary filmmaker, and is being distributed by the Weinstein Company, one of the biggest film studios in the business.
Butler, whose finger was broken during an assault by bullies in grade school, also sees the MPAA as bullies of sorts. On her petition, she writes that the rating is ?robbing many teenagers? of the chance to see a film that could potentially ?change their lives.?
The MPAA is trying to fight that perception, hosting a ?Bully? screening and panel discussion for D.C. area principals and educators with the filmmakers this evening.
It?s unlikely that the MPAA will reverse its rating decision, however. The film already went through the appeals process once and the ?R? rating was upheld. There is no process for a second appeal to ratings, the MPAA said. The rating can only change if the filmmakers submit a new version to be rated.
Watch the preview of ?Bully? below:
Re: Should 'R' Ratings be influenced by societal good?
I'd hazard to guess only a small population of parents forbid every and all R rated movie regardless of content or subject matter. Most people I know use the rating system as a guide and not a hard and fast rule. So I doubt the rating will keep as many kids from seeing it as they think.
Unfortunately, I think the bigger problem is convincing parents their kid should watch it no matter what it was rated.
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Maybe mandatory viewing for administrators / teachers? Would the R rating also prohibit that? The one clip where the administrator is telling the mom whose child was being bullied on the bus that "she had been on that bus and the kids were just as good as gold" pissed me off to no end.
I just recently cried during a foster childcare commercial and yelled "HE JUST WANTS A FAMILY!" at H so I definitely can't sit through this.
I know there was some controversy about the Hunger Games rating and while I loved the books & the movie, I think "Bully" is definitely more appropriate for kids than the HG. There wasn't any profanity in the HG but the violence was pretty intense... not to mention people have been saying kids in the theater were cheering when the tributes were killed.
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no way
Confession, I don't know anything about the allegations of the MPAA rating indie films differently (which would be wrong). That said, I don't think they should change their rating based on the film's plot/focus. If it meets the standards for R, it should be R, and parents can make their own judgment calls on taking their kids.
Making an exception because it seems like kids "should" see it is stepping out of the authority of the MPAA IMO, that's the parent's call.
Here's the thing - this is film of kids that are the same age as the audience would be, USING the words which are causing the R rating. Clearly, they are hearing them in school.
I think this should be shown in all middle/high schools.
Honest question, this is how things are in schools, why do the students need to see the documentary on it? If they are desensitized to seeing, in person, great acts of bullying cruelty, why is seeing a movie about it going to change their minds?
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Because they don't see the effects on the kids being bullied and their families. They don't see that bullying can lead to things like suicides. These kids are, from what I gathered, really open in this film, whereas a bullied kid isn't going to open up to his peers at school and risk gaining more attention.
Nice priorities, America."
Ablou, it sounds like they could get a lower rating on this movie if they censored some of the cursing. It certainly wouldn't lessen the impact of the movie to do so. It is really vital to the tone and impact of the film to reduce the number of times the word fuuk is said?
Because from what I understand the difference between PG-13 and R isn't that one has cursing and other other doesn't. It's the frequency with which some words are uttered.
On the other side, changing the rating doesn't change the language content and if a parent was going to object because of the language therein, they aren't going to give permission merely because of a rating change.
By this argument, Schindler's List should be rated G.
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Interesting point. Most of the support I've seen for Bully is coming from individuals who are/were bullied, not individuals who are bullies looking for a different perspective, though. I guess I'm having a hard time seeing a bully watch this, identify with the bullies, identify the behavior as wrong, and change. The root of bullying is a fundamental lack of compassion, right? The whole point is to make the bully feel good by making someone else feel bad, so a graphic illustration of just how well that can work somehow doesn't strike me as a game changer.
For example, in the case of Phoebe Prince, people posted obnoxious things about her on her facebook page after she committed suicide. Sadly, I see bullies watching this movie and best case, blowing it off, worst case, getting ideas.
If that is true it is sad. Maybe it won't change the bully that is all in, but maybe it will impact some of the "followers" that just kind of go along with the bullying not really realizing that their actions do have consequences.
Well, it's likely they wouldn't choose to see it, thus why I'd like it to be shown in schools.
Really, though, let's talk about those kids who stand by because they're afraid to stand out or become targets themselves. Seeing this video in a room with their peers in a safe space may give them the courage to band together and stand up to bullies by showing them the effect on the kids that are being bullied. It's an out of sight/out of mind thing - they don't think about it, becuase they don't want to. But if it's in front of them, then they can't pretend it doesn't hurt the victims. And lastly - kids are easily influenced. Something like this being shown to large numbers of students creates a commonality among them - it would create discussion in the halls, and could drum up a movement of sorts.
Those are my thoughts anyway. May be true, may not be.
I hope you're right. Honestly, I almost see kids being more likely to want to see it and listen to it if it is R-rated, than if they are forced to watch it in school-wide assemblies. Even if it wasn't R-rated, if the language within is sufficient to pull the rating, I doubt schools would shot it, anyway.
Like I said, hopefully I'm wrong.