The mission of 17-year-old Katy Butler to change the R rating of the movie “Bully” to PG-13 has caused a stir from Hollywood to Washington, D.C.,
to Philadelphia, where a councilman has joined her petition drive. The teen has already gathered about 450,000 signatures on Change.org.
Slated for theatrical release March 30, “Bully” is an examination of school bullying and follows five kids and families during one entire school year. One profile centers on a mother who must come to terms with the incarceration of her 14-year-old daughter for bringing a gun onto her school bus.
“I can’t believe the MPAA is blocking millions of teenagers from seeing a movie that could change — and, in some cases, save — their lives. According to the film’s website, over 13 million kids will be bullied this year alone,” said Butler, a Michigan high school student who has been bullied herself. She added that people can learn more about “Bully” on Facebook and Twitter.
The issue of bullying has become a hot topic because of the media attention surrounding several teen suicides resulting from bullying. Forty-six states have anti-bullying laws in place that stretch beyond the classroom to include school buses and bus stops as well as cyberspace. Several school bus beatings have been captured on video and posted online, including a recent bus brawl and assault of a teen girl at her bus stop.
Film producer Harvey Weinstein protested the R rating and appealed to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to change it. The film received the rating because of six expletives, including the F-word. Weinstein said the R rating restricts the very audience the film can help the most: junior high and high school students.
Representative Mike Honda of California issued a letter to the MPAA that was signed by 20 additional Congress members and supports Butler’s petition. The letter reads, in part: “We are writing to express our sincere disappointment in the MPAA’s decision to issue an R rating for the soon-to-be-released documentary ‘Bully.’ This important project shows the real-life anguish of many teenagers in this country who are tormented, harassed and bullied by their peers.”
