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Wide Screen‘Bully’ documentary to be released with a PG rating in Canada, but without a rating in the U.S.
Despite an official appeal to the Motion Picture Association of America, an online petition with more than 500,000 signatures, and support from high-profile celebrities and lawmakers, the Lee Hirsch documentary "Bully" will retain the R rating that it was initially given by the MPAA. The film's producers believe the rating would prevent children and teens -- those they say would most benefit from seeing the film -- from seeing it at all without a parental accompaniment.
The documentary follows several American teens who face bullying on a regular basis, as well as the toll it takes on them and their families. "Bully" also focuses on the tragic stories of two U.S. youngsters who eventually took their own lives after being bullied.
According to producer Harvey Weinstein, he had been fighting for a PG-13 rating. In response to the MPAA's R rating, Weinstein will instead sidestep the MPAA altogether by releasing "Bully" in an unrated form. The very public fight between the Weinstein Company and the MPAA over the rating certainly garnered the film a great deal of free publicity, but the resulting ratings decision may hurt the film in the long run.
The lack of an official rating means "Bully" will face an uphill battle in American cinemas, as most major theatre chains will not screen unrated films and limits are placed on where and when such films can be advertised publicly. In stark contrast, provincial ratings boards in Canada have given the film a PG rating, suggesting that while parental guidance may be required, children and teens are free to see the film on their own.
At issue are several instances of children using the F-word in the documentary. But whether parents like it or not, children do use these words in the schoolyard and out of the earshot of adults. "Bully" is intended to reflect the realities of schoolyard and online ostracism that many children and teens experience on a daily basis. By including the offending words in question, the documentary does precisely that. Director Hirsch recently even went so far as to call the American rating system broken in a recent interview.
"Stepping outside the personal situation with my film, I think it's unfortunate that the value judgments by the MPAA allow for graphic violence, homophobia, aggression against women," said Hirsch. "All the things we see in a PG-13 film and are acceptable."
It does seem as though a double standard of sorts exists at the MPAA. Current box office champ "The Hunger Games," which features teens killing one another in a brutal fight to the death (all without any curse words!), received a PG-13 rating from the ratings organization.
The message of the MPAA is clear: Violence is fine for children to witness, but swearing is absolutely unacceptable. "Bully" certainly does not endorse either violence or harsh language, but the rating points out a real disconnect at the MPAA.
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