THE BULLY PROJECT
Documentary
Directed by: Lee Hirsch
Written by: Cynthia Lowen and Lee Hirsch
Bullying is one of the most prevalent problems affecting schools across the country and students of all kinds regardless of race, gender, or social standing. Bullying is also the one issue that everyone can relate to in one way, either because we have been bullied, were bullies or have stood by and watched.
Lee Hirsch’s documentary THE BULLY PROJECT attempts to grapple with the complicated and thorny issue of bullying, by looking at multiple aspects of it, and not just focusing on the LGBT bullying that has gained the most media attention in recent months. The film highlights three children and two families, all whom have been impacted by bullying.
Kelby is a sixteen year old girl from Oklahoma. She is an out lesbian girl who is more on the “butch” or masculine side of the spectrum, opting for Vans slip-ons and boys Hollister shirts over spaghetti strap tops and dresses. She has a girlfriend and a close knit group of friends who keep her from being completely isolated and alone. She has had to quit basketball because the other players refused to touch her, has to endure teachers making anti-gay jokes about her in class and has had to help her family deal with her hometown turning on all of them.
Jameya was a former basketball star and honor student from Mississippi who pushed so far by the constant bullying she endured that she brought her mother’s handgun on the bus with her and threatened other students with it. What makes this story all the more chilling is that Jameya’s mother and the police officers who arrested her narrate this story all while we watch the security camera footage from the bus itself.
We also meet the Long Family from Murray County Georgia, whose seventeen year old Tyler hung himself after years of bullying, virtually all of which was shurgged off by his school’s administration. Hirsch follows the family in the year following their son’s death, as they try to raise awareness about bullying but are up against very difficult odds, with not only an indifferent school board, but even a police force who mostly says that “boys will be boys” and doesn’t acknowledge the issue as a real problem. We also meet the Smalley family from Perkins, Oklahoma, whose eleven year old son Ty killed himself after prolonged bullying at his own school. The film focuses primarly on Ty’s father Kirk, a self proclaimed “simple man”, who is able to channel his grief to form Stand for The Slient, a group for the families and friends of victims of bullying.
However, Alex, a middle schooler from Iowa, is the reason that THE BULLY PROJECT is a vital film that needs to be shown in classrooms across the country. Alex is firmly in the “awkward” stage of puberty that many of us went through. He’s lanky and wears glasses and has a bit of an asthmatic wheeze in his breath – the classic nerd if there ever was one. Hirsch was able to gain unprecendented access to the Sioux City School District, and follows Alex as he is mercilessly threatened with violence by multiple students every single day for no reason other than existing. We sit and watch as Alex is punched and kicked on the school yard and on the bus, and we try to understand why these students are doing this to him. When his mother tries to ask him about how his day has been going and what has been going on, the soulless and glazed over look in his eyes speaks volumes about how bullying can completely break a child’s spirit.
We also meet the Assistant Principal at Alex school who comes off looking utterly incompetent. She changes the subject to her new grandchild when Alex’s parents try to confront her about what’s happening to their son and takes the side of a bully when she stops two boys who are fighting at school. This example, while incites the vitriol of the audience and I think is what will really get parents and other people to question and confront their school’s administrations to ensure that a zero tolerance bullying policies are not only enacted across the country, but enforced.
THE BULLY PROJECT is a must-see documentary. While it never provides any specific response that students or parents should take to end bullying, I believe that the issue is so complicated that doing so would limit the ideas that people could come up with to solve the problem. The message that people should take away from the film is that no matter who you are, we are all effected by bullying and we all need to take steps to end it.
4 out of 5
More information about the anti-bullying group Stand for The Slient, profiled and featured in THE BULLY PROJECT is available on their Facebook page.
THE BULLY PROJECT played at the LA Film Festival on June 19th, and opens in select wide on November 11th, 2011
