Bully (**3/4)

Thanks to the ratings controversy surrounding the inclusion of a few words that virtually anyone seeing this would already have heard many times, this documentary from Lee Hirsch (Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony) arrives with more fanfare than most. It’s probable that the subjects of the film, none old enough to see an R-rated movie alone, would have heard the words actually directed at them many times. That’s what’s happening when we watch Alex, the most prominent “star” of the film, get harassed and punched on a school bus. Also prominent are Kelby, ostracized in her high school for being a lesbian; Ja’Maya, a 14-year-old whose bullies drove her to an impulsive, foolish act; and two other boys whose parents or classmate must speak for them, because they committed suicide. (For whatever reason, all of the students profiled are from small-to-medium-size communities in the South and Midwest.)

Alex, whose large mouth has gotten him tagged with the name “fish face,” is unique in that Hirsch was actually able to film him on the bus, in school, and at home, his refuge. His social awkwardness is more apparent than with the others. Besides the scenes with his middle-school classmates, we see administrators failing to address the problem. In a scene sure to provoke the most discussion, the vice principal at Alex’s school tells another boy that his refusal to shake hands with his tormentor means they’re alike. Sensibly, he replies yes, but I don’t hit him.

Would that there had been more insight into the ways in which bullying persists. Hirsch eschews an academic approach and so does not present any “experts” on the subject. But, given that the problem of bullying has been getting increasing attention for a few years now, perhaps he could have visited a community that has truly made an effort to address the problem. Perhaps he could have interviewed the kids who bully, or who did in the past. One kid, the best friend of an eleven-year-old suicide victim, does admit that he was a bully in second grade, but stopped as he saw the effect it was having. But he does not explain what was satisfying about bullying or why he began to feel empathy for his victims.


Bully is film that is sure to provoke empathy, and seems almost wholly directed to that goal. Perhaps even bullies will identify with the victims, should they see the movie. Adults may identify with the grieving/helpless parents, or maybe even the vice principal. She is certainly exasperating, perhaps even clueless, but she is also genuinely at a loss as to how to help. No doubt she is like many other administrators in many schools. (Kelby tells a different story; she encountered outright hostility from faculty as well as students. Although the film does not make this point, combating anti-gay harassment may require another sort of strategy.) In the end, the film is silent as to what, in fact, a sympathetic administrator should do to combat bullying. Its solutions begin, and end, with community awareness.

IMDb link

viewed 4/9/12 7:00 pm at Ritz East [PFS screening] and reviewed 4/10 and 4/12/12