A Chance to do Something Good

UPDATE...AGAIN: We won, after Weinstein agreed to remove three uses of the word fuck, the MPAA has granted Bully its PG-13 rating. YAHOOOO! Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, this really was a huge victory for free speech and anti-bullying causes everywhere.


UPDATE: So the Weinstein company has announced that they are going to release the film as 'unrated' in an effort to get the film still shown and to protest the MPAA. This article over at fandango has more details: http://www.fandango.com/movieblog/weinstein-company-will-release-bully-as-unrated-film-what-exactly-does-that-mean-712117.html

Hey everyone, so during this post I have something very important to tell you about. The Weinstein company is producing a film called "Bully."

The film is a documentary and deals with all the effects of bullying in high school. It paints a very detailed picture of how life is for these kids who are being bullied and does not shy away from any of those topics. As such it is a very realistic portrayal of what is going on in American high schools, and as many of us have experienced that we know how  that is, and that it may not be as innocent as the movie rating system would suggest it is. As a result the film contains the very real things that many teenagers say, which includes sexual innuendos and very intense swear words. As a result of this language, the MPAA has given the film an "R" rating in an effort to be 'consistent' with their previous ratings, which if you are at all familiar with the MPAA you know they are anything but. This "R" rating will be devastating to the film and to the portrayal of its crucial message because the people who need to see the film most, the kids bullying and being bullied under the age of seventeen, will not be able to see this film. They can't go see it in theaters, they can't rent it, and, perhaps most importantly. teachers won't be able to show it in schools. However, there is something you can do about it to try and help show the MPAA how important it is to get this film a PG-13 rating. Katy Butler has started a petition at change.org to get half a million signatures and to bring awareness to this issue in hopes that the MPAA will see how important the nation it's supposed to be protecting thinks it is that our children see this film.
http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-don-t-let-the-bullies-win-give-bully-a-pg-13-instead-of-an-r-rating
That is a link to the petition. It takes barely a minute to sign. If you think it is important for our kids to see this movie please head over and sign it. Various celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres have already signed it. 30 members of congress wrote the MPAA a letter asking them to repeal their decision. At the bottom of the article I have linked the video where Ellen discusses the film and if you want to do a little more research just to get more info than my post has given you, google "Bully Harvey Weinstein" or look at some of the information on change.org, which again you can get to through the link I posted. And here is a link to the movie's website: http://thebullyproject.com/