"Bully" (2011) is a documentary follows three US public school students who are bullied daily and also two families who lost sons to suicide after enduring bullying. Filmed during the 2009-10 school year, the audience sees the students enduring bullying and talking about how bullying effects their lives.
While difficult to watch, this movie is a must-see. The film lays bare what way too many students endure on a daily basis in American schools: bullies. While bullying is not a new concept, I've never seen it depicted in such a raw fashion, for example, when the cameras follow a then 12 year-old Alex on the school bus where he is treated as a human punching bag by the kids he desperately wants to be accepted by. In fact, the violence against Alex reaches a level where the filmmakers feel they must show the evidence to school administrators and Alex's parents. The interviews with the families of the deceased students who were victims of bullying are just heartrenching - there's no other way to describe it. Luckily there is some hope in the form of activism by these families, which is picked up by other students including some bullied themselves.
While tough to watch, please watch this film! A- for me for tackling a very difficult subject and hopefully influencing much-needed dialogue about bullying
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