Salon.com > Bully

“Bully’s” Hollywood ending?

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:20:00 +0000

A strange détente to the kerfuffle featuring the Motion Picture Association of America and the Weinstein Co. emerged yesterday, when it was reported that a slightly recut version of the documentary “Bully” would be rated PG-13. This news came after more than a month of wrangling during which the film about teenage bullying was given a controversial R rating by the MPAA for its limited use of the f-word. The MPAA became the target of widespread derision, including on Salon, as critics pointed out that its decision made the film inaccessible to its intended audience. (The documentary had received a "PG" rating from the Canadian rating board.)

In the end, the debate has been hugely beneficial to the film (a fact that Harvey Weinstein, a famously shrewd marketer, was likely aware of). Following an initial appeal by the Weinstein Co. -- which the MPAA ultimately rejected -- the film was defiantly released without a rating, earning $115,000 in five locations, the strongest release for a documentary in 2012. “Bully” greatly benefited from a groundswell of public support, including an online petition that garnered 500,000 signatures and the plaudits of high-profile celebrities who held screenings and raised awareness for the film.

Secrets of the MPAA

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:28:00 +0000

The release of the documentary “Bully” comes on the heels of a long-simmering (and undeniably ironic) imbroglio between two notoriously domineering forces: Harvey Weinstein, one of the film industry’s most feared hectors, and the monolithic Motion Picture Association of America. The film about teenage bullying was hit with an “R” rating last month, setting off weeks of tussling between Weinstein and the MPAA. Many celebrities and high-profile media personalities came out to support the film and raised awareness of its message in an unsuccessful campaign to convince the MPAA to change the rating. When “Bully” hits theaters tomorrow, it will run without an MPAA rating, making it potentially even more difficult for younger moviegoers to see it.

Why the MPAA doesn’t want your kid to see “Bully”

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

With its unerring instinct for being on the wrong side of every major social and aesthetic issue, the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board has refused to budge off its R rating for "Bully," an earnest and moving documentary made for and about tormented preteens and teenagers. There's almost a perverse, Santorum-style integrity about the MPAA's staunch resistance. Its ratings board -- an anonymous group of Los Angeles-area parents -- stands tall for some unspecified and imaginary set of American values, in the face of a viral lobbying campaign that has enlisted Justin Bieber, Johnny Depp, Martha Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres and nearly 500,000 other people, and made an overnight media celebrity out of 17-year-old Katy Butler, a self-described victim of bullying who started the online petition.