Lady Gaga, Johnny Depp and Michelle Obama Lend Their Support to Harvey Weinstein’s “Bully” Documentary

You would think that Harvey Weinstein would still be riding his Oscar high over the reception to his acclaimed film The Artist this past award’s season but that is clearly not the case for this very successful movie mogul. Harvey has already thrown himself into the release of his next film, the documentary “Bully” (formerly known as The “Bully” Project) directed by Lee Hirsch.

Bully

“Bully” is “the first feature documentary film to show how we’ve all been affected by bullying, whether as victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness. The world we inhabit as adults begins on the playground. The Bully Project opens on the first day of school. For the more than 5 million kids who’ll be bullied this year in the United States, it’s a day filled with more anxiety and foreboding than excitement.”

Bullying has been prevalent in the media and in youth culture of late. In this social media age, bullying is no longer relegated to just the schoolyard and has gone viral. As a result of the combination of bullying online and at school, those who are bullied do not have a safe place to escape this abuse anymore. There have been many celebrities and organizations that have been championing the anti-bullying movement by empowering the victims like It Gets Better and the tireless efforts by Lady Gaga who brought it to another level with recent the launch of her Born This Way (BTW) Foundation.

Unfortunately, Weinstein’s movie has been plagued by controversy as it was given an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) due to 6 expletives. This rating means that youth 17 and under who would benefit most from seeing the film will not be able to see it without a parent or adult in attendance. Weinstein did not take the news of the rating lightly and even brought in one of the subjects of the documentary, 14-year-old Alex Libby, to speak about why this film must be seen by school children. Unfortunately for Weinstein, the MPAA did not overturn the rating despite his best efforts; in fact “Bully” lost its challenge by one vote.

Weinstein issued a press release to address the MPAA’s refusal to change the rating of “Bully”. He said that he would be taking a break from MPAA and will not be having The Weinstein Company (TWC) films screened and rated by the organization in the foreseeable future. He went on to say that, “Alex Libby gave an impassioned plea and eloquently defended the need for kids to be able to see this movie on their own, not with their parents, because that is the only way to truly make a change. With school-age children of my own, I know this is a crucial issue and school districts across the U.S. have responded in kind. The Cincinnati school district signed on to bus 40,000 of their students to the movie – but because the appeals board retained the R rating, the school district will have to cancel those plans.”

The press release went a step further with Weinstein saying that he would be reaching out to those in the public eye who have championed the cause and his plea worked. Lady Gaga, Johnny Depp and First Lady Michelle Obama have all offered their support in this fight. The inclusion of these high-profile and respected public figures draws attention to both the plight of his film and the very real issue of bullying.

Bully Official Trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1g9RV9OKhg[/youtube]

On a recent appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight, Harvey told the host, “I cried at the end of the film, and I said this is a mission for me, and especially for somebody who’s known 10 years ago to have a bad temper. It’s almost an act of redemption to do this movie on a personal basis.”

Movies are rated to a different standard in Canada by provincial agencies. “Bully” was featured at the 2011 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival held in Toronto under the title The Bully Project where it was rated 14A. 

Bully is scheduled for release March 23^rd, 2012. Hopefully Harvey is successful and the film will be seen by those who would benefit most. You can join the fight and sign the petition to change the rating here.

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