Bully: Movie Analysis

In the film Bully, there is live footage of many different individuals and their experiences with bullying. In chapter thirteen of our class textbook, it discusses bullies, victims, causes and consequences of bullying, and solutions to solve the problem. There are some similarities and differences between the content of the film and the content of the section it correlates with. The book discusses that bullying takes many different forms including physical, verbal, relational, and cyberbullying. It also says that boys bully more than girls and are more physical; whereas, girls are more verbal. In the movie, physical, verbal, and relational bullying are emphasized, but they do mention cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become more popular since the film was created though. …show more content…
One of the boys discusses getting his head sat on and being punched or stabbed. It also shows real life images of these acts. As bullies get older, they focus more on sexual teasing, especially among those who are gay or lesbian. This is pointed out in the movie too. These individuals all endured these acts repeatedly which is what classifies it as bullying, according to the text. In addition to this, the consequences listed from bullying include mental illness, social and relationship difficulties, and low academic achievement. We see this in the video as some of the individuals either commit suicide, can’t relay their emotions, or retaliate, like the girl with the gun or the two boys who killed themselves. The main difference I noted from our book is that it says victims are usually chosen, because they are vulnerable or isolated not by their looks. The video seems to contrast this statement, because many of the victims in it are either lesbian with boyish looks or have an odd appearance to the bullies. Although, in a sense, they are susceptible to the harm as