Hey Weinstein, Give Free Copies Of 'Bully'...

In the latest news concerning The Weinstein Company's new documentary film titled 'Bully' that depicts the horrors of anti-gay bullying, the association of theater owners have threatened the company with an NC-17 rating for this and other 'not rated' TWC movies.

TWC has indeed proclaimed that this movie is unlike any other movie, that it has a purpose to educate the populace and in particular, teenagers. With an 'R' rating, the company reasons that young people may not be able to view it, and that schools will be prohibited from showing it at schools.

I remember that when I was in high school we watched many 'R' rated movies because they were important to the course study, and one movie that stands out in my memory is Spielberg's 'Schindler's List' which many people see as a very important movie that depicts and dramatizes the horrors of the holocaust during Nazi Germany. And still the movie was rated 'R' and there was no significant problems in showing it. The only stipulation was that we had to have a parent sign a permission slip, which I may add are very easy to falsify (and of course I am not advocating such behavior), my parents did sign it because they knew that the movie was about the holocaust. Problems would ensue if schools wanted to show other 'R' rated movies like 'Not Another Gay Movie' or 'Goodfellas' or my favorite 'Scarface' with Al Pacino. These movies bare no educational significance at a high school, although one can draw some social significance to these movies, they do not reflect educational goals of school curriculum.

TWC should just leave the movie as it is and stop whining about the rating system. Yes it is an 'unfair' system to this and many other films, but in the end all you are doing is just exposing yourself to more scrutiny, which I am pleased to explore. The company's persistence to change the rules for this particular movie is quite laughable since again, schools can and still show movies that are rated R. With a lower rating the company can in theory have a wider audience at the movie theaters, and one can only think that maybe this is their true motivation. Its not just that they want kids to see this film and deal with the serious issue of bullying, but its rather a ploy to sell more tickets. I have nothing against making money out of movies since profiteering can sometimes encourage more competitive talent (again sometimes). If TWC really was serious about this movie's PR intentions of addressing the bullying pandemic, then why not release it straight to DVD and offer free copies to all? If it is that unique and that important, simply make sure everybody sees it, rating or not, with or without profit, since stopping kids from committing suicide should have a higher priority than a movie's potential gross revenue.

Or better yet: why not put it straight to youtube and allow people to download the movie and make copies and spread the so-called important message of your film? Of course they won't do that. Because that is not their motive, their motive is cash in the registers of your local movie theater, and don't forget the popcorn too! Get that ATM card ready.

Tweet