The trailer for the upcoming documentary Bully (aka The Bully Project) has arrived online, and with it comes yet another ratings controversy for The Weinstein Co. The film, which takes a long, hard (and sometimes foul-mouthed) look at the bullying problem in America, was just slapped with an "R" rating for "some language," prompting the Weinstein boys to once again go after the MPAA, appeal their decision, and stand up for their film.
You'll remember not long ago the Weinstein's had to do the same thing when Blue Valentine was slapped with an "NC-17" rating, appealing the decision and successfully getting it changed to an "R." Now they'll be going at it again, though this time it's a bit different because they want to get an "R" changed to a "PG-13" in the hopes more kids will have access to it and subsequently learn from it.
"I have great respect for the work Chairman Joan Graves and the rest of the MPAA governing body do," Harvey Weinstein said. "I have been compelled by the filmmakers and the children to fight for an exception so we can change this R rating brought on by some bad language. As a father of four, I worry every day about bullying; it's a serious and ever-present concern for me and my family. I want every child, parent, and educator in America to see 'Bully', so it is imperative for us to gain a PG-13 rating. It's better that children see bad language than bad behavior, so my wish is that the MPAA considers the importance of this matter as we make this appeal."
a problem that's so widespread and out of control across America, it's definitely disappointing to see the MPAA restrict the audience for this film because of "some language." Question is: How necessary is the language to the film? When The Weinstein Co. bleeped out a string of F-bombs and re-released The King's Speech under a PG-13 rating in order to capitalize on its Oscar buzz, folks criticized the move because the cursing was pretty essential to the plot and to the main character's arc. The editing hurt the film overall.
But in this case, if it's just a bunch of kids cursing at each other (we don't know; we're speculating), then is that really necessary? Could those curse words be bleeped out and sacrificed in order to get the rating down so more kids can see it? That's what we want to know. But what do you think?
Check out the trailer below. Bully hits theaters on March 30th.
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