Activism has been defined in two different ways for us this year. Gladwell vs. Stone. For some reason, they both think it has to be one or the other. Why can’t it just be both? That’s the way I see it anyways. I understand where Gladwell is coming from because if you just spread awareness about any old cause, you’re more of a cheerleader than a player. In order to be a player, you really have to CARE about the cause you’re spreading awareness for. Often times, caring leads to a person putting their name to a cause – both physically and emotionally. This is how I feel about bullying.
Bullying is a HUGE issue in our school system these days, and there isn’t nearly enough being done about it… well, yet anyways. A few months ago, I was browsing IMDb (as I do with almost ALL of my spare time), and I came across this movie called Bully, a documentary-styled movie that depicts the lives of those affected by bullying.
Because I am such a supporter of bullying-awareness, I thought “what a great way to tell everybody about the effects of bullying.” Then, I saw the rating. The MPAA rated Bully ‘R’ for mature language. My immediate response “bullshit.” You would think that a movie geared toward elementary and high school students, those who are affected MOST by bullying, should be allowed to see this, but with the MPAA rating, it would make it impossible for this movie to be shown to that demographic.
I took it to Twitter, little did I know, so did actor Avon Jogia.
He retweeted my opinions and then tweeted back at me asking me to sign a petition.
I did.
Not only did I sign the petition, but I tweeted and facebooked the link to the petition. I spread the cause through social media – I was a Stone-activist. I took my activism to the next level by telling all of my friends about it, encouraging them to sign the petition as well – in essence, I became a Gladwell activist as well.
Apparently 500,000 people felt the same way as me because after that many signatures, the MPAA has reduced their rating to PG-13. Awesome, right? Now, more kids will be allowed to view this movie and learn about the dangers of bullying.
Check out the trailer. Bully comes out this Friday, April 13.
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