Award-winning documentary ‘Bully’ hits the Orpheum Theater on Jan. 24
Bullying has been a topic of great discussion. The city of Marshalltown has been going to great lengths to solidify its stance against bullying in its schools and community with the Not In Our Town (NIOT) campaign. The IVCCD Orpheum Theater Center has been a large part of the movement, focusing a lot of its programming around the issue. Now it’s back at it again, as it will be showing an award-winning and slightly controversial documentary titled, Bully.
On Thursday, Jan. 24, the Orpheum Theater Center will feature a special showing of Bully, a 2011 documentary film about bullying in U.S. schools. Directed by Lee Hirsch, the film follows the lives of five students who face bullying on a daily basis.
Bully premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and hit theaters in the U.S. on March 30, 2012. The documentary follows students form high schools in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma during the 2009-2010 school year. The film describes in great detail how the average American school kid cannot defend himself or herself against ridicule.
The film’s director, Lee Hirsch, was a victim of bullying as a child and decided to make a documentary so that the hidden lives of bullied children would be brought to the open. Hirsch said he hoped the film grows far beyond him, inspiring advocacy, engagement, and empowerment not just in people who are being bullied and in their families, but by those of us who all too often stand by and do nothing.
The film became a flash point for controversy over the Motion Picture Association of America’s “R” rating it gave to the film for excessive use of explicit language. Critics believed the “R” rating wouldn’t allow younger viewers to see it. After much public pressure, the film rating was later lowered to “PG-13”, making it easier for young audiences to see it and retain its message.
Showtime is at 7 pm and admission is $7. Call 641-844-5919 to reserve your ticket. For more information, go to www.ivotc.com.
The Orpheum Theater Center is owned and operated by the Iowa Valley Community College District.