Bullies on the Big Screen

Boy is it COLD outside!!! I just want to snuggle underneath a blanket and watch a movie. Speaking of which, I've noticed many of the movies I have come to love and watch over and over again have a character that's a bully. Honestly, I didn't really think about it before. Bullies seem to appear in most movies set in a school or surround the life of a young person usually under 18. In High School Musical, there's Sharpay. In 17 Again, there's Stan. In 13 going on 30, there's Lucy. In Despicable Me, there's Gru, Miss Hattie and Despicable Me 2, you have El Macho. In Back to the Future there's Biff. Watching each character taunt, humiliate or utterly destroy someone's confidence/self esteem makes my heart just plummet.

I wanted to bring this to attention because there's a lesson to be learned. Now, I realize these are fiction films, but nevertheless these things happen in real life. I still remember watching the movie, Cyberbully, and having a million emotions go through me. What I went through was nothing compared to what Taylor was feeling. Regardless, no one has any right to treat someone else like dirt. Not a single person. I'm sure many of us have felt similar maybe even wished we weren't alive, but there is something to be said about staying strong and fighting the fight. The key for me to keep myself from falling into believing the lies fed to me from bullies is to remind myself daily that Ruth Jackson is in fact a one-of-a-kind human being and nothing can bring me down!

Here is a list of movies with bullies in them. Some of them I haven't seen yet, but I plan to! Think about what these characters are doing. If you realize you've been doing the same thing, make a change. If you see a classmate being cornered, be their "hero." Sometimes it's scary whether you are being bullied or standing up for someone else, but it's the right thing to do. Be the person others can look up to.

--Ruth Jackson