Bully's rating isn't that big of a deal

 There has been a lot of discussion lately about the film Bully and the MPAA. Bully is a documentary about bullying in school that has garnered national attention to the problem. The MPAA gave the film an R rating for the language used in the film specifically the prolific use of the F word (hint it rhymes with duck).

 The Weinstein Company (the distributor of the film) argued against the rating stating that it’s an important film that every parent and child should see. An R rating would undermine that. So in protest they decided to release the movie unrated. Some think the MPAA has been unfair with theHunger Games (a film about teenagers killing teenagers) receiving a PG-13rating.
 Looking at the some of the logic I reject the notion that just because the movie has an R rating the intended audience won’t be able to see it. Children can still see the movie they just have to be accompanied by an adult. This in a way reinforces the fact that children and parents need to watch this movie together. Even if Bully received a more favorable rating it would still be parents taking their children to see the film.
 Bully is a documentary. Most kids are not going to pick that movie as something they want to watch. They would rather watch The Lorax or Wrath of the Titans. Another argument is that with an R rating it would never be allowed to show in any classroom. I doubt the validity of this argument, as well as there are exceptions to every rule. Schools can opt to have this shown in classrooms. I remember having to take home permission slips to watch sex education videos as well as the Scared Straight videos. The Scared Straight videos show how versatile the F word is as a noun, a verb, an adjective, and so on.
 I really think that this whole deal is a great marketing scheme for some extra publicity for a documentary that probably wouldn’t have had that big of an audience to start. Now that more have heard about it the curiosity will set in and people will watch spreading the word. Ultimately that is the goal of the filmmaker, to spread that message.