My first article for Odyssey was about my own experience with bullying. It's a very personal subject and it's something that I'm passionate about stopping because no girl deserves to be pushed around. The sad thing is, bullying among girls is still so much of an epidemic that movies are continuing to be made on the matter.
The first movie about bullying I saw was in 7th grade. Rachel Simmons came to talk to us about bullying and showed us a clip of a movie that had been based off her book. The clip was from the 2005 film, Odd Girl Out, where Alexa Vega plays Vanessa, a once popular girl who's been ostracized from in-crowd by her friends Stacy and Nikki.
At the time, I was still being bullied by a girl who I thought was my friend, so the clip really resonated with me. I remember going home and watching the whole movie on YouTube that weekend. The movie showcased how easy it is for people to turn on you, and how quick others are to follow the crowd instead of stand up for what's right. For being made over a decade ago, the message still reigns true.
The second film that I watched was the summer before junior year of high school. I was 16 and still dealing with the aftermath of being bullied, but when I saw the previews for it on ABC Family, I knew I wanted to see it. The 2011 film is Cyberbully, which stars Emily Osment as Taylor, a high school student who gets tormented by people online. The movie dealt with the social and technology aspects of bullying very well. It showed just how much people can hurt one another and not face the consequences due to the anonymity of the Internet.
The final film I wanted to talk about is the most recent movie about girl vs. girl bullying and it's called A Girl Like Her. Lexi Ainsworth portrays Jessica Burns, a girl who attempts suicide after being harassed via email, social media and in the halls by queen bee Avery Keller. What's powerful about this film is it actually shows the life of both the bully and the bullied. It's not one-sided, and it's very eye-opening to see that while bullies are mean-spirited, they are all human beings at the end of the day.
Each one of these films get more intense about the side-effects or aftermath of bullying. The victims are usually sad, confused, scared or even depressed/anxious. The bullies either continue on their path of destruction or they learn to face the consequences of their actions. Sometimes they get away with it, or the bullying goes unnoticed altogether until it's too late. This is an unfortunate scenario, but it's one that happens more often then you'd think. Overall, these films show how much of a negative impact bullying has and why it needs to be stopped.
If you want to see these films, Cyberbully and A Girl Like Her are available on Netflix. Odd Girl Out is on DVD or you can rent any of these movies from the library. For more information on bullying, visit: https://www.stopbullying.gov/
