The most unrealistic part of the film was at the end when she tells off the mean girl in the cafeteria and everyone claps and then later celebrates.
That would never happen. At most, the gay guy might have joined in, but that's about it. Most people would probably just laugh, the mean girl would laugh at the person scolding them and everyone would tweet about how dumb she was.
what'd you expect? it was a movie...
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I agree with the OP. That scene made me cringe a little. I felt embarassed for Taylor and all of them standing up to that witch Lindsay and her pathetic toads.
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I brought this up in a similar thread for Disney's Radio Rebel and asked if ANYBODY had ever seen this happen in real life where someone confronted and stood up to their bully and told them off - one poster said he saw it in a "documentary" where the underdog Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity took on the bullying jocks from Alpha Betas and beat them in a talent contest. I had to inform him he was actually watching "Revenge of the Nerds"
true story...
I agree I did once stand up to this leader of a group of bullies. I originally wanted to be friends with them, because my recently acquired best friend was. I told her off and told her to get over herself and leave everyone else alone. I walked away alone and eventually my best friend joined me, but remained friends with the other girl too.
shareHair pie.
shareYeah. And it made it come off like she was the only bully. She was not the only person who was saying bad things. So many people were. Plus she was not only one who ignored or laughed at Taylor.
I hope you like feminist rants because that's kind of my thing.
I agree that this was definitely a poor way to end the movie. They did the exact same thing in 2005's "Odd Girl Out"--the victim finally stood up to her bully in a public place with a bunch of kids watching, and she got a round of applause at the end. Really? In my opinion, it was just silly that when Taylor told Lindsay to stop bullying, she got immediate backup from several other students. High school is not set up where there is one evil person who makes life miserable for everyone. It just doesn't work like that. It would be impossible for one kid to create and sustain all that drama by themselves, no matter how diabolical they might be. It takes a whole bunch of them to gang up on others and stir the pot. There are so many separate groups and cliques, each of them with their own separate problems. They made it seem like Lindsay was the one classmate driving everyone down in that entire school.
The whole scene also seemed like a slap in the face to anyone who has actually dealt with bullying in the high school setting. Fortunately, I never did, but I would imagine that this scene downplays the reality that many victims have a long road ahead of them, even when things start looking up. For example, a kid in Taylor's position had enough on her plate fixing things with her family and closest circle of friends. Taking it a step further by confronting Lindsay was just stupid. I think it's important to send these teens the message that many bullies don't change--some of them might, but a lot of them simply don't--and it's better to just leave them alone and focus on your own life.
If somebody like Taylor did the whole confrontation thing in real life, I'm sure it would make things even worse for her. Kids would be texting messages and videos to each other about that freaky girl who tried standing up to the queen bee. They should have just ended the movie with Taylor telling Samantha "I don't know if we can be friends the same way again, but I'm willing to try", and then the two of them sitting down for lunch with Cheyenne and the two other guys. I think that's a much better, more true-to-life way to end things, by saying "Hey, the mean kids aren't even worth wasting your breath on. Open yourself up to new people and new things. If you meet someone in the hall who seems nice but you never knew them before, give them a chance. Live your life and eliminate the drama."
That would have been better. I feel like a lot of these anti bullying movies fail so miserably and try to offer up imaginary solutions rather than face the truth. Maybe you're bully isn't gonna change in one day. Maybe you don't just have one bully. Maybe you have to learn to not let them affect you. Or maybe you have to give them a good but whoopin'. :)
I hope you like feminist rants because that's kind of my thing.
What you said. Reality is that bullies usually remain bullies (until they fail miserably as adults) and you're never going to eliminate their bullying. The best you can do is change how you react to it. Definitely not easy.
I like your ending. It's realistic and it gives the viewers an idea to hold on to.
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Trust me, I'm a doctor.
I don't know how true that is. I was in something of a similar situation--in a work environment, I was constantly getting needled by another woman I worked with. I finally lost it and told her off and I was pretty merciless. She shut the **** up after that and was actually quite respectful.
shareThe difference here is that you're describing a work relationship which, I am assuming, was between two adults. Children are different in that many lack the insight and security to do what your coworker did. I've seen all too often children respond to confrontation by becoming even more relentless.
shareAgreed. This only could have happened in a film. Teenagers are far too cruel and puerile to do something that mature.
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Trust me, I'm a doctor.
You're absolutely right. The only REAL solution to bullying is to convince the majority of the school to give a rat's left front tooth about it. Never happen.
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