The bully boys

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I was never bullied like that at school, but I do recall one time in which some kid was sat next to me in class and he just stared at my head for ten minutes or more - apparently, he thought I had an odd-shaped head. If I'd known about gay slurs then I would've used one on him (this was the late 1980s, mind).

Why are you here if you haven't seen the movie yet?

It often doesn't get 'found out'. Bullies tended to be overlooked very frequently even up to the recent past and victims were often too frightened to say anything.

I would have been a major target: as a grade-schooler I was a thin hyper-nerd with thick glasses who destroyed the grade curve in every class.

But I was rather clever about dealing with them. I used something bullies are even more susceptible to than those they harass: fear of the unknown. The right words, gestures, talking wildly about bizarre and surreal things, and showing practiced facial expressions of madness sowed the seeds of doubt and kept most away.

Some even found me fascinating because of the sheer level of oddity I exhibited (the freakshow effect)and I eventually became friends with a few! Then I revealed the truth that everything was staged... and they were even more deeply in awe at the level of fore-planning I'd taken. 😉

This is what I don't get in these films, how do these type of bullies get away with it?