To be clear:
Is bullying a good thing, to be encouraged? Absolutely not.
Andy Richter Controls the Universe (Fox, 2002-2003) "Bully the Kid", 14 June 2004 The bully in this episode is Jessica's (Paget Brewster) nephew, Jake (12)(Martin Spanjers), who blackmails Andy Richter (Andy Richter) when he finds Andy's porn stash. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Nickelodeon, 1991-2000) "The Tale of the Dark Music", 24 October 1992 Andy Carr (Graham Selkirk) is afraid of what might be in the basement of his new house. He decides whatever it is, it is good punishment for Koda (Leif Anderson), the bully who is taunting him, so he traps his nemesis -- then never sees him again. (Speaking of bullies, Andy's little sister Christina Carr [Jennie Levesque] is no walk in the park.) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bent Out of Shape (short, Ireland, 1995) Danny (Des O'Byrne), a gay punk, makes friends with a young bullied boy, Stephen (Stuart Dannell-Foran), but their friendship has consequences. [description from rarefilmfinder.com/showfilm.php?id=13818] ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Boy Who Wore Spectacles (short, Russia, 1972) A timid child's imagination opens the door to a fantasy world. Little Kuvy's [Kuvanychbek] daydreams about besting bullies give him the confidence to cope with the kids who torment him and his girlfriend Bermeta. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Even Stevens (Disney Channel, 1999-2003) "Hutch Boy", 5 July 2002 Louis Stevens (Shia LaBeouf) is confronted one day by Lloyd Offler (Brad Bufanda), who accuses Louis of insulting him and warns him, "I've got you on my radar". Louis doesn't understand why the much bigger boy has targeted him, but the bullying continues throughout the show until the end, when Lloyd notices Louis's mechanical ability and wants to become friends. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Karate Kid (film, 2010) "Bullying" is mentioned as one of the reasons -- indeed the first one listed -- for the films "PG" rating. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenge of the Nerd (tv short film, 1983) This film, produced for The Learning Corporation of America, was presented on the CBS Afternoon Playhouse and tells the story of how Bertram Cummings (Manny Jacobs) overcomes his feelings of ostracism and rejection for being bullied and laughed at by his 9th-grade peers. Three boys at his school continually call him names and generally make his life miserable, going so far as to fabricate a note from Manny's dream girl, Louise Baker (Sara Inglis), asking him to meet her for a date. When Manny shows up dressed in a cream-coloured suit, tie, and straw hat, the girl (who knew nothing of the invitation) laughs at how silly Bertram looks. Bertram hatches a plan involving his technological expertise to trick the boys and girl into believing an extraterrestrial alien wants to make them famous. When Bertram's tormentors call a meeting of the student council to "introduce" their alien "friend" via closed-circuit television, Bertram uses a remote control to run a taped message in which he reveals that he has impersonated the alien, thus demonstrating how bullies (and others) can be easily fooled.In a chilling foretaste of the horror of school shootings in the early XXIst century, often by latter-day Bertrams who are not so clever nor forgiving of their tormentors, Bertram reminds his listeners, "Fortunately, my message was not a dangerous one. But it could have been. And who knows what people might do, especially when those people are out to get their names in the paper." (He's referring to the boys who bullied him and the girl who laughed at him, who, believing the alien would make them famous, called the student council meeting. But he just as well could have been talking about people like himself.) By the way, the film is also known as "Battle of the Bullies". The film's message, then and for today, is that bullying cannot survive the cunning and will-power of the nerd who can mobilize his (or her) self-esteem. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Round the Twist (Australian Children's Television Foundation, 1989-2001) Most episodes find James Gribble (Lachlan Jeffrey [1989], Richard E. Young [1993], Brook Sykes [2000-2001]), aka Gribbs, or Gribble Jr -- though his father's name is Harold -- tormenting the Twists just for his own amusement and that of his mates, Tiger Gleeson (Cameron Nugent [1989], Nick Mitchell [1993], Tom Budge [2000-2001]) and Rabbit (Stuart Atkin [1989], Drew Campbell [1993], Samuel Marsland [2000-2001]). ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Simpsons (Fox, 1989-present) "Bye Bye Nerdie", 11 March 2001 This entire episode is about bullying. Francine is a new girl at school who greets Lisa's attempt to be friendly with a fist in the chops. Lisa notices that Francine is aggressive towards nerdy, smart kids, she leaves alone kids like Bart. After some thinking and viewing school surveillance videos in Groundskeeper Willie's closet, Lisa decides that Francine is responding to a pheromone, which Lisa dubs "Poindextrose", that is only found in the sweat of a "geek, dork or four-eyes". Supporting elements of the show give some interesting views of bullying. After Lisa's unfortunate encounter with Francine's fist, Homer tries to console her: "Now don't feel bad honey. Did you know, back in grade school I had a bully problem myself?" We then see a flashback in which the boy Homer is pounding another boy (who looks a lot like Mr Smithers) in rhythm, while singing "Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting . . ." After the flashback, we see Homer waxing nostalgic: "Good times". Later, Lisa approaches Nelson and his gang, interrupting their pelting of Martin Prince with tomatoes to ask, "Would you bullies be interested in some bodyguard work". Nelson is interested: "This is so funny; we were just talking about moving into protection." His cohort Dolph Starbeam tells Lisa, "We're offering a recess and lunch package that's highly affordable." Lisa goes on to explain what she needs, and the boys are enthusiastic, until Lisa uses the pronoun "She". The deal is immediately off. Nelson: "She? Sorry, we don't do girls. They bite and kick and scratch." Dolph (wistfully): "And sometimes we fall in love." (The boys all sigh.) Lisa: "Wow, there's so much I don't understand about bullying." Nelson takes Lisa for a walk to discuss the issue, as the other boys leave: "Yeah, there's a lot of history there. Did you know it predates agriculture?" ------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Kid [The Warrior of Waverly Street] (film, 1997) Spencer Griffith (12) is bullied by Turbo/Manfred (!) Bruntley (Joey Simmrin). One night Spencer sees an alien spacecraft land, and in it is a "cybersuit" which he discovers he can wear to become a superhero -- and give the bully his comeuppance (of course). (This film is totally and completely derivative and predictable, from the sighting of the spacecraft landing [Invaders from Mars, 1953] to the bully material and Spencer's pre-pubescent crush on a girl in his class.) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Weird Science (USA Network, 1994-1998) "Camp Wannabe", 15 October 1994 [from IMDb synopsis}: "To seek revenge on a bully that tortured Gary at summer camp, the boys go back to 1985 as camp counselors and save Gary ruining the bully's life." =================================================================== Professional and popular literature on the topic of bullying ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Older adults can be bullies, too". AARP Bulletin, March 2012, p.6 AARP Bulletin, > =================================================================== Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------------------------------- Boys are smelly, &c., c.2003 Some critics of the product line described below say that it encourages girls to bully boys. After Florida company David and Goliath released a product line of t-shirts, school supplies and so forth with illustrations by company owner Todd Harris Goldman and slogans such as "Boys are Smelly" and "Boys are Stupider, Send them to Jupiter", "radio host and masculist" [see Wiki reference below] Glenn Sacks mounted a campaign against the products. The ensuing controversy became a major discussion in the popular media, including a well-known CNBC debate between Goldman and Sacks (!) on 24 February 2004, hosted by Dylan Ratigan. According to the Wiki page on this issue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_are_stupid,_throw_rocks_at_them!_controversy Goldman has denied any active support of the "girl-power" movement: "I'm a guy. I couldn't give a rat's ass about girl empowerment. Our market is teenage girls. I know what sells." Rat's ass, indeed. [Note also the book, Boys are Stupid . . . Throw Rocks at Them. New York: Workman Publishing, 2005] "Bullied dolphin hides from tormentors near Huntington Beach" Christian Science Monitor (online) 2012.04.30 story, reported on television and by many news sources online and elsewhere, about a dolphin -- variously nicknamed "Freddie" and "Bolsa Chica Bob" -- swimming in the Bolsa Chica (Huntington Beach, California) Wetlands, apparently avoiding his pod because he was tormented by its other members. www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0430/Bullied-dolphin-hides-from-tormentors-near-Huntington-Beach-video =================================================================== Simple listing of a few films and tv shows depicting bullying (there are literally hundreds) Codes: Main Topic (M), subtopic (S) / humorous (h), serious (s) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Rock from the Sun (NBC, 1996-2001) "Dickmalion", 13 April 1997 [S/h] Charles in Charge (ABC, 1984-1985; MCA/Universal syndication, 1985-1990) "Extracurricular Activity", 10 October 1984 [M/h] Shorts (film, 2009) [S/h] The Simpsons (Fox, 1989-present) many, many episodes deal with bullying; indeed, one of the central, running characters is Nelson Muntz, who is simultaneously funny and pathetic [M/S/h] Wizards of Waverly Place (Disney Channel, 2007-2012) "Disenchanted Evening", 9 November 2007 "Alex's Spring Fling", 20 July 2008 Bully played in these two episodes by J.R. May