Reading reviews for the film If…. on Amazon.com – many of which speak of the boarding school bullying that takes place in the film – reminded me of the oft uttered phrase by some parents and educational authority figures “bullying builds character”.
Yes, I can totally see where they come from with that, seeing the great wonders it did for their characters! It must take a great deal of strength to look away, stick your fingers in your ears and go: “La-la-la – I’m not listening!”. It takes a real fortitude to ignore the cancer that rapes one’s (student) body.
Ha – by their standards, getting raped must be fucking empowering!
Hopefully, the next thousand Columbines will erase these pusillanimous pricks from the gene pool – one can but hope!
~MRDA~
on the other side of this spectrum of idiotic parental responses to bullying; here in the states kids are expelled for playing cops and robbers because it necessarily entails figurative gunplay, or for bringing “weapons” like nail clippers, or because they hug eachothers’ undeveloped chests. many parents and school officials are taking the initiative to sexualize and criminalize innocuous behavior, at the same time other are ignoring very serious and truly sociopathic behavior.
is it so impossible that people can find a middle road?
of course, as usual, that’s too much to ask of the massmind….
I saw If… I was kind of disappointed with the ending, but it was pretty good.
I see bullying as a modern manifestation of ancient rituals which involved sacrificing the weak to appease the gods. Now we disguise our submission to primal urges with the modernized rationale that it’s for our own good, yours and mine, when we treat others like meat that is thrown to the dogs…Hey, “dogs” is “gods” rearranged. Neat, huh?