Drew Brees and Congress Members Support the Campaign to Change the Rating on Bully

Poster for Bully
Poster for Bully - Poster © Weinstein Company
The campaign to have the MPAA reconsider their decision and lower the rating from R to PG-13 on Bully is picking up steam, with 20 U.S. Congress members lending their support to the effort. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is also showing his support for the petition created by Michigan high school junior Katy Butler on Change.org to get the rating adjusted. Butler, who was bullied and knows the importance of the film’s anti-bullying message, wants teens to be able to see the documentary and has collected more than 287,000 signatures on her online petition.
 
View the petition: MPAA: Don’t let the bullies win! Give ‘Bully’ a PG-13 instead of an R rating!
 
According to the press release from The Weinstein Company, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) issued a bipartisan letter to the MPAA signed by “20 additional Members of Congress, supporting Katy’s petition and urging the MPAA to drop the ‘R’ rating for Bully.”
 
“We are writing to express our sincere disappointment in the MPAA’s decision to issue an ‘R’ rating for the soon-to-be-released documentary Bully. This important project shows the real life anguish of many teenagers in this country who are tormented, harassed, and bullied by their peers,” states the letter from members of Congress. “This truth should be shared with as wide an audience as is appropriate and possible. We believe an R-rating excludes the very audience for whom this film is desperately important.”
 
In addition to Drew Brees and members of Congress, Ellen DeGeneres, and singer/actress Demi Lovato have been active in their support of Butler’s campaign.
 
“We’ve got the MPAA’s attention, and with nearly 300,000 signatures and support from celebrities and politicians, there’s now a national movement of people calling on the MPAA to drop the ‘R’ rating for Bully,” Butler said. “As someone who lived through bullying day in and day out in school, including having my finger broken by bullies, this film is too important to silence with an ‘R’ rating. Everyone should have a chance to see Bully.”
 

Source: The Weinstein Company, Change.org – March 12, 2012