****************************************************************** I was looking for a movie to put on as background noise when this popped up. I turned up the volume expecting a cheesy, over-acted, watered down movie with very little knowledge of how high schools actually function.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my expectations were wrong.
This movie really hit home with me for a few reasons. A dear friend of mine was bullied for years to the point where she became so depressed she considered suicide. Emily Osment's character, I felt, perfectly reflected the emotions such a victim has to deal with. You have to remember that for adolescents, such as the characters shown in the film, their social life is literally their entire life. Osment's character very accurately shows the struggles most young teenagers go through of trying to play it cool and ignore their adversaries, all the while hurting and desperately wanting to be liked. Anyone who says this is overacted has not been around melodramatic, young teenage girls lately.
I've seen from the reviews that some people are questioning the plot, particularly why she didn't just shut down her profile. Obviously these critics are not from the texting generation. The film accurately portrays how social media sites quickly become a teenager's life, and how there is a literal panic at the thought of being separated from such means of communication with friends, especially those of the opposite sex. You feel Osment's anxiety over trying to win the heart of her crush and keep this means of communication open with him, even whole exposing herself to harassment. It so accurately captures the cocky attitude teenagers have of thinking they can handle tough situations, all the while slowly breaking down.
The movie was even accurate down to the attitude of the school towards bullying, and how in many schools today, the "no bullying policy" does little, if nothing, to help students.
I did find the ending to be unrealistic and cliché (let's face it- no cafeteria speeches like that actually occur in schools), but Osment's acting during the beginning and middle of the movie is brilliant enough to nearly make up for it.
Overall, give this movie a go. It may not be award-worthy, but it was powerful enough to bring back strong emotions from high school and give a sad reminder of how the youth today struggle to deal with such horrible things.
Oh, and one last thing- for those of you who said she was too pretty to be picked on, look at some of the videos on YouTube made in response to Amanda Todd's suicide video. Beautiful girls (even blondes!) can be bullied too.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my expectations were wrong.
This movie really hit home with me for a few reasons. A dear friend of mine was bullied for years to the point where she became so depressed she considered suicide. Emily Osment's character, I felt, perfectly reflected the emotions such a victim has to deal with. You have to remember that for adolescents, such as the characters shown in the film, their social life is literally their entire life. Osment's character very accurately shows the struggles most young teenagers go through of trying to play it cool and ignore their adversaries, all the while hurting and desperately wanting to be liked. Anyone who says this is overacted has not been around melodramatic, young teenage girls lately.
I've seen from the reviews that some people are questioning the plot, particularly why she didn't just shut down her profile. Obviously these critics are not from the texting generation. The film accurately portrays how social media sites quickly become a teenager's life, and how there is a literal panic at the thought of being separated from such means of communication with friends, especially those of the opposite sex. You feel Osment's anxiety over trying to win the heart of her crush and keep this means of communication open with him, even whole exposing herself to harassment. It so accurately captures the cocky attitude teenagers have of thinking they can handle tough situations, all the while slowly breaking down.
The movie was even accurate down to the attitude of the school towards bullying, and how in many schools today, the "no bullying policy" does little, if nothing, to help students.
I did find the ending to be unrealistic and cliché (let's face it- no cafeteria speeches like that actually occur in schools), but Osment's acting during the beginning and middle of the movie is brilliant enough to nearly make up for it.
Overall, give this movie a go. It may not be award-worthy, but it was powerful enough to bring back strong emotions from high school and give a sad reminder of how the youth today struggle to deal with such horrible things.
Oh, and one last thing- for those of you who said she was too pretty to be picked on, look at some of the videos on YouTube made in response to Amanda Todd's suicide video. Beautiful girls (even blondes!) can be bullied too.