Director Lee Hirsch on Thursday said
his documentary film Bully would be released with a PG-13
rating after all.
The Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA) originally gave the film an R rating due to six
expletives heard in the documentary, which is being distributed by
The Weinstein Company.
To get a lower rating, Hirsch said he
was forced to edit out three of the expletives, but a key scene in
the film remained intact.
“I'm just glad that we held strong.
I think this is a great resolution,” Hirsch told Reuters.
“We are getting so much interest to see the film, and this makes
it much easier for schools to get behind it.”
Bully
looks at the lives of several victims of bullies, including
12-year-old Alex from Sioux City, Iowa and 16-year-old Kelby from
Tuttle, Oklahoma. Kelby's ordeal began after she came out gay.
The film opened last weekend in Los
Angeles and New York without a rating, leaving it up to theater
owners to decide whether the film was suitable for younger viewers.
The fight for a lower rating was led by
gay teen Katy Butler, who launched an
online petition asking the MPAA to lower the film's rating so
that the film's target audience could watch the film. More than
485,000 people signed onto the petition, including Ellen DeGeneres
and 26 members of Congress.