Never mind that Hirsch’s film, despite all the publicity, did poor business at the box office, or that controversies about manipulation of facts about the film’s young bullying victims lingered long after its release.
Watching the film, I couldn’t help but be struck by how the one gay bullying victim in the film, a young girl living in Oklahoma, seemed so much more dignified and philosophical about her ordeal.
While the publicity was a gift to Bill 13, the film itself made a much stronger argument against concentrating resources aimed on gay kids only, when bullying could affect anyone, anywhere, who simply suffered from being awkward or conspicuous in the social maelstrom of warehouse-like public schools.
But no one saw the film as much as they saw a word – bullying – and heard a government saying that they had a solution.
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