Ann Arbor's Katy Butler to deliver 200,000-plus signatures seeking PG-13 rating for 'Bully'
The Ann Arbor teen who has played an active role in the anti-bullying movement in Michigan will travel to Los Angeles Wednesday to present her petition to lower the rating of an anti-bullying documentary to officials with the Motion Picture Association of America.
Katy Butler, 17, appeared on CNN live from Detroit Friday to talk about her personal experience with bullies, as well as her effort to persuade the MPAA to drop the rating of “Bully” from R to PG-13 so more students can see it.
Katy Butler
On Friday, Butler told CNN that her Change.org petition had more than 162,000 supporters. As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, 211,706 people have signed up online.
“I think it’s an absolutely powerful, wonderful movie because these are real kids and they’re telling their real stories,” Butler told CNN. “The language in this movie is part of what makes it so powerful.”
Butler is expected to deliver her petition to officials with the MPAA at 10 a.m. Pacific time, according to a statement released Tuesday by Change.org.
Previous coverage: Greenhills teen pushes for lower PG-13 rating of new movie 'Bully'
Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
Cameron McLain
Thu, Mar 8, 2012 : 8:41 p.m.
Why bother. Wouldnt it be better to promote bringing your kids to it, rather than trying to lower the rating, when most kids that do the bullying probably dont care to see it anyway?
KimS
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 : 5:06 p.m.
Ellen gave a "shout-out" to Katy, who was in her audience, this morning on her show. After viewing the movie, Ellen expressed her support of the PG-13 status, and encouraged her viewers to sign the petition. How refreshing it is to see a public figure use their popularity to promote anti-bullying, instead of *ahem* bullying others.
jns131
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 : 10:15 p.m.
I'm not sure about you, but every time Ellen gets involved? Something gets done. I thing Ellen will get Hollywood moving in the right direction. I hope.
KimS
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 : 3:35 a.m.
I saw a story about this on 'The Today Show' this morning, and they said the reason for the R rating was because of only SIX "bad" words. I'm sure that kids who are being bullied have heard them all. Nice interview on CNN; Keep up the battle against bullies, Katy!
A Voice of Reason
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 : 1:29 a.m.
Why doesn't she meet with the directors to edit the film vs. the Motion Picture Association of America. Not sure why we are listening to a 17 year old tell us what is appropriate for a 17 year old or a 13 year old. How does she know? The movie would be great, just make it appropriate for all kids and maybe question the directors and producers. Seems like she is part of the marketing /PR efforts of the film--for example, who contacted CNN for her to be interviewed? Maybe the directors/producers did which is worse than just editing the film to make it appropriate.
Hmm
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 : 3:05 p.m.
Love this comment, you are truly living up to your name!
xmo
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 9:24 p.m.
Conservative women like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann get Bullied all of the time on TV and in the movies. I wonder if her petition will help them?
cinnabar7071
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 10:28 p.m.
Johnnya sounds like you've done a little bullying in your day, you cant justify it with one group then demand the others to stop. How will they know the difference between good bullying and bad bullying?
johnnya2
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 10:02 p.m.
How do they get "bullied"? You have no idea what the definition is. If you put yourself in a filed like politics, entertainment, etc, you know going in, you will be criticized. That is a huge difference between having a CHILD bullied in a school. Typical right wing garbage. These two women are not bullied, they are ADULTS who CHOOSE to be in the public spotlight. Get a clue.
jns131
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 8:56 p.m.
I was bullied and my child was bullied. The bullies need to realize if you mess with me? You will go to jail. There is a law out on bullies and I hope to see a lot more children ask their parents to take a stand with them to put these mean people away. I also think the parents who let their children do the bullying should do time in jail as well. Good luck Katy!!
Frank
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 8:32 p.m.
I saw this and thought who would ever let young kids watch Larry Clark's "Bully"? Glad to see the protest is aimed at a different film
A2K
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 8:22 p.m.
Excellent work Katy!
antikvetch
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 7:50 p.m.
Online signatures. Sigh....