“Bully” family reacts to film; director Lee Hirsch weighs in on rating

Alex Libby and his parents, who appear in the movie Bully, joined Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien to discuss the school’s reaction to his bullying and how he handles it now. Lee Hirsch, director of Bully, talks about the impact of the MPAA lowering the rating from R to PG-13. CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien says that she took her kids to see the film, and “it was really impactful for them.”

When O’Brien asks him how he will handle bullying in the future, Alex says, “Like, well at first, I made a mistake when I was doing this film, I’ve said many times before that I was embarrassed that I was getting bullied. And so the first thing to do would be to tell someone about it. And then if nothing gets done then if it comes to the point where you had to stand up for yourself, do it. But unless — try to get other people involved first to stop it.”

O’Brien adds, “I watched the film with my kids who are seven, 10 and 11. And of course curse words you know were an issue. We had a little conversation because there was a lot of the “f” word in the film. But we sort of framed it as these are bad words. But I want you to watch the point of the film and it was really impactful for them. It made a big, big difference. You did a lot for my kids, you should know that.”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.