Pissed over “Bully” rating, Weinstein threatens to ‘leave’ the MPAA

There is no denying that bullying in, and out of, school is a really big problem that has only been aggravated by the existence of social networks like Facebook but it was this specific problem that the movie Bully is trying to address by raising awareness about the cost of bullying.

The movie is being distributed by The Weinstein Company and one of the things that Harvey Weinstein wanted to do with the movie was show it in schools where it is needed the most. The problem is that the Motion Picture Association of America which assigns the ratings to any movie that decided what age groups can see what movie. In the case of Bully the MPAA gave it a ‘R’ rating which effectively stops anyone under the age of 18 from being able to see the movie.

Needless to say Weinstein’s reaction was to appeal the decision and try to get at least a PG-13 rating which would have allowed him to show the movie in high schools at least. However the MPAA stuck with its original rating and that has pissed Harvey Weinstein right off.

In fact he is so mad he is threaten to pull his company out of the MPAA organization – “The Weinstein Company is considering a leave of absence from the MPAA for the foreseeable future.”

The press release that went out goes on to say in part:

“With school-age children of my own, I know this is a crucial issue and school districts across the U.S. have responded in kind. The Cincinnati school district signed on to bus 40,000 of their students to the movie – but because the appeals board retained the R rating, the school district will have to cancel those plans.”

“I personally am going to ask celebrities and personalities worldwide, from Lady Gaga (who has a foundation of her own) to the Duchess of Cambridge (who was a victim of bullying and donated wedding proceeds) to First Lady Michelle Obama (whose foundation has reached out to us as well), to take a stand with me in eradicating bullying and getting the youth into see this movie without restriction.”

Now I didn’t realize that the movie companies like The Weinstein Group could even do that but you know what – Do It Harvey. Seriously if you believe that strongly that this movie should be seen by all the children; and their parents, that want to see it then maybe the time has come for someone to stand up to the MPAA, and for better cause as well.

Which consider the people Harvey has in his corner on this one – you know, the First Lady of the United States – maybe he could actually win this one somehow.

via FirstShowing