Meryl Streep has three Oscars and is considered the best of all American actresses. But she was bulled in school. She talked about it on Monday night after she was introduced by actress Regency Boies at the Weinstein Company screeening of “Bully” at the Paley Center in New York. The screening was part of the campaign to get the MPAA to change the “Bully” rating from R to PG-13 before the film opens next Friday in New York and Los Angeles. Here’s what she said:
“I watched this with my four college roommates. We get together every year. A child psychologist, a woman who’s a lawyer, a columnist, and a businesswoman–we were all stunned. It brought me back to New Jersey in nineteen fifty…–a long time ago. I was eight year old and up a tree. And my nemesis, this one bully, was hitting my legs with a stick until they bled. It was very ‘Lord of the Flies’
. It was a very nice Republican community, I might add. [Ed note--Meryl said this a with a smile, knowing a lot of the audience were bankers from similar towns. The remark got laughs.] Seeing this, you realize it’s been around, bullying. But I hope this film will give encouragement to the kids who are being bullied. My dad had a little statue on his desk of three little monkeys, a carved Chinese statuette– doing this, this and this. [She demonstrated See No Evil, Say No Evil, Hear No Evil]. I thought maybe this will encourage all those little monkeys to stand up and open their eyes and take the earbuds out of their ears and say something. Because a team is stronger than a bully. I hope you really like it, and tell absolutely everybody at the MPAA that it should have a rating of PG-13.”
I think we've all probably been bullied at some point in our lives, which is why so many people brush it off as not that serious of an issue. But for many of us, after days and weeks and months and years, it really crosses over into something much more affecting, and that's when things can end tragically. I appreciate that such a highly respected and accomplished individual as Meryl Streep would take the time to speak out about this problem that is too often dismissed as "a growing experience" or "just a part of life."
Everyone is bullied at some point in their life. It always baffles me when people try to down play someone's story about bullying because I think we all know how cruel the kids in school can be. We all know that people in school will literally make fun of anyone for absolutely any reason. Some people remain strong and move forward, while other people harbor those feelings and keep them with them. I love when high-profile celebrities talk about being bullied at any age because there are kids who truly believe that it's not going to get any better, and seeing these celebrities on the big screen proves that it does and that it will.
Damn, it seems like every celeb has a past bullying story. I'm still waiting for a celebrity to say that they weren't bullied and that they were actually the most popular girl/guy in school.
Good for Meryl though. It's gotta suck to know that the kid you made fun of grew up to become known as one of the best actresses ever.
Everyone is bullied at some point in their life. It always baffles me when people try to down play someone's story about bullying because I think we all know how cruel the kids in school can be. We all know that people in school will literally make fun of anyone for absolutely any reason. Some people remain strong and move forward, while other people harbor those feelings and keep them with them. I love when high-profile celebrities talk about being bullied at any age because there are kids who truly believe that it's not going to get any better, and seeing these celebrities on the big screen proves that it does and that it will.
