By: Nicholas Renard

As the sun rises over Sioux City, Iowa, 12-year-old Alex Libby waits for his school bus. After climbing aboard, he sits alone. It’s not long before the harassment begins. It starts small with name-calling and the occasional pinch, but soon escalates to viscous profanity, hitting and even strangling.

This is not an unusual morning for Libby, this is his routine.

This moment, an early scene in “Bully,” the Weinstein Company’s emotionally charged documentary from director Lee Hirsch, sets the tone for the entire film.

“Bully” assays the current bullying crisis in U.S. schools through a focused, objective lens.  Through profiles of five students, and their families, who fall victim to bullying on a near day-to-day basis, “Bully” hopes to provide audiences a glimpse into an ongoing, perforating social problem.

However, after the Motion Picture Association of America branded it with an R rating, which bars anyone under age 17 without an accompanying adult, producers of “Bully” faced losing its target audience of young children and teens.

Studio pleads case, tempers flare.

Proponents of the film, like Stephen Bruno, president of marketing at Time Warner Cable, spoke out against the R rating, claiming it barred children from much needed exposure.

“This documentary shows what’s happening in schools every day,” Bruno said in a Business Week article. “Kids can’t edit their lives.”

The R rating, assigned because of several usages of the “F-word” in what producers considered a key scene, spurred a heated dispute between the MPAA and the Weinstein Co., who responded by advocating for a PG-13 rating. The Weinstein Co.’s campaign culminated with a more than 500,000 signature petition on the website change.org.

After immense public and celebrity support and a prominent media spotlight, the MPAA reclassified “Bully” as “Unrated” before ultimately assigning a PG-13 rating on April 6, provided filmmakers cut three “F-words.” A decision the film’s producers called a “huge victory.”

The MPAA also waved the 90-day waiting period normally required between the release of two differently-rated versions of a film.

MPAA fairness?

The “Bully” rating dispute calls into question the MPAA’s rating system, which some film industry figures say could benefit from re-evaluation.

“It’s definitely an arcane system,” said Robert Hurst, assistant professor of film and media studies at the University of Kansas who has a Master of Fine Arts in film and video production from the University of Iowa. “They have a weird value system that doesn’t seem neutral.”

He said that while the MPAA’s choices are usually justified, its grip on films sometimes becomes too tight, and because an MPAA rating is required before a film can legally show in theaters, or be considered for an Academy Award, this places a “huge burden” on independent filmmakers.

And for independent directors, like Lee Hirsch of “Bully,” an undesired MPAA rating can potentially eliminate a targeted audience or influence box-office success.

Hurst said the when the MPAA, which he referred to as the “Ratings Cartel,” rejects films that apply for a specific rating, it often causes filmmakers to re-edit their films in hope of achieving a desired rating.

Opening weekend and hitting home.

Once reassigned as PG-13, “Bully” opened March 30 in select theaters to mostly positive reviews, grossing $116,472 in its first weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.

At the AMC Town Center 20 theater in Leawood, Kan., “Bully” opened Friday in the largest theater, attracting a mostly adult audience, according to a Leawood AMC spokesperson.

“This is real and something should be done about it,” said Dan Steinbacher of Olathe, Kan., who saw the film with his two step-children Saturday. “My kids say it isn’t going on at their schools but it’s clearly happening elsewhere. People need to be made aware.”

Steinbacher’s sentiments were echoed by the roughly 20 audience members, most of which left with low-hung heads and watery eyes.

Some movie-goers couldn’t wait until the lights came up to share their feelings.

Robert Basolo, a Kansas City, Mo. resident, was one of several who shouted remarks of disapproval during the screening.

“It’s truly horrible,” Basolo said afterwards. “Showing this film should be mandatory in schools.”

“Bully” is rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, disturbing content and some strong language, all involving kids.

For more information on bullying visit standforthesilent.org, or make a contribution toward ending bullying in schools at sftsstore.org.

View an interactive graph of U.S. bullying statistics here.