Shortly after Katy Butler hand delivered a petition with more than 200,000 signatures to the MPAA, asking them to give “Bully” a PG-13 rating, chairman of the Classification and Rating Administration said the MPAA “shares Katy’s goals of shining a light on the problem of bullying.”
Sure, that sounds good… but does the MPAA plan on changing the rating of the film? Nope.
“Katy Butler’s efforts in bringing the issue of bullying to the forefront of a national discussion in the context of this film are commendable and we welcome the feedback about this movie’s rating. We hope that her efforts will fuel more discussion among educators, parents and children“, Joan Graves said in the statement.
“The R rating is not a judgment on the value of any movie,” Graves wrote. “The rating simply conveys to parents that a film has elements strong enough to require careful consideration before allowing their children to view it.”
Currently there is nothing in place to change the rating once the Classification and Rating Appeals Board makes a decision, which they did on February 23. It should be noted that numerous members of the board wanted the movie rated PG-13, so it could be shown in schools, but it takes two-thirds vote, rather than majority to change the rating.
As it stands, the filmmaker can submit a new version of his film with some modified elements and the MPAA will rule if a rating change is in order. It’s unclear at this time if the Weinstein Company will have this done, but we highly doubt that, as they’ve considered leaving the MPAA over the rating of Bully.
Butler started her petition on change.org, and quickly saw the number of signatures shoot up to more than 200,000. The site paid for her, and her mother, to hand deliver the signatures to the MPAA headquarters in Los Angeles.
Just today the Weinstein Company released the official trailer for the movie, you can check it out below:
