In order to gain a realistic insight into the motivations behind and effects of bullying, we decided it would be a good idea to research it. We have found some interesting statistics and stories that will help us to really get into the mind of our character and from that, be able to direct the trailer in a way that accurately represents the grittiness of bullying and harassment.
Bullying Statistics
·Over 25,700 counselling sessions with bullied
children on Childline in 2015
25,700 counselling sessions may sound like a large amount at first, however when you consider how many young people there are in the UK (Over 2 million) it doesn't even scratch the surface of how many kids are having to face bullying. This suggests that the majority of victims choose not to open up about their experiences, perhaps because they're afraid of the consequences in regards to the bully, or because they're embarrassed about it. Our anti-hero will relate to this, as she too will keep her thoughts to herself, until she has her psychotic breakdown in which she will express her feelings through vicious anger and frustration.Our trailer may show her attempting to open up to one of her few friends/family members, however this will result in her not being taken seriously - another factor of rejection that pushes our main character to breaking point.
·People who have been bullied are more than twice
as likely to bully others
This statistic suggests that those that are bullied are permanently psychologically damaged, and they find a way to deal with this, namely by doing the same to others what was done to them. This could be applied to our character too, as she will be shown to eventually flip, and harm those who victimised her. This case is more extreme however, as our anti-hero will commit murder, rather than simply bully her peers. Nevertheless, she is still a victim turned perpetrator.
·66% of boys bully compared to 31% of girls
We have taken this statistic into consideration when coming to the decision of whom we will cast as the 'bullies'. At the moment, we feel that we could tackle the stereotype of the persecutors being male, by instead including female antagonists. We will however make sure we use at least two male characters effectively in the trailer, so that our trailer can appeal to the male audience too, and that it doesn't come across as an exclusively female film. Whilst the statistic is correct in saying bullying is more common amongst boys, the idea of girls acting this way too has become much more prevalent in recent years. This is mainly down to females facing less oppression by society and the law, and therefore the stereotype of them being weak and powerless has now faded. Our anti-hero will prove this point, by having both the physical and psychological strength to fight back.
·57% of female respondents to the survey bullied, 44% of males
This statistic states that it is more common for young females to face bullying than boys. This may be incorrect, as men are typically expected to be masculine and to stand up for themselves, therefore many male victims may refuse to admit they're being bullied, or at least have different definitions of it (being able to tolerate more torment until it breaches the line of 'banter'). Therefore it could be said that we aren't subverting any stereotypes by choosing a female lead to be the victim, however this could help us greatly in portraying a realistic situation in our production that a lot of our target audience will be able to relate to.
·20% of all young people have physically attacked
somebody
Our trailer will feature the more violent side of bullying, from both our anti-hero and the original perpetrators. The audience will know from this that the film isn't light-hearted or easygoing, and that it's instead a gritty reality for some innocent young people.
·44% of bullied people face depression
This statistic could be smaller than it suggests, a lot of people wouldn't admit to suffering from depression and some won't even be aware. It will certainly be strongly suggested that our main character has been suffering from depression in our trailer. Depression is becoming more and more common, not because more people suffer from it, but because more are talking about it. Our character won't choose to talk about it however, which may be a factor of her downfall later on, as bottling it up is never a good thing to do. We want to send a message to a portion of our audience that opening up to someone about their issues is the way forward, and we will show evidence of this in the trailer itself. We have to be careful how we portray it however, and will therefore look further into this sub-topic.We also have to make sure we stick to the horror side of things, rather than sway too far from it and focus too heavily on the psychological aspects of the trailer.
·33% of those bullied have suicidal thoughts
Similarly to the last point, this statistic may not be totally accurate, however this topic will be expressed in our trailer. We want it to appear that our character chooses to attack those who victimised her because she doesn't care about the consequences. This can be done by emphasising a lack of remorse on her part, and by making her seem unfazed whilst committing the criminal acts.
Noel Estevez
In June 2014, Noel Estevez (an American teen) was found to have stabbed one of his classmates to death, following the torment he received from him. Estevez once borrowed a phone from his former friend, and after his mother threw it out, his friend turned on him, and started to victimise him. He would regularly be seen running from attackers, and was on the receiving end of several death threats, gang attacks, property damage, and constant verbal abuse. Noel unsuccessfully attempted suicide the month before he killed his tormentor. Even then the abuse didn't stop, and in June, he was jumped by his former friend's gang, and in defence he pulled out a 6 inch knife and fatally wounded one of the gang members. Estevez was charged with murder soon after, One of his family friends stated that he 'wasn't the sort of person to have killed somebody'. This goes to show that anybody can be either a victim or perpetrator, which is the sort of message we want to get across in our trailer.
