Amy S. Weber’s A Girl Like Her: Bullying Seen From Both Sides [Movie Review]
I don’t remember bullying being an issue when I was in high school (we’re talking many, many years ago). I remember being teased a lot, but I’m not sure if that equates to bullying now-a-days. I was mostly called weird or accused of being weird. Really can’t say if it’s had a lasting affect on me because I just do me and to hell with everyone else, but not everyone can do, especially in this day and age.
Bullying seems to have gone from just teasing someone to physically teasing them buy knocking down their books, or even worse, provoking fights. I always say, how a kid behaves at school is a reflection of their home life or what they are taught at home. Or, it’s the person who is doing the bullying self-esteem being low, if not there at all. A Girl Like Her shows bullying from both sides of the spectrum; from the one being bullied and the one doing the bullying.
A Girl like Her (2015) tells the story the affects bullying has, not only on one person, but those close to the person being bullied. Not only do you get a first-hand experience of what’s it like to be bullied, but you get the bully’s perspective as well.
Jessica Burns (Lexi Ainsworth — General Hospital) is a high school sophomore who is bullied by her former best friend Avery Keller (Hunter King — Young and the Restless) because of a minor incident that took place during school. With the help of her best friend Brian (Jimmy Bennett — Murder in the First) Jessica hopes to capture the bullying she’s been enduring by wearing a dragon fly pin equipped with a spy-cam. Jessica made Brian promise not to show the film to anyone to which he agrees. Brian is also filming when he can via his photography camera with video capability. Through both methods we, the viewer, are able to experience what Jessica has and is experiencing.
Jessica is finding it harder and harder to cope with the bullying from Avery, and the constant tormenting from Avery proves too much for Jessica to where she only sees one way out.
The movie, filmed documentary style, made it more enjoyable to watch for me for I enjoy documentaries. The actors didn’t seem like actors, but rather, real people. Amy L. Weber not only directed the movie, but she played a documentary film maker doing a film on bullying. We never see Amy’s face, but we hear her voice throughout the film.
I feel this movie is the best one out there about bullying. Not only does it focus on Jessica (the one being bullied) but it also focuses on Avery (the bully) and makes you aware that all is not what it seems when it comes to the popular girls in school.
The acting by both Ainsworth and King was superb. I wasn’t too keen on Stephanie Cotton who played Jessica’s mother. Her display of emotions didn’t fare well with me. She was unable to shed half a tear and Mark Boyd (Jessica’s father) was just as bad. However, the rest of the cast, especially Avery’s mother, played by Christie Ingle (who began her acting career at age 42, this movie being her first role) was excellent as the annoying, overbearing parent.
Weber takes you on a journey that has a surprising outcome for both Jessica and Avery as well as the viewers. You walk away with a new perspective on bullies. I, personally, don’t feel sorry for those that bully because as in anything in life, you have a choice to make; the right choice or the wrong choice. Kids in high school (although I know bullying is prevalent in grade school and middle school) know the difference between right and wrong, but sometimes peer pressure clouds their judgement and someone left with a lifetime of hurt to deal with.
A Girl Like Her is now streaming on Netflix.