It has been an unsettling second half of the year. I discovered, via You Tube, that so many filmmakers are jumping onto the "bullying bandwagon," which is a darned good thing, as nothing was really addressed in my day. Even I, back then, kept quiet. But no more.
What is different about the ABC TV Family Movie, "Cyberbully," first aired on July 17, 2011, is that the girl being bullied is one whom most often would be taken to be the bully, herself. Taylor Hillridge, played by Emily Osrent, is a blond, Brandi Beaudry type, who, if one just tuned in, would take to the be the title character. Pretty and popular girls do not get bullied. Or, do they?
They certainly do. What this movie makes abundantly clear is that bullying is so random. It can happen to anyone, no matter how pretty/ugly, popular/unpopular one is.
I caught on to what was going on fast. The culprit turns out to be Taylor's ostensibly best friend, Samantha Caldone, wonderfully played by Kay Panabaker. When Samantha finally owns up to what she has done--after Taylor has attempted suicide--and things are patched up--this is a morality TV movie, after all--it becomes clear jealousy was the motive.
Samantha is pretty enough in a dark haired way, but boys don't flock to her, as they seem to do toward Taylor. Samantha wants something for herself, but her vengeful way of satisfaction is to create a fake profile of this guy named James, who then turns on her by calling her all sorts of sex-oriented names, ruining her reputation, and turning everyone against her--except Samantha.
I knew Sam was the culprit from the start, and a reveal midway makes this apparent. But her logic is twisted. At first I thought she had some kind of lesbian thing for Taylor. But it turns out she was trying to "protect" Taylor from this guy, Scott, simply because she, Sam, thought he was a dumb jock. That is what she says, and while dumb jocks abound in high school, that is not how Jon McLaren plays him, especially in scenes with Taylor. Clearly, Sam is the girl who wants her girlfriend for herself, and so, with all this twisted, adolescent logic, she goes after Taylor. Until it spirals out of control, crisis control sets in, and, predictably, everything is set to rights, by the end.
Believe me, if Taylor had been the bully, and Samantha the bullied, the movie would not have been half as interesting. By casting it this way, the makers of this film show as effectively as they can how anyone can be a target, no matter how high up or low down on the social order one may be,
It is not a masterpiece, but it is emotionally satisfying, and worth a look, for what is explored.
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