Councilman Kenney wants MPAA to change rating of ‘Bully’

Councilman Jim Kenney is lobbying the Motion Picture Association of America to change the rating of documentary “Bully” so Philadelphia kids can see it.

“The movie is very powerful,” he said. “It really does strike a chord about how devastating bullying is.” Kenney has been working with the filmmakers for a year and a half to change the R rating, given because the f-bomb is dropped in the film five times.

“You can watch Arnold Schwarzenegger kill 100 people in a movie with a PG-13 rating, but you can’t watch this,” he said. “I don’t think language should have any factor in movie ratings or censorship.”

A Change.org petition for the cause had 431,101 signatures out of 500,000 as of last night.

Kenney has also been working to raise money for tickets and transport to take five to 10,000 Philadelphia children to see the film, which will cost between $25 and $50,000. The initiative is part of a national effort to ensure that at least one million schoolchildren view the documentary.

“We’re working with the School District, the Archdiocese and charter schools, but if we can’t get the rating changed, we’re not going to get any participation from those three groups,” he said.

The film is being released in New York and Los Angeles on March 30 and will reach Philadelphia in early April, Kenney said.