I thought it was great that the Rusty fought back against the bullies.
When I saw this movie back in 2000, I was out on a blind date. The date thought it was a bad idea. This was just another reason why I didn't go out with her again. :)
I was curious what other people had to say.
As a young girl in the 80s I was tormented by bullies, most of which were boys. Although they never attempted to fight my physically, probably because I was a girl, they did make my life a living hell from 1st grade until high school. For me the result was self-esteem issues that plagued me for years, similar to the character in the movie. Only difference is he turned out bitter, hard, and unlikable whereas I turned out bitter, timid, and invisible.
I would be so proud of my child if (s)he rightfully defended her/himself. I would much rather my kid be suspended from school for doing the right thing and sticking up for themselves then letting a bully beat them up. Normally I’m not one to advocate violence.
But in a case like what happened in the movie, I believe beating the bully up was the right thing to do.
Kids weren’t as soft in the 60s (like in the movie) or the 80s (when I was a kid) as they are now. They preyed on the weak; turning the other cheek just didn’t work. I had many teachers over the years that told me they would love to see me fight back. There was none of this worry about hurting someone’s feelings back then. It was totally survival of the fittest.
If I could meet my younger self, knowing what I know now about life, I would totally teach myself to fight back. Ideally, I’d like to go back to a particular event in 8th grade; several kids sitting behind me in the classroom hit me in the head with rulers and books while the shy and demure math teacher pretended not to notice. I would love my younger self to turn around and smack ‘em right in the face with a book. I would then tell my younger self to claim “psychological trauma” as my defense. I can picture myself in the principal’s office slinging around psychology like nobody’s business. But even if I got in trouble, just that one moment of fighting back would have changed my life forever- and in the long run, it would have changed the bully’s lives as well.
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