Odd Girl Out (2005)

Female Bullies - watch out!

I remeber when this movie first came out - it stunned me by the realism of today's type of bullying - girl bullying! Victims and bullies will finally understand what the costs are and the consequences that goes with it. Now that it is commonplace, the comical movies, like Mean Girls, can't be brushed off lightly. Just watch, all women and girls, and see for yourself how today's hate and revenge can and will effect all. June 18, 2008

Don't waste your time with this movie

Okay, I read the Odd Girl Speaks Out book and it was interesting but didn't offer any insight as to how we deal with this problem. It's more a book of girls venting about the negative experiences with other girls in their lives. I realize this does happen, is quite common in Junior High and High School and it needs to change.

I watched the movie to preview it prior to showing it to my 13 year old daughter. Well, I will not allow her to watch it. What a horrible portrayal of the worst case of female bullying out there! If your child watches this, I can imagine she will become depressed just seeing what lurks out there. The part with the teenage girl attempting suicide was hard to watch. Then the fact that she kept on coming back to the same pathetic bullies was more difficult to swallow.

The last 10 minutes was great if you were able to watch the whole movie through. You finally got to see the girl get up the guts to confront the bullies and rise above them. In my opinion though, this movie is not too helpful if you're wanting to show your daughter how to best handle bullying. March 15, 2008

The real world

I am not a movie critic, but I don't need to be to give this film 5 stars. As a twenty year educator and now a school counselor, I well-know there is a enough accuracy in this presentation that any condensing or exaggerating done by Hollywood is done for the purpose of getting this despicable message into a very narrow time limit, in order to educate as many people as possible. Regardless how different the story or the girls, the pain is the same. Consider, too, how much more painful for those young people who are not so pretty, not so athletic, not supported by a healthy family. As I watched this film just this last Saturday, I could not back up from it enough to judge the acting, for I had to exert all my efforts in not crying in front of the other seminar attendees.

In my childhood I was sister of the town "bad boy," and was a constant target for teasing and harassment, even though I was nothing at all like my brother. Cyber-bullying was not an issue for me, but had we had computers, I am certain the harassment would have included that venue. I wasn't pretty. I didn't wear nice clothes. A very nasty little girl in our class was the Queen Bee from 2nd grade clear through high school; and when it was just the two of us she was decent to me, but when her group was with her she was merciless. A new boy came in the 6th grade, and she decided he looked like a character from one of our literature pieces, so she nicknamed him "Icabod." I was one of a few who refused to call him that, but, a victim myself, I never had the courage to confront Queen Bee and her gang of heartless friends.

Had I experienced a more positive childhood I am certain my life would have been different. I am a mother and grandmother and my family is peopled with caring, intelligent folks, but it was a long hard journey to stop settling for whatever crumbs came my way. When young people are bullied they come to see themselves as unworthy, and enter into marriages that should not be, jobs that should not be, and lives that do not optimize their talents and gifts.

It isn't just girls who struggle with this. One of my sons was bullied by his former "best friend." On Sunday this boy was the upstanding Christian, but during the school week there were no limits to the pain he could inflict.

The foolish person who, in his/her narrow and shallow review, suggested that teasing is simply a manifestation of our right to "free speech" is incapable of empathy for the teenage psyche. OR, more likely, has lived as a bully and hasn't faced the trail of broken spirits s/he has behind.

Please watch this film and raise better people for a better world.



March 2, 2008

pretty accurate portrayal of teen life

A clip of this film was used in a presentation to a class of 8th graders at a local school to try to begin to address cliques and the social atmosphere. In a reflection afterwards the 8th grade girls admitted it was a pretty accurate portrayal of what goes on and some of the interactions. It got the girls attention, as well as some of the adults helping out with the day. Not uplifting- but honest about some current social situations for girls this age. November 15, 2007

This is a really good film.

This movie is very well acted the mother and daughter are very good actresses and those mean teenage girls are very good too. I think this film should of been nominated for a golden globe for best TV movie (drama), but oh well. So if you don't like this movie, that's your opinion. But I think this movie is really good. November 11, 2007

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