RATS & BULLIES - a Feature Length Documentary by Roberta McMillan & Ray Buffer
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RATS & BULLIES in the MEDIA

Below are clippings from various media sources that reference RATS & BULLIES. If you are from the press and wish to receive information, you may contact the RATS & BULLIES Development and Promotions Director, JOANNE McLAUGHLIN at (916) 847-6663 or send her an email at JOANNE@RATSANDBULLIES.COM

In the Sunday May 23, 2004 edition of The United Kingdom’s

Guardian Unlimited
Observer Magazine
Writer, Liz Hoggard stated:

SPITE GIRLS

"Mean Girls is lots of fun but it seems confused about how PC it really wants to be. If you're looking for a more radical critique, wait for the indie documentary RATS & BULLIES (based on the suicide of 14-year-old Dawn Marie Wesley, which led to two precedent-setting cases in Canada's provincial court in which bullies were held accountable for their threats).

ENTIRE ARTICLE - LINK


In the Wednesday May 26, 2004 edition of
Variety
Writer, Debra Kamin pointed out:


DANCES SLATE SPINS IN JUNE
Diverse Slate for DWF Fest


Fest’s Lineup includes docus …RATS and BULLIES which chronicles the suicide of 14-year-old Dawn-Marie Wesley.

ENTIRE ARTICLE - LINK


In the Thursday, Jun. 3, 2004 edition of
Variety
Writer, Josh Kamzan mentioned:


WOMEN IN FILM STICKS WITH 10 PIX
Recipients selected from a pool of 150 applicants


The Women in Film Foundation breathed new life into nine docs and one feature pic project when org announced its Film Finishing Fund recipients…

This year's recipients are: ...RATS & BULLIES (Roberta McMillan)…

ENTIRE ARTICLE - LINK



A Tough Scene

A documentary about female aggression and bullying explores the effects on teenagers.

By Jenny Marder,
Huntington Beach Independent

Crystal Enciso marched up to Dana Drury, grabbed her by the collar, and slammed her against the locker.

"You said you were gonna beat up my friend," Crystal retorted.

"Leave me alone, I didn't say anything" Dana answered defiantly.

"Well, if I find you anywhere near my friend, I'm going to kick your ass," Crystal said.

Crystal, 18, and Dana, 15, are two of seven Marina High School students who were chosen to act out scenes for "Rats and Bullies," a documentary about female aggression.

The film centers on the story of Dawn-Marie Wesley, a 14-year-old girl from a small town in British Columbia who hanged herself by her family's dog collar after suffering threats and ongoing harassment by a group of girls at her school. Through the lens of Dawn-Marie's experience, the film explores the secret world of teenage behavior, addressing violence as well as intimidation through less explicit means, such as rumor spreading, shunning and gossip.

Female bullying, also called female relational aggression, has been a subject of increasing interest among behavioral psychologists over the last decade, said 35-year-old filmmaker Roberta McMillan.

While women don't engage in physical violence as often as men, studies suggest that they can be just as aggressive, but in ways more covert and manipulative, she said.

McMillan, a Huntington Beach resident, speaks breathlessly about the subject to which she has devoted the past two years of her life, often cutting herself off mid-sentence to start another thought. "It happens everywhere and at every school," McMillan said of bullying. "If you have a daughter, it's going on."

McMillan's interest in the subject was sparked by a program on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" two years ago, on female bullying. Cindy Wesley, Dawn Marie's mother, was interviewed on the show. McMillan, a victim of bullying herself, was shocked at the behavior of the girls and the depth of psychological trauma that their actions could cause.

"I was appalled and I said, 'that's it, somebody has to tell this story,'" McMillan said.

Soon after the show, she flew to Canada and interviewed Dawn Marie's mother, her brother, her best friend, one of the bullies, community members and a local politician. She also spoke in depth with Rosalind Wiseman, former teacher and founder of the Empower Program, a nonprofit organization committed to curbing youth violence.

"When guys fight, they beat each other up and then it's over," McMillan said. "With girls, it continues forever It's just really starting to come up more and more, how bullying affects everyone."

Fights at Marina High School break out about once every two weeks, said Dana, who plays Dawn-Marie in the film. Most involve girls.

"I've noticed that there are more girls fighting than guys," Dana said. "Someone will say something, rumors start and they're going, 'oh, I'm going to kick your ass.'"

For Dana, the story was an eye-opener — one that she thinks could be helpful to other teens struggling with alienation, threats or physical violence.

"In the beginning, I was like, 'whoa, this is intense,'" she said. "I was like, 'I can't believe there was nothing that could have been done' I believe personally that there's always another way."

Due to budget strains, Marina, Edison and Huntington Beach high schools no longer have human development classes that address behavioral problems like bullying. But school psychologists like Steve Kaplan, who works at both Edison and Marina, are trained to help resolve such disputes. To Kaplan, communication is the best remedy.

"If a kid comes in and is being bullied, we try to get the parties together and try to work it out," Kaplan said. "We have counseling groups, we have anger management."

Girls can be very cruel without being physical, said Ginger Wilson, a psychologist who specializes in work with adolescents. The most common form of intimidation, she said, involves shunning another girl to exclude her from the clique, thus forcing her into social outcast status.

"The idea is not so much emotional terrorism or fear, but more that you're afraid of becoming a social outcast and emotionally separated from ring leader and pack," Wilson said. "It can get nasty and can go on and on.

"For a girl who is vulnerable, that's when you start to see sometimes the cutting or the anxiety or depression. They may not be able to tell their parents what's going on and it can get very heated or passionate."

About 50% of the students that Huntington Beach-based psychologist Ken Rhea sees have had some experience with being hurt by an individual or a group of kids.

"Many girls who present here as depressed or as feeling ineffective in their world, have had the experience of having rumors told," Rhea said. "That's a pretty effective way [of bullying], as is telling lies. It can be pretty hurtful to girls. Rumors that go around are pretty hurtful to them."Violence between girls has also become less taboo, Wilson said.

"I don't know if it's the times or the media, but [female violence] is no longer a class thing or a white trash thing," Wilson said. "Aggression unfortunately has been less inhibited."

Wilson said that children who experience severe bullying might have an easier time at an alternative school or a magnet school.

"Kids do better in a magnet school if they're different," Wilson said. "Differences are tolerated not ridiculed."

Parents often either underestimate the importance of peer relationships or don't know how to discuss the subject with their children, Wilson added.

"It's very important for parents to try and talk to their kids," she said.

McMillan is putting the final post-production touches on the documentary and hopes to have it ready by March. She plans to send it to the Newport Beach Film Festival as well as festivals in Boston, Dallas, Prague, Italy, Greece and Canada.

She owns the life rights to Dawn-Marie's story, and is also working on a screenplay for a hard-edged feature film. She sums up the documentary's message with a single word: communication.

"I wish girls would just talk to each other," McMillan said. "So much of this tragedy could have been avoided if they had. I hope girls will take away from it that they just need to communicate."










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