Volume 10/ Number 2 (232-248)

November 2023
https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/rubikon

THE REPRESENTATION OF BULLYING IN AMERICAN FILMS

Greace Naomi Br. Ginting

Universitas Prima Indonesia
Email: gracenaoginting@gmail.com

Rudy
Universitas Prima Indonesia
Email: rudyl@unprimdn.ac.id

ABSTRACT Article information

The issue of bullying continues to be reported by the media because it (Filled by Editorial
still happens everywhere, especially in schools, and needs to be Management)
discussed in research. This qualitative research focuses on studying Received: 11 August, 2023
American films with the theme of bullying, namely Bully (2011), A Girl Revised: 19 October, 2023
Like Her (2015), and Wonder (2017) as the main source of data. This Accepted: 20 October, 2023
study aims to identify how American movies portray bullying and to
find out what bullying represents by applying Hall‟s representation
theory. Dialogs collected and sorted from the films were treated as signs
that would convey more meanings. The results of data analysis suggest
that American films with the themes of bullying frequently show
bullying through portraits of physical violence, verbal violence, and
trauma. Besides, bullying can also indicate a lack of attention from the
family, the condition of the social environment, and the powerlessness
of humans.

Keywords: American films; bullying; schools; trauma; violence

DOI : https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v10i2.87909
Available at https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/rubikon/article/view/87909
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

INTRODUCTION away. It happens anywhere, such as in schools,

campuses, workplaces, and other public
Living in society certainly places. However, most studies reveal that
cannindeedarated from various problems. many people have been bullied in their teens
Every individual must have good or bad (Aalsma & Brown, 2008, p. 101). This
experiences when interacting with other explanation seems to be in line with the
individuals. One of the many problems that information or news on bullying in the present
often occurs is bullying. Cases of bullying are time. In 2020, for instance, according to the
often reported in various countries. It has long data reported by UNICEF Indonesia through
been a problem that seems to have never gone their website www.unicef.org with the theme
 Greace Naomi Br. Ginting & Rudy – The Representation of
Bullying in American Films

“Bullying in Indonesia”, ,”owed that at least 2 phenomena or knowledge can be learned by

out of girls or boys aged 15 -17 years have every individual when watching films (Adi,
been bullied. 2011, p. 71; Rudy et al., 2021, p. 43). This
shows that the issue of bullying reflected in
The experience of being bullied by other movies can be something that people need to
people can impact the victims differently. study. Therefore, a study about bullying
Therefore, finding a way to end bullying is reflected in films must be read by people. It is
essential, even if it is not easy (Kustanti et al., also important because bullying, especially in
2020, p. 1507). This shows that the issue of the school environment, would become a
bullying is still a concern for many people and serious concern for everyone. Therefore, the
needs to be discussed in forums or research. study aims to reveal what portraits are often
Bullying is something complicated, and it found in American films about bullying and
may happen for many reasons (Swearer & identify what bullying can represent.
Hymel, 2015, p. 344). However, it is This research theoretically contributes to
commonly considered a nan adversetion that, theory development in relevant fields such as
iny people experience. One is said to be literary and cultural studies, film studies, and
experiencing bullying when he feels helpless other humanities. It can be a reference for
in a state of pressure over the actions done by other researchers studying a similar issue.
other people, and he then worries and is scared Besides, this study can also provide a better
that the incident will occur again (Akasyah et understanding and more information about the
al., 2018, p. 538). Bullying can be categorized issue of bullying for everyone so that people
into physical, verbal, and cyberbullying can help prevent bullying from occurring in
(Nurmalia et al., 2021, p. 247). Even though society. This study focuses on the analysis of
many people think that bullying in this era is three American movies with the theme of
rare, the phenomenon still often happens bullying, namely Bully (2011), A Girl Like Her
anytime and anywhere in this era. In (2015), and Wonder (2017). These films are
Indonesia, for instance, bullying by a group of also often mentioned in lists of films about
students is still frequently reported in the bullying from the internet, such as the IMBd
media. This is an unfortunate condition website. The phenomenon of bullying depicted
because schools should be able to provide in the three films becomes the object of
education and guidance to students to stop discussion in this study by concentrating on
bullying. dialogs related to bullying between characters
Due to the large number of bullying cases and scenes portraying bullying in the films.
that have occurred in American society, which Literature review was carried out by
may cause physical and mental injury or even reviewing several journal articles. Most of
death (Benedict et al., 2014, p. 2), the issue of them were studies on the issue of bullying that
bullying has been widely discussed in media. previous researchers had conducted. A review
It is also often used as a theme in films. of several scientific articles provides
American films, for instance, frequently depict information on the issue of bullying associated
the phenomenon of bullying. This issue would with the mental health of the victims. For
be a path for people to see the problems. Many instance, a study by Swearer and Hymel

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(2015) argued that bullying, a complex According to Jan and Husain (2015, p. 43),
phenomenon, must be overcome with efforts bullying is student‟s behavior that relies on
related to individual experience, strength that tends to be continuous and
characteristics, causes, consequences, and damaging such as to hit, to threaten, to insult
others. Other findings on bullying from a someone, etc. In addition, Ningrum and Bahri
mental perspective, such as studies by (2020, p. 3) explained that it is an act of using
Fullchange and Furlong (2016), Akasyah et violence or threats to intimidate others.
al. (2018), Huang et al. (2018), Kustanti et al.
(2020), Lucas-Molina et al. (2022) Bullying is also defined as forms of
emphasized the psychological effects violent behaviors that contain elements of
experienced by victims of bullying such as physical and psychological coercion against
fear, sadness, and trauma. individuals who are weak and unable to fight
back (Zakiyah et al., 2017, p. 326) and the
However, a study by Bokhari et al. (2020) bullying behavior can result in injury to the
talked about the various effects of bullying victim (Hartati et al., 2020, p. 55). People
depending on the condition of victim‟s often equate bullying with aggressive
conditionontribute to the strength of the behavior. Regarding this, Aalsma and Brown
victims. Apart from that, there are also two (2008, p. 102) it is necessary to understand in
journal articles which talked about bullying in advance that the basic aspect of distinguishing
films such as the studies conducted by bullying and aggressive behaviors lies in
Ningrum and Bahri (2020) as well as Nurmalia imbalance of power. It means that if the victim
et al. (2021) which pointed out the some types cannot resist the strength of the bullies who are
of bullying in films entitled A Girl Like Her older in age or more in number of bullies, then
and Carrie. Even though this study discusses the victim is deemed to have been bullied. It
about the issue of bullying in American films, means that the victim of bullying is usually
it is still different from the previous studies weaker than the bully, therefore, the victim is
described above in terms of approach to data unable to defend himself and is forced to
analysis, types of films used as data as well as accept bullying. As explained in the previous
research questions. Those are the points that section, in general, many studies have found
can be research gaps filled by this study to that bullying can be done in the form of
become a study with an element of novelty. physical violence, verbal violence and bullying
in cyberspace (Akasyah et al., 2018, p. 541;
Before moving to the results, it is essential Lucas-molina et al., 2022, p. 39; Nurmalia et
to define several important terms used in this al., 2021, p. 247).
study in order to avoid misunderstanding. The
first term that needs to be defined properly is It is said that bullying is considered to be
bullying. It is perhaps no longer a new term. common in school and an unfavorable school
Many people must have heard of it. However, environment will trigger bullying (Armitage,
not everyone can actually understand what 2021, p. 2; Bokhari et al., 2020, p. 1; Gomba
bullying is. An individual is said to be bullied & Tsai, 2012, p. 162; Huang et al., 2018, p.
when he experiences repeated negative 231; Swearer & Hymel, 2015, p. 347). Acts of
treatment and usually he is unable to defend bullying are more common in schools although
himself from the bully (Olweus, 1994, p. 98). it is also possible that bullying can occur in the

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 Greace Naomi Br. Ginting & Rudy – The Representation of
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workplace, home, etc. In general, victims of The data from films are in the form of
bullying will have problems in adjusting and dialogues.
functioning their emotions (Fullchange &
Furlong, 2016, p. 2). So, besides the difference There three steps for collecting data from
in the level of strength between the bully and the films. First, the three films are watched
the victim, victims of bullying also generally carefully (for several times) to figure out
experience emotional stress that will have an which dialogues and scene descriptions need
impact on their lives. After collecting several to be taken as well as to understand the
definitions on bullying from different sources, message conveyed by the films. Second, re-
this study tries to interpret the term bullying as watching the three films while writing out the
a physical or words that are oppressive and dialogues and the descriptions of the scenes
insulting carried out by a person or group of picturing the dialogues. Although note-taking
people to make a weak individual or some is often seen by most people as an old-
people afraid and comfortable in various ways. fashioned method, this way is actually helpful.
Note-taking helps people to understand
METHODOLOGY information better so that it can be reviewed
and studied for the long term (Özçakmak,
This library research uses films as the 2019, p. 581). So, the notetaking technique is
primary data to be analyzed to obtain the used in the process of recording the dialogues
research results. This kind of research is from films because it is considered more
carried out by collecting information from practical. Finally, after all the dialogues and
various materials in library such as books, scene descriptions have been recorded in the
articles, magazines, journals, etc. related to the notes the sorting process is carried out by
research topic (Sari & Asmendri, 2020, p. 44). placing the dialogues and the scene
Thus, this study is also known as a qualitative descriptions according to the keywords
research and in this case, qualitative research provided.
is described by Creswell (2010, p. 16) as a
type of research that functions to obtain a lot In terms of data analysis, this study can be
of explanations from various data source classified as a content analysis study. It is
regarding the phenomenon or issue being usually applied to analyze, explain and
studied. So, in terms of research objectives, interpret data in the form of text, media, etc. to
this study can be classified as descriptive obtain ideas, information, as well as
research because it intends to explain in detail definitions about the studied phenomenon
the phenomenon being studied. This research (Adi, 2011, p. 144; Pal, 2017, p. 483). All the
involves two types of data. The first is primary collected data is analyzed by using the theory
data. The main data used as the object of study of representation by Stuart Hall to construct
are three American films with the theme of meanings. This theory is suitable for this study
bullying are: Bully (2011) directed by Lee because the dialogues and scene descriptions
Hirsch and produced by Cinereach; A Girl like from the films can symbolize something. Thus,
Her (2015) directed by Amy S. Weber and they need to be explored in order to obtain the
produced by Radish Creative Group; and meaning. According to Hall (1997, p. 19) all
Wonder (2017) directed by Stephen Chbosky. studied objects such as words, ideas, views,
photos, etc. can be categorized into symbols.

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Therefore, the representation theory used in For instance, the depiction of physical
this study is to interpret the dialogues as well violence was portrayed in the movie Bully
as the scenes descriptions in order to form or (2011). There were scenes when a student
construct the meanings behind them. named Alex was hit by a bully:

DISCUSSION Philip: What happened this week on the

bus? Anything?
The Portraits of Bullying in Films Alex: This high schooler was strangling
me, but I think he was just messing around.
The results of the data analysis showed Philip: That‟s not messing around.
that American films on bullying frequently (00:55:32)
show three portraits as follows:
Alex: What? Why are you punching me?
a. Portrait of Physical Violence Bully: I‟ll use my cell phone, bitch. Little
bitch. Come on!
The portrait of physical violence was one Alex: No, no, no. Ow!
of the images frequently presented in the films Bully: Bitch!
with the theme of bullying being discussed. Alex: Why you stabbing me with it?
Bully: Gonna knock your fish lips off!
The acts of bulling shown in films about
(01:07:55)
bullying were often identical with physical
violence. Violence experienced by students Alex‟s mother: It‟s absolutely not
according to Ferrar et al. (2019, p. 3) can be in acceptable. I mean, they‟re stabbing him
various forms and one of them is physical with pencils, and choking him.
(01:10:42)
aggressive behavior aimed at punishing or
bullying which can be done by adults or kids. The film dialog above shows that the bully
knew that the victim did not dare to fight him,
Regarding this, Jan and Husain (2015, p.
so he took advantage of the victim‟s weakness.
53) in their research explained that physical
The film character Alex is described as
violence towards victims of bullying was part
someone who is afraid of the bully. The fear
of the behavior that was often done by bullies.
makes it difficult for him to be honest when
physical violence has a negative meaning,
his father asked him. This condition is
especially when it occurs in schools,
experienced by almost all victims of bullying.
campuses, or workplaces. This condition is
In fact, people who are victims of bullying do
indeed concerning because a school is
not have the ability or courage to defend
supposed to be a safe, convenient, and quiet
themselves. So, the bullies can freely suppress
place to study and make friends. However,
and commit physical violence to them. There
there are any cases of bullying that actually
was also a scene of physical violence
happen in schools. Acts of physical violence
experienced by a male student named Auggie
committed by bullies can take various forms of
who had a facial disfigurement in the film
treatment. In general, bullies push, kick, water,
Wonder (2017). He was pushed by other
throw something at the victim or damage their
students who bullied him:
belongings (Nurmalia et al., 2021, p. 28;
Sulisrudatin, 2014, p. 59). Similar acts of Boy (bully): What are you gonna do about
violence are also shown in films about it? Get out of my way.
bullying. Auggie: No.

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Boy (bully): I said get outta my way! angrily disappointed because bullying had
Auggie: I said no! taken the life of her child:
(01:34:53)
Tina: My baby was missing two and three
Based on several studies bullying with days of school a week because there‟s a
physical violence is often done by boys gang of five boys threatening to beat him
(Hartati et al., 2020, p. 60; Sulisrudatin, 2015, up at school every single day. It was
p. 58). It is also possible that bullying can also reported to everyone, and nobody did
occur among female students, although these nothing.
(00:40:44)
cases are not as frequent as cases of bullying
done by male students. There have been studies that show
evidence about bullying with acts of physical
However, in the film A Girl Like Her
violence resulting in death, such as news about
(2015), there was a female bully who
bullying among crew members, in dormitories
committed physical violence against a female
or schools as well as in the army with cases of
victim
soldiers who died due to bullying (Koo, 2007,
p. 109). So, it is right to say that all kinds of
physical violence are basically negative. This
portrait of physical violence is a depiction that
appears frequently in films on bullying
because physical violence is identical with acts
of bullying. Thus, the emergence of this image
can actually reflect a perception that bullying
can be interpreted as physical hurting or
Figure 1. A Girl Like Her (2015) - Avery and her friends torture. This is shown in the film with the aim
pushed Jessica into the toilet and flushed her (00:51:13)
of exposing the impact of physical violence
The bully named Avery degraded kicked and experienced by victims of bullying.
pushed the victim into the toilet. Such a
violent act is considered harmful physical b. Portrait of Verbal Violence
violence. The next portrait is verbal violence. This
Bullying with physical intimidation may also be called as verbal bullying or verbal
(violence) that happens in schools is similar to abuse. This depiction was often present in the
dangerous actions that shows power imbalance films discussed in this study. It is indeed true
(Fu et al., 2015, p. 487). The victim‟s that verbal abuse can occur anywhere and
weakness becomes an opportunity for the bully anytime. In schools for example, verbal
to continue harassing and attacking the victim. violence is often done by both male and
Even in a study conducted by Shidiqi and female bullies. This action becomes the habit
Suprarti (2013, p. 94) showed that physical of bullies to make their victims feel afraid and
violence often resulted in injuries to the diffident. This kind of violence is often
victims. Even in the film Bully (2011) there pictured in the discussed films. Regarding this,
was a scene depicting a mother who was Antiri (2016, p. 132) explained that it has a
more serious impact compared to physical
violence since negative words can damage a

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person‟s mentality which can lead to In the film A Girl Like Her (2015), for
psychological and emotional problems such as instance, there were several dialogs that can be
loss of confidence, feelings of inferiority, etc. shown as examples of verbal bullying:
Bullying using verbal violence is likely to Avery: Oh, wow. You have no clothes.
happen because the bully can simply do it in Aww, what are you gonna do? That is so
an easy way for instance by whispering or sad.”
(00:51: 24)
shouting at the victim in a public place without
anyone suspecting (Muntaha et al., 2015, p. Apart from that, the victim of bullying in the
43). film also received messages sent by the bully
that contained elements of verbal violence:
Verbal bullying is generally done by the
bullies in the form of threatening and harsh
words as well as ridicule to embarrass the
victims and to make them leave the schools
(Jan & Husain, 2015, p. 43; Kustanti et al.,
2020, p. 1512; Putri et al., 2021, p. 792). The
use of harsh words in verbal bullying was also
portrayed in the studied films. In Bully (2011)
and A Girl Like Her (2015) for instance, the
words often used to call the victims were Figure 2. A Girl Like Her (2015) - Verbal bullying in
the form of insulting words sent by the bully (00:48:13)
“bitch” or little bitch”. The word has an
unpleasant meaning, and it degrades one‟s In the film Wonder (2017), a character named
dignity. There were scenes showing the Auggie that had a facial disfigurement became
victims of bullying expressing their sadness the object of ridicule by a bully:
such as in Bully (2011):
Julian: Hey, can I sit there?
“He calls me b-word.” Auggie: Sure.
(00:55:32) Julian: You eat like the Sarlacc monster,
“He calls me faggot. It breaks my heart.” my young Padawan.
(00:14:43) (00:19:33)
“He comes to me. I try to get away from
him. Julian: I actually have a question for
“He follows me. And he criticizes me, Auggie. What‟s the deal with the braid in
calling me pussy”. the back of your hair? Is it like a Padawan
(00:30:15) thing?
Charlotte: What‟s a Padawan thing?
“When I opened my locker, there was a Julian: It‟s from Star Wars. Padawan is a
note that said „Faggots aren‟t welcomed Jedi apprentice.
here. And another teacher told me how (00:18:01)
they burned fags, and kept talking about it
with me in the classroom, and everyone No one likes to be made fun. Nobody will be
was laughing. And they knew it was happy when he or she is called by an impolite
hurting me, and they kept going.” name or with hurtful words. In fact, it is part of
(00:20:10) the act of bullying and is also the action most
often committed by a bully to his victim.

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 Greace Naomi Br. Ginting & Rudy – The Representation of
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Inappropriate words used by bullies are victims of bullying can capture the attention of
generally adapted to local traditions and those who watched the films. In general, the
culture, such as calling victims by their word trauma does not sound like it has a
parents‟ names in an insulting tone; uttering positive meaning. Trauma is usually associated
threatening words; or comparing the victim to with unpleasant conditions. Basically,
something negative (Asrul et al., 2021, p. according to Anggadewi (2020, p. 2) people
1554). who experience trauma will feel mental
pressure due to something bad happened to
Verbal bullying is often seen as something them, deep disappointment or things that hurt
normal or a joke for many people do not them physically.
realize how dangerous it is of it just keeps
happening. Teasing someone with jokes over For example, in the film Bully (2011),
and over again is not funny because it can lead there is a scene showing that the younger sister
to the unexpected consequences. This is of a bullied victim feels afraid of going to
essential because inappropriate and negative school because her brother is bullied at school:
words used for bullying can hurt and
Alex‟s sister: You‟re starting to make
psychologically disturb the victims (Putri et
scared to go to middle school.
al., 2021). The emergence of a group of Alex: Why?
students who like to bully by uttering harsh Alex‟s sister: Cause if you get picked on,
words or ridicule their friends can be caused I‟m gonna get picked on. I already get
by some factors. However, the most picked on at school „cause you‟re my
fundamental cause is connected to the role of brother.
teacher. According to Burger et al (2022, p. (00:55:32)
There is also a scene portraying a mother sadly
2313) there are still many school teachers who
tells that her child was trauma:
do not consider bullying as a serious problem,
so they tend to ignore or pay less attention to Tina: My baby was missing two and three
the problem. days of school a week because there‟s a
gang of five boys threatening to beat him
The films discussed in this study up at school every single day.
frequently show verbal violence because the (00:40:44)
simplest way of bulling is to use negative
In the film A Girl like Her (2015), a character
words to insult the victim. This can also
named Jessica who is a victim o bullying at
indicate that simple acts of bullying must be
school expresses her sadness and severe
taken seriously and teachers also need to be
trauma:
active in educating students about the dangers
of bullying and be alert when small acts that Jessica: I can‟t. I can‟t. I can‟t do it. I can‟t
lead to bullying appear so that they can be do it anymore; I just can‟t put up with it. I
stopped immediately. can‟t put up with it anymore; I‟m done. I
can‟t. I can‟t do it; I just don‟t know how
b. Portrait of Trauma much more of this I can take; It‟s not
gonna get better, it‟s gonna get worse. It‟s
Trauma is one of the images that often never gonna end; I just feel like, I have no
appeared in the films about bullying discussed way out.
in this study. The scenes showing traumatized (00:52:13)

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Wonder (2017) also shows a scene where a Thus, Bullying should not be taken lightly
victim of bullying Auggie feels traumatized because those who are traumatized by the
and even hates his own body because his bulling that happened to them can develop
classmate insulted him: intentions or thoughts to end their lives
(Gomba & Tsai, 2012, p. 166; Prasetyo et al.,
2016, p. 37; Shidiqi & Suprapti, 2013, p. 91).
So, the three portraits that are often shown in
films about bullying can basically symbolize
acts of violence that need to be solved
immediately. This finding can also convey that
American film (with the theme of bullying)
tend to portray bullying as a condition
Figure 3. Wonder (2017) – Auggie‟s face was drawn by identical with physical violence, verbal
the bully for insulting purposes (00:24:10)
violence and trauma experienced by an
Auggie was sad and asked his mother why individual (a victim of bullying).
he had an ugly face. However, his mother
encouraged him by telling him that he was not The Conceptualization of Bullying
ugly at all. The worries and fears experienced The theory of representation applied to the
by victims of bulling as shown in the film analysis of films about bullying has led to the
dialogs above will make their condition worse. process of interpreting the concept of bullying.
An individual who experiences trauma from a It is not only limited to the violent acts toward
bad incident will tend to face more problems other people, but the concept of bullying can
and difficulties in his life. Akasyah et al. be explored even more deeply to figure out
(2018) revealed that the effects of bullying what is represented by bullying. The results of
experienced by the victim can be in any forms analysis and interpretation of the data show
and the psychological condition of the victim that basically, bullying can represent three
is also likely to be affected. kinds of conditions as presented in the
Prolonged trauma may cause a person to following table:
feel uncomfortable, anxious, and afraid. This Table 1. Three Conditions Represented by Bullying
is what Sulisrudatin (2015, p. 58) says that
The lack of attention from
trauma can be the cause to the emergence of family
Representation of
various psychological disorders in victims of Bullying The social environment
bullying. In other words, the trauma can The powerlessness of
individual
disrupt a person‟s mental stability. The worst
thing that can occur as a result of trauma is the From a representational point of view, bulling
act of ending one‟s life. News that often can construct the three types of conditions
circulated in various media shows that above which may also be perceived as factors
traumatized bulling victims who commit that trigger for the emergence of bullying
suicide is not a lie. This incident will happen behavior in an individual. In other words,
because a person with a serious trauma may when viewed from the perspective of the bully,
lose his or her self-control. it can be seen that these three conditions may
contribute to the bullying behavior.

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a. The Lack of Attention from Family expressed by Thomas et al. (2017, p. 7) who
argued that family relations can be useful to
Attention is generally known as a person‟s help avoid various kinds of emotional
ability to concentrate on someone by involving problems such as depression and to form good
the learning process for a certain period of attitudes. Even though in form, the family is
time (Fiorentino, 2004, p. 1). The attention small in society, it still has a very significant
discussed in this context is the attention of function in terms of providing a sense of
parents to their children. The link between security, educating children, giving affection,
family and bullying cannot be separated providing moral support, and so on (Dale &
because in reality, family conditions also Smith, 2013, p. 208).
influence an individual‟s behavior and way of
thinking. Attention from parents in a family, As an example of the importance of family
for example in the form of continuous care, the film Wonder (2017) portrays a victim
communication is needed by their children of bullying named Auggie who ends up getting
during the developmental period (Arifin et al., an award from his school emphasizing the role
2018, p. 934; Asih & Renggani, 2019, p. 180). his family plays in giving him strength:
Family as the smallest community in society is
Auggie: My dad does for always making
certainly very essential in terms of learning
us laugh. And my mom does the most. For
basic values for character building (Iswan et never giving up. On anything. Especially,
al., 2022, p. 1603). This point provides an me.
explanation that the connection between (01:4:23)
parents and children is an important key. This
When it is associated with acts of bullying
means that a good relationship between parent
committed by a child against other children at
and kids in the form of communication, family
school, the opinion from Thomas et al. can be
discussions, expressions of affection, etc.
used as an essential note for everyone to see
needs to be taken into account.
the significance of parental attention to their
For instance, the film A Girl like Her children. What a child does at school should
(2015) depicts that the bully named Avery be of concern to parents because this shows
regrets her actions and admits her mistake as that there is good communication between
shown in the following dialog: parents and children.

Avery: Yeah, but I mean, who would I talk Children who are in disharmonious
to? I have nobody. My mom doesn‟t talk to families without proper communication
me. My dad doesn‟t talk. My friends care between parents and children, without advice
about real life. They care about shopping. from parents and without good upbringing, can
(01:19:09)
easily learn bad things and one of them is
The dialog reveals that the bully has a serious bullying his or her weaker classmates. In
problem in her family. The absence of care addition, from the psychological perspective,
and communication between parents and as the most important small group in a society
children is the root of various problems and consisting of parents and children, family is
one of them is bullying. The importance of basically assessed from the interactions
good relations with family members was also between family members (Popov & Ilesanmi,

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2015, p. 255). A bully who vents his environment can come from anyone. This is
dissatisfaction, rage or frustration by bullying also emphasized by Arifin et al. (2018, p. 932)
his or her schoolmates is a mistake. If this that bad behaviors such as theft, fights, drug
keeps happening, the victim of bulling will abuse, etc. can be influenced by association
probably do the same to other people. It will with wrong friends. Thus, bullying can also be
be seen as a vicious circle that will go on and perceived from the same point of view as
on. Thus, if the meaning bullying is examined explained by Arifin et al.
more deeply, the role of family in giving
attention to their children would become a key As an example, in the film Wonder (2018),
behind the concept of bullying. a character named Jack befriends the bully
Julian. The bully always makes fun of Auggie
b. The Social Environment and Jack is also influenced by Julian joining
him on the insults:
When talking about the conceptualizing
the term bullying the role of social Boy: It really does look like him
environment cannot be ruled out because the Julian: This part right?
fact is that bullying really occurs in society. Boy: Yeah.
Jack: I mean, he‟s always reminded me of,
What is meant by the social environment in
like, the shrunken head, you know?
this context is any situation, atmosphere or Julian: Or an orc.
around an individual (outside the family) that Boy: Yeah.
can influence him or her to commit acts of Julian: If I look like him, I‟d swear I‟d put
bullying. Related to the social environment, a hood over my face every day.
people often think whether it can affect the Jack: If I look like him, I think I‟d kill
behavior or attitude of an individual. Many myself.
Julian: Why do you hang out with him so
studies suggested that there is indeed a close
much, Jack?
relationship between the social environment Jack: Yeah. I dunno. Tushman asked me to
and a person‟s behavior. The social be his welcome buddy and now he just
environment can usually be perceived as a follows me around everywhere.
dynamic condition formed in a society where a Julian: Well, that must stink!
group of people join in bringing different (00:45:13)
background, thoughts, attitude and activities. Jack, who at the first did not show a bad
(Pinoa et al., 2020, p. 36). This condition may attitude towards Auggie, turned out to be
affect the way people to behave or act because influenced by his classmates and took part in
of the influence of the people around them, for insulting Auggie‟s appearance. The dialog
example, hang-out friends, neighbors, above may indicate that an individual,
schoolmates, etc. especially a teenager, can often get negative
It is said that the social environment plays influence from his friends and it will have an
an essential role in a person‟s life because impact on his or her way of thinking, attitudes
according to Dude (2022, p. 44) all stages of a and behavior. In fact, an individual can get a
person‟s life is always affected by his or her lot of influence from his or her social
relationship with other individuals in society. environment, especially those related to his or
A student who gets influence from the social her psychology. Scientific studies have also
revealed that whether or not an individual is

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Bullying in American Films

mentally healthy may be connected to his or was laughing. And they knew it was
her relationship with other people as well as hurting me, and they kept going.
support from people around him or her (00:20:10)
(Prasetyo et al., 2016, p. 37). Perhaps it is true Kelby: Yeah, you know, I went in thinking
that if someone is in a positive social it was gonna be a new year, and people
environment, which means that the people were used to me. And I went into class,
around him or her are always well-behaved, and the class was already full, and I sat
caring, giving advice, and carrying out useful down, and everyone around me moved
seats. Like every single person. I was the
activities, he might be influenced to behave
only one sitting in a little circle. That was
like his or her friends too. enough.
(01:25:19)
Talking about the social environment, the
school is also an environment that can The dialogs above reflect that the parents of
contribute to acts of bullying, especially if the bullying victims were disappointed that
one doing the bullying is seniors or teachers. schools did not see bullying as something
This can give the bully students an idea that serious. Schools, in this case, teachers also
school does not mind it, so they can do it often fail to act to stop bullying and sometimes
freely. Several scenes in the film Bully (2011) they are also unable to do much (Veenstra et
show that schools or campuses are often al., 2014, p. 1136). In other words, bullying
negligent or fail to suppress bullying cases and will never be overcome if children continue to
do not even want to be blamed if the bullying see various incidents or experience of bullying
takes its toll. Here are some of the dialogs in their surroundings and society. Therefore,
from the film: discussions about bullying cannot simply
ignore social environment factor. The
Jackie: You send your kids to school with
phenomenon of bullying is not a simple matter
the assumption that if they‟re out of your
care, they‟re in someone else‟s who is just because it involves many conditions that cause
as capable as you of keeping them safe, it to occur. Thus, if it is interpreted from the
and I don‟t feel like that. He‟s not safe on perspective of representation theory, it is a
that bus. negative behavior that happens in society and
Kim: It‟s hard. It is hard. And you know is strongly related to the social environment
what? This was my dad on Thursday. This they bully lives in.
is my granddaughter and her new baby
brother. I‟d be sitting there, crying, just c. The Powerlessness of Individual
like you if anything happened to those two
kids. We don‟t want anything to happen to Various kinds of conditions can be
these babies. Any of them. This is totally experienced by people in society. Each of
wrong, totally wrong that this situation
these conditions is closely related to one‟s
would happen. Absolutely. But ...
Jackie: It just seems to me, if it‟s a few emotions. One of the conditions that is actually
kids, then you take away the few kids. quite often experienced by many people is a
(01:10:42) feeling of powerlessness. Power is always
perceived as something essential. There are
Kelby: And another teacher told me how
people who have power and there are people
they burned fags and kept talking about it
with me in the classroom, and everyone who are powerless in society. Thus, according

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November 2023

to Overbeck et al. (2006, p. 480) people who Emotional outburst due to powerlessness
have social power can easily influence others shown by teenagers according to several
who have no power and the powerless people studies may be related to the search for
cannot do the same thing. identity. This condition was also explained by
Yanwar et al. (2020, p. 596) that adolescence
Based on the opinion of Wilkinson et al. is perceived as a time when individuals are
(2010, p. 910) a number of studies from the looking for their identity, for example, looking
social and psychological fields have revealed for answers about who they are, what their life
that power can influence the tendency to purposes are, what their specialties are, what
behave or do something in social context. The their position in society is, and so on. This
statement from Wilkinson et al. may indicate point may reflect that those who bully actually
that individuals who in their daily lives vent their frustration and anger over something
experience pressure from a group of people that limits their freedom in everyday life but
who are more powerful in society and have no they feel they have no power over it.
power to fight and only accept it are those who
are considered powerless. This point provides CONCLUSION
an understanding that many teenagers in
society have experienced the feeling of being There are several essential points that can
underestimated and they think that they need be used as conclusions regarding the study of
an action to show that they are superior and bullying in American films. First, the issue of
powerful. One of the things they do is to bully bullying still often appears in various media in
their classmates who they think to have flaws various places. This is because cases of
and weakness to be insulted, made fun of and bullying still occur, especially in schools.
hurt. Second, cases of bullying are also frequently
used as themes in popular American films and
In addition to understanding how feeling of for this reason, they deserve to be studied.
powerlessness can affect a person‟s life, there Third, the results obtained from an analysis of
is a research conducted by Yang et al. (2015, the films about bullying show that there are
p. 1) which found that individuals who feel three portraits related to bullying that often
powerless believe that they are seen and appeared as the scenes of the studied films
treated inhumanely by those who have power such as portraits of physical violence, verbal
and they tend to feel ashamed, disappointed, violence (verbal bullying) as well as trauma.
anxious, angry or anything negative. This Thus, it can indicate that bullying is
condition may lead him or her to do whatever inseparable from these three portraits. They
to show his or her existence. So, teenagers can be an indication that bullying must be
who are unable to think positively and control stopped immediately because it not justified
their emotions may feel powerless because and can bring about a bad impact on the
they have to follow the rules of house, schools victims. Finally, based on Hall‟s the of
and society. As a result, they will express their representation, American popular culture,
feelings of powerlessness in many ways which especially, Hollywood movies represent
are generally rebellious, destructive as well as bullying as a lack of affection from the family,
violent. the social environment and the powerlessness
of an individual.

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Bullying in American Films

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