The very act of bullying is a form of cancer found year after year in both public and private schools the world over. No matter where you went to school I am sure that just about all of you would agree that some sort of bullying took place there.
In She Deserves It, a new made for German television film being featured at this year’s German Gems festival, director, Thomas Stiller gives us a microscopic peek at one tumorous alpha female and her subsequent actions leading up to her classmate’s demise.
In its search to find answers as to why, or how, certain kids are predisposed to acts of severe bullying, Stiller focuses on the bully, Linda (Liv Lisa Fries). We see her troubled life at home; younger brother with down syndrome, meek father with little to no back-bone, and a mother who comes across as no more than an exhausted parent simply trying to do her best. Needless to say, Linda is not getting the attention she craves. Compensating for the lack of attention given to her at home she acts out by cutting class, sniffing glue, and harassing elderly in the park. It’s after another girl innocently asks Linda’s boyfriend to her birthday party that she finds yet another excuse to act out. This time though she goes too far.
My biggest problem with this film was in the lack of depth explored regarding this one particular case of bullying. Clearly the victim’s mother places much of the blame on the parents of the bully and their poor upbringing of their child, while the bully’s mother is resolute in summing up her daughters actions by saying, “some people are just born evil.” Well, which is it? By not exploring either side of the coin in depth, this film only poses questions without ever really giving a definite answer. I can apreciate an open ended film, just not when there is such a lack of focus leading up to the “let the audience decide” conclusion.
Showtimes for Sie Hat Es Verdient (She Deserved It):
Saturday, Januray 15, 2010 @ 9:00pm (Castro Theatre)
