Fresh off his Oscar glory with “The Artist,” Harvey Weinstein is experiencing anything but silence when it comes to his next film.
The producer is protesting the “R” rating received by a documentary his company is releasing. “Bully,” directed by Lee Hirsch, is an examination of school bullying that follows five students and their families throughout a school year.
It received the rating, which restricts children under 17 from seeing it without an adult, because of six expletives. Mr. Weinstein claims such a rating restricts the audience the film can most benefit: high school teenagers.
The Weinstein Co. appealed the decision, but the Motion Picture Association of America, which oversees movie ratings, declined to lower the rating to a PG-13.
The director says editing the language would minimize the harsh realities of bullying.
Katy Butler, a Michigan high school student, has gotten more than 200,000 signatures for an online petition to change the rating.
