Drillbit Dumb
| July 1st, 2008 by Robert | Word Count: 1086 | Reading Time 4:22 | 2,811 views |
I have decided to write today’s article about a movie that I rented today and watched, “Drillbit Taylor.” Now of course I will fill you in a bit about the basic premise of the movie and give you my feelings on it. The basic ideas of the movie revolve around a couple of kids heading to their first few days in high school and are in need of some defense. They are the typical nerd and geek stereotype and they suffer through some high school hazing. These young boys have the bright idea of hiring a bodyguard to take care of their bully problem. Well, that doesn’t work out too well because they hire a bum impersonating a bodyguard. Long story short, they go through some good and bad times together and end up riding off into the sunset in a blaze of glory. Bottom line is, save your money, the movie is garbage.
Yes, it was a horrible movie. If you have read my review about “Balls of Fury,” throw this one right along with it. Not only that, but it was one hour and forty minutes of torture for one big laugh that lasted about 60 seconds of the movie. Some of the supposed funny “shenanigans” were absolutely not funny. I’m a pretty lenient guy, but this movie should not have seen the light of day. If you can believe me, I AM being lenient in my review. If you wish to put your tastes to the test, be my guest, go rent the movie and I’ll be the first in line to pat you on the back and share your pain. Anyway, what insight do I have to offer from watching this movie? Was there a special line or character or scene that warranted some in depth thinking or a view from an alternative perspective? Nope. Not a one. But, that won’t stop me from writing an article on it.
“Drillbit Dumb” did have something I can write an article about… bullies. Everyone has experienced a bully in their life at some point or another. Some may even be experiencing them in their adult life right now. Bullies are everywhere and they are hard to deal with. During our school years, we had our daily dealings with people physically bigger than us, cooler than us, or smarter than us. During our adult years, we have the same issues. However, during adult life, bullies resort to different methods to bully those around them. They utilize manipulation, lies, and sometimes friendship among other things, to get what they want. Bullies pushed people around in school and they continue to do so in adult life. I’m sure you know a bully or two in your life, how do you deal with them? Do you let them slide by and get what they want because you don’t want to enter into a conflict? Is it easier just to allow them to satisfy their selfish needs in order to go about your day a bit easier? Sure, a lot of people do this and it makes the day go by. Nobody likes conflict and we all like easy days.
Is that the right thing to do? In the end, if we do not confront the situation, we are only supporting and extending the bully’s way of life. People should not succumb to the bully’s desires just because it makes their lives easier. Bullies deserve to be put into their place. Their place of course isn’t any better than ours. We need to short circuit their ability to control others. Without control, they lose any effective power they may have. If you take away their “power,” they are nothing more than an individual crying for personal attention. Without manipulation, lies, and their version of friendship, they have nothing to utilize over their prey. They are nothing more than a loud mouthed jerk. How many of those do you know?
I think that at some point in time, we are all bullies. We try and force people that we know to do something we want because we believe we have the upper hand. We have the tools to manipulate people, we have the information to twist any way we wish, and we also have our version of friendship to utilize as a crutch when necessary. When was the last time you played the pity card to get someone to do something? Guess what, you were being a bully. You were manipulating someone to do something you wanted. When was the last time you brought up a past deed you helped with to “force” your friend to help you? Bully. When was the last time that you knew that your friend would do something for you because you could leverage your friendship and “make” them do it? Once again, you’re a bully.
Bullies are all around us and we are all bullies at some point in time. We throw our weight around trying to make people do what we want because we are basically selfish. Some bullies just choose to throw their weight around different and create public displays. Others do it more internally but is there any difference? They are both accomplishing the same thing, just in a different manner. Is one easier to say no to than the other? I think so. I think the quiet bully who manipulates and uses friendship is much harder to say no to because we will feel like we were used and betrayed by our friend. A physical bully offers the likelihood of physical harm in some manner but usually they won’t go that far. The physical bully usually falls into the “bark is worse than the bite” category. They utilize fear mostly as their weapon of choice.
So, how many bullies exist in your life? Do you have any friends, family, or coworkers who fall into the bully category? I’m sure you do. If you sit back and really think about it, how many bullies do you really have in your life? I would think we all have quite a few. Each and every one of us has been trained to be a bully. Either through our environment or way of life, we can all be a bully at any given time. However, it is up to us to choose not to be a bully. There will always be bullies in our lives, but we should try our best to make sure that we are not one of them.
on July 1st, 2008 at 11:11 pm:
You are so right, we are all bullies, whether we admit it or not, to some degree. It does feel good to have that power of control. That’s the human selfish part of us. The best part of us is the unselfish side, the part that will be humble enough to recognize when we were the bully and make amends to the ones we bullied.
And as we go forward, learn to recognize sooner each time you are being the bully, to stop and change directions, right then and there, and end the hurtful things you say and do. Therefore becoming a person who is happy, more delightful to be around, more down to earth, sensible kind of person, and truthful. You will draw more friends than you could ever believe.
on July 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 pm:
Some bullies believe they have friends because they are surrounded by people who listen to them. But what they fail to realize is that they are not truly friends, they are nothing more than acquaintances. These people are around the bully because they feed off the control and “rewards” which accompany their so called friendship. In the end, these friends are only in it for themselves and when the rewards fail to materialize, they leave their bully friend and move on.
Bullies typically do not have real friends and that is a result of their lifestyle. As you implied, bullies are not the happiest of people and they are not fun to be around. So, if you really want true friends, you can’t bully them and they should not want to bully you.
on August 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am:
Bullies run society. You either bully people or you are bullied. I’d give this film a 5 out of 10. It had some good parts.
on August 22nd, 2008 at 12:59 pm:
Bullies definitely run society. Some are blatant about their actions and others are not. I do believe most of us are bullied even though we like to think we aren’t. But, we can make a conscious effort to not bully others around us and also stand up against those who are blatantly forcing their will upon us. Bullying will not go away, but we can mitigate the impact it has upon us and our impact on others.
I think you are being very generous with a 5. Although the 60 second portion I spoke of probably creates about 3 of those points. I’ve seen a lot worse and a lot better that’s for sure.
on August 25th, 2008 at 10:03 pm:
CNN recently ran a story which reported some statistics featuring school bullies. The following information seems pertinent here:
“Regarding preteen and teenage bullies.
…Principal Denise Magee…has a zero-tolerance policy when it ‘comes’ to that kind of harassment.
Magee says… Middle-school kids are just cruel to each other. They speak their minds, so you see bullying in the form of teasing, taunting, social isolation and name calling.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 30 percent of all children in grades six through 10 have been bullied or have bullied other children during a school year.
Clinical psychologist Mark Crawford of Roswell, Georgia, says… Bullying is not a rite of passage.
He continues… Kids who are bullied are at greater risk of physical symptoms, physical complaints, emotional problems and academic underachievement.”
My take on the percentage: I believe 30 percent is far below reality. I would put the number at 80-90%. Bullying takes on many forms and the majority of kids deal with the bully in their own way rather than reporting it to adults in fear of some sort of backlash from “ratting” the bully out.