A Girl Like Her – An Emotional Docu-Drama About Bullying
16-year-old Jessica Burns has a secret that she’s afraid to share with anyone – except her best friend, Brian Slater. For the past year she’s been victimized by another girl – her former friend, Avery Keller, one of South Brookdale High School’s most popular and beautiful students. What can you do when the world sees the image of a person but not the reality? With Brian’s help and a hidden digital camera, the evidence of Avery’s relentless harassment is captured and finally exposed-bringing both girls and their families face to face with the truth. KIDS FIRST! Critic Gerry O. comments, “This film should be seen by everyone over the age of 9. This film shows you that the world isn’t always a happy place with sunshine and smiles.” See his full review below.
A Girl Like Her
By Gerry O, age 12, KIDS FIRST! Critic
This is a film that looks like a real, although its not, bullying story. It concentrates on everybody who is affected by it. It shows who does what about it and why. A Girl Like Her can truly show that something may seem so small, can mess up so many people. This movie isn’t a romance or comedy or an action packed adventure, quite the contrary. It shows a journey, a drama-filled one. It will not make you laugh. However, it may make you cry. It is about bullying which should not be referred to as a joke.
The story is about a girl named Jessica who goes to one of the best public high schools in the nation. However, after refusing to let her ‘friend’ cheat on her test, she starts getting bullied. She makes her best friend tell no one of this. But the friend decides something else. He gives her a hidden camera to wear and this documents all the bullying. Soon, she tries to commit suicide and the movie shows the struggle of not only the victim and her family, but everybody – the bystander, the bully, the administration, everybody.
This movie is truly emotional. It is made to look like it is documenting a real story. I didn’t even know it was fake till the end! That’s how good of a job it is! The acting is truly wonderful. This is the only time I have ever truly hated a character then, felt pity for the character. This is the bully. The director does a wonderful job showing the emotions of characters and proving that bullying isn’t just a normal part of life to deal with. It is a serious matter that has killed hundreds of children.
I cannot choose a favorite scene because I would rather that this movie doesn’t need to tell people about bullying. My least favorite scene is when the school administration denies the need to institute anti-bullying policies and tries to brush it away as nothing. The school acts like it’s nothing and it shows you how quickly a school will put bullying as nothing to be worried for their own benefit.
This film should be seen by everyone over the age of 9. This film shows you that the world isn’t always a happy place with sunshine and smiles. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars because it is a wonderful movie and something we all know is taking place. The only thing I would have liked to have seen in this film is a message at the end or beginning saying that this is WRONG and this is no laughing matter. And, they should recommend resources that kids and parents can go to.
