January 27th at 7:30, Butler University will screen Mentor, a powerful documentary by Butler Visiting Professor Alix Lambert. Lambert’s film takes viewers into the town and school of Mentor, a community with a “fit in or get out” mentality. Mentor, Ohio was voted one of the top 100 cities in the United States, but in the five years leading up to this honor, five students at Mentor High School died by suicide after relentless bullying. The independent documentary caught the attention of actress Ellen Page who recently tweeted, “If there is something 2 watch right now it’s @lixilamb ‘s film Mentor. So important and needs to be seen and shared.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBRnJITof44[/youtube]
Watch the trailer of the movie Filmmaker says is “both heartbreaking and soberly resolute in its inquiry into the institutional forces and ‘culture of conformity’ that fail young members of our communities.”
Although Mentor is set in one town, Lambert hopes viewers see bullying as systemic in all communities. “I’m not picking on Mentor,” Lambert says. “I chose an extreme example to show something that happens everywhere.”
Lambert chose to focus on the two families who brought law suits against the Mentor school district. Viewers will notice the film doesn’t name or center on the bullies themselves. This is because Lambert successfully presents the argument it was not just a handful of individuals that led to these suicides; it was the entire community. “Blaming a person or small group of people,” she says, “lets everyone – me, you – off the hook.” In her TED talk Lambert says, “Anytime we allow ourselves to be lured into the trap of believing a perpetrator caught equals problem solved we lose the ability to attack society’s problems at its root cause.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RMaD0_k7hc[/youtube]
Although she is far more comfortable behind the camera than in front, Alix presented a TED talk because she felt this idea of systemic problems was so important.
Lambert calls on everyone to be responsible to systemic bullying, but to do what you can. “I’m a filmmaker, so I make a film,” she says. “If you are a parent, go to the school and make sure there is bullying plan in place.” She believes everyone can do small things are important. “It begins with connecting with each other,” Lambert says.
The solution can begin with watching this film. It can begin a much needed conversation. Because independent documentaries aren’t usually shown in mainstream theaters nor have the resources to promote, most people don’t have the chance to see important films like Mentor. Butler is honored to share with the community the film TrustMovies calls “more important than Leviathan and a much stronger film than Bully.” The free screening will be January 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts.