ParaNorman || Bullying Awareness

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ParaNorman (2012 – rated PG)


 Norman is able to speak with the dead, including his late grandmother and various ghosts in his small, New England town. Almost no one believes his ability is genuine and as a result, he is isolated emotionally from his family while being ridiculed and bullied by most of his peers for his seemingly strange abilities.


 Norman finds a friend in Neil, an eccentric, overweight boy who is bullied himself and who finds Norman’s abilities as a medium intriguing.


 Norman is tasked with saving his town from a witch who wants nothing more than to destroy it. He learns that the witch was once a little girl who, like him, was a medium. The townsfolk, scared of her ability, tried and convicted her of being a witch.


 In the film’s climax, Norman tells her that he understands how she feels as an outcast. As she struggles to drive him away, Norman endures her attack and eventually convinces her that, despite her legitimate grievance, her thirst for vengeance isn’t accomplishing anything except inflicting more pain. He tries to convince her that even in the darkest times, there must have been someone who was kind to her. Focusing only on the tragedies and forgetting the good things in her life is what reduced her to a malevolent force.


 Recalling her true personality and happy memories with her mother, the girl is able to find a measure of peace, knowing that she is not alone and that one person in the town understands her. This allows her to let go and move on to the afterlife. The locals regard Norman as a hero, even when the outside media tries to explain the disturbance as merely a powerful storm.


Introducing discussion to students:


 We’ve all seen films that show bullying in one form or another, but have we ever thought about whether the victim’s response (or the response of those witnessing the bullying) is realistic or helpful? Even though movies are fiction, we should be aware that they still send a message about what is “normal” or acceptable. When we gain the skills to be aware of, and to be critical of, these messages, we gain media literacy.


 So while we go to the movies to be entertained, we can use films as opportunities to (1) become aware of potentially harmful messages about bullying and (2) learn about what we can do to stop bullying in real life.