- - When the TV movie
"Cyberbully" aired on ABC Family, it immediately held a mirror
up to the teenagers of 2011 and showed them how a
certain newly available home technology was causing
irreversible damage and trauma. Heat straightening your hair every day and just to put it up in a ponytail? Ugh, can I at least make
some hair extensions out of the breakage in your bathtub drain? Oh yeah, and this was
also the height of kids viciously making fun of
each other on the internet. And no, I am not still doing
the exact same thing, okay? Because now I'm an adult making
fun of kids on the internet. Nobody thought of me as
a kid since I role played as a baby goat at the Palm
Springs Petting Zoo party, I got so many handfuls of
grass fed to me that day. In LA, you could never get that many micronutrients for free, but I'll stop myself before bragging about all of the free goat vaccines I got and really cool farm parasites, because in this movie, our main character Taylor, played by Emily Osment
of Disney Channel fame, is having a much less
fortunate time in high school, getting harassed on social
media by the whole town, except for one gay kid who
she basically tells to go die. Taylor gets it from the
school bully, her best friend, even her 10-year-old brother tries to destroy her reputation. Although from their perspective, it probably feels real
good to bully someone who you know will always deliver instant mellow dramatic reactions, go on to become the cautionary
tale of junior year, and achieve the ultimate level of fame for any determined teenager
in a made for TV movie, being featured in a local news story. So boot up your child's spyware and tell 'em to brush the haters off, for a surprisingly effective relatable and flashback-inducing cyber
installment of Clip Breakdown. (bright upbeat music) Hello, television viewers. My name is Nick. Thank you so much for joining
me once again on my channel for another installment of Clip Breakdown. This is the playlist where we
dive into our favorite movies, TV movies, and other such
content here on the web. And we break it down like the
antiquated harassment laws of your state legislator so that it's caught up to
the digital millennium. We look at each individual
clip and say, that's okay, and that's gonna send her to therapy. Spoiler alert, our girl
goes to therapy, yes. I love when a movie actually
is like, no, she needs therapy. Because a lot of movies are
like, eh, magically happy again. But anyway, this movie
obviously highlights the darker side of technology
and poor communication. But let's not forget that
technology can also help us come together and expand our horizons, which is why I'm excited
that today's video is sponsored by Babbel, one of the top language
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as little as three weeks. Now back to this poor
communication, only anger movie. Merch, Patreon, you got it, in 2011, if you weren't really
like of age at that time, it was slightly different
but also a lot different. We had smartphones but only like some kids had internet-enabled phones. Like I had a T-Mobile Sidekick, but like iPhones and apps
were not super ubiquitous yet, and you certainly couldn't get like an app for a social media site. You would have to go to
www.facebook.com on your phone. Also, it was like we had
home computers at the time, desktop home computers,
which I haven't seen in a... Well, I have a desktop
but I mean, I'm fancy. Anyway, let's check in with Taylor, who is getting ready for school, chatting with her friend Mirabella. That's not her name, Samantha. This is only the 1600th movie we've seen that begins with the two girls chatting about what they're gonna wear to school via instant messenger. I think we can round out the way girls get ready for school on television a little bit more than that, 2000s. Like just "Clueless" again and again, Groundhogs Day. - [Kris] Gotta go figure out what the latest public
relations crisis is today. Who are you calling a brat? - Private. - Well, what you do online
isn't exactly private. - That's right, sweetie. I looked at your search history and saw all of those different variations on two skater girls kissing. I for one love this direction for your sexual development. Stay curious, you're on the right path. In this movie, I think Emily
Osment does her best work in some of the smaller interactions with her mom and friends. It feels realistic. There's good chemistry between
her and many of the cast, and this movie was meant
to air on Disney Channel where she was, at this
time, on "Hannah Montana." Well, I guess this was one
year after "Hannah Montana," but still she was making the
transition from that sitcom to doing more movies, especially on ABC. Like she did that "Goosebumps" one. I was like, okay. And she had this single that was like... ♪ A shooting star twinkling
across the sky at night ♪ I was like, all right, good for you. Another realistic aspect of
being a teenager that Emily does is thinking that one dry crumble (beep) Nature Valley granola bar is enough food to stay focused until lunch. High school is demanding, stressful, and for some reason,
it was always ice cold. I wouldn't go back there without an IV bag and my present day list of
antidepressants that work for me. Because back in high school,
that list had drinking alcohol scribbled in blue pen at the top. As you can see, Taylor's mom
is really into internet safety, to the point where it's nearly
her only character attribute. I get it, you're divorced and your daughter's on the internet. It's a stressful time, but
the mom does mention how, "Oh, by the way, it's your birthday." Like that should have been
the first thing you said upon coming down the stairs, but okay. Someone's messaging her like,
"Are you having a party?" And I'm like, who is that? 'Cause she has two friends, and they're both in the car with her. - Why does everybody think
I should have a party? Turning 17 doesn't mean anything. - Presents, money, bling. - If your dad had moved
out three months ago, you wouldn't want a party either. - Hey, you know, that's not
it, I don't care about that. - But either way, why don't
you go ahead and chill out with those casual recaps on
my estranged father subplot? Samantha loves to judge
all of Taylor's decisions, and also openly discuss her family issues like they were past
episodes of "Suburgatory". Taylor was like, "Do you guys
think I should have a party?" And Samantha was like, "Previously on reasons
that your mom cried." By the way, Samantha is
played by Kay Panabaker of "Read it and Weep". I love that her last name is Panabaker, 'cause it just means like bread baker. I'm like, yeah, baby, with
that olive oil dipping sauce, we're in. Also it looks like the
actress who plays Cheyenne, named Meaghan Rath got the
same unfortunate treatment as Monique Coleman in the early
high school musical movies where none of the stylists
on set seemed to quite know how to handle hair of
people from her ethnicity. So she spends a lot of
this movie in one wig with multiple headbands
to try to switch it up. But then randomly she'll have natural hair and it looks so good, just
like kind of as air dried, I assume, in other scenes. Maybe for this part of the shoot her hair looked a different
because of another role and they just wanted to cover
it up with something easy, but it's a different length,
so it's not super continuous. Anyway, the girls get to school, and we realize they're not
maybe the most popular girls, because the most popular girls, frankly, don't look that cool to me. - It was a class discussion. I wasn't even talking about her. - My brother wears shoes like that. He's 10. (group laughing) - Oh God, Samantha's gonna be like, "Well, we think her shoes
look hot and sexy, okay? "So I guess tell your 10-year-old brother, "we think he looks hot and sexy, too." Like no, no, no, don't
stick up for me like that. Besides, I could never
feel insulted by somebody who actually wants to be seen
eating candy at 8:17 a.m. What is it, Christmas Day? I still have toothpaste
flavor in my mouth right now. And you're already
hittin' up the lolli shop, like it's time to find the golden ticket. So trashy, so trashy, we love. That character who made fun of the shoes is Lindsay Fordyce, the
main mean girl of the movie, who had sort of a thing 'cause of a misunderstanding
in health class where Taylor, by saying
that she thought teenagers should wait till 18 to have sex, Lindsay took that as a judgment on her, which, this is what sucks about this movie and high school in general is that you wanted to
have sex as a teenager, but then kids would be
so vicious to each other if they found out that they had sex. It's like, why don't we
all shut the (beep) up? Oh, the woman who teaches
history class is saying what day in history it was, leading up to saying, and
it's Taylor's birthday. And based on the dates, it seems like it might be April 23rd, the day after my birthday. We're twins. In 2011, oh God, I would've been turning, I turned 20 in 2011. I could have sworn I was
still a teenager. (gasping) That's not how years work. Anyway, the kids are
clappin' for her b-day. - [Teacher] Happy birthday Taylor. (students applauding)
- Happy birthday. - Today is my dad's birthday, too. - [Taylor] Cool. - Oh, the flirtation. He just reached his arm across the room like Stretch Armstrong, girl. He's definitely interested. That pointless dad related interaction is basically the morning
announcements before history class equivalent of him asking
to buy you a drink. That's Scott, the crush. And Caleb is the one in front
who said happy birthday. Later on, it's brought up that
he's the gay kid in school. Although, they're
definitely foreshadowing it by letting us see him in that vest. It was very fierce in 2011 to dress like you just finished a piano recital. Jazz piano, though, like you had jeans on and
were a little disheveled. Jason Robert Brown. That's how gay I am. The biggest flaw I would say
with the script of this movie is the expositional
dialogue, which frankly, is such a mainstay of
a lot of these movies that I noticed it less here
because I found most of, I know I've read a lot of reviews online being like "The acting is crazy." At times, yes, but I feel like they were more directing choices, because I think Kay
Panabaker and Emily Osment do a solid job here
with what they're given. I mean here Samantha's like, "You know what happened with me? "Eric hooked up with
me, got what he wanted, "and never talked to me again." So she's very jaded by this. Understandably. I still get that way. Look out kids, it's not
just a high school thing. You're gonna be feeling (beep) forever. I don't know necessarily
what Samantha gets out of trying to convince Taylor to just not focus on boys at all like, forever, what is your problem? Why do you care? - Okay, remember it was
your dad that left you guys for a 25-year-old girl. If that doesn't tell
you how scummy guys are- - Hey-
- Hey, why don't you bring it up a couple more times, Samantha? I think I saw a fleeting moment of peace on your best friend's face. Today is Taylor's birthday, and it seems like all
you got her as a gift was talking about her dad leaving, twice. At age 17, if I were Taylor, I would be playing the
victim so victimly right now. Birthdays give you that right. I'd be like, ugh, I guess you forgot that on the first day
of school we promised we would bring donuts for
each other's birthday, and then never mentioned it again. But I guess our friendship
means nothing to you. I wonder what they could
have done for Samantha to make it clear why she needs Taylor to not get into a relationship. Like is there a past
relationship or heartache that Taylor went through
that was really annoying for Sam to have to console her? Or perhaps Sam has an older sister who had an unwanted pregnancy. I don't know, I don't know,
but we never get anything. It's just like, why are you
obsessed with what she's doing as though you're Jiminy
Cricket on her shoulder? That night for her birthday, her mom gives her her own laptop computer without all these crazy restrictions that she has on the home computer/ She's like, "You wanna be a journalist, "so I think you should write
to your heart's content." It's like writing you can do
without a computer, but yeah. Remember the old days journalism? Also this is the first time they bring up that she wants to be a journalist out of a total of two times, I think. She doesn't really use the power
of the written word herself to find a resolution
here, but we'll get there. Because she can finally
get on the computer now, she can make a Cliquesters profile, which is loosely based after Facebook. Although seems like they call it a more unfiltered version of Facebook. I'm like, so MySpace? Twitter? Vine? But no, Cliquesters with its awful name, 'cause they're like,
let's go on Cliquesters. I need you to look at
my Cliquesters profile. It's like that little S
is really (beep) me up. So anyway, Taylor's
figuring out what to put for the about me quiz which
this reminds me of MySpace. It's hard to come up with
answers that will portray the version of yourself
that you're trying to invent for the school. - What kind of underwear
am I wearing right now? Oh my god. - Just say pink. Everybody says pink. - I said black. - No, you guys, stop. I'm gonna tell the truth. Men's athletic supporter with a Fuji apple tucked inside the front for
when I need a healthy snack. Actually Taylor ends up
going with blue underwear, because pink is too cute
and black is too sexy. But then what the (beep) does blue mean? These colors are starting
to feel even more arbitrary when you add in blue, unless, were teenage girls using the hanky code in the 2010s? Work. When Sam gets home, her
mom is asleep on the couch, and I was instantly like,
does she got a wine glass? Is she an alcoholic mom? No, she's holding a dog. Also she goes to check on her dad, and he's working, working, working. So she's kind of lonely in her family. That never becomes anything
more than what we just saw. Although I suppose it's supposed to imply, this is one of the reasons why
she does what she does later. But for now it seems like
all the kids are really living out their social
lives on the internet, which is honestly something
it took adults 60 years to (beep) figure out what we were doing. It's like remember hanging out at the skate park after school? Now it's a chat room. I don't know how else to explain it. You have a job. You should be able to get it. Anyway, the mean comments come
right away on Cliquesters. Like this girl barely just
verified her email address. - Well, that's not very nice. I don't even know which
one I'm supposed to be, lardo or dog face. - But I mean you could make an
educated guess, right, Fido? I'm just saying only one
of us wrote that essay about how your parents
wouldn't let you on the couch when you were little
'cause it took so long to potty train you. I'm thrilled that this movie captured an actual historical artifact
from this period of time, a flash photo that washed
out your entire face, with the exception of
some cartoon looking eyes that were drawn back in
using the Photoshop Burn Tool to make your eyeliner appropriately dark. For whatever reason, this
was the age of black pencil on your waterline five days a week. Even if it made your eyes look small. The straightened hair, the coal eyeliner, maybe 'cause Bollywood was really in. You know, "Slumdog Millionaire"? Also like the scene movement, emo stuff, it all kind of had that feel. And this movie totally nails the trend. Those hairstylists and
makeup artists were like, we know what's up, bad makeup. I also don't care for how
Taylor seems not bothered by being made fun of by Lindsay until a random point in the movie. Like I know they're not quite
spreading lies about her like they do later, but someone was mean for no reason, this morning and online,
and they just laugh it off. So it seems like something
happens all of the sudden. Oh, also I should mention
that Taylor's dad who left does not call her. It's like her birthday and he didn't call. Apparently it's because he
thinks she'll be mad at him. And she had said, "I never
wanna speak to you again." But it's like, you can
still call your daughter. You should probably show
up for that in that way. The next morning the Scott guy is like, "Oh, I saw your page, I'm
gonna be on this chat room "for the school tonight and
maybe I'll see you there." So they talk that night about music, and he's really layin' it on thick. I like this, I'm like
no mixed signals here. - So I was actually reading
your page last night, and you're really good writer. - Well, thank you. (laughing)
- But I do think you need a few more pictures, though, maybe a bikini shot or something. (Taylor laughing)
(Nick laughing) - Scott, please. I don't even have a bikini. So what about a medical
photo of me in my underwear with my arms and legs
splayed out like a starfish? The hospital wanted to submit
it to be used in textbooks because no one had seen such a disgusting-looking
shingles outbreak before. You know what, I'll stop describing it and just upload the photo so you can see for yourself, Scotty boy. Shingles. Oh, I mean, wink. By the way, if you
didn't know, Emily Osment is the younger sister of Haley Joel Osment who we saw on this channel
in "The Sixth Sense", and I can't believe I didn't
mention during that video that I used to see him all the time in the bathroom after class. He was in his last two years
of NYU and I was in my first. and we would always end up
at the same bank of urinals. It was my first brush with stardom, and it smelled like piss. I'm just kidding. In the car, Samantha is
being a real negative Nancy by saying, "Oh my God,
just 'cause Scott asked you "for a bikini picture, that's not love." And Taylor is like,
whoa, so (beep) some dude and then getting dumped is love? And Samantha's like, "You can walk home, "you can walk the rest of
this neighborhood walk home." (Nick chuckling) I thought that was fun. Oh, and that night Cheyenne
and Taylor are on Cliquesters, and Taylor gets a friend
request from some guy from a different school named James. It happens to be the school
that Cheyenne's cousin goes to. So Cheyenne messages him. Oh, and then just right
after dinner, hours later, Cheyenne is like, "Look
at your Cliquesters page, "something terrible happened." I'm like, it's been two days. This is the second virtual
attack on this girl's psyche. People are nuts. People are wildin' out
on this social media... This is before two-step verification. - Somebody figured out my password and they hacked my profile. Look where they wrote, look at the status. - I'm a naughty bad girl,
someone should spank me. - Oh sweetie, of course
you didn't write this, but unless you can prove that
you're not a naughty girl, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to spank you. After all, computers
don't know how to lie. They're how I found out
about your dad cheating. This is maybe, I would say, my second favorite quote from the movie. "I'm a naughty girl and
someone should spank me." And I was awake all
night trying to come up with the perfect headline for my single mom's dating profile. You you kids are clever. No, this mom is full of responsibility, to the point where she doesn't talk human. She's like, "Sweetheart, you
should deactivate the account. "It isn't worth all of this trouble." Their second day on there
and you're in tears. But I'm leaving it up to you to do it, 'cause I'm asking you to. It's like, mom, you're stupid. Social media is not going anywhere. Internet not goin' anywhere. So figure something else out. I don't know. I guess this was back when social media was a little more optional. I mean it still is, but
that's how kids talk now. Lindsay is responding to the
spank me status being snarky. So Taylor jumps on there and she's like, "You're nasty and (beep)." (laughing) I was like, yeah, get her. But she tries to forget about it by going over to Sam's house
where they have a sleepover. And when she comes home the next day, her brother is in big trouble, because mom found out he's the
one who guessed her password, the old cat's name, and wrote that status. Like sweetheart, your sister
could have been killed. Your sister could have been ripped apart socially by teenagers. You don't know what it's like. You still have circle time at school. But Taylor doesn't get off easy either, because mom is not happy
about that (beep) comment. - You can't use the
internet to be insulting or call anyone names. - Well, what about what they called me? - I know it's terrible
but that's no excuse to be ugly to someone online or anywhere. - Mom, please stop explaining
things like the pamphlet that guidance counselors hand out. I'm developing a real mental illness here. You should be talking like those pamphlets that come with pharmaceutical samples. That way we can get the ball
rollin' here on the chemicals. When Taylor gets to school, there's a lot of people looking
at her and laughing at her, and she finds out that while
her computer was taken away for that mean comment for three days, people have been writing mean
stuff on her wall all weekend. And when she wants to
look at it on Sam's phone, Sam is suspiciously like "No,
I'm not giving you my phone." So I guess because she
said she's a naughty girl who needs to be spanked, even though she took it down and said that her account was hacked, the whole school is like, no, no, we heard what
you said, naughtygirl316, and we're gonna spank you. They're like really takin' that to mean she's a slut and a whore,
is what they keep saying. Oh, so when she gets to homeroom, Caleb tries to empathize with her, because he doesn't have
it so easy online either. This was before Grinder. Was it? No, it must have been. Yeah, 'cause we didn't have
iPhone or location services. Old, I'm old. - You've been called a
slut and a whore, really? - Fairy, fruit, homo, too gay to live. - It's not really the same thing. I mean, you really are gay. What they're saying about me isn't true. - The way that I gasp every
single time she says it, she looked at him and said, "Caleb, the thing is you really are gay. "So in actuality, people are
just expressing their opinions "about that and how it's too much for them "and how you deserve to die because of it. "Meanwhile, they said
that my kink is spanking, "which I don't even know yet "because I didn't even get to try it yet. "Why are you being so
insensitive to my struggle, "fairy, fruit, homo?" This is another example where Emily Osment is giving me realism. I remember having similar
experiences in middle school right after I came out, which
I had completely forgot about, dredging up the memories. Oh yeah, I was a cyberbully
victim and perpetrator. I mean, that was kinda the thing. We all were just tryin' to
keep the heat off of us. But even in real life,
like this conversation, I remember sometimes there
would be a group of guys standing across the courtyard after lunch, and sometimes I would see
them all looking at me and laughing at me and
they'd be yelling, "Gay." And if I ever pointed it
out or complained about it, there would always be that
one girl who was like, "So what? "You are gay." As though that would like, I
guess, make me feel better. Like, oh, thanks so much for
reminding me, Stephanie W. In that case, those guys must be having a polite conversation about my gayness and how much they accept it. Like girl, obviously it's
not about the classification being technically correct. I wasn't accusing them of libel. It's more the pejorative tone and the about to throw rocks at me part that I was concerned about. That's what's making me feel invalidated on this lunch period. Anyway, this shows that
Taylor doesn't quite get that this is something that
affects multiple people. Also, she doesn't get gay people at all. Like that was not sensitive
and is never resolved and poor Caleb is not a
well-portrayed gay character. You can't just start that
story and then not finish it. Anyway, that night, James,
the guy from the other school, is sticking up for her online. The kids are all mad
'cause they're grounded, but Taylor's on the verge
of getting her phone back. Oh and when she's at
lunch, Scott is flirting by asking to go get ketchup together. And he even asked if she'll
go to the spring fling in a couple weeks. Everything is comin' up, Taylor, except for the disparaging
comments online. But she's happy about it,
and everyone should be. But Samantha, of course,
is on the frownie train. She uses this opportunity to explain that Scott's not such a nice guy, because she's friends
with Eric or whatever, the guy who she slept
with, and this happened. - You wanna know about Scott? Charlie told him about
some stuff he and I did, and you know what Scott did? He laughed. - I mean, you can't really
blame him for that, Samantha. We heard you farted and it
sounded like Donald Duck. He probably thought you did
it on purpose as a joke. But actually this kind of stuff happened a lot when I was in high school, and it really sucks to
have people making jokes about something so vulnerable and private. And then in Sam's case, it also sucks that she has a best friend who
interprets her need for a hug as another chance to explain
how she's so much better. This is Taylor's response to Sam recalling that cruel experience. - I mean, just 'cause you got
dumped doesn't mean I will. - Like ever? You think there's a chance
you'll never get dumped in your whole lifetime? Mama, I wanted to recast this whole movie just from seeing that
dead faced expression you had on your dead face just now. Also you're kind of mean
without realizing it. Sounds like exactly the kind of girl who gets broken up with frequently. Taylor said just because the whole school knows how your bra's straps
got tangled in your hair doesn't mean that Scott
and I won't get married at the spring fling and then die each other's
arms 100 years later. Taylor, you should probably
work on being a little less smug because you're about to
b-b-b-barely survive junior year. And karma comes quick in this movie, because this is how Taylor's doing roughly a week and a half
into being on social media. She finds out that her
crush from the other school, James, has been posting
about her, and it's bad. - He's saying he slept with
you, that you gave him an STD. - Can smell clap on her.
- Bet you big money has herpes, too. - [Bully] No wonder she reeks. - [Bully] She's always
made me wanna throw up. - You know, I was actually up for a role as one of the slut-shaming
voice actors in Taylor's head. But in my real life, I
try to normalize STDs as much as possible. And in order to prevent that from coming through in my performance, I think I overcompensated. Here's my audition tape. (beep) You such infected discharge. I can't believe how
noticeable the odor is. I'm the janitor and I'll
follow her around with a mop. Hello class, today will
be studying... (gagging) I'm actually puking, I'm actually puking. What do you mean, I'm stealing the scene? I'm not even on screen, 'cause they escorted me off
set for similar behavior. I love watching a movie
and seeing the exact shot that later became a meme. It's how I imagine bird
watchers must feel, only much better 'cause
I'm not out (beep) side. Tell me you haven't
seen this reaction gif. (Taylor crying) - [Bully] Skanky whore. - [Bully] Gross, don't breathe around her, you'll get infected. - Oh, this is the part where
I messed up my callback. They told me not to push
so hard and just be myself, but I think that stood out even more. One in five Americans has
an STI at any given time, and most can be treated
with modern medicine. The clap is a slang term for gonorrhea that originated in the 1500s. I'm the janitor again. If you have an STI or
STD, it's not your fault. It's a medical condition
that has no reflection on your morals or character. And I'm a wicked witch
who's inventing a potion that cures the worst disease
of all, social stigma. I'm sorry, we have to
stop, we have to stop. I don't want the part. Whew, sorry everyone. The witch started talking,
and I got really scared. Obviously, Taylor is baffled why this kid who goes to another school would lie and say that she gave him
an STD, which by the way, this movie never gets around
to destigmatizing STDs. It's always seen as
something gross or dirty, which is not great for teaching teenagers. And they do the same with sex work, too. But anyway, Cheyenne speaks to her cousin, and she's like, "We don't
have a James Hemmy here. "He doesn't go to this school." So now it's like, well,
so it's a fake profile? They think it must be Lindsay Forsyth, the mean girl who has a vendetta, but doesn't matter because
it seems like everyone is turning against Taylor since the school thinks
she has an STD now. Even Cheyenne gets made
fun of for being associated with Taylor and it's like,
"Just don't follow me, okay? "No one's ever made fun of me before "until you got imaginary
herpes" or whatever. Like first of all, you know it's not true. Second of all, even if it
were, shut the (beep) up. Do you know how many times I've had STDs? I'm not gonna tell you. (laughing) But plenty, plenty, it's
nothing to be ashamed of. Tell that to Scott, though. And again, there is no STD here. - People are sayin' stuff about me online. It's stuff that's totally not true. And look, I haven't slept with
anybody or anything and... - I'll see in history. - Fine, believe what you want, Scott, but I'm gonna find every
student at this school who's spreading lies about me and make sure all of them get STDs. That stands for something they deserve. Really dumb time to start
inventing new acronyms. What I really wanna know
about Scott is if he's 17, then why does he have
the face and skeleton of a sophomore in college? Even the fact that Taylor says she doesn't want to sleep
with anyone until she's 18, feels like it adds to the
stigma of premarital sex that this movie portrays. Because since she isn't
even thinking about sex, she really doesn't deserve these rumors, as though people who
had different feelings, it might be more believable. So it's like, what are you
trying to say with that? I would've challenged myself
as the writer of this movie, which was made in collaboration
with Seventeen Magazine as part of the Delete
Digital Drama campaign. Also like maybe I don't
call it digital drama when it results in someone
trying to take their own life. But anyway, I would've
challenged the filmmakers to make Taylor even not
like a perfect virgin. You know? Maybe she has experimented like Samantha, and still, she doesn't
deserve that treatment, right? But this was a long time before the term slut shaming was even a thing. So Taylor's mom finds her
just lookin' at the computer with a hood on. You can tell she's sad
'cause she has the hood up. Cheyenne doesn't wanna
be friends with her. It sucks. And the mom is like, "Why
would you subject yourself "to reading all these comments?" And she's like, "Look,
mom, here's another one. "It says that I get naked for 50 cents." It's like, God, these kids suck. And then we flash over to the
owner of the James profile and find out who's behind the screen. (bright suspense music) (Nick gasping) So Samantha is the one
who created a fake profile for a person names
James to deceive Taylor. Sorry, that would normally
be so much faster to explain, but the term catfishing was originated like the same month they
were filming this movie. Also you're a liar
Lindsay, was another meme that sprang out of the
trailer for this movie and when they show that
close up on the screen. It was more like a meme
for Tumblr, which I loved, or 4chan, which I still kind
of don't know what that is, or was, or is going to be, who cares? So we find out that Samantha,
who's catfishing Taylor, and then it all makes sense. Every time she does something mean to Sam, Jimmy or James would pop up. Like she was mean about the
breakup, made her walk home, and then the fake profile popped up. And then she said, just
'cause you got broken up doesn't mean I will
and then the STD rumor. The mom is on her own path,
talking to the principal, and him being like, "Yeah,
we really don't know "what to do about these
kids bullying each other "on the internet." It's like, well, could you
talk to them maybe. (laughing) He's like, "Yeah, we don't have
any school policy about it, "but kids are spending
all their time there." And I get that they're
trying to like introduce that conflict of how do we police what kids do online after school, but then it's like, well, it becomes real life harassment, right? People are being so mean to Taylor online, being like you have a baby daddy, right? Cheyenne's ignoring her. Oh my god, and this is like
the day of the spring fling and Scott has been ignoring her. - I was just wondering if we were still going
to the dance tonight. - My mom said I have to go with Marty Fox. Her mom's best friends
with my mom, and, yeah. - Scott, you can ditch me for
spring fling all you want, but don't you dare blame it
on the beautiful friendship that your mother has with Marty Fox's mom. Taylor does basically run
out of the classroom crying, which I love for her. I would've tried to play
it a little more cool. I would've been like, try to go for like a
tragically beautiful thing. Like very well then. I hope you have fun with Marty Fox. I hope you have a good time
and that the party rocks. I didn't mean to do a little rhyme there. I wouldn't prepare a poem for this. Please, just someone be nice to me. I'm already scared of the internet and it only like just became a thing. Poor Taylor, she's cryin' forever. The girls are mean to her in the bathroom, and she runs out of there. It's too much. Oh, and then she gets online, and they're doin' little
skits about her, little plays. - [Bully] I'm Taylor Hillridge,
wanna have a good time? How about two bucks? One? 50 cents? I'm the dirtiest little whore. - Damn, Lindsay, you
really went to Kinko's and got a little group
together for this, didn't you? So how is it that you
cannot seem to turn in that one English poster on time? Also, how are anyone's eyes even lining up with those holes that they cut out? Who's under the mask, Quasimoto? That's what I would've commented. Again, the stigmatization of sex workers continued to be kind of unchecked throughout the 2010s, rather. So after seeing this video ad, Taylor's clearly having a
panic attack in her room. Very distraught, and she turns on her
camera and records a video where she says she
doesn't know what to do, because nobody likes
her and it's all lies, so she can't think of any other solution other than to just disappear,
and then she says goodbye. Sam instantly gets in her car
and rushes to Taylor's house. And we have a very suspenseful sequence. Well, it tries to be suspenseful. It does sort of undercut
itself right at the end. - Where's Taylor.
- How should I know him? I'm grounded.
- Taylor! Taylor! (bright intense music) - I can't get the cap off. - Oh my god, Taylor, I
got here just in time. I saw that video where
you were saying goodbye, and I got so worried... Here, I got so worried because you have my Aeropostale
sweatshirt in your backpack, and I needed to get it back before you go on vacation or whatever. Are you moving to a new school? I saw the video but I was on my phone. On one hand it is a shame
that such a serious situation ended up being unintentionally
funny, but on the other hand, I'm not sure all of us would
even remember this movie a decade later if it
weren't for that scene, and the fact that 17-year-old Taylor had never used a childproof
safety cap before. From a filmmaking standpoint,
that dramatic buildup was 59 seconds long and seemed
to involve most of the town. So the sequence basically had to end with the neighbor's dog
miraculously performing CPR because anything other
than a skin of the teeth, life or death close call, was
gonna feel anti-climactic. And then they chose to
give Emily Osment a bottle that was too hard to open? It has the physical comedy
you would expect to see from her as Lily in "Hannah Montana". This is my impression of Lily
all through "Hannah Montana". Yeah, right, beat it, burger breath. Okay, Oliver. (laughing) And she always had like a jacket on. Anyway, the mom gets home as well and they pry the pills out of her hand. And she's screaming about
how she wants to die. Very sad stuff, especially because this kind
of (beep) really happens. In fact, this movie was
loosely based on the case of a teenager who took her own life after being bullied on Facebook. The hospital gives her, or gives the mom some sedatives to help her get through the week. And he says some more textbook
stuff about cyberbullying, where he's like, "Oh, it follows you home "because you can't just escape it "like in the old bullying days." So anyway, now that Taylor
is safe at home sleeping, her mom is on a mission to find out who is behind this anonymous profile that has been torturing her. - Check in on Taylor every 10 minutes, and call me if she wakes up. - Okay. - Eric, I'm serious. I didn't unground you so that you could play
video games all day. - I ungrounded you so I
could put my daughter's life in your sixth grade hands. Okay, sweetie? So set a timer, check
on her every 10 minutes. You don't wanna start summer vacation with her blood on your hands. This seems like a family
that has good insurance. I'm talkin' white privilege,
platinum PPO coverage. They could probably get that poor girl into an inpatient facility
with no deductible. They don't wanna find her a bed
somewhere for a week or two? Whatever. They kind of act like her depression is something that she can just sleep off. I like that they eventually
get her into group therapy, but it takes like two sessions for her to no longer be mentally ill. That timeline feels a little condensed. People are still leaving mean
comments about Taylor online. And for some reason, the video
is still up that she posted. Even Scott is like, "She freaks
me out, I never liked her." So it's like, you're a jerk, Scott. (soft suspense music) Not the video of her final manifesto getting a five star rating. This school is brutal. And again, this was before most teenagers even had an iPhone, which only added even more fuel to these unsupervised hormone fires. No wonder the high schoolers on "Euphoria" are all tortured souls and webcam models. I didn't hit that era until I was 22. ♪ I don't know about you ♪ After talking to Cheyenne and
talking to Cheyenne's dad, who's like, "Sorry about your daughter." It's like, who are all
these extra parents? I don't need them. Cheyenne indicates it might be
Lindsay Forsyth, or whatever, who is doing the fake profile because she's pretty mean to Taylor. So mama bear goes to that house aknockin', and the dad answers. - My wife passed away a few years ago so you'll have to deal with me. - I have posts from
Lindsay mocking Taylor. - You should know that you're
speaking with an attorney. That's her right, it's
called freedom of speech. You might wanna give it a read. - Why don't you tell your dead wife to give it a read, Charles? How very lawyer like to
basically be rude to somebody when their daughter could have died? 'Cause that showing any form
of compassion to that person might be interpreted
as accepting liability. He said, look, "If my daughter
wrote that your daughter "has a stank (beep), "that's not something the
government can put her in jail for "according to the constitution. "And in a way, that
proves the statement true, "I'm a lawyer." Just because it might be
covered by free speech, it doesn't mean that the mom
can't find some consequence, like the school could take action. Or I would just go after that
girl's whole college career, and say, okay, attorney at law, I'm just gonna go ahead and make sure all of these screenshots and printouts make it into a reference letter that goes straight to the admission board of every single college that
your creepy little daughter even thinks about applying to. And then I'm gonna sneak
in her window at night and take a (beep) on her
wall-to-wall carpeting. Ugh, that's how I play. That's how I play against the law. Taylor is reluctantly
brought to group therapy, and she doesn't wanna deal with this. She doesn't think she'll
get anything out of it, but the mom basically
cries and begs her saying, "I can't lose you." This part made me cry, 'cause my mom did this to me once trying to make me go
to rehab or something, and it was like, oh, not the
crying at the foot of my bed. Jesus, all right, I'll live. (laughing) So yeah, another relatable part is Caleb is in this group therapy, because his bullying is just as bad, if Taylor could look outside of herself, and tells this story. - There was this guy I liked,
I told him personal stuff. And he sent it to a bunch of people. Now at school there's a bunch of guys, they act out the stuff I
said right in front of me. They call it the gay boy show. - Hey, that was my screen
name as a webcam model. We were just talking about that. I'm just kidding, Caleb, that's awful, because straight boys are often uncreative when naming things. The story that Caleb tells
is very close to home, because when I was a sophomore, these two girls who were
mad at me at the time, because one of them
found out I had a crush on her boyfriend. It's like, why are you threatened by that? He's straight, you're
giving him your (beep), why are you mad just because
I've got an unrequited crush? She was mean to me at
a 16th birthday party. And then the next Monday or Sunday I got this message from some
guy on instant messenger, and he sent me a picture of his abs that was clearly Google Photos. And I called it, I was
like, "Who is this really? "I can tell it's not you." And those girls admitted to it being them, and they called me gross and yelled at me for liking her boyfriend, and started these rumors about me having sex with a 50 year old, that was true, but still. Anyway, it (beep) me up. I really went to a dark place. Well, actually I went to
rehab just a few months later. Hey, this movie is very similar. It must be something that
happened to a lot of kids, because cyberbullying, there
was no education on it. It was so new of a concept, like cyberbullying wasn't talked about. Being mean, the phenomenon
of feeling anonymous behind a computer screen, and allowing it to embolden you to be cruel to other
people was unresearched. And I know I was guilty of it, too, often just hoping to get
the hate onto somebody else, especially, I still wanted to be friends with those two girls so bad. And I remember their names,
I'm just not saying it, and they remember their names, too. I mean, but I forgive them. It's like we were
different people back then. I just said, I did the same thing. Everyone was carrying their own baggage. Sam admonishes Scott
for saying mean things about Taylor online. And he's like, "Well,
you're just so perfect," and she's crushed by
the guilt of this secret that she has. Meanwhile, back home, Taylor is getting a lot outta group therapy
realizing that it's very common, and a lot of normal kids are
having cyberbully attacks, and it's not just because
there's something wrong with her, which is what she felt like before. And her and her mom
kind of have this moment where she's like, "I always
thought you were so mean, mom, "but you're actually so nice." And she's like, "I'm not mean, "rude, but I'm just responsible. "I just care about you." And then Sam has to ruin this nice moment by coming up and admitting that she's the one who
created the fake profile. And it just really sends
Taylor into a spiral. It's so depressing, I imagine, to find out that your
best friend would do that. It eventually leaks that this was Sam, and the people online are now mean to her, being like, "Sam pretended to be a dude." "She looks like a dude." Like oh, my god, so problematic. So she shows up to Scott's work. He apologizes, but then she's
like, "Did you see the video? "I just wanted to let
you know it wasn't you. "I know you know didn't
wanna go to the dance, "and that was the same day, "but I don't want you to
think it was all your fault. "There was a lot going on." And he was like, "Yeah,
my mom even told me, "'Check your ego, dude. "'There's more goin' on.'" I was like, okay, this
guy sucks at acting, but it's good to see Taylor kind of reassembling her social life and finally getting some
(beep) sympathy around here. From Scott. You're okay for a
minute, Scott, we'll see. Also there was a part where Taylor's mom, I'm like, when do you work? Though, privilege. But she goes to a Senator
to try to get laws passed to help harassment laws protect
against online harassment, and that guy brushed her off. He's like, "We don't need
to worry about this," but Taylor's not ready to give up. - I don't want us to give up
on trying to get a law passed. - Well, we can always try
and find a new Senator. - No, I wanna try somethin' else. Dr. Rilke says we have
to call attention to it so I wanna call attention to it. - Good, that's how I got
the insurance company to cover my infected toenail. I wrote a viral song about it. ♪ No one wants to see inside my shoe ♪ ♪ 'Cause it's narsty, narsty ♪ (laughing) Narsty is such a
funny way of saying nasty. Let's make it a thing,
let's make it a thing. Oh my lip, my lips, my lip color. My sweet little dog Toast
is out there, tired. It is only 11:23 p.m. I haven't even ordered
the pizza of tonight yet. Although she'll probably
be excited of that part. So in order to get more attention, instead of using the internet, which would've been
cool because it's like, oh, she's using the tool that was negative for positive change. If she had like published a blog article, it also would've been cool because she wanted to be
a journalist at one point before like 12 people decided
to make her life hell. So this is, I guess, getting her back to her roots of journalism, even though she's not writing the article. She meets with a journalist, and they even convince
Sam and her mom to come in and make the article about
how this crazy thing happened. Even her best friend
decided to be mean to her and how and why and what went into it. And so Sam is like, I deserve it, but everyone's being mean to me now. And Taylor's like, no, you
don't, no one deserves it. So it's kind of like this, I suppose, turning point for Taylor
where she realizes, oh, it's just a cycle. Once I'm out of the picture, they just go and make
fun of the next person. This has to stop. - I deserve it. - No, you don't. (phone ringing) (camera snapping) - Little girl, little girl, cry harder about almost causing your friend's death, then you might make the front page. Please, this is a local newspaper. Who's gonna care? Oh the Senator. They're trying to get the
Senator to pass a law. Taylor and Sam sort of have
a reconciliation out front, and it seems like their friendship is not going to be dead in the water. And even Taylor goes to
school for the first time the next day, ready to face
people for the first time, and Sam walks into the
lunchroom with her being like, "I hope we can be friends again, "but I'm glad you're at
least willing to try." Instantly, of course,
Lindsay is over there with her (beep) chicken
sandwich being like, "The crazy patrol," and they're like, "You know what, Lindsay? "It's time we took some of these words "and shoved them right
back in your little mouth, "in you little mouth,
Lindsay, your little mouth." Ooh, I need that pizza. - Hey, Lindsay, you should
know your words actually hurt. - You're making everyone
around you miserable. - Why don't you just stop
attacking people on Cliquesters? - Just like any other bully. - And maybe need to talk to someone. - Yeah and that's why your mom
died two years ago, Lindsay. We heard it from your dad. Sorry, I tend to have a
hard time understanding whether I'm being part of
the problem or the solution. It's usually the problem. It's unfortunate. All of the kids, even little
gay kid, tell off Lindsay, and the school actually
is texting everyone, being like "Taylor just told off Lindsay." "Is that true?" "OMFG." You know, she's winning. She's winning high school now. I mean, she almost lost
big time, but there you go. Thank God for mental healthcare, which they definitely downplay. I get that she was in therapy and got to relate to other people, but it seems like really soon for someone to be not suffering with
clinical depression. I don't know though, I'm not a doctor. Maybe this is how it
happens in some cases, when it's brought on by a
particular situation of stress, but off, my cyberbullying situation, I was dealing with that all
the way through senior year. Like that happened sophomore year, I remember I was still talking
to my therapist about it freshman year of college. I'm still talking about it now to you. Much bigger platform, so satisfying, but. Anyway, the journalist... I hate that we just flash back
to the mom all the sudden. I'm like, I get it, the mom is bony and determined
to help her daughter. Good for her, good for her. But anyway, she also looks like someone who would be in like a
Olay Regenerist commercial, don't you think? A journalist calls and is like, "Oh, I called the Senator
you spoke to for a statement, "and he said you must be stupid 'cause he loves helping cyberbullies go to jail or whatever. And she's like that's great news. The power of written press
got them the law passed. This part was drawn
from the real life case of that tragic ending, in which new legislation did get passed in the victim's name. But back in Taylor's world, we're in a happily ever after spot. The kids are enjoying lunch together. Weird little pantomime they're
doing here, considering, but I don't know, you tell me. (bright upbeat music) Samantha, no. She's like, look Taylor, I'm
you with that pill bottle. I can't get the cap off. (laughing) Cheyenne is sitting there like, oh, I hate that you guys have
that fun memory without me. But as long as everyone survives, we can have another good
day on the internet. So what do you think of "Cyberbully"? Did you see this when you were younger? Did it feel relatable? Did you have similar experiences? I wanna know all of it in the comments. I tell you about my traumatic past, and it doesn't bother me, so get over it. I'm just kidding. But thanks to the help of people like Tina Meier and
Megan Meier Foundation. Megan Meier is the name of the person who unfortunately lost their life because of a cyberbullying harassment. And according to this, in 2011, 34 states then had
anti-cyberbullying laws in place. It must be more now because that's the number one
place to harass someone. So let me know what you
thought about cyberbu//y and what other ABC movies or moral dilemma movies
like this could we cover? This one reminded me a lot
of "Queen Sized" on Lifetime. The kid being bullied, it escalating, and then going to the news for
help, but what else is good? Let me know. Also give this video a big thumbs up if you wanna see even more clip breakdowns on movies just like this. But most importantly, if
you're new to my channel, make sure you click that subscribe button, that way you never miss
new videos from me. I upload two new ones every week, so the notification button will help you always be the first to know when I am uncapping the bottle
of Clip Breakdown pills. Sorry, shouldn't even go down that road. You guys are all the greatest. Thank you so much for
getting the cap off with me. I will see you next time.
