Yeah, they say that we are influenced by what we watch, but did any of you watch the way Ralphie fought back against the bully and try that on in real life?
If so, how did you get on?
It has to be the most famous trope of it's kind in cinema! Everyone who watched this movie always talks about this scene.
When I was very young 5-6? I tried to pound the snot out of a much older kid who was bullying me (well, that's my recollection anyway) while almost in a blind rage. I tried my best to punch his face in but couldn't land a blow. He was just laughing and holding me at arms's length as I swung wildly.
Fast forward more than 50 years later and he and his wife are now good friends with my family. Strange how things work out.
How Ralphie reacted is quite accurate, and I'm sure there have been some bullies who got caught off guard like Scut did. For what it's worth, these stories are supposed to come from the author's real life, and reading the condensed stories, I don't think he exaggerated.
I remember once aged around 12, there was a bully around that age that picked on a younger kid round his house, when he had a party. The kid was 10 and his folks had a small pool in the back and we were all out there horsing around. The bully was 12 and everyone felt he ruined the party and the kid told him off and to leave. He pulled a pocket knife on the kid and wow, everyone just froze up. The 10 year old did karate and kicked the bully on the side of the head. He dropped his knife, went owwwwwwwwwwwww and fell into the pool. He couldn’t swim so the 10 year old kid had to help him out and the put all the bullies clothes in the washing. His mom came round hours later to pick the bully up, who was just in a towel, socks and slipper, shivering in the garage, where the washing machine was.
shareMy dad used to tell me that bullies were just cowards, and would cave if you stood up to them. I always thought this was a giant crock, and just tried to avoid them. But in one case there was this kid who sat behind me in class and kept taunting me and shooting paper clips at my back with a rubber band. I had enough one afternoon, and suddenly spun around and smacked him in the side of the head. He told me he'd see me after school, and that I was dead. To save face, I waited for him even though I was afraid. I didn't see him coming from behind, and he slapped me on the back as he ran past, shouting "let that be a lesson to you!" He kept on running, and never bothered me again. I guess, at least that time, my dad was right. And no, we did not become friends.
shareThat was me, victim fighting back. Apparently society in the 90s and early 2000s had issues with girls fighting back physically (not that I really made an impression), but when you get sick and tired of fellow classmates picking on you, and the teachers "talking to them" doesn't work, and you don't have a lot of friends, there aren't many options besides avoidance. It seems odd how people thought girls shouldn't fight physically, when they would show hero kids doing it all the time on tv; (though usually they were boys).
It unfortunately came back to bite me many times. Black boys LOVED to tease and pick on me because [mom claims] I was a cute girl and they liked me. I've called BS with her on that many times, because people who pick on those they "like," don't do it because they like you. They do it because they want you to feel bad, feel uneasy, and to feel small. People called me racist for trying to shut up the black boys picking on me by fighting back. I got sick of it. To make matters worse, one of the more troublesome ones was a special pet of the liberal [closet slut] school principal at one of my schools.
I also got tired of the boys bothering me in jr. high because they picked on me too, and I finally had enough and beat the snot out of several of them. People then accused me of being a lesbian because of that, although I am straight as an arrow. So unfair.....
One time in the 8th grade there was a 6th grader who would constantly harass me and we both had to be put in the same classroom together (we were both in special education) and the teacher did nothing to help me while he was harassing me, finally one day I had enough of his crap and stabbed him in the arm with a pencil, unfortunately I have gotten suspended from school for that incident, his behavior also didn't improve, then a month later they had to put me in another classroom.
Unfortunately for him he is now serving a 10 year prison sentence for robbing and kidnapping a man of his casino winnings, also back in 2009 he got arrested for assaulting a juvenile and stole money out of his wallet to support his meth habit.