Reject
Year | 2013 |
Director(s) | Ruth Thomas-Suh |
Runtime | 95 minutes |
Producer(s) | Kurt Engfehr, Peter Brauer, Ruth Thomas-Suh |
This film examines the universal experience of social rejection. From neuroscientists to kids on the playground to broken-hearted moms, we all are rejection experts, by choice or by fate, who by dint of living in society, have experienced or perpetrated rejection or bullying.
Science confirms that the brain looks like it’s in physical pain when people are excluded, rejected or ostracized. The film explores the correlation between rejection, physical pain and the perpetration of bullying or violent acts. Looking for solutions, the film turns to various answers, including Vivian Paley, a University of Chicago researcher and author on education who developed the idea of “you can’t say you can’t play,” a rule we see adopted in a kindergarten class with great success.
Featuring researchers from Purdue University, University of Kentucky, UCLA and the University of Michigan, this film will teach you a great deal and also bring hope to a deep societal concern.