History Headscratchers / Bully

!! Headscratchers for the film:
Why didn't Marty just stop hanging out with Bobby instead of murdering him? That would've been much easier on both of them.
* The film is a [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loose adaptation of a true crime novel]]. There's a good chance that there was more to the real life story that got cut to fit the narrative of the film. Apparently, this very question was brought up by Lisa Connelly to Marty in real life, with him being hesitant to end his friendship with Kent. But then again, [[RealityIsUnrealistic it is common for people in abusive relationships to be hesitant of leaving, even if they have a good reason to]].

!! Headscratchers for the video game:

* How can the Greasers afford to go to Bullworth if they're repeatedly stated and shown to be poor? Boarding schools cost a bit of money to go to, and the game doesn't hide this: Edgar said his parents couldn't afford to enroll him at Bullworth, and one of Gary's rumors about Jimmy is that his mom slept with Crabblesnitch to get in there.

** Because New Coventry is actually their main hangout. And it's a far, far bigger place than some building on school grounds.

** Free roam isn't entirely accurate to showcasing the entire student population. There are many students and faculty members who only appear in cutscenes. You wouldn't know that Mr. Matthews and Neil even existed if you didn't have History and Shop classes, and that Bob attneds the school if not for one single cutscene (though YMMV if he's a canon student or not). It's possible that there are more prefects, but they play so little a part in the story that we simply never meet them.
** Why are there no female prefects, given that it's a mixed school?
*** Probably only the males go after Jimmy, although you'd think girls in ''this'' school would exploit [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale a particular trope]] more.
*** Likely no volounteer, not only are bullies quite violent but the prefects get their crotch squeezed every day by someone trying to escape them.
** Wouldn't assaulting a police officer with an explosive weapon get you a prison sentence, or at least juvenile hall, in the real world?
*** And wouldn't Jimmy have been expelled in the first chapter in the real world? Jimmy should have been arrested a lot given how many times I've thrown marbles in front of the door and pulled the fire alarm.
*** GameplayAndStorySegregation - it wouldn't be fun if you'd get arrested and had to spend the entire game in jail.
* What in the hell does "running the school" entitle? Does Gary want to be popular/respected? Even if he "rules" the school, how would he make the Cliques do anything? The question needs to be repeated: what does taking over the school even mean?
** Gary did eventually become Head Boy, which presumably gave him powers, but how messing with the school kids had anything to do with becoming Head Boy just opens a second fridge. And let's not get started on how he's supposed to use his powers since he needed someone else to do all the fighting for him...
*** In the end of game fight with Gary, he says he manipulated everybody because it made him feel awesome. So... that's reason enough. He's a creepy sociopath who gets off on screwing with everybody.

** Probably [[PassThePopcorn snacking]].
** ...This is a ''[[AdultsAreUseless SCHOOL]]''.
** Though it's usually established as the worst school in the ''country''.
* The school is built up to be the worst school in the country. Yet, there are no murders, rapes (on campus anyway) or evidence of drug dealing. It sucks, but it could be much worse.
** Not for lack of trying, no murder because people survive explosives to the face, there is rape but only between staff and they don't need to deal drugs since everyone would rather punch each other for cash.
** The game had enough drama based on its title alone. People would actually side with [[StrawmanHasAPoint Jack Thompson and cite those as examples]] if it had stuff like murders and drug dealing.
** It's a MIDDLE SCHOOL. Not some college fraternity with horny guys and vulnerable girls. It's a middle school where everyone is fighting, bullying, and torturing everyone else, guys are magnificent bastards, girls are slutty bitches, and they're not even in high school yet.
*** No, the game takes place in high school, it even explicitly states so in the game.
*** Characters like Pedro and Sheldon look awfuly young to be in high school.
*** Sheldon appears among the students in the math class, so he's probably no younger than Jimmy.
** If you pay attention, it's only the students who say the school is "the worst school in the country", It's probably just a juvenile veiwpoint of a tough school.
*** Well yes the teachers aren't gonna say it's the worst to the parents, they'll also gladly ignore the sexual harassment coach and the hobo that live nearby.
*** From the students' point of view, Bullworth is bullshit. You live on-campus so you're always under school authority, the faculty openly favors students with money, athletes, and those who abuse others because it builds character, detention involves forcing students to do yard labor, there's apparently no holiday breaks and no option to go home at any time, and although the authorities are on constant guard, they're utterly unable to [[AdultsAreUseless actually prevent or control]] misbehavior in the school because the Prefects and teachers are easily duped by the crafty cunning of ordinary children. Gary goes off his meds and goes on a Machiavellian dick-move spree for ''months'', and it's not until he gets the piss beaten out of him in broad-daylight with full proof of his crimes that the headmaster even ''considers'' that ''the insane kid who isn't taking his medication'' might be anything other than an ideal student. The little kids at Bullworth are lucky to still be alive.
* When Gary convinces the Townies to sabotage the individual cliques (before Jimmy is expelled) and Jimmy brings the Preps proof that the Greasers didn't burn their trophies...they tell him to stuff them where the sun don't shine...why didn't Jimmy beat the the living [[GoshDangItToHeck crap]] out of them to remind them who's boss?
** Probably because Jimmy had lost a lot of power and popularity and wasn't as intimidating as he used to be. He seemed to know that fighting them wouldn't change a thing. Ever tried beating up a clique in gameplay and wonder why Jimmy isn't more respected or feared by said clique? Looks like we've got a case of inverted GameplayAndStorySegregation (at least, in this case).
* In one of the missions in this game, you must take "risque" photos of one of the cheerleaders. A later mission has you graffiti over them after the guy you took them for starts posting them all over town (on account of Jimmy feeling bad for the girl). Not only do the authorities not help you take down inappropriate pictures of a minor, posted against her will, they ACTIVELY PUNISH YOU for trying to cover them up. Not to mention that simply ripping the posters down would be faster and felony free.
** PlotInducedStupidity.
*** Or the authorities could be perverts who would prefer the risque photos stay up.
* Jimmy could have avoided the ''entire'' [[strike:fifth chapter]] '''GAME''' if he had just beaten the hell out of Gary in Chapter one.
** Actually he could have; but keep in mind that this is ''fiction''. Jimmy doesn't know what we do. We might have thought of punching Gary in the face in chapter one; but from Jimmy's POV, Gary wasn't giving him any reason to ''not'' trust him...despite that comment about not being on his meds. Now; if he had hunted Gary down and punched him out in Chapter two...
**
*** Jimmy isn't portrayed as being all that bright. I think we can ALL take solace in the thought that we are smarter than Jimmy Hopkins and saw Gary's shit coming from a mile off. Also, he HAD just arrived and didn't have any friends to warn him. It's easy to see these things with a little hindsight or watching from a distance.
*** If you try this before Gary's reveal, it ends up failing the mission.
** The gym is ''set on fire''. Mr. Burton ''accuses Jimmy'' of this and does absolutely ''nothing'' as a ''single fifteen year-old'' goes in and puts it out and saves several jocks and Mandy. ''Why did nobody call the flippin fire department?!?''
*** Maybe [[FridgeBrilliance explanable as so many people pull the fire alarm that they flat-out stopped coming.]] (The students seem to treat fire alarms as normal, even to the point where you hear one of the nerds say, "Oh boy! A fire!")
*** Actually, if you fail the mission, the fire department does come. Not sure that that makes it any better.
*** The fire department ''have'' been called. It's a timed mission, the objective is to save everyone before the firefighters' arrival.
* In the opening, Jimmy is driven to Bullworth through the underpass that later leads to the carnival. A "Welcome to Bullworth" sign on some grass never shows up again, and could be easily HandWaved, because a much more pressing matter has me confused. The in-game map AND paper map that comes with the game confirm that the area after the carnival is surrounded by cliffs. Swim around to this area of Old Bullworth Vale to see them up close. Not only is the carnival blocking any road they may have been traveling on, [[ArtisticLicenseGeography THERE IS NO ROAD THERE TO BEGIN WITH. How they fuck did the get there???]] Coupled with this is the fact that [[FridgeHorror EVERYONE IS TRAPPED IN BULLWORTH FOREVER.]]
** I've had this theory that Rockstar swept dirt under the rug and added a "Ghost Town" outside the playable barriers. Like what they did in GTA III.
* What exactly IS the limited edition comic? There's a two pager at the end of the player's manual in Scholarship Edition that doesn't really make much sense. Is that the comic, or just an excerpt? Is there a place where the comic is available to read?
** The two page comic has really nothing to do with the game's plot. It's just there. But it seems like that it's somewhat related to the Halloween Mission.

** Bow Chicka Wow Wow.
*** Which would be very disturbing considering Pedro is a little kid.
* There's been some confusion about where Bullworth is located. Scholarship Edition's cover says that it's in New England. ''However'', remember what Jimmy said during "Complete Mayhem"? ''"It's America! We go in there with threats and bribes until we get what we want. If all else fails, we beat the crap out of everyone!"''
** New England is another name for the US states east of New York.

** Considering the state of the boys' dorm, and the male students in Bullworth, it's probablly because a smaller dorm means less to clean.

** I guess they finally realized how much of an asshole Jimmy is to them.
** The Nerds themselves are assholes, but cowardly assholes. They only start respecting Jimmy after he beats up Earnest in the Observatory, and they treat Petey like they have no self awareness of the situations (such as the cutscene where ''Algie'' of all people talks down to Petey). The point of the game is that '''all''' of the cliques are jerks who need to be taken down a peg.

** Gary already manipulated Russell at the end of Chapter 1, only for Jimmy to clear things up, so he probably didn't want to try his luck again since he would only end up getting pummeled to death. Russell may be a scatterbrain, but even if Gary tricked him again I doubt he'd believe it, because it didn't even take 20 seconds for Jimmy to inform Russell that Gary only speaks bullshit. There's also the fact that he (along with Pete) is Jimmy's only friend, and they have undying trust for each other.
* If the Auto Shop is the prime hang out of the Greasers, why do most of the chapter 1 missions (Where the Greasers make no impact whatsoever take place there? And why do no Missions in Chapter 3 (Where you actually face the Greasers) take place there?
** Well, it's because New Coventry is actually their main hangout. And it's a far, far bigger place than some building on school grounds.

Why didn't Marty just stop hanging out with Bobby instead of murdering him? That would've been much easier on both of them.

* Why does Jimmy wait the entire school year to confront Gary?
* Do the prefects never attend class or take a break? All four seem to work 8:30 am to 2 am non-stop every day. No wonder they're so cranky.
** Free roam isn't entirely accurate to showcasing the entire student population. There are many students and faculty members who only appear in cutscenes. You wouldn't know that Mr. Matthews and Neil even existed if you didn't have History and Shop classes, and that Bob attneds the school if not for one single cutscene (though YMMV if he's a canon student or not). It's possible that there are more prefects, but they play so little a part in the story that we simply never meet them.
** Why are there no female prefects, given that it's a mixed school?
*** Probably only the males go after Jimmy, although you'd think girls in ''this'' school would exploit [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale a particular trope]] more.
*** Likely no volounteer, not only are bullies quite violent but the prefects get their crotch squeezed every day by someone trying to escape them.
** Wouldn't assaulting a police officer with an explosive weapon get you a prison sentence, or at least juvenile hall, in the real world?
*** And wouldn't Jimmy have been expelled in the first chapter in the real world? Jimmy should have been arrested a lot given how many times I've thrown marbles in front of the door and pulled the fire alarm.
*** GameplayAndStorySegregation - it wouldn't be fun if you'd get arrested and had to spend the entire game in jail.
* What in the hell does "running the school" entitle? Does Gary want to be popular/respected? Even if he "rules" the school, how would he make the Cliques do anything? The question needs to be repeated: what does taking over the school even mean?
** Gary did eventually become Head Boy, which presumably gave him powers, but how messing with the school kids had anything to do with becoming Head Boy just opens a second fridge. And let's not get started on how he's supposed to use his powers since he needed someone else to do all the fighting for him...
*** In the end of game fight with Gary, he says he manipulated everybody because it made him feel awesome. So... that's reason enough. He's a creepy sociopath who gets off on screwing with everybody.
* The boss fight against Ted Thompson took place on the football field in front of the entire school. The students were '''throwing explosive packed footballs at each other'''. Where the hell were the teachers?
** Probably [[PassThePopcorn snacking]].
** ...This is a ''[[AdultsAreUseless SCHOOL]]''.
** Though it's usually established as the worst school in the ''country''.
* The school is built up to be the worst school in the country. Yet, there are no murders, rapes (on campus anyway) or evidence of drug dealing. It sucks, but it could be much worse.
** Not for lack of trying, no murder because people survive explosives to the face, there is rape but only between staff and they don't need to deal drugs since everyone would rather punch each other for cash.
** The game had enough drama based on its title alone. People would actually side with [[StrawmanHasAPoint Jack Thompson and cite those as examples]] if it had stuff like murders and drug dealing.
** It's a MIDDLE SCHOOL. Not some college fraternity with horny guys and vulnerable girls. It's a middle school where everyone is fighting, bullying, and torturing everyone else, guys are magnificent bastards, girls are slutty bitches, and they're not even in high school yet.
*** No, the game takes place in high school, it even explicitly states so in the game.
*** Characters like Pedro and Sheldon look awfuly young to be in high school.
*** Sheldon appears among the students in the math class, so he's probably no younger than Jimmy.
** If you pay attention, it's only the students who say the school is "the worst school in the country", It's probably just a juvenile veiwpoint of a tough school.
*** Well yes the teachers aren't gonna say it's the worst to the parents, they'll also gladly ignore the sexual harassment coach and the hobo that live nearby.
*** From the students' point of view, Bullworth is bullshit. You live on-campus so you're always under school authority, the faculty openly favors students with money, athletes, and those who abuse others because it builds character, detention involves forcing students to do yard labor, there's apparently no holiday breaks and no option to go home at any time, and although the authorities are on constant guard, they're utterly unable to [[AdultsAreUseless actually prevent or control]] misbehavior in the school because the Prefects and teachers are easily duped by the crafty cunning of ordinary children. Gary goes off his meds and goes on a Machiavellian dick-move spree for ''months'', and it's not until he gets the piss beaten out of him in broad-daylight with full proof of his crimes that the headmaster even ''considers'' that ''the insane kid who isn't taking his medication'' might be anything other than an ideal student. The little kids at Bullworth are lucky to still be alive.
* When Gary convinces the Townies to sabotage the individual cliques (before Jimmy is expelled) and Jimmy brings the Preps proof that the Greasers didn't burn their trophies...they tell him to stuff them where the sun don't shine...why didn't Jimmy beat the the living [[GoshDangItToHeck crap]] out of them to remind them who's boss?
** Probably because Jimmy had lost a lot of power and popularity and wasn't as intimidating as he used to be. He seemed to know that fighting them wouldn't change a thing. Ever tried beating up a clique in gameplay and wonder why Jimmy isn't more respected or feared by said clique? Looks like we've got a case of inverted GameplayAndStorySegregation (at least, in this case).
* In one of the missions in this game, you must take "risque" photos of one of the cheerleaders. A later mission has you graffiti over them after the guy you took them for starts posting them all over town (on account of Jimmy feeling bad for the girl). Not only do the authorities not help you take down inappropriate pictures of a minor, posted against her will, they ACTIVELY PUNISH YOU for trying to cover them up. Not to mention that simply ripping the posters down would be faster and felony free.
** PlotInducedStupidity.
*** Or the authorities could be perverts who would prefer the risque photos stay up.
* Jimmy could have avoided the ''entire'' [[strike:fifth chapter]] '''GAME''' if he had just beaten the hell out of Gary in Chapter one.
** Actually he could have; but keep in mind that this is ''fiction''. Jimmy doesn't know what we do. We might have thought of punching Gary in the face in chapter one; but from Jimmy's POV, Gary wasn't giving him any reason to ''not'' trust him...despite that comment about not being on his meds. Now; if he had hunted Gary down and punched him out in Chapter two...
**
*** Jimmy isn't portrayed as being all that bright. I think we can ALL take solace in the thought that we are smarter than Jimmy Hopkins and saw Gary's shit coming from a mile off. Also, he HAD just arrived and didn't have any friends to warn him. It's easy to see these things with a little hindsight or watching from a distance.
*** If you try this before Gary's reveal, it ends up failing the mission.
** The gym is ''set on fire''. Mr. Burton ''accuses Jimmy'' of this and does absolutely ''nothing'' as a ''single fifteen year-old'' goes in and puts it out and saves several jocks and Mandy. ''Why did nobody call the flippin fire department?!?''
*** Maybe [[FridgeBrilliance explanable as so many people pull the fire alarm that they flat-out stopped coming.]] (The students seem to treat fire alarms as normal, even to the point where you hear one of the nerds say, "Oh boy! A fire!")
*** Actually, if you fail the mission, the fire department does come. Not sure that that makes it any better.
*** The fire department ''have'' been called. It's a timed mission, the objective is to save everyone before the firefighters' arrival.
* In the opening, Jimmy is driven to Bullworth through the underpass that later leads to the carnival. A "Welcome to Bullworth" sign on some grass never shows up again, and could be easily HandWaved, because a much more pressing matter has me confused. The in-game map AND paper map that comes with the game confirm that the area after the carnival is surrounded by cliffs. Swim around to this area of Old Bullworth Vale to see them up close. Not only is the carnival blocking any road they may have been traveling on, [[ArtisticLicenseGeography THERE IS NO ROAD THERE TO BEGIN WITH. How they fuck did the get there???]] Coupled with this is the fact that [[FridgeHorror EVERYONE IS TRAPPED IN BULLWORTH FOREVER.]]
** I've had this theory that Rockstar swept dirt under the rug and added a "Ghost Town" outside the playable barriers. Like what they did in GTA III.
* What exactly IS the limited edition comic? There's a two pager at the end of the player's manual in Scholarship Edition that doesn't really make much sense. Is that the comic, or just an excerpt? Is there a place where the comic is available to read?
** The two page comic has really nothing to do with the game's plot. It's just there. But it seems like that it's somewhat related to the Halloween Mission.
* During one of the errands you're supposed to escort Algie to a bathroom and from one the stalls come out Pedro and Eunice. What in the world were they doing there together?
** Bow Chicka Wow Wow.
*** Which would be very disturbing considering Pedro is a little kid.
* There's been some confusion about where Bullworth is located. Scholarship Edition's cover says that it's in New England. ''However'', remember what Jimmy said during "Complete Mayhem"? ''"It's America! We go in there with threats and bribes until we get what we want. If all else fails, we beat the crap out of everyone!"''
** New England is another name for the US states east of New York.
* The number of male students at Bullworth Academy outnumber the amount of female students, so why is the girls' dorm larger than the boys' dorm?
** They've probably packed several boys into a single room and given the girls a single room each. Of course, Jimmy gets his own room, probably because his reputation means that nobody wants to share with him.
** Considering the state of the boys' dorm, and the male students in Bullworth, it's probablly because a smaller dorm means less to clean.
* Why exactly are the Nerds suddenly hostile to Jimmy at the start of Chapter 4?
** I guess they finally realized how much of an asshole Jimmy is to them.
** The Nerds themselves are assholes, but cowardly assholes. They only start respecting Jimmy after he beats up Earnest in the Observatory, and they treat Petey like they have no self awareness of the situations (such as the cutscene where ''Algie'' of all people talks down to Petey). The point of the game is that '''all''' of the cliques are jerks who need to be taken down a peg.
* Why don't the Bullies lose respect for Jimmy after the mission "Making A Mark" like all the other cliques do?
** Gary already manipulated Russell at the end of Chapter 1, only for Jimmy to clear things up, so he probably didn't want to try his luck again since he would only end up getting pummeled to death. Russell may be a scatterbrain, but even if Gary tricked him again I doubt he'd believe it, because it didn't even take 20 seconds for Jimmy to inform Russell that Gary only speaks bullshit. There's also the fact that he (along with Pete) is Jimmy's only friend, and they have undying trust for each other.
* If the Auto Shop is the prime hang out of the Greasers, why do most of the chapter 1 missions (Where the Greasers make no impact whatsoever take place there? And why do no Missions in Chapter 3 (Where you actually face the Greasers) take place there?
** Well, it's because New Coventry is actually their main hangout. And it's a far, far bigger place than some building on school grounds.

** Gary already manipulated Russell at the end of Chapter 1, only for Jimmy to clear things up, so he probably didn't want to try his luck again since he would only end up getting pummeled to death.

* If the Auto Shop is the prime hang out of the Greasers, why do most of the chapter 1 missions (Where the Greasers make no impact whatsoever take place there? And why do no Missions in Chapter 3 (Where you actually face the Greasers) take place there?

* In the opening, Jimmy is driven to Bullworth through the underpass that later leads to the carnival. A "Welcome to Bullworth" sign on some grass never shows up again, and could be easily HandWaved, because a much more pressing matter has me confused. The in-game map AND paper map that comes with the game confirm that the area after the carnival is surrounded by cliffs. Swim around to this area of Old Bullworth Vale to see them up close. Not only is the carnival blocking any road they may have been traveling on, [[YouFailGeographyForever THERE IS NO ROAD THERE TO BEGIN WITH. How they fuck did the get there???]] Coupled with this is the fact that [[FridgeHorror EVERYONE IS TRAPPED IN BULLWORTH FOREVER.]]

* Why exactly are the Nerds suddenly hostile to Jimmy at the start of Chapter 4?

** Considering the state of the boys' dorm, and the male students in Bullworth, it's probablly because a smaller dorm means less to clean.

** They've probably packed several boys into a single room and given the girls a single room each. Of course, Jimmy gets his own room, probably because his reputation means that nobody wants to share with him.

* The number of male students at Bullworth Academy outnumber the amount of female students, so why is the girls' dorm larger than the boys' dorm?

** I'm A STUPID LITTLE NIGGER FAGGOT 12 YEAR OLD
*** STFU NIGGA I'M SMARTER THAN U
*** I eat balls
*** Sheldon kicks all kneecaps like the little nigger he is...

** It's a MIDDLE SCHOOL. Not some college fraternity with horny guys and vulnerable girls. It's a middle school where everyone is fighting, bullying, and torturing everyone else, guys are magnificent bastards, girls are slutty bitches, and they're not even in high school yet.
*** No, the game takes place in high school, it even explicitly states so in the game.
*** Characters like Pedro and Sheldon look awfuly young to be in high school.
*** Sheldon appears among the students in the math class, so he's probably no younger than Jimmy.

** New England is another name for the US states east of New York.

** New England is another name for the north-eastern region of the US