Episode #302 — A tremendous new feature film brings a cast of veteran actors and rising newcomers to a story aimed at the heart of a huge problem – bullying.
In Switched – two young women who couldn’t be more different are given the chance to switch lives after a memorable prayer. Seeing the world through each others’ eyes is a life-changing revelation for them both.
Alexandra Boylan was a huge part of the team that made the movie happen – writing, producing, and even appearing in Switched. She explains the unique personal journey that so drew her to this story.
“I was bullied very badly growing up. Because I was a minister’s kid, I didn’t get to go shopping the way the other kids did. I used to go to the basement of the church, and I would pick from hand me downs, and then I would go to school and just be tormented. And basically – when you get bullied – the things we say at a young age can really stay with us for a long time.”
“I always thought – if these kids could walk a day in my shoes, literally live my life and know what it’s like to go down and have to pick from other people’s clothes, would they have empathy for me? Would they be kind to me? Would they not make fun of me if they knew what it was like being me? And that was the inspiration. How do we really show someone what anyone is going through until we walk a day in their shoes?”
It’s one thing to talk about this. One thing to start to to empathize, but what Alexandra and her fellow filmmakers are presenting us with is a question – can you really heal the heart of a bully?
“In the film, Cassandra, the girl who gets bullied ends up walking a day in the shoes of a bully, Katie. She finds out what that girl’s own life is like and why she has all this pressure on her to be a certain way. Then she comes to school, and she lashes out.”
“We address that there’s always a reason someone’s a bully. It means their heart is broken. It means they’re not being heard. They’ve been hurt, and they just are lashing out. But if you could actually listen to them and help them, that would stop the need of bullying other people.”
Alexandra Boylan is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and actress who co-founded Mustard Seed Entertainment. She wrote and produced the new feature film Switched, available now exclusively on the PureFlix streaming platform.
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On the Road with Alexandra Boylan
