I was having a hard time finding a quote about bullying this morning. There are many good ones but nothing hit me right today. I was browsing around when I finally decided I would click on the ubiquitous Britain’s Got Talent clip that shows a duo on stage. I knew they were singers but I had seen enough of those over the years to know that often times they underwhelm me so I still hadn’t clicked on it. But today I did.  Take a look, it’s worth it.

THE CURE

I am not showing it because of the singing, which is indeed magnificent.  I am showing it because it is a great example of the best cure for bullying. What is that cure? Love is that cure.  Not the idea of love, but the action of love.

Jonathan, overweight all his life, is the object of bullying and teasing.  His heart is broken and little pieces of him are taken away each time it happens.  Then this one girl in his school sees him deeper than the others. She needs love to see deep. She needs courage to not do what her peers are doing, either neglecting Jonathan or deriding him.  They become a duo and took the stage at this competition.

As can be expected (otherwise it wouldn’t be on YouTube) they exceeded expectations.  But it’s what Jonathan said that really made the tears flow for me. Simon Cowell said he was great but Charlotte was not and that he would be better off going on in the competition alone.  Jonathan replied saying, ‘we came as a duo, we will continue as a duo’. Charlotte’s inner beauty of love had it’s own return at that moment,  Jonathan’s best way of showing love back to her. 

That to me is the best cure for bullying because, in truth, we will never get rid of bullying. It will never be regulated out of humanity.  But we can overcome it with love and that is what this is all about.

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Commentary by Marty Coleman