Buddy Revel, the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of a bully in Three O’Clock High (1987), isn’t actually a bully. Bullying is a tool used to establish or enforce social dominance. And Buddy isn’t the slightest bit interested in the social dynamic at Weaver High School. As he clearly states to Jerry Mitchell (Casey Siemaszko) when the hapless young journalist attempts to engage him while they stand in front of a row of urinals, Buddy doesn’t want anybody to know anything about him. The enigmatic and elusive science fiction writer John Steakley wrote “Bullies don’t want to fight you. They don’t want to fight at all. They just want to beat you up.” And the exact opposite is true of Buddy Revel. He has countless chances to beat Jerry up. But he’s not interested in beating Jerry up. All he wants to do is fight him.
As it turns out, Buddy is more like the monster in a horror movie. He seemingly has the ability to be everywhere at once. Traditional authority figures are incapable of stopping him. And except for a moment of greed at the very end of the film, he seems to be motivated by nothing more than pure malice. He’s more of a caricature of a bully than an actual bully, which is absolutely necessary for the story to unfold as it does.
The Film: Three O’Clock High
The Song: “Something to Remember Me By”
The Artist: Jim Walker
