"Finding Nemo" came out when I was five-years-old. I distinctly remember seeing it in the theatre with my mom and little brothers. Ever since I can remember, if someone asked me what my favorite movie is I would always answer with, “Finding Nemo!” I’m not even lying. I could watch "Finding Nemo" every day, and not get sick of it. So, of course, I’ve been anxiously awaiting "Finding Dory" since it was first announced.

My mom and I went and saw it the Friday that it came out. I was so excited and sat in the theatre surrounded by little kids and their parents, waiting for the movie to start. Once the movie began I immediately knew I was going to love it =-- and I did. "Finding Dory" definitely did not disappoint. Except for one thing.

I’ve read many articles praising "Finding Dory" for raising awareness to cognitive disabilities like short-term memory loss. While this is great, they are overlooking a serious flaw in the movie. After watching a particular scene, I looked over at my mom with a look of disbelief and disgust. Hoping that it was just a minor scene, I ignored it and became fully entranced in the movie again. Then it happened again and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

In the movie, there is a character named Gerald the Sea Lion. It is clear to most people who have seen it that Gerald is a little bit different than the other Sea Lions. He is depicted to not be as smart as the other sea lions and has bulging eyes, big teeth and a glaring uni-brow to further prove this. Many people have pointed out that it seems as if Gerald has some sort of cognitive deficiency and is generally not the same as the other sea lions.

While this could generally be overlooked, it was the sheer rudeness and bullying behavior of the other sea lions toward Gerald that really made me upset. The other two sea lions, Fluke and Rudder, who have multiple conversations with Marlin and Nemo, bark and yell at Gerald any time he comes near their rock. This exclusion is evidence of bullying simply based on the fact that Gerald is a little bit different than the others. Sure it’s easy to brush off as simple comedy, so why did I think this was this such a big deal?

Children are heavily influenced by media. Children memorize and repeat lines from movies and know all of their favorite characters because they look up to the heroes in media and imitate their behavior. Showing two sea lions bullying another sea lion because he is a little bit different is probably the worst thing that the writers of "Finding Dory" could have done, especially because the scene’s main purpose was to provide comic effect. Kids may think it’s funny to treat other children that way, because they don’t understand that it isn’t nice. They don’t always know the full effect or consequences of bullying, and therefore are more likely to think that imitating Fluke and Rudder is just another funny game to play.

Though my initial outrage has since died down after discovering the extra ending after all of the credits where Gerald eventually is able to get on the rock, I still think that the attempt to make Gerald a hero character is in vain because most people, myself included, left as soon as the credits started to roll. While I’m hoping that Fluke and Rudder’s behavior is not picked up by any children, I am still extremely disappointed by "Finding Dory" for even including the scene in the first place. I didn’t think it was necessary to the plot, nor did I find it even the slightest bit funny.

I think it is now up to parents and other adults to educate their children on bullying and why Fluke and Rudder’s actions aren’t funny. "Finding Dory" is an awesome movie and I definitely want to see it again, however, I hope people are smart enough to recognize this issue. I hope it doesn’t encourage kids to exclude other children simply because they’re a little different.