#A BRAVE HEART LIZZIE VELASQUEZ HOW TO#

MARTIN: We learn pretty early on in the film that you get a lot of your bravery and your spirit from your parents. It's directed by Sarah Hirsh Bordo, called 'A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story.' Lizzie joins us now from our studios in New York. But instead of letting it break her, Velasquez turned hate on its head and became an anti-bullying activist. Because of this, Lizzie has endured almost unimaginable bullying throughout her life. MARTIN: Now 26 years old, Lizzie Velasquez has a rare genetic disorder that prevents her from gaining weight and is horribly disfiguring. And I would sit here and hide and then other kids would stare at me or just not be nice. And I would always hide behind these things. LIZZIE VELASQUEZ: All the classes would sit here and line up. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, 'A BRAVE HEART: THE LIZZIE VELASQUEZ STORY') “A Brave Heart” could have used more of such unguarded moments as it stands now, it’s a worthwhile film that could have been a powerful film if it had gone beyond the skin-deep.This is how Lizzie Velasquez remembers kindergarten while growing up in Austin, Texas. She goes to the bathroom and throws up, but powers through with her usual poise. In the other, Velasquez becomes ill on the day she’s scheduled to visit various members of Congress.

In one instance, she and Meier discuss the pressures of serving as an inspiring figure for others all the time and feeling reluctant to surrender to moments of weakness. While this section feels like its own separate, tangential film, it does allow us a couple of glimpses of Velasquez when she’s feeling less than perky. (The bill still has not passed.) Her partner in this effort is Tina Meier, whose daughter, Megan, hung herself shortly before her 14 th birthday in 2006 after suffering cyber cruelty. Which brings us to Velasquez’s journey to Washington to lobby on behalf of the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which aims to legislate bullying. Toward the film’s conclusion, she steps out on stage to a standing ovation before a crowd of 10,000 in Mexico City (but first, she has a thoroughly awkward meet-and-greet backstage with Hillary Clinton, which leaves her giddy). The 2013 TEDx talk she gave in Austin has nearly 9.6 million views.

#A BRAVE HEART LIZZIE VELASQUEZ HOW TO#

She figured out how to use the immediate, worldwide access of the Internet to promote kindness and self-esteem, and she now has over 450,000 subscribers. And if you do read the comments, don’t give them any weight, positively or negatively.) Still, clever woman that she is, Velasquez started her own YouTube channel in response. (Let this be a lesson to all of us: Do NOT read the comment section. That’s what’s so disarming about Velasquez throughout the film-no matter what’s happening, she radiates sweetness, humor and decency to her core.īut her upbeat nature was severely tested at age 17 when she found the “ugliest woman” video on YouTube. “And to just think that 20 years later, the world knows who I am, and it’s for something good.”īut Velasquez manages to laugh and smile while glancing through a stack of her baby pictures: “I had a giant forehead, and I still do.” She’s also sanguine in discussing the myriad tests, scans, surgeries and reconstructions she’s endured throughout her life. At the film’s start, she wanders the campus of her old elementary school and gets teary-eyed at the memory of hiding from staring kids in kindergarten: “I would look at everyone and just wish I could be them,” she recalls. “A Brave Heart” allows Velasquez, now 26, to reflect on the difficult childhood she endured because of her unusual appearance. Still, Velasquez is abidingly pleasant company for the film’s brief running time-and the purity of her message is undeniable. She presents very little in the way of drama, suspense or forward momentum Bordo’s documentary is extremely straightforward and doesn’t attempt anything ambitious artistically. Her story would be inspiring in and of itself, but Velasquez is such an effervescent, charismatic subject, she can’t help but win your affection as well as your respect.ĭirector-producer Sara Hirsh Bordo was clearly wowed, as well her first feature is an unabashed love letter to this young woman that rarely dares to dig too far below the surface. The documentary “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story” follows the Austin, Texas native’s journey from insecure, bullied kid to internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and lobbyist.

A brave heart lizzie velasquez