

“Am I going to let the people who called me a monster define me? Am I going to let the people who said ‘kill it with fire’ define me? No. I could either choose to make this really good or choose to make this really bad. “I thought, ‘I’m just going to leave it alone.’. “I cried my eyes out,” she recalls during her December 2013 Ted Talk. But it was not until she discovered she’d become the victim of cyberbullying (she stumbled on the negative YouTube video while searching for music videos online), that Velásquez recognized that she had an important choice to make. She coped as best she could, even becoming a cheerleader in high school. Her father was a teacher and would openly discuss the causes of her disfigurement in class. In grade school, Velásquez realized she was different than other kids.
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Writing for The Playlist, reviewer Kimber Myers says, “There’s rarely been such a perfect fit between the lyrics of an appropriated song and a film’s subject matter.” She notes that the movie “threatens to melt even the grinchiest of hearts in its audience, sending us to looking for alternatives to avoid overusing the word ‘inspiring.'” The soundtrack for the movie features the song “ Brave” by Sara Bareilles. leave a few too many questions unanswered, but their subject’s immense optimism steamrolls through the documentary’s shortcomings.”

New York Times film critic Ken Jaworowski calls that “an absurd rating if it keeps away the young people who most need to hear these harsh descriptions of bullying.” In assessing the film itself, Jaworowski says: “The makers. Directed by Sara Hirsh Bordo, the film has already won awards at multiple film festivals.Ī Brave Heart is rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned). Taking to the airwaves, she tackled the criticisms with self-deprecating humor during a well-received Ted Talk, employed YouTube to disseminate her own message, appeared on talk shows with Oprah, Barbara Walters, and Katie Couric, and now is featured in a new documentary.Ī Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velásquez Story, details her life as the physically challenged victim of bullying turned motivational speaker. Quite to the contrary, Velásquez fought back. Put a gun to your head and kill yourself.'” People were saying: ‘Lizzie, please just do the world a favor. “ eight seconds long with over four million views and thousands of comments. “When I was in high school, I found a video labeling me ‘the world’s ugliest woman,'” Velásquez recalls. Never weighing more than 64 pounds and blind in one eye, her skin-and-bones appearance made her a target on YouTube. Velásquez, now 26, suffers from Marfan Syndrome and Lipodystrophy, which prevent her from gaining weight. Rather, she has a face of determination, perseverance, and personal power in the battle against unspeakable cruelty and unfairness. Though she is making her impact on the big screen, she does not meet Hollywood’s outward standards of physical beauty. The fight to prevent bullying has a special advocate this fall, and it is Lizzie Velásquez.
