A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story

Born in Texas with a mysterious condition that left her with a gaunt, elongated face, as well as bodily deformities and lifelong health problems, Lizzie Velasquez persevered through school with the help of loving parents, and even became a cheerleader. Then, at the age of 17, she discovered a YouTube video posting TV footage of her that was labeled "WORLD'S UGLIEST WOMAN," accompanied by countless hateful comments from viewers. Velasquez responded with a YouTube channel of her own, focusing on bullying and being open to all comments (including hostile ones). Although filmmaker Sara Hirsh Bordo's documentary suffers a little from distracting pro-Lizzie celebrity cameos (Whoopi Goldberg, America Ferrara, Hillary Clinton), A Brave Heart quickly finds solid narrative footing, as the heroine meets the mother of another student who committed suicide due to online harassment, pushes to promote the Safe Schools Improvement Act, and finally gets an answer regarding the medical nature of her infirmity. An Audience Award winner at SXSW, this is an inspiring story of a strong and brave individual who stood up to bullying. DVD extras include deleted scenes, Velasquez's widely viewed TED talk, and an interview with singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles. Highly recommended. [Note: this is also available from Tugg (http://licenses.tugg.com) with public performance rights on DVD or Blu-ray for $95: public libraries; $375: colleges & universities.] (C. Cassady)