A Brave Heart

A Brave Heart

In high school, Lizzie Velasquez discovered a video about herself on YouTube titled: “The World’s Ugliest Woman.” The footage showed Velasquez who, at that point, had an undiagnosed condition that made her have distinct facial features and trouble gaining weight and it received more than 4 million views with hundreds of mean comments.

She read each comment. They hurt. But then she found strength in the same form of communication that tore her apart by using it to spread positivity and empowerment instead.

The documentary “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story” traces the Austin, Texas native’s journey from insecure bullied kid to internationally renowned motivational speaker and lobbyist. Her story would be incredible on its own, but Velasquez is such an ebullient, magnetic presence, she wins your heart as well as your respect.

So did director-producer Sara Hirsh Bordo; her first feature is an unabashed valentine to this woman that rarely probes beneath the surface. She doesn’t offer much in the way of suspense or forward momentum; Bordo’s documentary is very straightforward and not particularly ambitious artistically. But Velasquez is great company for this short time and her message is pure.

“A Brave Heart” allows Velasquez now-26-year-old to reflect on the difficult childhood she had because of her appearance. At the beginning of the film, she wanders through the playground of her old elementary school and becomes tearful when recalling how she used to hide from staring kids in kindergarten: “I would look at everyone and just wish I could be them,” she says. “And to just think that 20 years later, here I am and it’s something good.”

But even while flipping through stacks of baby pictures (in which she had a giant forehead), Velasquez laughs and smiles. She is matter-of-fact about the numerous tests, scans, surgeries and reconstructions she’s endured throughout her life. That’s what’s so disarming about Velasquez in general no matter what’s going on, she exudes kindness, levity and decency.

But that sunny nature was severely tested at 17 when she found the “ugliest woman” video on YouTube. (Never read the comment section. Ever. And if you do read it, don’t let it get to you.) But Velasquez being the clever clogs that she is, started her own YouTube channel as a result. She figured out how to use the immediacy and reach of the Internet to promote kindness and self-esteem around the world and now has more than 450,000 subscribers herself.

The 2013 TEDx talk she gave in Austin has nearly 9.6 million views. Toward the end of the film, she steps out onto a stage before a crowd of 10,000 in Mexico City to a standing ovation (but not before sharing an awkward meet-and-greet backstage with Hillary Clinton that leaves her starstruck).

And this takes us to Velasquez’s trip to Washington to lobby for the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which seeks to criminalize bullying. (It hasn’t passed yet.) She is working on this with Tina Meier, whose daughter Megan killed herself not long before her 14th birthday in 2006 after being tormented online. This part feels like its own separate, tangential movie, but it does give us a couple of glimpses of Velasquez at less than full sparkle.

In one instance, she and Ms. Meier talk about what it’s like always having to be an inspirational figure for others and feeling unwilling to let oneself be weak sometimes. In the other, Velasquez gets sick on the day she is supposed to visit different members of Congress; she goes into the bathroom and throws up but rebounds with characteristic grace.

“A Brave Heart” could use more moments like these; as is, it’s a good movie that could have been a great one had it dug deeper.

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