‘He Named Me Malala’ movie review
By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist
5/5
In 2013, Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban in her school in Pakistan because she made a comment that every girl should have a chance to go to school. She survived that situation and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and cause a global movement encouraging every girl in the world to go to school. We learn more about her in the new documentary He Named Me Malala, directed by Davis Guggenheim, who also directed the Academy Award-winning global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
He Named Me Malala gives all access to Malala’s road to recovery, her private life, her early life, and the most important person in her life, her father Ziauddin Yousafzai. It also has animations that illustrate what they are talking about.
The documentary begins with Malala being shot. As you learn about her early years, you will realize that it will lead up to the events of the beginning. The documentary does a great job showing how close Malala and Ziauddin are and how he is involved in her movement. There are a lot of interesting stories from Malala and Ziauddin. For example, Malala was named after a girl who was involved in a movement and was shot, except that particular Malala passed away. Another example is that Malala wrote a blog for BBC News under a secret identity that talked about what was happening in her hometown of Swat Valley and the Taliban not allowing free speech.
We learn that Ziauddin inspired her to do the things that she does because he is a motivational speaker. We also learn that Malala likes to go back to Swat Valley because she likes her life there, but she cannot go back right now because the Taliban are in Pakistan and she will be shot. On the lighter side, we find out that one of her favorite games is Despicable Me: Minion Rush.
The documentary’s message is that if every girl in the world goes to school, they could impact our world, and if we take action, it will happen. If you would like to learn more about Malala and the movement, you can read her autobiography, I Am Malala.
As Malala says, “One girl, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.”
