MALALA & MICHAELA

By Kristin Scheimer

The Taliban, The Revolutionary United Front, The Boko Haram; groups of young, angry boys, with guns, and unjust power, who commit the most heinous of acts imaginable.  Their victims are men, women and children, but women and girls are the main focus of their vitriol.  

Before you get completely turned off by this article, let me say this:  I will not be discussing them here.  This article is not about them.  It’s not even about their tragic victims.  This article is about two young women whose stories are so heartwarming, uplifting and engaging I want to make sure the world knows about them:  Malala Yousafzai and Michaela De Prince.

I currently have, sitting by on my nightstand, a rather large stack of books.  For anyone who has helped me move, you are probably thinking “Just one?”  Amongst these many tomes are two books, which make my heart swell a bit whenever I look at them. 

The first is “I Am Malala. The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb.  The second is “Taking Flight. From War Orphan to Star Ballerina” by Michaela de Prince with Elaine De Prince. 

“I Am Malala” tells her story of growing up in Pakistan, and the arrival of the Taliban in her world.  The Taliban did not believe in education for girls, but Malala did and she and her father spoke out.  

On October 9, 2012 Taliban gunmen stopped and boarded her school bus as she was heading home.   They asked “Who is Malala?” and then they shot her in the head.  Malala survived the attack and in 2014, because of her tireless work fighting for the rights for girls all over the world to be educated -  while she still attended school herself - Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Taking Flight” tells the story of a little girl in Sierra Leone who was orphaned at the age of three because of the Revolutionary United Front or “debils” as they called them. 

Born with vitiligo, which caused her skin to be spotty, Michaela or Mabinty as she was born, was the least liked child at the orphanage, but she was befriended by another little girl named Mabinty.  In 1999, at the age of four, Mabinty and all of the children in her orphanage were adopted by American families. 

The Mabintys were fortunate to be adopted by the same family. 

Because their names were the same, their parents decided the best solution was to give them new names.  They became Mia and Michaela.  At the orphanage, Michaela found a magazine with the picture of a ballerina on it and being a ballerina became her lifelong dream.   Her dream has become a reality, having danced with several companies including the Dance Theater of Harlem.  She is currently dancing with the Dutch National Ballet.

I flew through “Taking Flight”.  It’s a quick read and a thoroughly enjoyable one.  But how can that be given the story that’s being told?  I’ll admit that one night, when I was making my way through some of the more horrifying passages describing the experiences of this three-year-old girl, I had a restless night's sleep.  However, the theme throughout the book, even in the many, many dark moments was this unbelievably overpowering sense of hope.

It’s taken me longer to make my way through “I Am Malala” because there are nights when I simply want to escape and not be confronted by how realistically Malala tells her story. 

But hiding from reality does no good.  The real truth is, I’ve learned a lot from Malala and found a great deal of courage, and hope, from this beautiful young lady.

When I first heard Malala had been shot, I woke up every morning, scouring the news for updates on her condition, hoping with ever fiber of my being that she would survive.  When it was finally announced that she was going to be okay, I heaved a sigh of relief, and shed more than a few tears, as if I had just been told a loved one would live.

These stories are fascinating, heroic, dramatic and full of hope and triumph.  They are “Rudy”,  “Erin Brockovich” and “Rocky”.   

They are the perfect underdog triumphing over evil stories, so I was surprised – and disappointed – when I visited imdb and discovered neither of these books was in development to become a film.

I can’t understand that.  They have all the makings of a great film:  An engaging, heroic and loveable protagonist.  A solid goal with something at stake.  Many obstacles.  And… after a tumultuous, but thoroughly engaging story filled with conflict, ups and downs, reversals, and surprises, a triumphant, happy ending.

All the pieces are there, and I would know.  I’ve been a professional script analyst for almost 20 years.  I’ve read 1000s of scripts (Kind of wish that was an exaggeration).  Every day, my expertise is employed by nameless, faceless writers (well, I’m nameless and faceless to them, thank the gods… I’m pretty harsh!)  The point is, if there is one thing of which I am an expert, it’s storytelling.  These books tell great and important stories. 

So… why has Hollywood, who will pounce on every scandal and tawdry story out there, made no plans to turn the stories of these brave, courageous and inspiring young women into films?

I really, really, REALLY hope it’s not because they’re girls… or because of the color of their skin.  Taking my cue from Malala and Michaela I cling to hope that someday maybe Hollywood will step up.

Why, you may ask, does it matter if they are made into films?  As I have said in several articles in this blog and will continue to say in future articles, there are a lot of problems in this world, and many, many of them stem from people misunderstanding, disliking and even hating people who are not like them, simply because they don't know them or are misinformed as to who they are.

Film and Television are great mediums for helping to fix some of these problems.  The more we know about people who aren't like us and the more we are led to care about people who aren't like us through stories like these, the more compassionate and understanding we will be of people who aren't like us.

I'm not saying Film and Television will solve all of the world's problems, but with such a massive platform at our disposal, what a great way to at least try.   And we can start by putting the stories of these two amazing young women on the big screen.

Don’t get me wrong.  These books are not easy.  They have big moments of heartache and pain, but mostly they have love and hope and overcoming adversity.   They have all the makings of great, Academy Award winning, heartfelt lovely films.

And yet.  

I’d like to believe that Malala and Michaela’s gender and ethnicity have nothing to do with the lack of films in development.  The more idealistic side of me is hoping that these films are actually secretly being planned.  Maybe Malala and Michaela don’t want their stories told on film.  Ok… back to the realist.  I hope that the Hollywood mucky mucks simply decided (incorrectly... and temporarily?) that no one would want to see a film based on these books.  I say "incorrectly" NOT because I am certain these films would be a success. 

First of all, far too many factors go into the success or failure of a movie, starting with the most important element.  Of course I’m speaking of the writer. 

The Director, the actors, the cinematographer, the make up artist, the art department and the key grip, could all make or break a film.  And let’s not forget Craft Services.   

The point is, I - just like every person in the world, including every executive in Hollywood - do not actually know how the public will respond to a film (the Marvel franchise being a rare exception). 

Who can forget (or for those of you who didn’t know… after THIS, hopefully you won’t forget) the weekend “Waiting to Exhale” was released.  No way would this small film, starring a group of black women, have a big opening weekend.  Anyone wanna wager a bet on which film was number one that weekend?  Yeah.  Hollywood doesn’t know and most people working in Hollywood will actually admit to that.

So… why not take interesting, amazing, uplifting stories like these, turn them into films and then market the heck out of them!

You all read my article on “Assumed Racism”, so you know there’s no love lost between me and some marketing strategists.  I’m really crossing my fingers that IF these films are made, I won’t have to write another article complaining that they made a film about Malala, but she was nowhere to be seen on the posters.   

Here’s the thing.  Every year, I used to love watching the Academy Awards.  I couldn’t wait to see which of the amazing gems nominated for the coveted Best Picture Award would win.  In recent years, it was lucky if I saw one of the nominees.

There is so much talent in Hollywood.   Amazing writers, magical directors, gifted actors and talent in every area of the creation of films… and they’re all working in TV.... because films, for the most part, just aren’t what they used to be.

Hollywood, I implore you, employ the best of the best.  Make films like you used to that left us in awe of the talent; that drove would-be writers to Master Classes and books to become as good at writing at William Goldman, Robert Towne and Nora Ephron. 

Showcase acting greatness that inspired actors to join Stella Adler and ACT, just so they could give a performance as great as Marlon Brando or Meryl Streep. 

Employ those talents – they still exist – and make great films like you once did.  And if you’re looking for material, I have a huge body of work… sorry, I wasn’t self promoting here… no… if you’re looking for material, check out these two books, but if you do, give it your all, put your best woman on it… or man, if you feel you must… and take the stories of these two lovely, lovely young women and make them into the great Hollywood films that made me fall in love with movies.