Brené Brown: The Call to Courage – Netflix Film Review

Courage Over Comfort

I watch a lot of motivational videos. Whether I’m out running, on public transport or browsing through YouTube during some rare moments of free time, I’m always drawn to this medium for its powerful effect on the human psyche. There’s a wealth of knowledge and life-changing stuff here too and speaking from experience, if you can put into practice the lessons in these videos, your life can change forever.

Brené Brown is a woman who inadvertently propelled herself into the spotlight following an excellent Ted-x talk about vulnerability. For those unaware, Ted Talks is a convention that brings together the brightest minds in a certain field of expertise and gives them the stage to discuss thought provoking ideas or educational content. Admittedly, The Call To Courage is a little overlong but armed with an equal dose of humour and motivational content, there’s enough here to keep you engaged until the end.

Beginning with a background into her Ted Talk, Brené goes on to discuss the horrible comments online in response to her videos and how a speech in 1910 changed her life’s perspective forever. “You have to be willing to put yourself in the arena,” She says at one point and this really sets the metaphorical stage for her ideas to follow. From here, the rest of the talk really hammers home this relationship between courage and vulnerability, how that ties into your life and how you can go about applying that to every area of your life.

There’s a deeper message here too, challenging conventional thoughts and encouraging people to really tackle those difficult topics head on. Netflix’s decision to give this inspirational lady a global streaming platform to share her ideas and philosophy is something I hope is the start of a continuing trend going forward. While I still think Les Brown and Tony Robbins are the go-to choice when it comes to motivational speakers and delivering a concise channel for change, there’s no denying the far-reaching effects Brené has had across the globe.

Given how likable and down-to-earth Brené is throughout the show, the hard cuts away from the stage to show the audience reactions do take a little away from the experience. Perhaps it’s just me but instead of digesting the material in silence, these pauses are used to show various members of the audience clapping, cheering, crying or nodding their head in agreement. 

Despite this, there’s enough here to make Brené Brown: The Call To Courage something well worth checking out. If you want to find out what all the buzz is about, I do suggest checking out the original video on YouTube as it really is a remarkable speech. At 70 minutes, Call To Courage is a little overlong, drawn out with lengthy comedy that doesn’t always work, but the meat of the show is fantastic and well worth your patience to get to. It’s not the best speech out there but it is an effective one, hammering home that age old message that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, if you’re willing to put yourself in the arena and run the gauntlet.

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