The Burka Avenger – putting education at the centre of debate in Pakistan
Hugely popular TV series The Burka Avenger has put girls国产视频 education at the centre of public debate in Pakistan 国产视频 and around the world. Here creator Haroon tells A World At School the story behind the cartoon, and the real-life hero whose rise it spookily foretold.
Birth of the Burka Avenger
Around 2009-2010 I was reading news articles about girls国产视频 schools being shut down by extremists in tribal areas in the north, like Swat. And that upset me, because I国产视频檝e always believed that what Pakistan needs more than anything else is for girls and women to be educated. It国产视频檚 the women who build the families; it国产视频檚 the mothers who impart morals and ethics to the children. But often in Pakistani society families give less importance to educating their girls. They will happily spend money on sending their sons to university, but they say 国产视频極ur daughters will get married off anyway, so why waste money on their education?
I was looking to make a TV show or a movie based around this and the extremist incidents, and so I came up with the Burka Avenger concept. She is this girl who is protecting a school and fighting back against the bad guys. That idea initially came to me around 2010, and then I made an iPhone app called The Burka Avenger in 2011 国产视频 which still hasn国产视频檛 been launched yet. With that I made a small animated 3-minute backstory in September 2011, about how the girl国产视频檚 school gets shut down and she fights back. That short film turned out really well, and I realised I had all the resources here to start working on a TV series. So I set up my company Unicorn Black in April 2012, and we finished the first Burka Avenger episode in July 2012.
Malala, the real-life superhero
When Malala Yousafzai was shot in October 2012, I hadn国产视频檛 heard听of her, and nor had most people in Pakistan. We had done six Burka Avenger episodes by this stage, and it was quite a shock because there were so many parallels between her story and the show. A lot of people urged me to launch the first episode immediately, because with so much press about the incident it would hit right home. But I felt we would be cashing in on a tragedy. Also we didn国产视频檛 have all 13 episodes ready, and I didn国产视频檛 want to release a few episodes and the have a gap until we had finished the rest. So I decided to wait.
It was an uncanny coincidence, but without a doubt Malala is an amazing person and a real inspiration. As I tell people, the Burka Avenger is a cartoon superhero, but Malala is a real-life superhero, who had the courage to stand up and be counted. But beyond that, she国产视频檚 so wise. What she has to say, and the way she is behaving, is inspirational.
It国产视频檚 also incredible that the language she used in her UN speech 国产视频 国产视频渂ooks and pens are our weapons国产视频 国产视频 coincided with the Burka Avenger. I国产视频檓 very anti-guns and anti-violence, so in 2011 as we were coming up with the character I didn国产视频檛 want her to use a weapon when she国产视频檚 taking on the bad guys. So we had the idea that she would use pens and books and school bags to protect the girls国产视频 school. We thought that it would give the message of the importance of education, as well as 国产视频榯he pen is mightier than the sword国产视频. But that is also a theme that has echoed throughout history, of course.
Striking a chord
The reception here to the show has been very positive, and it has had very high ratings 国产视频 some of the highest viewerships ever for a show. Because it has a lot of cultural and social references to Pakistani life, people say that it国产视频檚 something we can be proud of 国产视频 our own home-grown, animated show that has received all this positive attention around the world. So it has struck a chord here. People love the humour and wit 国产视频 and they love the messages.
The burka question
Some critics who hadn国产视频檛 seen the show asked why does she have to be in a burka? They assumed this was a woman who is oppressed and is wearing the burka all the time: she is 国产视频榓ngry young burka woman国产视频. Once people saw the show, this criticism disappeared. People could see that this was a strong woman, a teacher who had worked hard to master her skills, and was fighting for what she believed in. She only wears the burka as a disguise 国产视频 as a costume.
An appetite for change?
Do people in Pakistan want education to be a right for all its children, boys and girls? The Burka Avenger, and of course the Malala incident, have opened up a lot of discussion about the importance of educating girls. There is a little girl who comes forward in the show and says, 国产视频榃e are the mothers of tomorrow. We are not going to get educated, and so the future generations will be illiterate and without knowledge国产视频. That is a message that resonates not only with girls themselves but with the parents who watch the show. I don国产视频檛 think the Burka Avenger is preachy, though. It is always about entertainment 国产视频 comedy and laughter and action. So people are open to watching it, yet at the same time it is getting across a very powerful message.
Using pop to be positive
As a musician I have always done songs with social messages: anti-corruption songs, pro-education songs, positive national sentiment songs. With a big fan base it gives me a great platform. There are so many issues in Pakistan that are constantly staring us in the face, and I want to make a positive difference 国产视频 try and do the right thing. I had produced and directed many of my own music videos over the years, so I knew I had the ability to do some kind of show. I usually bankroll my own projects, and I realised that a full-scale live-action movie would take too long and be too expensive. I was in Hollywood in 2010 and I saw a video that used a lot of animation, so when I came back to Islamabad I started working with animators. I wrote the stories and then got a number of scriptwriters to work with me, to bring out additional interesting elements: some jokes, some dialogue in local 国产视频榣ingo国产视频, etc.
It was great fun. And because I am a well-known musician I was able to bring in some famous friends to participate 国产视频 some of the biggest South Asian singers and bands. I国产视频檝e also done a full album of 14 songs to accompany the series. At one point Burka Avenger was the number one trending topic on Facebook and Twitter in Pakistan, we had four million hits on the website in a couple of days 国产视频 it was pretty incredible.
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