Parents' Guide to The Breadwinner

This gorgeously animated film is a poignant reminder of the violence that girls and women face in patriarchies. In The Breadwinner, Parvana disguises herself as a boy not to fight or receive an education, as with similar stories like Mulan or Yentl -- but just to survive. The film shows the severe restrictions placed on women, and even men. But it's important to note that the people behind The Breadwinner -- directors, producers, and the author of the novel it's based on -- are all White, crafting a narrative that relies on the ideology and values of White, Western feminism. While this ideology can rightfully condemn Taliban patriarchy in some ways, it carries a lot of ethnic and colonial baggage of its own.

The fable within the film, which has a different look than the rest of the animation, smoothly translates the Afghan experience for Western audience members. It mirrors Parvana's own role in rescuing her family from certain doom. Her perseverance under unthinkably tense conditions is remarkable; it's an inspiration for her melancholy mother and sheltered older sister. The movie's subject matter might be too intense and the violence too realistic for very young viewers, but tweens and young teens aware of, say, Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai's story, should find it fascinating and educational. Like Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon's previous big films (The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea), The Breadwinner blends folklore with realism and ultimately shows how children are far braver than some might think.