In 2019, a series of indie short animated films produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The shorts have been critically acclaimed for their mature content. One of them is Float – the story is about a Filipino father who is trying to hide the fact that his son possesses the ability to float from the public.
The 7-minute short begins with the ‘Dad’ who was playing with his new-born son, Alex in the front yard. While showing him the dandelion, Alex floats. Coincidentally, a family walked by showing looks of concern. The dad quickly grabbed his son back into the house.
Years later, the son continues to float in the darkened house as they live in a hermit situation. When taking his son on an outing, he keeps him on a leash and stuffs his backpack with rocks as weight. However, those precautions are proven useless later.
Motifs
This film is a display on “masking”, a way to hide a person’s autism that prevails for many autistic children as they grow up. The rock in the backpack is a metaphor for how the effort will weigh a child down.
The motifs of dandelions also appear frequently. While blowing the seeds is a reference to Alex’s abilities, dandelions are often considered weeds. When in reality, they are flowers, entirely edible, and a hardy survivor in this cruel world.
Alex eventually escapes. He floats around the other children causing confusion. He isn’t a danger or a nuisance – he is simply playing the way he knows. But other parents saw it and immediately frowns and pull their children away from the strange boy. The dad immediately grabs his son as the boy has a temper tantrum. This results in the dad asking why can’t he just be normal. The boy slowly grounds himself and cries in silence.
The scene hits close to home as that is the reality of parents of autistic children. They experience immense pressure on what society considers ‘normal’ while fear for the child’s safety and future.
Message
The dad, realizing his errors, cradles his son and swings him on his lap. The film ends with them both happily play while the boy flies around as he meant to. The beautiful ending shows that autistic should be their autistic selves, embracing and elevating differences. In this world where people spread negativity more than positivity, it is a moving message and an encouragement for parents of autistic children out there to keep going and keep loving.
Support
Interestingly, ‘Float’ recently was shown on Youtube along with ‘Wind’, another short film by Korean director Edwin Chang on Pixar Animation Studios Youtube channel to shows that they are in solidarity with the Asian and Asian American communities against Anti-Asian hate in all its forms.
“We are proud of the onscreen representation in this short and have decided to make it widely available, in celebration of what stories that feature Asian characters can do to promote inclusion everywhere,” said Pixar.
These short films were released after reports of hate crimes against Asian communities have risen in the United States and other parts of the world since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
Source: The Mighty, Decider, HypeBeast, Pixar