Have you seen the short Disney+ film by Pixar called Float? I have watched it twice, tears running down my face. I first ran across the movie as a Facebook post by a mom who has a son who is autistic. The film is hailed for featuring Filipino characters and is an allegory for parents who have kids with special needs. The message the movie brought to me is that we must allow our children to be themselves.
The Message In the Movie Float
The movie’s plot is that a Filipino dad becomes concerned when his child exhibits special abilities; in this case, his baby boy happily floats. When ‘society’ sees this, the boy becomes the topic of gossip; the dad tries to hide his son. Perhaps the dad hides him because he doesn’t want his son to be hurt. The dad creates a backpack filled with rocks and puts his baby on a leash to go to the park. In this way, to his eyes, his son appears ‘normal.’
The boy escapes and begins to float, and the dad drags him towards the gate. Near the end, the dad gets the epiphany about how much pain his actions caused his baby; he picks his son up. The dad sits on a swing and starts swinging; at the apex of the swing, he lets his son go, and the boy happily floats. In the end, the dad allows his son to be the person he is.
The short film is very thought-provoking, and it tells a cautionary tale for parents of special-needs children. I applaud that, and I expand on it. Because I see the film showing how parents can squash a child’s magic through their expectations of behavior. The film shows parents trying to save their kids from pain may cause more profound pain.
Let’s Break it Down
The dad saw others judging his son; he tried to change his son to fit others ‘ expectations. Anyone watching the film can see the joy his baby had while floating, and the pain the boy had while weighed down with rocks.
The heart of the matter is whether we allow our children to be who they are, rather than trying to change them to fit our opinion (or worse yet, society’s view) of how they show up in the world. Children will thrive when they are allowed to be themselves.
But It Isn’t Just the Parents
The problem is that society likes to fit people into little boxes. Parents feel that to give their children the best chance of success, they must try to fit their children into those boxes. Each child is born with magic; the magic of playfulness, wonder, curiosity, and love. Some children are also born with unique gifts.
When we do not understand their gifts, we may unintentionally marginalize either the gift or the child. At best, the child finds ways to explore their gifts on their own. At worst, the child is labeled as mentally or physically ill and kept away from society.
My Vision
What if we lived in a world where the differences in children were honored rather than feared? What if parents didn’t care about others’ gossip and loved and accepted their child, just as he or she is? What if parents could set aside their expectations for who their child should be and allow their child to shine in their natural way?
I know in my heart that all children, no matter color, creed, economic status, or health status, are all beautiful beings, here to bring light to the world. Please, please, your children shine!
