When I had my first baby 4 years ago, I was struck by a powerful yet unfamiliar emotion. It’s a kind of love that made me stronger and more vulnerable than ever before. This love is visceral. Never grows out of passion. When curious friends push me to describe what that feeling is, I find prose inadequate. But some films inspire that very emotion in me. So I curated three short animation films that best illustrate parental love and what that love empowers you to do.
Love (Film: Mom)
This film paints a vivid picture of the love a mother feels caring for her young daughter. The mother’s joy is contagious- you feel that love in the first 45 seconds of the film.
Within the first 8 weeks of my son’s life, I’ve felt a slew of positive emotions that humanity comes to realize. His smiles brought me immense joy. His attempts to communicate amused me. Seeing the world through his senses made me live in constant moments of awe. I felt serenity watching him sleep, rooted in the present. I felt proud when he aced tummy time. He inspired me to be a less self-absorbed person. I feel grateful for everyone who offered help. I am full of hope thinking about the prospect of his future. I became better at feeling love and giving love which made me a happier person.
Only when I became a mother, I learned how to love, because my world didn’t center around myself anymore.
Motherhood also teaches me to appreciate my own parents. I resonated with the scene in the movie when the silver-haired mother reminisces her childhood and her own mother. After we enter adulthood, we leave home to start our own family, we seek our identity, we tend to our ambitions. As we race forward, our parents stop being our priority. But this film uncovered for me that life is like a flower, going from budding, blossoming to dying. Our parents grow old while we become strong. How much will I miss them once they are gone? I want to be as patient and tender to my parents, as they were to me when I was little. I only understand the meaning of “mother” when I become a mother.
Hope (Film: WiNDUP)
This 8-min short anime is about a little girl named Kiki fighting through a coma in support of her dad. In the film, Kiki’s searching for the familiar tune which she and her dad play on the windup lead her on. I have cried every time I watch this film.
The metaphor of Kiki’s journey is brilliant. This film makes me realize that all small interactions between parents and their child blend into a hardwearing bond, like a cord after birth. Connected by this bond, you live in each other’s spirit. When your child faces difficulties, your strength lights up her path and guides her through the challenge. Don’t give up when you feel discouraged, because your young child, often unaware of the dire situation, looks to you to come through.
This movie created a story about love and hope that can touch everyone everywhere. The music is its magic, as Director Yibing Jiang explained, “This theme is universal. Music is universal. We want people across the world to be able to feel this movie. That’s why we chose music instead of dialogs.”
Sacrifice (Film: WIND)
Growing up in China, I came to the US when I was a 16-year old high school exchange student. Because of work, I stayed in a handful of metropolitans around the world, before settling in the US a few years ago. Now, my parents, both in their 70s, live by themselves in a southern coastal city in China.
I often ask my parents if they feel lonely, especially during holidays or when they get sick. I would have gone home on moments of notice if I lived close to them. I ask them if they have regretted supporting me to study abroad, leaving them behind.
Their answer is no, even though I feel the tears my mom holds back. After I become a mother, I begin to understand why. I would do everything to give my children the opportunity to see the world, to forge their own path, to become who they are. I would open my arms to welcome them home, like a harbor to anchoring boats, but I would never want to be the strings that truss up their sail.
This movie inspired me to reflect on self-sacrifice driven by parental love, particularly in the eastern culture. Asian parents’ love is restrained, unlike their outspoken western peers. My parents rarely say “I love you.” They embed this deep love into meals and other rituals of the family life when we meet, allowing me to explore myself as a global citizen but still feel grounded in my traditions.
I am reminded of what parental love means to me when viewing these films. If I have to describe this love in words, I would say it is a seed that lands in the softest spot in your heart and opens a window for you to view the world from your child’s perspective. This view gives you enormous strength, compassion, and hope. You are stronger because you are needed. You are vulnerable because you care about your child more than anything, more than yourself. You become a wholesome person because your world doesn’t center around yourself anymore.
(Recommended: Paul Graham on Having Kids)
Speechless, hand to **puffy heart** and making me feel my feels. Thank you, Vivian, for this introducing me to these heartfelt films and connecting the emotional dots.
So, so beautiful. Thanks for sharing this, Vivian.