#sorry to essay abt this disney pixar film at u all LMAO but i was touched

[prongsmydeer]

I finally got around to watching Elemental (2023) and I do think those that were describing it as an immigrant story were accurate. It is also a love story, like the marketing said, but you can't disentangle Ember's experience in the story from her family being diaspora.

But what struck me most about the film is that it's one of the only recent pieces of media I've seen, both in Disney and outside of it, that depicts generational trauma in a way that is fundamentally kind to the previous generation (parents, grandparents, etc).

In most other versions of stories like this I've seen lately, for the (immigrant, usually some variety of Asian, and it is clear that the Lumen family is inspired by multiple Asian cultural influences) parents/grandparents, even if we understand why they behave a certain way, it usually frames that generation as restrictive, oppressive, and perhaps even knowingly upsetting the younger generation. And yes, there are parents that do that. I understand the benefit of telling that story.

However, there are also immigrant families like Ember's. Where you have a family that supports you, that treats you kindly. But even still, you carry the weight of what has happened to them, an indebtedness that you can't ever repay. Bernie, Ember's father, doesn't want to force Ember to do anything. But he carries his hopes for her future, and Ember in turn responds by behaving in the way she thinks would make her parents most happy. So though they have this loving dynamic, the conflict is not in their personality, but in that weight they are both carrying. And that is a story I find relatable as an immigrant, and one that I thought was a standout point in this film.

#sorry to essay abt this disney pixar film at u all LMAO but i was touched #i often draw issue or feel at odds with the oversaturation of overbearing (immigrant - asian) parents in media. so it was nice to see this #me when people in media are inadvertently causing each other pain BECAUSE they love each other: 🥺 #elemental 2023 #ember lumen #bernie lumen #ayesha says things #lumen family #disney #i watched like 6 movies on planes recently so lots of thoughts #films