Movies have the ability to change people’s perspectives on life in an instant. Pixar’s animation film Elemental, directed by Peter Sohn, showed me their consistency in keeping up with today’s society and bringing the representation of people like me into a new light that has not been seen before.

Elemental starts by introducing a family of fire immigrating into the immense city in the hope of a better change in their lives for their new daughter, Ember. As time passes, the fire people make their place a bit outside of the city, away from the other elements, water, land and air, as they are not well accepted by them. Ember, the main character in Elemental who is now a young adult, is expected to take over the family shop. However, she discovers that this is not what she wants to do with her life and has a real talent for glass art. Fearing that she would be considered a bad daughter to her father, she struggles at first making the choice but then realizes that the only thing her father wants for her is happiness. 

This story is so important to me as I have been facing quite a similar situation myself these past few years. So many other teenagers and young adults feel this way as well, that the only way to repay a sacrifice so big is to sacrifice your own life. Though I know this is not true, I still struggle with accepting it every day. Having this kind of representation is crucial as it helps show others that they have control over these choices in their lives and deserve to follow their passions. 

Another example of this is Pixar’s 2020 animated movie Soul shows that each and every one of us has a purpose in life and that we all have this spark that determines who we are and can become. In the movie, we see the main character, Joe, almost light up in a way when he plays jazz music on the piano.

 Pixar has been doing an incredible job at showing these topics and ideas we face every day, giving us a chance to think about who we are and what we are a part of.