Review of 'Alike' (film)

Alike is an animated short film directed by Daniel Martínez Lara & Rafa Cano Méndez. This film has won 81 awards and has 151 official selections. One might think that what is so special about an animated short film that it can win so many awards and this much popularity? Well, you having this on your mind is totally normal because I too on the first sight was stunned. But, after watching it, I totally understood what made it so good. The plot that makers have set is marvelous, it will forcefully make you realize the true situation of the society.

This film is addressing the root problems of the society which are affecting the overall growth of our society and hence the humanity. I being an Indian can relate to the movie's clear message. I also was once a victim of the society that we all live in. From the moment we are born we are forced to follow the norm or ethics of the society. They just don't care for anything except for their norms. When a child is born he/she is totally new to this very planet and they don't even know a bit of information about our society but they are forced to blend themselves in the society. I believe that if a child is allowed to grow on its own i.e. allowed to explore the world and then follow whatever his/her interests are then our world would have been away more beautiful place to live in than it is now.

In the film, there is a similar kind of concept that makers are trying to communicate with their viewers. There is a small boy in the film and a father and both of them are colored and everyone else is colorless. Here color is metamorphically related to the creativity of the person, colorless meaning totally deemed person i.e. having no personal interest and lacking creativity and colorful persons are having a purpose in life and are having personal interests in their life meaning are creative. So, this boy initially used to be so much excited to go to school and do the work in his own way (childish way). And his father used to drop him to school and then he goes to his office for work. Every day when they used to go to school they pass through a colorful man who was playing an instrument and seems more happier than all other inhabitants and that small boy used to stop by him to listen to him which he found fascinating but his father, as usual, won't allow his boy to stand by in order to reach the school as early as possible on time. Eventually, that boy who used to be colorful started becoming colorless and his father also started to become colorless gradually because his father was happy only if his boy is happy and so if his boy is unhappy then his father too i unhappy.

So, father noticed it and decided to take his boy to that colorful guy instead of going to school. But as they reached there they didn't found that colorful guy as he was gone. Then seeing his son disappointed father decided to play violin himself. Seeing that son became happy like never before and was again joyous, creative and colorful as he was before. And his father too became colorful seeing his boy colorful and happy.

The above story was not just a story but also a true and harsh reality of our society. By seeing that I immediately realized, how hard the life of that boys would be who are lucky enough to have a good father like the father in the story. See if you are doing something which is not of interest to you then immediately stop doing it as you are wasting your life. Believe me or not you are utterly wasting your society. If you are being forced to do something which you don't like then first consult it with some responsible persons and explain to them your problems. If they too don't understand then abandon that society and build your own on some another part of the world. My point here is, try to follow your dreams and not just blindly following anyone. In order to be happy, you don't need money, all you need is inner happiness. Don't worry about your parents, all they want is you to be happy, they are asking you to be rich and make them feel proud. I have seen misconceptions about parent's expectations, so clear it now and make your life way more meaningful than it is now. And at last, I would like to conclude it by reminding you one of the sayings by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (11th President of India) which goes as follows:

"DREAM is not what you see in sleep, DREAM is something which doesn't let you sleep."

– Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam

[Link to the film]