Bao – A Short Film About The Empty Nest Syndrome
Bao is an animated short that shows the consequences of when a mother has to stop raising her children when they leave home. This short animation film, about the empty nest syndrome, won the Oscar prize in 2019 for Best Animated Short Film.
Interestingly, Bao is Pixar’s first short film to be directed by a woman. The creator, Domee Shi, captured all the feelings mothers experience when their children go their separate ways. In addition, she managed to show all this in 3 minutes.
Bao, a short film about the empty nest syndrome
Bao is a Chinese-Canadian woman who feels lonely and discouraged. At the beginning of the video you can see how the woman makes steamed buns to eat with her husband.
To her surprise, however, the bun comes to life when she tries to take a bite and it starts to cry. From that moment on she takes care of the sandwich as if it were her son. Little by little it starts to grow up and wants more freedom. However, the mother is too protective and does not let him play sports with other children.
Once he is a teenager, he becomes rebellious and stops spending time with his mother. She feels very bad. However , the biggest problem arises when he introduces her to his girlfriend. He informs her that he plans to move in together and leaves his parental home.
This overwhelms the woman. In a fit of anger and fear, she decides to eat the steamed bun, aka her own son. She immediately regrets what she has done and is inconsolable.
Then you see how sad the mother sits in her room. Then her real son appears in the room, who is just a person. They make it up and show how much they love each other.
Finally, you see the whole family together, including the son’s girlfriend, making steamed buns. In the last scene you can see how happy the mother is that she has overcome the empty nest syndrome.
Some thoughts on the animated film
This beautiful animated film makes us think about how important it is for mothers to prepare for when her children leave home. To do this, you must first accept that it will happen one day.
Keep in mind that children will grow up to be adults who will live their own lives. This doesn’t have to be something nasty and sad. Instead, you can think of it as the next stage of motherhood.
When mothers spend so many years raising their children to the best of their ability, a very strong emotional bond is built between them. This bond will last forever, even when it’s time for the kids to move out.
