Discover The Short That Has Moved Half The World
“The present” is a short that in recent days is going around the world. It has received more than 50 awards, has more than 3 million visits, and if it has moved anyone who dedicates a few minutes of their time to watching this video, it is because of the masterful reflection on disability that he invites us to do.
Talking about disability and self-improvement is not easy. However, with “The present” we discover two characters that instantly captivate our hearts: a boy and a dog. Jacob Frey, its young director, relied on a comic “Perfeição” by Brazilian illustrator Fábio Coala to carry out his idea, and the result is as simple as it is masterful.
The protagonist of this short could be any of our children, a brother or a nephew, it doesn’t matter. A child who, at the most necessary moment, receives a gift, “a present”: a puppy that is missing a leg …
The short film that has moved millions of people talks about disability
Our short begins with a black screen and the sound of machine guns. The second frame brings us the gaze of a child immersed in the controls of his video game, away from reality and everything that surrounds him.
It is not an image that is unknown to us. Many of our children and adolescents spend their leisure moments with their consoles and computers, “disconnected” from their particular worlds to integrate into these virtual scenarios.
The cathartic component, immediate gratification and isolation are the three basic elements that define the love of video games, increasingly installed in children and not so young.
At one point, our protagonist receives a gift from his mother. That parent who passes by almost without the child paying attention, leaves before him a mysterious box. When the boy opens the box, he discovers a puppy: a cheerful and lively dog with one leg missing. The boy, annoyed at seeing this feature, dismisses it with disdain.
That animal, in little more than a few seconds, ends up captivating us: disability, in many cases, is just a term and not a personal reality. If at first the boy “stigmatizes” him when he sees this lack, it does not take long to see that.
Self-improvement and friendship as fundamental keys
If you are attentive, you will discover how in little more than 4 minutes, they offer us decisive brushstrokes of the personal reality of our protagonist and of his “unexpected gift”. Windows closed in a messy room and a grumpy child who reacts with some aggressiveness to any news.
- Hermeticism and anger in adolescents are very relevant indicators of some underlying problem that we cannot neglect.
- The distance that children or adolescents can establish from their parents always has limits. It is not the same to claim personal space and autonomy than to “lock in oneself” and in technologies as a defense mechanism.
- The mother of our protagonist, as we will discover at the end, “knows” what is happening to her son. Therefore, he does not hesitate to give you the best gift in the world: a friend, a very special companion with only three legs.
- The little puppy is a clear example of self-improvement. After the boy takes it away in a bad way, the animal sits up happily in search of a ball, in search of an incentive by which to feel good and in turn, capture the interest of its new owner.
In this short that has thrilled young and old, we see a three-legged dog fall and get up, stumble and start over. However, the most admirable thing comes at the end, when with his inner strength and, he manages to achieve another miracle that you cannot miss.
This short that has moved so many people reveals how when we have support such as friendship, difficulties can be seen from another perspective. Perhaps, instead of closing in on ourselves, we should open ourselves to the world and let it impregnate us with its values and the people or animals that surround us …
They are little more than four minutes that we invite you to discover, to see in the company of your children and of course, to get excited as we have all done.
