Transforming motherhood and adolescence: a journey in the short film Bao by Domee Shi

Abstract

The work analyzes the animated short Bao by Korean director Domee Shi for the Pixar film company, winner of the Oscar in 2015. The analysis reveals a female emancipatory process that takes place within the difficult passage of a motherhood challenged by the transition of offspring in adolescence. The liberation from sick and symbiotic affective dynamics, the mourning for the childhood that has now passed, the settling on levels of cooperation rather than care, the recognition of the child as an other different rather than as an extension of oneself, the ability to conceive without fruitless rivalries, a family that expands to include other subjects, in a word resilience, seem to be the key to an effective transition. An important function here seems to be attributed to the practice of the martial art of Taijiquan which promotes processes of maturation and awareness.