Alike: A Short Film About The Importance Of Creativity
Alike is a short animated Spanish film about creativity that the whole world needs to see. Raga Cano Mendez and Daniel Martinez Lara created the film, which has won countless awards, including the Goya Award for Best Short Film in 2016.
These great recognitions are due to the excellent way in which the creators describe the importance of creativity and how it begins to fade with age. They blame this fact on a monotonous and boring society.
In this article, we give a brief summary of this wonderful film. But the truth is, you need to see it in order to truly appreciate and understand its important message.
What is creativity?
Before we go into detail on the importance of creativity, we must define the concept itself. According to psychologist Joy Paul Guilford, being creative means the presence of three qualities:
- Fluidity : The ability to find several different solutions to a problem.
- Flexibility : The ability to see situations from different angles and suggest original solutions.
- Originality : Thinking in a different and unusual way.
In fact, Howard Garnder, the creator of the theory of multiple intelligences, claims that each of the eight intelligences is an expression of creativity within himself. Therefore, creativity is important for children’s cognitive development.
So it is important to allow and encourage children to express their imagination through:
- Music
- Paintings and drawings
- Play
- Dance
- Writing
- Crafts
- Dramatizations
Alike: A short film about the importance of creativity
Alike shows us a sad reality by visibly describing a stupid and boring society. A society where citizens simply follow a daily and repetitive daily routine. The young protagonist tries to follow the colorless and monotonous life, but his way of understanding the world just does not fit into it.
In doing so, his creativity is punished and condemned until he finally loses his hope and his dreams. He accepts the current norms and becomes another sheep in the flock. Fortunately, the boy’s father realizes that something is happening: his child is no longer as lively and happy as he used to be.
Therefore, the father is trying to find a solution to this serious problem. He makes his son realize that he must be creative in order to enjoy a colorful life. He teaches his son that it is the key to a happy life.
Conclusions from the film
Thanks to this film, we, as parents and teachers, can appreciate the importance of creativity in our children. It is our duty to encourage this creativity and ensure that it never dies.
In particular, teachers should strive to ensure that schooling is about more than just developing academic skills. Rather, education should also include the development of creative, social and emotional abilities, etc.
At the same time, we must also at home give our children the freedom to express their thoughts and ideas through art and imagination. We must understand that each individual is unique and that this is necessary and enriching to build a healthy and balanced society. After all, a world without creativity is boring and useless.
