The new Pixar movie, Elemental is finally showing on Disney+!

I’d like to share a word that is central to the movie’s theme to people who’ve felt an unspoken type of pressure at some point during their lives.

The word is “Conform”.

What does this word mean? And how does this word seemingly govern every moment of a lot of people’s lives?

By definition, to conform means “to obey”… a deeper, more accurate meaning is “to abide by”.

To abide by what?

If there is something to abide by, then there has to be rules.

Rules to what? Rules to live?

Who decides what the rules to live are?

This line of questioning can go on and on…

To clarify my point, let me back up and explain how conforming is exactly what happened to the main character, Ember, in the movie Elemental.

Ember was born into a family of immigrants in Element City, specifically in the suburban area known as Fireland. Her dad was an avid businessman, building a business right out of the gates to make a living for his family. The business was aptly called “The Fireplace” selling all sorts of stuff that only fire residents can safely consume (I’m looking at you, Wade).

Ember then started working for the family business from a very young age, helping out in the cash register, arranging the goods in the store and delivering them to their patrons from all over town.

All is well until Ember started losing her cool on the job. She would flare up whenever some customers were unruly or tried to unreasonably bargain their way to get free stuff. I do understand her hot temper, given the frustration she must’ve felt dealing with these irate customers.

Though I believe that her anger is justified, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her anger was trying to tell her something wasn’t right.

Her feelings were validated by a growing love interest in Wade, who was of the Water element, so that was problematic in itself because she was of the Fire element (Her parents didn’t want her dating someone of a different race). Different races here were presented in the movie as different elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth). But… that’s a story for another time.

So the partnership between Wade and Ember was a fruitful one, not only since they ended up together, but because Wade made Ember realize that she really wasn’t happy with the way her life was.

Wade helped Ember realize that glass blowing was something that she could pursue as a career. He also helped her speak up to her parents when the time came for her to take over The Fireplace. She eventually told her parents about her qualms about taking over. While her parents were disappointed, they accepted that their daughter had her own dreams and were supportive of them.

So that’s pretty much the synopsis of the whole movie, Elemental.

I believe that this movie was about conforming to a certain type of pressure on how life is supposed to be lived.

In this case, the pressure came from the parents. But these pressures can come in different forms. Family, friends, relatives, coworkers, and even the society at large.

Some people try to dress to impress or buy things to be the object of envy.

Some people try to compare themselves with their friends, seeing friendship as a competition to see who is better than whom.

Some people try to live up to the expectations of their parents, but aren’t happy in the end.

But the thing is…

Ember’s parents didn’t really even force her to work for their company to begin with! Her internal pressure came from the indebtedness she felt to her parents, but had she not spoken up, she would never have known that it would be okay for her to pursue her dreams.

Sometimes all your anxieties and worries are all just built up in your head and don’t reflect reality.

What I learned, and what we should all learn from this movie is

LIVE LIFE THE WAY YOU WANT TO LIVE IT.

If you feel some strong negative emotion that is gnawing away at you regularly, trust that it is trying to tell you something.

Be honest with yourself. If you have some problems, be it personal, relational, or work-oriented, communicate it to those involved. You never know who supports you (and who doesn’t). Fight to change your circumstances!

Treasure your support system, be it a friend, a brother, a significant other, or anywhere you can source your inspiration from!

Who knows, you can even use this movie as the driving force to finally take action and make your life worth living!