A new story about young love, but with a pleasant, heartwarming twist, has taken over the internet by the storm.
“In a Heartbeat” is an animated film created by Beth David and Esteban Bravo. The story features a young boy and his heart, who chases after his long-term crush: another boy at his school. The long-anticipated short film was released on July 31 and currently has over 15 million views on YouTube.
This film reminded me a lot of the Disney shorts they play in theaters before the movie. It was attention grabbing as soon as the movie came to life, but the simplicity of the whole story was beautiful. It also showed the characteristics of being a milestone in the film world.
What really surprised me was the nature of the heart and how it contrasted with the closeted boy. The boy watched from afar, making sure he wasn’t spotted by his crush. He could’ve been doing this routine for days, weeks, maybe even months.
But the heart itself is its own character. As soon as he sees the dark-haired boy, he’s immediately smitten and starts to chase after him. There’s not a single doubt that the heart wants the dark-haired boy just as bad as the redhead.
The redhead tries to pull his heart back and steer him in other directions, simply because he doesn’t think it’s possible to have his crush like him back. As much as he wants to be with him, he’s afraid of what might happen. He tries to stop his heart but ends up playing tug-of-war with it in the middle of the hallway and splitting it.
The saddest part is that the heart didn’t get broken because the dark-haired boy didn’t like the redhead back; it was because the redhead was afraid of the judgment his classmates were giving him. Both boys in that moment were helpless, and the redhead’s solution was to run away, thinking that his heart would never be mended after that.
However, once the redhead opened up to the dark-haired boy, they repair his heart. The film ends with the two sitting under a tree as their hearts merge, beating as one.
It’s easy to tell why this video has gone viral; it captures the honesty of same-sex love through a non-spoken animation. We haven’t seen a ton of LGBT representation in short films like these, but this short opens up a new door for big companies such as Pixar.
Let’s be honest: times are changing, and our community is becoming more accepting to topics generations before us were afraid to talk about. Films like “In a Heartbeat” are important for our society so we can have a broader understanding.
And it has received a lot of positive reception since the before the film was made. A Kickstarter campaign made the animation possible, and after hearing about the concept for the film, the internet blew the page up everywhere, and they ended up raising over $14,000. Many people wanted this film to happen; they needed this film to happen.
Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if this short film goes on to win a few awards since the creators deserve it. If you don’t believe me, check out “In a Heartbeat” for yourself below.