Learn From Jumbo Movies: Imagination Helps Children Express Parents' Loss

The animated film Jumbo tells the story of Don, 10, who has been left by his parents since childhood. (Instagram/@VisinemaStudio)

JAKARTA Losing a loved one is a sad experience for anyone, including children. Bumbo's animation illustrates how a child uses his imagination to present a figure for his deceased parents.

The film Jumbokini has been watched by five million viewers in Indonesia after 20 days of screening on cinema screens since March 31. This film by Visinema Studios also shifts Frozen 2 as the best-selling animated film in Indonesia, which was released in 2019.

The film is also officially the best-selling animation in Southeast Asia. According to a number of reports, the film, directed by Ryan Andriandhy, has earned more than IDR 500 billion in revenue.

From a review on Google, an reviewer questioned the reason why this filmmaker entered a mystical element in Jumbo. The presence of other natural creatures is said to be unsuitable for children to watch.

"A good film, but contains musyrikan and teaches children to cooperate with jinn," wrote one reviewer.

But on the other hand, this film received appreciation because it was considered appropriate to tell how a child faced grief after losing a loved one.

Don has lost both of his parents since he was four years old. When his children were young, Don was often ridiculed by his friends by calling Jumbo because he was big.

But he always tries to be strong, and tries to prove himself through a drama show inspired by a fairy tale from his father and mother. This book is also a medicine that every time Don misses his parents.

Grieving the loss of a loved one is an unpleasant experience for almost everyone, including children. For some people, it will be more difficult for children to process grief than adults who have lost their parents.

Grief is a complex process, and its manifestation in children can be different from adults. Children may not be able to express their sadness in the same way as adults.

Therefore, adults and professionals need to recognize these mixed signs of grief.

Grief can have a significant impact on children's social development. Children who are grieving may experience difficulties in interacting with peers, participating in group activities, and forming new relationships. It could also be that they feel isolated and find it difficult to trust others.

According to livestrong.com, psychological stress is one of the biggest impacts of parental mortality. This psychological stress can start from feeling sad, excessive sadness to causing stress and anxiety. For this reason, according to psychologists, the first phase is considered normal.

For this reason, parents who are still alive and families who can play an important role in helping children who are facing psychological pressure.

Victoria H. Raveia, a researcher who conducted research on the impact of maternal mortality due to cancer in school-age children from the Coloumbia University of Public Health, said the openness of communication of living parents greatly affected the reduced pressure experienced by grieving children.

Citing PHSycology Today, children may not be consciously remembering parents who are full of love, but they are guided by implicit memories of their care.

Previous theorists believe that young children are unlikely to experience grief because they cannot separate reality from hope. That's why they cannot let go of their persistent fantasy of rediscovering deceased parents.

In childhood the picture of the presence of loved ones may represent a countermeasure mechanism in response to their absence.

Robert Lifton, a leading psychiatrist and writer, described the elusive psychological relationship between death and the flow of life. Lifton said that, "We live from images or images".

Image is a cognitive process that allows humans to build visual, sensory, or imaginative scenes. Images can have sensory quality associated with vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and movement.

In addition to their presence (people who have died) in fantasy during the lives of those left behind, they are also present in their dreams.

"Through imagery, we can connect the possibilities we want to realize or imitate," said Silvan Tomkins.

"This way, we can create a picture that brings us back together with someone who has died," he added.

Previously, experts did not think that children who lost their parents could continue their bond with the parents long after they confessed to themselves that the parents would never come back.

But with imagination, children keep their loved ones close in real life and dreams. They struggle with the process of overcoming sadness because they never really forget it. On the other hand, they secretly continue the bond with the person who has died.

As described in the Jumbo film, Don's imagination and other children who have lost their parents, help them process grief and express feelings of loss.