The new Disney film Encanto may be a goldmine of accurate cultural references (unlike past films, we're looking at you Pocahontas and Mulan) but there's more to it than a peep into the world of Columbia. At its heart, Encanto is about family. Three generations live under the same roof and the family matriarch guides all their paths so there is a great familial pressure to live up to her expectations. We see this as Mirabel (the movie's protagonist) frets about her place in the family and it comes to a climax when Mirabel finally confronts her Abuela about the pressure she and both her siblings feel.
Mirabel and her two sisters, all pressured by their grandmother Alma in different ways, are the main focus of the film, while it kind of glosses over the estranged son Bruno who hid himself away (forsaking his gift) because it didn't meet her expectations. It does show enough to let you know that Bruno also feels this pressure. His siblings are shown dealing with Alma in different ways, but neither too afraid to speak up to her as Bruno and the three sisters seem to be. For one thing, Mirabel's mom Julietta is seen several times in the film confronting her mother about how she treats Mirabel, and Tia Pepa, although she does try to keep it together, is too emotional to stay quiet when Alma scolds her for her inability to reign in her feelings.
It makes sense that Mirabel's immediate family, and how they relate to her, are the main focus of the film, since she is at its center, but it is disappointing that there was not enough time to show the ways in which Alma's influence affected the other members of her family. Sure technically Deloris is standing idly by while the man she longs for pursues her cousin, but she seems to have her own catty way of dealing with that as shown in the scene where she states that he "wants five kids", probably to scare Isabella. Neither of the male cousins seem to have a problem with their gifts, although it is uncertain whether Antonio might have developed the same issues had things gone on the way they were indefinitely. So, since the most we get, and definitely all that Alma is called out for, is Mirabel's family, let's examine how each of these is handled.
Isabella, the oldest, is the seemingly perfect sister. She does little early in the film to indicate she feels pressure and there is no indication (save perhaps for the fact she punched Mariano with a flower in the proposal scene, and that certainly seemed, to all involved anyway, to have been a result of the magic going haywire much like Camilo's random shapeshifting) that she is at all unhappy with the way things are except where it involves Mirabel. Their contention is finally put aside when Isabella realizes that she doesn't need to be perfect, and Mirabel encourages her to be her authentic self rather than some idealized version. Her character arc is mostly about showing the cracks in the Madrigal family and how the weight of Alma's expectations created them and nurture them and how all that is needed to heal the family is some honest communication and authenticity. Her character isn't very flushed out, but it is clear she is using perfectionism to win Alma's approval, even going so far as to marry someone she doesn't like to please her Abuela.
The real shame is how Luisa's character is treated, because the song "Surface Pressure" sums up the anxiety that being "the strong one" in a family brings along with it. The lyrics include lines like: "Who am I if I don't have what it takes?" and "Give it to your sister and never wonder, if the same pressure would have pulled you under." Although generally the role of the "strong one" in a family falls on the mother, it can be pushed onto an elder sister, father or brother. This person is usually expected to shoulder the problems of the rest of the family, and be the rock that holds the family together. The shame in Luisa's character was that the song was the height of her character arc. Her anxiety for the rest of the film seems to be a punchline rather than being taken seriously. Like "ooh, look, this big strong character is crying" when the song brought up real issues of inadequacy and fear that plague many people who suffer from anxiety and depression but try to hide it for the sake of their loved ones.
So let's look at the character whose anxiety and fear is taken seriously, the star of the film: Mirabel. Mirabel puts on a façade of being upbeat and positive, but secretly she's hoping that Antonio's door dissolves the same way hers did as can be seen in the song "waiting on a miracle" after the realization comes that she will still be the only child born into her family who isn't granted a gift. As she begins to unravel, so does the house and the rest of the family follows suit. Mirabel is like the anti-Alma. While Alma puts pressure on the characters to live up to expectations and serve the community, Mirabel focuses on the characters themselves and what makes them special with or without their gifts. Alma drove Bruno into hiding and Mirabel pulls him back out (literally, since it is to save her that he finally shows himself after the house falls and Mirabel has had her reconciliation with Alma, but also in that promise to bring him home after she has fixed the magic). Alma pressures Luisa to be strong, but Mirabel suggests that she take it easier on herself. Everywhere that Alma can be seen to cause problems within the family, Mirabel does the opposite. That is, until the final confrontation where Alma realizes that she really is the problem and apologizes for the damage she has done to her family. In real life the problems would not be fixed this easily because many people who damage their families in the way that Alma has, cannot admit to themselves that they were wrong. They may look at the devastation and see only the foolishness of the people around them. And because not many children raised with these unhealthy expectations are willing to confront the abuser, the cycle continues as they pass the very same messages and trauma on to their own kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment