Please NEVER spray scent on people without their consent. Some of us are really reactive and allergic to scents and perfumes. I also despise coming away from an ordinary social encounter, with someone else's perfume or cologne stuck on my hands or clothes. It is gross. Please people, no one should be able to smell your cologne without hugging you and we don't want to share your signature scent with you. Please keep it to yourself. FYI - Vodka will get the smell of scent off your skin and a spritz of vodka will disperse it from your clothes.
I'm surprised they didn't specifically talk about Luisa's line: "I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service." because that's the one that always hits me the most in terms of what it says about her in such a concise manner.
I always saw the shawl as a protective barrier. Like a shield of sorts made up of her need to “earn the miracle” that was given to her and her family. Like a physical reminder of what’s she’s been through and how she refuses to let that happen again, utilizing her pain and trauma to create something good and worthwhile. A way to her protect what she has left. I could be off the mark there a bit, but that’s how I’ve always interpreted the shawl and her mannerisms concerning it.
@@bambamrocks931 i love this! I'm a big fan of the idea that Abuela's gift is building up walls, while Mirabel's is breaking them down (both literally and figuratively) And I hadn't accounted the mourning shawl into that
The fact that Abuela actually says the words “I am so sorry” not once, but twice, meant SO much to me. I would often be told to apologize, but I rarely, if ever, received one.
This reminds me of my dad, I wish he can say sorry more but he rarely does, and when he does even if it's small I get emotional and remember those sorrys
“Surface pressure” is the first song in a Disney movie ever that completely got me. Nailed it. Lin Manuel really understands the burdens and psyche of working / work-horse women in families such as these. Everything about this song is me.
As an older brother growing up in a home with a brother who had severe autism and was non verbal. This song hit me hard. I love my brother more and more every day, but because of his inability to mentally grow up. It’s like living with a 20 year old toddler. It’s been really hard. But it’s made me a stronger and more compassionate person. And I will never forget what my brothers done for me.
“A broken family is a family in which any member must break herself into pieces to fit in. A whole family is one in which each member can bring her full self to the table knowing that she will always be both held and free.” ― Glennon Doyle. I always think of this quote whenever I watch this movie.
You're responsible for a lot of tears the least you could do is pay for the tissues 😭😂 but seriously tho, thanks. It's probably not that deep, but whatever : as someone who is really struggling with the guilt of breaking away from a toxic family, this is a bit of reassurance that I'm not being over-dramatic and "not understanding their perspective" - they were genuinely harming each other and there was no way I could change to "fix" it.
I love how he says “easier to forgive” instead of “forgivable.” It might be easier now, but it’s not a full fix. She still has to put in the work towards forgiveness
Yes! When Snape's backstory is revealed in Harry Potter, it seemed to me like a lot of people were letting him off the hook for being a bully. I was afraid that might happen with Encanto, but I've seen a lot of people get it.
I have a family member that verbally attacks me on the regular and she probably sees me as Isabella and resents me for it when my 'perfectionism' was born from maternal expectations and has come at a great cost. I have forgiven her so many times for things she has said because I know of many of her past hurts. Unfortunately its a one way bridge and I am too tired to cross it anymore just to get smacked when I do. :( I am expected to be perfect by some people and am 'too perfect' to others. I had a lot of expectations pinned on me but living to meet them really meant a lot of isolation amoung my peers and siblings.
My favorite subtle detail in this movie is the difference in Abuela's weeping between the opening exposition and when she tells Mirabel her story. The first time, it's rather gentle "pretty crying," but the second time she is full on sobbing and screaming in pain. It shows the difference between a child's understanding taking a story at face value, and a mature person seeing and empathizing with someone else's tragedy
Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking. First time, it's just a story told to and perceived by a little girl. The second time around? Full blown grief and pain and suffering, because Mirabel finally understands. It broke my heart when I first watched the film (it keeps breaking it every time I re-watch, too, so...good job, Disney.)
The way the story is presented is completely different too. The first time it's presented like a fable, with Pedro's "death" represented by him peacefully stepping into a white light, and it's painted as a valiant sacrifice born of love. The second paints a much more grim and stark reality of a peaceful, innocent man ridden down by raiders with swords raised, and it's just... A life, gone meaninglessly to waste. It's a very subtle difference but it's "He gave his life to save us" VS "He was murdered and it was terrible."
As a companion La Casita seems to be more fond of Mirabel than the others. It seems like it understands the gift Mirabel was given was freedom from expectations by her family. That gives her the perspective that ultimately saves the family
I also interpret the door disappearing on Mirabel as this sign that Mirabels gift is already in her, and that when she reforms La Casita in the end it's the confirmation of that. She doesn't get her own room either. Her room is the entire home. It fits
"think of the family!" "i was thinking of my daughter" i LOVE the father bc he's the only one who stands up to Abuela. the relationships this movie subtly lets on is impressive
Julieta does follow his lead - "You've always been too hard on Mirabel" - but Augustin is the only one who is explicitly, openly, always in Mirabel's corner. I adore him for that.
@@AIRogge "too hard" means that everybody else could handle it, just mirabel was too sensitive. Its the same othering she experiences, when not included in the fcking family picture. She's different than others. That's why the answer isn't as strong as the fathers, cause indirectly she puts the responsibility on mirabel (but it would be oay if mirabel could fake her strength like luisa). I get why she said it though, julieta is also caught up in abuelas ways and weakness is probably not allowed..
@@not-a-ghost2206 No, it doesn't. It means that Abuela was going harder on Mirabel than on the others. Which she was, other than how hard she was going on Bruno, because she was scared of what it meant that Mirabel had no gift.
Julieta and Augustin are fantastic parents. Julieta in the beginning tells Alma that Antonio’s ceremony will be a hard night for Mirabel. She may not be as upfront or aggressive as Augustin in “thinking of my daughter,” but she is doing what she can.
@@crystalfairy912 which is excellent characterisation tbh. Juliet has to balance her mother and her daughter, while to Augustin there is only his duty towards his daughter. Ain't his mum so he's more comfortable standing up to her.
God I hate that too, funny story, I’m not why I had to give my name but the lady I was talking to responded by giving me a look and being like“but that’s not a girls name!”
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People frustrate me when they believe there own assumptions.
I saw a young lady whose build was very like Louisa and who recognizes that the American perception of that build is that it is masculine, but who was very much a “girly girl” a phrase which is so telling in itself. Gender identity is as varied as any other human trait. This young lady dressed as Louisa, and honest to goodness, they might have modeled the character on her. I am six foot tall, mostly leg and bust, and have always been taller than everyone else. As a teenager I used to tell people that I was a fine boned five foot two on the inside. One of the things this movie presents is that people are not the mask they show to the world and that the only person who knows the person is the one who sees under the shell. Disney has been kicking that idea around for a while.
The implications of Isabella being able to create ANY KIND OF PLANT are incredible, especially in a completely agrarian society. She could feed everybody in that village forever. She could provide every type of wood or medicinal plant they need at the drop of a hat. She's basically a goddess with that kind of power. And just because she was pushed into that role of 'beautiful princess', she wasn't able to do something that would have helped everybody SO MUCH MORE than just her making beautiful flowers.
@@SpoonyBard88 from the same place all her flowers came from, its magic, she sure can turn air into solid matter no problem 🤷 science has no place in a house thats alive and intelligent
The problem I have for these things is that it's just a stereotype on plants. It's pointy? Always green Negative or boring and not as pretty. Then they get compared to flowers. Then people ignore the other plants, pick and over sell and genetically change flowers but then don't appreciate the actual benefits of flowers have. The diversity of plants are important too. Rose hips are high in vitamin c , flowers can be important, but so are the other plants. All of them balance each other out. Humans are the one who device the narrative of the two instead of understanding them both. Our symbolism has some misconceptions to them
Finally someone else who agreed with Abuela. She wasn’t an outright villain who didn’t care about or love her family. She is deeply flawed from her lack of perspective and not healing from her trauma. She ended up with responsibilities that could have been shared with others. She did things she shouldn’t have and rightfully should have been called out for it. And yet She is human, terribly so. I think it was put best: “It wasn’t justified but it was easier to understand and therefore to forgive.”
@@audraverela3663 For some _it is_ a way of moving on, I agree that its their choice. As a christian, from our perspective its more of a case between the forgiver and God, it does not have to be said outloud to those who _had_ misused their trust. However, in regard to both yours' and the replyers view; I believe there is a difference in meaning meant here, forgiveness verses reconciliation.
@@audraverela3663 I remember a similar conversation on the movie short Opal { ua-cam.com/video/-1pVLJl_snc/v-deo.html } Very much the same arguments in the comment section. But in this case neither forgiveness nor reconciliation was given from either side in contrast to ENCANTO. There was also a much bleaker outcome in Opals' sequel. Of course, it wasn't her responsibility to fix her family. But I believe the difference in ENCANTO is that their abuela came to her family first, after realizing the harm she brought. They looked together to the future... To quote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."
@@audraverela3663judging from the sheer amount of anger in these comments sounds like not a lot of healing has been done. Not trying to be disrespectful here, but lashing out at people sharing what seems to be mostly personal experiences and getting so angry is a big red flag. Don't know what you've been through, and have no interest in sharing my story, but I hope you get through it ok and realize that what's good for you doesn't work for everyone.
Fun fact: Lin Manuel Miranda said he based Luisa’s song on his older sister, who also had a similar role in the family as the one to take responsibilities. So it’s kind of like a “sorry you had to go through that” apology song
Fun fact: The crew had to fight for Luisa to be a large muscular woman because they thought no one would like a buff woman and they merchandized the heck out of Isabela because they thought she'd be the favorite of little girls but actually Luisa ended up being much more popular with girls
The 'Luisa's merch sold better' thing is just a rumour someone made up. It's not true. There's no evidence of it. I don't think there's any need for people to put Isabella down to bring Luisa up. They're both good.
Even if you leave merchandizing out of it, people seem to have responded so much more to Luisa's character and her song. Buff or not, she's really awesome.
@@Marzi29 why do you immediately assume that talking up Luisa is “putting Isabella down”? If someone had said that Isabellas merch had sold better than Luisas, I doubt you’d be saying that was “putting Luisa down” it’s a subtle implied bias.
@@kelliehorn1082 Luisa’s song felt like it demonstrated her personality and was honestly was more fun to me. Isabela’s I don’t really remember. It reminded me of something that might be in Tangled. It felt too generic for my taste (I say this even though I generally also appreciate the Isabela subplot).
I love that Mirabel actually does everything she says she would do in her solo. The mountains open up around the encanto, she helps Isabella grow new flowers, she heals the broken home and family.
Me too, I just love that she ask "where do I go? And the encanto show's the cassita, and when she says "I would heal what's broken. Show this family something new" they showcase that her family is what is broken. It's just a perfect combination of songwriting e visuals.
The fact that Encanto was the reason my mom saw my mental illnesses and decided to talk about them with me with a therapist is crazy. Growing up with a physically disabled brother, a diabetic grandma with a sweet addiction, a widowed working mom, and the scars my dad left behind from his death is tough, in the end I stepped up, I did it for us but also because no one else could, I had no other choice. Me and so many others had their childhoods ripped away from us so we could step up and take so many responsibilities. To all the kids carrying their families on their shoulders, I know you need a break but you’re not in a position to take one, I wanted to say that I hear you. Your voice is valid, you are not as strong as you want to be. Don’t have unrealistically high expectations for yourself, even if others have them for you. Hang in there, even if you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, I promise you it’s there, you just need to walk and turn a little longer. If no one else notices, I at least believe in you.
As someone who has a disabled sister, I feel you. All the burden fell on me to do everything. Do all the house work, do all the chores, do all the things she couldn't do. Several times it got to a boiling point that I would argue with my parents. It took me moving several thousands of miles away from my family to have them realize how much pressure they put me under. It took me that thousands of miles to realize that I had high expectations of myself, extremely high expectations that it cost me a relationship with someone I truly cared for. Since then, it has been a path to finding myself again.
One of my favorite details from Surface Pressure is when she sings "Line up the dominoes a light wind blows you try to stop the tumbling but on and on it goes" in the visuals the "light wind" is actually a tornado, demonstrating how she's downplaying the severity of the things that cause her to break down.
My favorite part of the Hercules line is that in the original Greek myth, Hercules did not want to fight Cerberus so he brought him dog biscuits, picked him up, and carried him to Hades to ask for permission. A couple of different myths actually have people bringing honey coated biscuits into the underworld to avoid Cerberus, and the ones that didn’t were usually less successful. Turns out the dog of the underworld is still just a good boy.
A little late to the game, but something I noticed about Isabelle is that yes, flowers and being pretty are her thing, and everyone's talked about the superficial part of her where she's just decoration, but one of the things I just realized is - flowers are accessible they don't fight back when you pick them, cactuses and carnivorous plants aren't. She literally has to deal with people passing her around and handing her off, and essentially doing things to her and her life often without her consent to the point that her whole song was about wanting control of her own life and autonomy. I don't think her personality is prickly at all - and that she's probably really sweet and kind and may really love flowers, but is so tired of people grabbing at her the only way she could see out was to grow thorns.
The sad part about this too is that it's a reason behind a lot of bullying too. They hate seeing someone that's able to live the way they want to but can't, so they lash out at them.
@Airchair in a way, yeah it is. It's clear that since Mirabelle's ceremony, it's been that way. They never got along. They see each other with a life that they want but can't have. It defined their relationship and with Isabella finally venting and letting it all out in her song, Mirabelle sees it and they reconcile through it. The gift defined their lives, even with not having one. Isabella saw Mirabelle without the preasure of the gift and freedom that she wanted. Mirabelle saw Isabella with a gift and accepted by the family and, especially, Abuella. They're FIVE when they get their gift. That's their entire 5 years of life being hyped up about it. You can see that in Mirabelle as a toddler. Even at 5 she wants to please Abuella. Then, because she got no gift, she's suddenly shunned by Abuella, basically her idol, and is seen as the black sheep of the family. The outsider. Someone with freedom and no expectations of perfection. Exactly what Isabella wants but can't have because of Abuella demanding perfection from her family.
You just spoke to my inner artist and I love making that a problem for all my Tumblr followers. Thank you for saying this. My prison is a little looser now thanks to you.
@@Mizumii25 Isabella didn't get along with Mirabel because Isabella needs to be perfect for Abuela but Mirabel is the opposite and isn't perfect so she has to put her sister aside for the family to get Abuela's approval. The song makes Mirabel realize Isabella isn't this all perfect person and is forced to be so Mirabel supports her imperfection. Not because Mirabel wants Isabella's life and vise-versa.
This has nothing to do with the episode but I just love the way that Allen talks about Megan. He always starts by introducing her as producer or in the beauty and the best episode where he talks about her literature major before even going on about her being his wife. Because she is much more than just his wife. It's so subtle but I really love that.
Ok, let me tell you: The moment that the abuela entered when Isabela and Mirabel were hanging out you can see in Isabela's face the panic. She looks at her dress, she disappears the flowers (kind of like quickly cleaning a mess that made someone angry), put her head down and try to distance herself from the situation by getting away from Mirabel and from abuela (without completely going away because you know that in those situations that is the worse you can do). She probably was thinking something a long the lines of "I'm a mess, I made a mess, abuela is going to be mad at me" and "Mirabel, stop talking you are making the situation worse. Just shut up". It probably seems like a coward's act to not step up for her little sis while she is practically been attacked but I've been there and fear takes a hold of you. After that you probably feel like a hipocrite and a coward, specially as an older sibling, for not defending your little sibling and instead allowing them to take all the blame, then you think "they should have shut up and obey" and then you feel worse for thinking something like that whle knowing its not their fault. I hate-love that scene because I see in Isabela so much of me everytime I'm i a situation like that. Her posture and her facial expressions are just too real.
It's absolutely a trauma response. Especially for an adult who is still living with her abuser. Fight and Flight aren't options, so Freeze and Fawn are the go-to for survival. She freezes/shells up, and internally is begging Mirabel to fawn/acquiesce/stop talking.
@@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254 I kind of agree. You definetely feel awful and ashamed after doing something like that, you tell youself that "I should be strong for them", "I am older, I should have protect them", "its not fair, next time I will make things right"; but the moment a situation like that happens you stop thinking and immediately go into "obedient puppy" mode. You start to hate yourself after a while, but in my case at least the fear is just too much to handle. Its not like you don't love your siblings, because I know that for me my two siblings are the two people I love the most in this world, but you just get stuck. Its awful really, and it definetely leaves you feeling as a coward.
@@blackcat6374 From my experience, I distanced myself from that person who was making me react like that (my father) and it’s just taken time and distance to build confidence in myself to stand up rather than shut down. I sobbed through most of this movie because I related to Mirabel sooooo much.
A friend of mine discussed how all the Madrigal family "gifts" are expressions of different types of generational trauma responses (Pepa's weather control = mood swings; Dolores' super-hearing = hyper-vigilance; Luisa's strength = trying to be "the strong one"; etc.). I'd love to see you do a movie on that theme!
Pepa can also be bottling up your emotions to please everyone around you, people pointing up your sadness and not the source. Camilo being identity issues. And the whole “gifts” things being an allegory, for both gifted and ungifted children.
Yes I've heard about it on a Instagram video. I was thinking about that after watching the movie for the 3rd time. Mirabel is the cycle breaker a.k.a the black sheep of the family (which is me but also Luisa but broken)
Bruno tells brutal truth and people shun him because they don’t want to hear it. Juliet is tasked with healing and taking care of others. Camilo must shapeshift and change who he is to appease. Isabel must only show beauty and perfect things and hide her more wild plants.
Indeed, I appreciated that there was no twist villain, unless you count Abeula as an antagonist, but even then, she's just doing what she thinks is best for her family.
Right? As a mother myself, as well as a member of a toxic family system, the thought of me “doing my best” possibly resulting in toxicity scares me (since you “do what you know,” and part of what I know is toxic). But I think a really important aspect to having a healthy family system is asking questions and checking in, and actually listening. Which are difficult skills, but I think if our family can build those skills early on and make it something we do routinely, a lot of this can be avoided or at least minimized. That is my hope, anyway!
Absolutely especially families who are seen as community leaders. Chimanda Ngozi Adichie's book Purple Hibiscus has a line I'll paraphrase. "We are responsible for feeding the town. They are grateful for our food and we are grateful for them." Without ruining anything the person saying this is um.... not great. But it underlines this story and the film. Nobody is helped if we don't share accountability and workloads honestly. Families tear each other to shreds trying to maintain what they think the world expects of them.
"I asked my Pedro for help..... Mirabel... he sent me you!" there will never be a time when that line and that scene will not get me. God, I LOVE this movie.
the scene that hurt me the most in this movie is the picture scene where they say the whole family and they don't even recognize that Mirabel wasn't in it. that would've been my villain arc, she was WAY too strong. something i also don't get is how the townspeople and the Madrigals were so angry at Bruno for using HIS gift when they asked for it. his gift was to predict the future, not cause it!
What I think is that the whole family had been so stressed all day that they didn't remember to double-check if everybody was there. Besides, Mirabel made the choice to not step forwards to be included in that picture. And I think I have to correct you and point out that the Madrigals weren't angry with Bruno for using his gift. Abuela and Pepa were angry with him because they thought that he had left them, and that is a different thing altogether. But as for the townspeople, they used him as a convenient outlet for their frustrations when things went wrong. He was probably accused of killing people too and not just goldfish. 😬
@@Furienna i agree with you, what i meant with the madrigals being angry with him is that their experiences with him seemed more like infuriation instead of annoyance. the children wouldn't understand because they didn't know him but the way bruno told maribel about why he left made it seem like they wanted him gone instead of him wanting to leave himself, but thats just the way i saw it.
my villain arc in my family started at a family photo shoot where my sisters and i were left out of the grandkids photo, and then told we wouldn't fit into the great grandkids photo either, so we just didn't get to be in the generational photos that are now hanging on my cousin's walls. i don't speak to her anymore ✌🏼
Technically Abuela was the antagonist (a character who actively works against the main characters belif) yet she isn't a villian (a character, -often the antagonist but not always- who means harm and hurts others within the story). So yes, she was the antagonist, but she never meant harm so she isnt a villan.
Honestly, most people didn't think much of this movie when the trailer came out (myself included). Man, did this movie hit home for a lot of people. It's so nice seeing a lot of media that emphasize emotional intelligence, family structures and mental health awareness. Movies like Inside Out, Soul and Encanto are so important for people of all ages.
i remember when trailers first started coming out i skipped them and didn't bother paying attention to them at all. i wish i had given it more of a chance at the beginning, but thankfully i did and i love it now
The last few Disney films were not well advertised and didn't really reflect the magic that the movies had. I think whoever had been in advertizing needs a different job or a refresher on how to sell things
tbf tho, after raya my expectations with disney studio film's couldn't get lower Encanto tho, just went above and beyond it was on pair with pixar's coco/ soul/ inside out if not better
I feel like we didn't really get a lot from the trailers for this. I had NO CLUE what the movie was actually about until I watched it. And it's BEAUTIFUL. The trailers seemed to be "Hey look! We made another cultural movie and LIN MANUEL MIRANDA did the music!" Classic Disney move, but really unfortunate. I feel like this would have done better when it came out if there were better trailers.
Louisa's song "Surface Pressure" is a masterpiece. If you listen close, in between each line at the beginning she takes a shaky breath to steady herself for the stoic facade. If you are a middle child, it's like nothing else in media representation. It's incredible.
@@katarinawikholm5873 I feel you. The expectations are on you: if you fail to be strong and perfect, your younger sibling will be better and you will be blamed ("why can't you be more like them?"/"if you would just try harder") and sidelined - but if you succeed your younger sibling will be more important ("don't put your success in their face"/"can't you see they're suffering") and you will be blamed by your sibling too ("I was never good enough because I had to live up to your standards!"). You cannot win either way. I know, younger siblings could absolutely say the same thing the opposite way, and it all depends on the family and your own perspective. But I hope in the future, I, myself, will be mindful enough to encourage every child the same and empower their own strengths without too many expectations. I am hopeful to have that gift. (Sidenote: I don't want kids. But everyone around me does. So I can encourage them as a safe haven.)
Honestly. Especially since Abuela had said that same line to Mirabel “Your gift will be just as special as you are.” (Paraphrasing) before her ceremony. You can tell it hit her hard.
@@cerisejaxel9636 That's the point! Abuela Alma says that to every 5 year old waiting for their Gift. It's even harder for Mirabel because she didn't get one. And all of a sudden, her cousin got one? I agree with Alan: "D**m you Disney, D**m you."
Luisa's song speaks so much to her compassion, too. how she protects her fragile little sister from being crushed, destroyed, and mutilated. It makes me think of the pressures on moms and a kind of toxic femininity - every action is an immense act of heroism, and she's supposed to do it while looking beautiful and smiling and with endless compassion the whole time.
As well as the idea that the eldest siblings must protect the younger siblings at whatever personal cost in itself is another pressure they feel, and puts them in danger throughout the music number.
Omg I’m really feeling so much pressure right now being pregnant and not having enough help from my husband, I’m scared of how much imma have to deal with having a baby and working and cleaning. I’m so scared
The only real “villain” or antagonist in this movie is trauma itself and our inability to address it and heal as best we can. Augustine sings about Mirabel taking after Julieta and that moment showed me how much she takes after both of them. Mirabel has always had her gift. She has acute insight and compassion into other peoples pain. She can see what people need to hear and she says it and as we see with her sisters it makes a world of difference. Augustine can see what hurts others emotionally and does his best to help even if he sometimes struggles to get through to others. Julieta struggles with Mirabel’s pain because her gift only heals physical hurt. She tries desperately to protect Mirabel from the pains she can’t heal but is unsure how to help the pain already there. Luisa and Isabella are also hurting but it’s not as easily identifiable as Abuela being hard on Mirabel and gets overlooked. Anyway I really love this movie and it makes me cry every time I watch it so I’m going to go now. 😭
Well, Alma IS the antagonist. She's just not a villain. She's the way she is because of her trauma sure, but she's still emotionally abusive to everyone without realizing it.
When Mirabel is a child, you can see her drawings on the walls of her bedroom, and they are surprisingly beautiful for a child's drawings, you can clearly recognize the people in her family. The first time we see her as an adult, she removes a piece of colored thread from her skirt, to let us know that she have embroidered it. She’s carrying a bag with an insanely complex design embroidered. Her clothes look amazing, the colors perfectly balanced, and the embroidery is made of different techniques; you clearly need to manage many skills to obtain that result, both artistic and manual. Most people in real life would be envious of her talent, but still her family thinks she doesn’t have one. She handmade decorations for the house, without using any magic but her own skills, and when she tried to show abuela what she had done, as her way to honor the family, what abuela responded was basically telling Mirabel she is useless. Sure the movie has a lot of deep meanings around family relationship, and the talent of kindness and the importance of doing your best with what you have to spread love and keep people together… But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Mirabel is an artist. In the first song there is a disproportion of shots on the details of her clothes. Animators are first of all artists. Creative people are often seen by society and their family as useless and not enough. I bet most of them have been told at least once in their life something like “Why are you wasting your time drawing all day? Why can’t you be a doctor like your cousin? Why can’t you be a gardender like your uncle? Your sister at least is good at cooking and makes meals for the family, while you are doing nothing for us!” Creative people are invisible until they become successfull with their career, but for many of them it never happens. For many artists the door never opens. It’s hard when you know who you are and what you are able to create, but no one else can see it, and it’s easy as time goes by and you keep been invisible to start thinking that they are right, that you indeed are useless and worthless. I have a feeling this movie speaks to creatives more deeply than it does to anyone else. A question I will never have an answer to is: does Mirabel really believe she doesn't have a talent, or does she avoid mentioning it because she knows it would be belittled? She even signed her skirt!
I think you missed one important thing: the problem is not that Abuela sees Mirabel as "useless". She is afraid of her since Bruno had a vision about her but "disappeared", so now Abuela thinks that Mirabel will cause a disaster one day.
I also love how everyone's "gifts" are basically their trauma responses. Abuela's Encanto is her closing off emotionally to not get hurt again Bruno's Visions are him trying to read/predict people to prevent trouble (which is impossible mostly, which is why his intention fall short) Pepa is always trying to be a ray of sunshine to not worry abuela Julieta is trying to heal everyone's hurt Luisa is always holding strong Isabel is always perfect Camilo is always changing who he is depending on who he's with as to not cause waves (or maybe he doesn't want to stand out and stay out of the way) Dolores always listens to peoples problems Antonio can understand those that the rest of society doesn't (Mirabel) And Mirabel symbolized the need to stop closing and open up again. To accept help cause you can't fix it all on your own
Ironically that's precisely what make it the Colombian "X-Men" ha ha. In that comic the trauma responses trigger a gene which mutates a human being into being able to deal with that trauma.
I think that the gifts also correlate to what the people needed at the time. When the encanto was first created, they needed a way to care for everyone so Julieta was given the ability to heal the sick/injured, Pepa was given the ability to control weather maybe so she could help grow crops and such, and Bruno was able to warn and prepare for potential disasters in the future, ect. Maybe Mirabel didn't get a gift because everyone had everything they needed at that time. I think it's really cool how it can go both ways -- the filmmakers clearly put a lot of thought into it.
Rarely talk about in this movie is the moment when Agustín (Mirabel's father) confronts Abuela and says "I was thinking of my daughter"... That line absolutely broke me bc my parents never ever confronted my family when they said something off about me, because "they are family, and they love you, and mean no harm". Yeah, that might be true but that doesn't mean family can say anything hurtful and be inmediately forgiven.
My dad tells me that a lot when I tell him that’s the reason why I distanced myself from his side of the family. It was either “they love you” “they know you’re my daughter so they love and just want what’s best”. he rarely if ever stood up for my brother or me. It’s something I’m still talking to my therapist about.
Yeah, and you’ll notice the minute Abuela snaps back at them, the floor tiles rattle. It’s a hint about who’s really compromising the stability of the Casita.
"Isabella's out of control" In that moment she was in control of her life for the first time ever, but she's out of Abuela's control. That's what was bothering Olma, but she didn't fully realize that. She was hurting the family, but not on purpose. She did it because of her own trauma. I believe that's why she can't really be called a villian.
She's not a villain and never was. She was, however, the antagonist; her need for control and the presentation of power and perfection causing her to act against Mirabel's needs.
Luisa's whole song is such a realistic depiction of the ''reliable kid". Like, I have an older brother, but I've always been the kid in my family that my mom depends on for everything. And it's like "I'm fully mid crisis right now, the entire world is crashing down on me, but I'm still going to catch you when you fall, I'm going to fix your glasses, all of this" Like, even when you're really struggling, you can't drop any of your responsibility
It's the worst. I have severe anxiety and depression after it all, and I hate how unreliable I see myself as now. Every little mistake feels like I destroyed a house or something priceless. Even though I am getting disability payments, I feel like a fraud who has fooled the system into thinking I'm worse than I am, and that I'm "just trying to get out of work". I wish it was as simple as asking for help
I related so much to Pepa. She is not allowed to feel what she feels. Every time she feels sad or worried it shows and she's admonished. "Pepa you have a cloud!" And pointing it out constantly makes her more worried about not feeling happy all the time. As soon as she starts feeling anything but happiness she makes herself only show happiness again; "clear skies, clear skies." She can't help her emotions, but telling her to reign it in doesn't make them go away, it makes her spiral into more sadness or anger, and then everyone gets more annoyed at her. Some of my family members kept telling me to not be so angry or grumpy, even when I just was feeling neutral and not really showing any emotion, but that remark made me feel annoyed and grumpy. Like. I wasn't angry at all. But if I was it wasn't acceptable either. Just look like you're happy, just smile, just pretend. I've been working on not feeling like I have to hide what I feel, because it doesn't stay hidden, it comes out stronger later on.
What I love though is her husband never tells her these things. That even though there was a hurricane on their wedding day because she was so upset, he thinks it was a joyous day, he loves her as she is. Also how insync they are during the Bruno song, he is poised ready to go when she starts telling her Bruno story, they are a long married couple they know each others stories and he's there to back her up.
There’s a scene at the end where her and Felix are dancing under a snow (or hail) cloud. I see it as her accepting her emotions rather than suppressing them all the time
She looks so proud of herself when she says "It was my wedding day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky" but it's so sad when you think about the fact that at the end of the movie, it was still raining even though she was clearly happy as she danced in it, meaning she wasn't even allowed to be excited or even overly _happy_ on her _wedding day_ otherwise everyone, including her own mother, would have been upset with her. It's part of why I like Felix and Pepa's relationship so much because he doesn't scold her for having a cloud or anything, if anything the most he does is tell her that her hurricane is messing up the flowers, but that's the only time he has an even remotely negative response if I remember correctly
What scares me is that I have a bit of a combination of all the characters. Oh boy, that's a handful of trauma I wasn't ready to unpack yet. But this seems very common issue for girls. We aren't suppressed the same way boys are with emotions but we aren't allowed to express being angry or sad. Anything unlady like. Also, feel like this is also a generational thing. I didn't see this issue as much with my peers but because I raised by my grandparents this was totally a thing for me.
The running joke about Mirabel's power is that her power is to get a Hispanic matriarch to not only admit they were wrong but ALSO apologize. You will squeeze a diamond from coal much more easily than getting an apology from a Hispanic parent or grandparent let alone an admittance of being wrong.
so true, you have to force them into a situation. Personally i tried it in a public area, that being a theme park in a very crowded area. A lot of my family thinks im calm and reserved so them seeing me absolutely snap was new for them, my mom apologized and then proceeds to continue doing the same stuff.
Something that always stood out to me is how Mirabel has no issue at all seeing how Felix and her dad are important contributers to the family, even though neither of them has a gift either. It shows that she does not inherently think gift > no gift or that only a gift makes you worthy of praise or inclusion, this is a criticism she has only towards herself because she was "supposed to have one". And if this double standard is not relatable idk what is edit: just to add quickly, of course this is not a double standard that Mirabel herself created, but rather the whole town (- maybe her Mom)
Idk… Mirabel 100% acknowledges them but throughout the movie I don’t see abuela interacting with them much, other than to yell at Agustine. Their wives mostly interact with them and they obviously love them but like Camilo makes fun of his dad, mirabel rolls her eyes at how accident prone hers is (almost reflecting the same attitude abuela has towards her “some people need to stay out of the way and not try to help” and we see her dad covered in bee stings literally three seconds after Isabella said the same thing to Mirabel) and even Pepa and Julieta get annoyed at their husbands (not as though happy couples aren’t allowed to be annoyed)…weirdly enough I think the attitude towards those two would have been similar to Mariano, where abuela just views him as “a chance to have many strong children and continue the miracle” i wonder if she’s like neutral to them because they’re just like “the husbands”
@@shorttbone4193 I absolutely agree with you, I do think that there is a very noticeable... I guess you could call it elitist attitude from the blood-madrigals towards them. I should probably restate the "gift > no gift" part in that regard. I do still hold on the aspect of being included though, e.g. they're both mentioned in the song (be it on a side note) and participate in the infamous family picture. And I don't think Mirabel personally ever thought of them as not being good enough to be included, even if they aren't as helpful as "the gifted ones" (ignoring the fact that Abuela also does not have a gift), but she does think that of herself even though she's trying very hard to hide/change it
I agree, but i think she also "creates" this somehow, the same way we sometimes overcriticize ourselves and than after we support and find the value of imperfections in friends and people we love.
@@like-a-linda7058 I see what you mean… maybe it’s because of the elitist mindset they’re held to a lower standard where Mirabel is a “blood” madrigal without a gift so she is seen as a failure
@@shorttbone4193 Yeah, that portrayal of the husbands was weird. It became more uncomfortable when other members of the family would consider them and others like them as nuisances. I really didn't see moments where the wives supported their husbands, or when the husbands supported their wives for non-magical related issues. The only moment that broke it was when her father started defending her at abuela.
Whenever I hear "it didn't need to be perfect, it just needed to be" I break into tears, because my mother is a HUGE perfectionist and I always felt like I had to be perfect but would never be good enough. That hits so close to home.
And also, during the songs, Mirabel is tossed around a lot, but it shows elements of the characters who are tossing her. Luisa is incredibly gentle with her, usually only tossing her out of the way of impending danger and then helping her up or fixing her glasses because Luisa is a protector. Camilo is also very gentle with her like when he sets her down during "We Don't Talk about Bruno" he is very careful with her because he's a very gentle person. Isabela is a lot less gentle with her, which is not to say that she's an awful person, it just shows how little she is expected to look after others. She's also the only person in the movie to purposefully (minorly) injure Mirabel.
I like this except for one thing. Isa's sequence was less her not being expected to take care of anyone and more that she was finally being given permission to not be what she thought everyone was expecting her to be.
I'd say probably because they've been at odds with each other their whole lives and have more of a traditional bickering sibling dynamic than her and Luisa, who sees herself as the caretaker, per her song. I mean it's not like we know Camillo as someone who is expected to look after people.
@@icantthinkofanything798 - Camilo is shown to take care of a baby during the first song. He’s a shapeshifter, so he’s expected to be whatever people need in the moment, which would most likely include protecting and nurturing.
Isabela is not used to taking care of people that's true. But there are two moments where you can see that she actually cares, and they are both during her song. First when she is at the top of the tree and she helps Mirabel up and says "careful, it's carnivorous". Then when she hugs Mira, and that is such a big sister hug. As a big sister myself I can say I have had some trouble with my younger brother and we fought a lot, but there was still this care, this gentleness that comes when you least expect it, and it goes unnoticed sometimes. I think it's also interesting that while Isa is perfect she makes roses and flores de mayo which are very delicate and "cute" flowers, but Isa herself is bitter and sharp towards Mirabel. But when she starts being herself and making cacti, which are obviously sharp, she is gentler and softer with her sister.
@@biancaalves6143 i dont think being perfect is isa's gift. Her gift us plants. But she looks like a younger abuela so abuela, and by extention Juillieta and pepa, thought isabella was "perfect". Abuela wants to make isabella into a mini her and recreat the life she had with pedro.
i was in a therapy appointment having a sort of breakdown about my role in the family (eldest daughter) and after a second my therapist goes “… have you seen encanto?” and i hadn’t, so i said no and she recommended i watch it and the next day i did and boy… it’s helped me see that i’m not alone. i struggle heavily with toxic perfectionism + the pressure my family puts on me because of it. mirabel, luisa, and isabella’s issues are all a part of mine and it felt nice to just be seen.
im glad that films exist, they are so much more than entertainment; they can be helpful for opening your eyes to things you wouldnt have discovered otherwise. its great, and im happy for you!
I really loved Mirabela's parents. Despite everything, they clearly love their daughter, and Julieta is doing everything she can to protect her. Personally the worst thing I think Abuela did in the movie was surrounding when Mirabel is listening to her outside the window, because Abuela acknowledges she knows something is wrong and she does in fact believe Mirabel saw the cracks. That means she blatantly gaslights Mirabel in front of everyone at the party, which I thought was pretty awful. I also thought it was interesting how the story she tells Mirabel at the begining compares to the real story. The story she tells shows the candle coming out of love and forming casita, while the flashback shows the candle flaring up at Abuela's grief and rage, and shows it raising the mountains. Based on what we see of the surrounding and Bruno's comment about the mountains, it seems like Abuela's grief literally trapped them all and cut them off from the rest of the world. It isn't until Mirabel confronts her and the rcok splits that they're able to break free of the walls Abuela built.
Agustin, too. When Abuela Alma chastises him for not thinking of the family, he says "I was thinking of MY DAUGHTER". I love that so much. Admittedly he's not quite as helpful when trying to console Mirabel about being "un-special", but he's clearly trying, so points to him for that.
Abuela did that because of the townfolks. She kept repeating the phrase "Our magic is strong" either because she wanted to calm them down or to keep up the facade of the strong family. I'm not saying that it was right thing to do (she could've at least talked with Mirabel after the party), just trying to explain the motivation. For me, the first scene with preparations for Antonio's gift reveal hit much more. It wasn't really that bad overall, but we know this is just one example of many in whole Mirabel's life. She was always not good enough, not doing things right, and even if Abuela tried to be gentle, she would still break her up with every word she ever spoke to Mirabel.
"Trapped" in this context is just another word for "protected"... That is the brilliance of the story, that everything can be seen from at least two sides, so real. I like the approach of describing Abuela rather than judging her--because she represents something powerful and good in our lives, the influence of earlier generations that has brought us to where we are, while still acknowledging that we have to grow beyond that place, that it's unhealthy to cling to it. Encanto is what a story ought to be because we can discuss forever the symbolism but however you understand it, the story rings true.
I'd also like to point out that she, like Luisa, kept building this facade of perfection around herself, and not just her family. From gaslighting Mirabel at the party to the flashback, we can see she became very good over the years at hiding any weakness, or cracks- and honestly I have to say I can relate- I'm the oldest sister in my family, and both of my older siblings moved out early which left me as practically the oldest with a seven year gap between me and the next child. I was taught very early in life that weakness shouldn't be shown, any grief can be held in for later, and I need to be an example for not just my siblings, but my parents. I downplay any negative emotions, when my dog I had for twelve years died I just smiled and told the kids it'd be okay, we'd get another dog, and whenever bad news comes it's my responsibility to laugh it off and provide a distraction. So honestly, I hate Abuela a little less because I understand, and I understand that her story didn't justify her actions, rather, they explained them and made forgiveness easier.
I've always liked to think that the candle didn't get its power from Abuela's grief, but from her husband's sacrifice, and that he is continuing to protect his family.
One thing that just hit me watching this is Mirabel meeting Bruno is how she was able to realize her problem wasn't that she wasn't gifted. Because Bruno _was_ gifted and he still got slotted into the same Black Sheep role that she was. This (along with what she finds out about her sisters' inner turmoil) is what helps her see that the problem is systemic. It's the family dynamic at large that's broken, the thing that _makes_ Madrigals into either golden children (Isabella) or scapegoats (Bruno and Mirabel). EDIT: I'm not commenting on Abuela's role in things because, while I have my own thoughts on it, there's a layer of nuance and metaphor here regarding generational trauma involving immigration and displacement that I don't think I'm qualified to speak to, since it's not something I'm personally familiar with. That said, having a different kind of generational trauma in my own family, I will say it's never an excuse for, nor does it absolve you of treating your loved ones badly. Honestly I think a better ending for both Abuela and the rest of the family was if she had left for a while to get her shit together.
The problem is the grandmother's blindness to the effect of her own actions. The family dynamic is the same after the problem is solved. I think calling it "systemic" detracts from the personal responsibility of the grandmother. It isn't that she "is" the head of the household that is the problem, it's her actions "as" the head of the household.
The family dynamic argument makes it incredibly hard for anyone to be personally responsible for anything. That idea allowed me to think that it wasn't all my former step-moms fault I was getting abused for the littlest things by her. Also, the entire movie shows how that everyone except Abuela is willing to admit the problems they see going on around them. It is not until she admits she has a perfection problem that the family was able to heal after being released from her way of thinking.
I think the problem boils down to Encanto being a Disney movie that needs to neatly wrap up the movie with a nice clean 'happily ever after' ending after the dramatic climax. Fixing the sort of damage we see in the Madrigal family just doesn't happen after some empathy, a single conversation, and a promise to do better. That's a very good start, but there's still a long and difficult healing process ahead of everyone.
@@chengarqordath And that long and difficult healing process can easily be imagined to happen after the end of the film. The movie may end when the credits role but that doesn't mean it has to end in our imaginations. You said it's a very good start, and that's just it many "endings" are just "new beginnings" So I see it as they have started down the path of healing by the end of the film.
As a disabled person, Mirabel was soooo relatable as a metaphor for how disabled people are treated. I've watched this several times over already and it makes me cry every. goddamn. time.
Right? This is my exact thoughts. I'm blind, had more vision growing up but was still very visually impaired. That scene where Abuela is telling her to let people better capable handle things hurt my heart. I've said before that I don't think they intended it to be a metaphor of disability, but it still is.
Agreed, Mirabel really resonates with me. I tried so hard for long to keep up with what I "should do", but my disabilities make that impossible. I'm still working on the idea that not being able to do some very "basic" things, does not make me lesser than.
@@Rhaifha If it's any help, I've been there - I spent my entire childhood+adoolescence constantly trying to show everyone how independent and *capable* I was. Eventually encountered the social model of disability and that was like having a rug pulled out from under me. It's really difficult to do that work of ignoring everything society says about how people should be and be able to do (esp when nobody else is doing it and society keeps pushing the same rubbish on us) - and what helped me was to realise that *everyone* needs help doing things, some people need more help with more things and others less; what we are told about valuing certain forms of independence over others is ultimately very arbitrary. You are valuable and worthwhile regardless of what you can/cannot do (:
I think Isabala's main issue with Mirabel isn't so much "she's annoying and in the way all the time", though that certainly happens sometimes. I think it's more "Everyone expects everything from me, and here's my sister who is 100% free of expectation, boy that must be nice." They each see the other as being the lucky one who has everything. I'm the younger sister who was never good enough for my dad, so I relate to Mirabel, but my sister relates to Isabala because she always had to be the responsible one. She was the favored child but that came with a LOT of strings attached that I just didn't see as a kid so always resented her. Thankfully our relationship has come a long way and we're besties now.
There was actually a deleted scene that kind of explains why they have a rocky relationship. The deleted scene was when Isabella before had a boyfriend and Mirabel told on her. I think this is why she doesnt like Mirabel, she snitches. Since its a deleted scene it doesnt have to be cannon, but that could be it.
@@ReiAnikaAyanami Dolores is good at keeping secrets she hid Bruno away from everyone. She only told in the movie because she didn’t want Isabela with Mariano
13:09 as on older sister who basically had to raise my little sister (changing her diapers when I was only a year older than her, making sure she ate when our parents forgot) this song never fails to make me sob. The first time I heard it I had to fully pause my life and have like an hour long cry. Hits far too close to home.
Mhm, I relate to this a lot, As an older sister that had to raise my brother when my parents couldn’t, like putting him to bed, taking him outside, feeding him, changing his diapers, that song actually made me bawl my eyes out for an entire 30 minutes.
I just want to point out that during the argument, Abuela tells Mirabel “I don’t know what you weren’t given a gift, but it doesn’t give you the right to hurt this family!” THIS family. Not your family or our family. That whole scene is heartbreaking, but hearing Abuela say that line makes my blood boil. I also want to add how much Abuela isolates Mirabel from the family too. There’s a lot of more obvious moments in the film, but one more subtle one is the scene mentioned above. Abuela is standing with the family behind her on one side while Mirabel is alone on the other side.
One of the things that I remembered that wasn't brought up, was the line "a gift as special as you are" because Abuela says it to both Mirabel just before her ceremony, and to Antonio after his, which makes it seem like she used that line with every child in the family. I think that's also one of the reasons Mirabel's face falls in that moment, because one of the very few moments she got positive reinforcement from her grandmother, and on top of that a very private one, turns out to be fake.
The first time I watched the movie, “Waiting On A Miracle” resonated with me so much; I’m 22 and I’ve been seeing all my friends go to college, getting married, getting apartments and starting their lives but for me I’m still figuring things out but can’t help feeling like I’m stuck, even asking “When is it my turn?” Mirabel’s journey reminded me that even though I haven’t accomplished grand things, I’m still worthy of love and compassion and can chose to show that love and empathy back towards the people in my life. Mirabel is who she is meant to be, and so am I. ❤
Hey, for what it's worth, I'm 29 and just getting started. There's no need to rush, and other people's lives aren't as perfect as they seem (as Encanto shows us). Also, there are more paths in life than the standard "go to college, get married, have kids". If you want that life, that's great, but if not, that's also great. At 29, I feel grateful I am not married or a parent because I feel like it would make this stage of my life harder than necessary. You'll get to where you want in due time.
I understand that feeling. My younger sister moved out and got married at 20 and is about to be graduating college, meanwhile I'm 25 with no degree and was just able to get my first apartment. It can be hard when you've got other people around you doing the things you feel like you should be doing and you start to feel left behind, but I promise that you'll find your way. As hard as it can be sometimes, try not to compare your journey to theirs, because you're one of a kind and no one else's path will be able to fulfill you the way that finding and following your own path can.
To answer your question: yes, you should do an episode about Bruno. Heck, each character is worthy of an episide. I am in awe of how much was packed into an animated feature film. It was deep, traumatic, and joyous. It had everything and I wouldn't hesitate to say that it may be the best mkvie Disney (or any studio) has ever made.
A deeper take on every character would be amazing. From war generation trauma to how to build better communities through healthy accountability by all. I'd love if the Bruno vid would speak about how much the community leaning too hard on the family as a whole.
I think the cactus stands for unconventional beauty. She calls it “not perfect but beautiful” It’s also a very robust plant. And I think Isabella finds that she is a lot more robust than she thought she was. That’s why the cactus represents her true self. Beautiful, strong and yes, prickly
@@felixhenson9926 I think it’s more than just being safe from harm. Cacti defend themselves, something Isabella wasn’t able to do before. She went along with other people wanted, but now she is going to express what she wants.
It’s also the fact that she’s showing her thorns, like, roses are pretty and delicate yes, but roses also have thorns, but they’re hidden under the rose - you’ll notice that throughout the movie you only see Isabelle creating buds and blooms, not the rest of the stem. The cactus (in my interpretation) was her realising (Or accepting) that she has thorns and embracing them as a part of her, the part of her that was hidden under the rose.
Plus, cactus are pretty strong plants, not just when it comes to self defense and impacts, but also in survival, while many pretty donesticated flowers, like roses, are so fragile to the slithest threat that before modern agriculture some were valued enough for their stealing and vadalization to be worth long prison time. She's finally showing she's a god's woman, not just a glass ornament
This film absolutely broke me. I am a 1st generation immigrant from a Colombian family who left to escape the cartel violence in the 80's. I always disliked seeing people online criticizing Abuela because I have seen firsthand what it is like having family members who have experienced this degree of trauma and reckoning with it's lasting effects. People too often seem to conflate any kind of trauma but it is a spectrum. The fact that Abuela raised such a wonderful family is a miracle in and of itself.
Did the same to me for different reasons as I'm a first generation American who's father was legally removed before I was old enough to even remember BECAUSE of dumb decisions made through pride, machismo, and the cartels. This movie being the closest thing I have to experiencing the culture and family I had stolen from me on top of the interpersonal connections to individual characters.
Right? I’ve been so frustrated to see the hate. I may not have that trauma myself, but I have enough empathy to realize Abuela was genuinely trying her best and needed therapy, not to be villainized. Especially because she learned from her mistakes.
@@rachelhansen2417 Exactly. 100% she carries blame, it just always upsets me that it seems like most people would rather ostracize someone than try to help them based on their response to Abuela
@@rachelhansen2417 I'm not going to say that Abuela is "the villain," but I'm interested in how you think she learned from her mistakes. Her apologizing to Mirabel and the whole "you're the miracle" line with a hug tacked on at the end doesn't show squat. It's a one-off action and that's not evidence of real change. Real change takes time, as CinemaTherapy has said in other videos of theirs. It's good that she apologized, but it doesn't fix things. It doesn't mean she won't slip back to treating Mirabel (or other family members) like sh*t. Trust in her will take a hell of a lot of time to rebuild. Certainly more than just a closing song.
@@kateworkman921 You are meant to infer that she is dedicated to lasting change. Just as you are meant to infer lasting changes with each of the characters at the end of the film. Because Disney did not want to add another 30 minutes of therapy montage after the climax had been reached and crisis resolved. Also, if you notice, the house was not rebuilt in a day and the last song likely spanned several weeks/months.
You can see where Isa is coming from. Her behaviour towards Mirabel, while not justified, is understandable. In Isa’s eyes, Mirabel isn’t bound by the expectations set by Abuela; she’s not forced to uphold this image and is allowed to be herself. Isa feels like she’s trapped inside this tiny box and can’t express who she really is, which is why she lashes out at Mirabel - she feels as though it isn’t fair that Mirabel can just… be herself without receiving backlash, while Isa has to hide all of her feelings to please the family. Mirabel doesn’t understand what it’s like to always have to be perfect, to be this pretty Princess that everyone looks up to. Mirabel isn’t forced to smile and wave and act all proper to make everyone else happy. She, in Isa’s perspective, is free to be comfortable in her own skin. But what Isa doesn’t understand is that Mirabel is treated as lesser BECAUSE she doesn’t have a gift that binds her to the rules of the family. She’s treated as an outcast, and despite the efforts of Julieta and Agustin, still feels inferior to everyone else, like she doesn’t matter. She’s left out of the family photo, she’s pushed aside to make room for others, she’s not allowed to help with the preparations. Because Mirabel doesn’t have a gift, she’s not treated like she belongs. Everyone kind of just… ignores her. Mirabel feels like no matter how hard she tries, no one is ever satisfied with her - they’re not proud of her, and they don’t see the efforts she puts in just to be heard. Mirabel is neglected, and even though her family doesn’t try to, they’re always cutting her out. She’s invisible, and it’s really hurting her. Isa and Mirabel are such real characters and their individual struggles are all valid.
I feel like She stayed out because of the main point about how she didnt feel like she belonged and was even more saddened by the fact they didnt even notice that she wasn't in the picture with them
I loved that Isabela made cacti and succulents when she stopped being 'perfect.' Roses are a universally beautiful flower, often considered the epitome of beauty and love (each color representing a different form of love in many flower languages). Roses are also spikey, though usually pruned spineless like Isabela who was acting perfect, removing her thorns in a way. When she finally accepts herself and shows her true bold colors, she makes plants that are often more spike than anything else. You can't remove the thorns of a cactus without others noticing. Cacti and other succulents are beautiful in a non-traditional way. I love the symbolism :)
Personally, I found Isabella's power underwhelming when she was only growing flowers and thought her power was overhyped despite flowers being versatile too. Also the all pink color scheme was hurting my eyes too.
The lyric Felix sings, "no clouds allowed in the sky", sums up the family's entire conflict and the pressure ( well-meaning) placed on it by Abuela. It describes the Toxic Perfectionism.
And the idea that if there were clouds, that it's somehow Peppa's FAULT and her "Responsibility" to fix. Peppa and Isabella should have a cup of tea together and chat.
Also the line "abuela gets the umbrella." Specifiyng that abuela is the one to grab an umbrella emphasizes how she had no faith in Pepa. She didn't attempt to console Pepa, she just assumed things would go downhill and was resigned to it.
I like how it shows how offended Isabella gets by being called “selfish”. Mirabel doesn’t realize at first that her whole like she had been being selfless and being the exact person Abuela wants her to be. It seems silly at first for her to say “I’ve been stuck being perfect”, but much pain comes with ignoring your true self, even if that true self has a problem with certain things. Even people who don’t consider themselves perfect or pretty can fall under this pressure for everything to be a specific way rather than following the natural flow of life. The lyrics “what could I do I knew it didn’t need to be perfect, it just needed to be me, and they’d let me be” make me very emotional because it really hits home.
Yeah, it's a very powerful song, if it was just about beauty a lot of people wouldn't relate, but being perfect doesn't have to be about being pretty, it could be about the way you act, getting good grades, having a great job, etc. All of these songs are very relatable, not because we need to have the same issue, but because they talk about feelings that everyone has sometime or another, I love this movie
L O U D E R It always made me feel sad whenever I see someone hating Isabella. It makes me hate myself more because she's the one I relate to the most.
I didn't start out liking Isabela because she's cruel to Mirabel. Most of the family exhibits a benign neglect of Mirabel, but Isa is actually mean to her. But the way she and Mirabel grow closer during her song is inspiring. Mirabel: But it's awesome to see how you rise Isabel: How far can I rise? Both: Through the roof, to the skies
I really liked Isabella songs too, I felt so bad for her thinking that part of her perfection is to carry on the family line too. She was really going to marry this guy and have 5 kids because it was expected of her 😔
Isa was gonna marry someone she doesn’t even like “for the family”-I think that speaks loud enough for her. I love her so much and her song here always help me.
I think a fact that adds so much more depth to abuela's story is the fact that this is the reality of a lot of people in Colombia because of the guerrillas and armed conflict. They represent soooo many people and it is so incredibly sad. I love Encanto it's such amazing representation
Can we take a moment to appreciate how in both of their emotional breakthrough song sequences, isa and luisa both protected mirabel from any sort of harm. Like even though mirabel constantly felt like she was just being carelessly thrown around throughout the songs you see them reach out and push her behind them and keep her safe and there’s something about the way that we see how they treat her in their minds versus in her minds in the span of a 3 minute song that’s so…wonderfully produced
This comment struck a chord with me. I feel like, in my family, we all thought we were looking out for and protecting each other. Sort of like a circle of 5 people fighting off surrounding enemies with their backs to each other, but we never bothered to look back and see that by "protecting" each other we grew further and further apart. In the end we were all left to fight and protect ourselves alone. Some of us were lost and others of us are wandering, trying to find our way back. We could never talk about our weaknesses or inadequacies, because we had to be perfect.
there's a FANTASTIC analysis of surface pressure that points this out- Luisa is always moving mirabel from the right to the left side of the frame out of danger in the song, then charging left to face it. It's really cool filmmaking, and I recommend the vid to any encanto analysis fans!
Also Isabela gagging and punching Mirabel with flowers, while what’shisface always gets a cactus. HARD. To the nose. In other words, Isabela never truly hated her sister, even though she’s constantly lashed out at Mirabel (since Mirabel’s the one person who doesn’t treat Isa as p e r f e c t ~ so Mira becomes the maladaptive-yet-cathartic punching bag for Isa-literally.) Then once they finally truly have it out (you know that’s been building for years for both of them), they actually get along. They actually LIKE eachother once Isabel’s finally able to drop being p e r f e c t ~ in a way that’s not antagonistic to the ONE (1) person who sees past it (and therefore threatens it) but until that point still didn’t see *her.* -which isn’t Mirabel’s fault. But yeah.-
Yeah! Luisa always fixes Mirabel's glasses so it shows she's not only caring in the big strong warrior way, but also makes sure in smaller and more caring ways that Mirabel is alright.
It’s so refreshing how they don’t invalidate Isabela and her struggles with toxic perfectionism. I’ve seen so many people react to her character mockingly, rolling their eyes when she lashes out on Mirabel because they can’t empathize or understand how detrimental the expectations of being the golden child is. Thank you for defending her.
THIS! I’ve had fairly decent grades since I can remember, and my parents are happy about that. But every time exam season comes up, I just feel the pressure on me to do better than I did before, or at least maintain my scores. The fear of facing my parents with the look of disappointment on their faces SCARES me. I know I have it better than a lot of people, but I really don’t want people to undermine our issues as the “golden child” just because they’re not as serious! It is, very much, a thing!
At first I didn't like Isabela because she was so smug the way she pushed Mirabel to apologize "for ruining her life" (That was just mean!). But I relate so much with her because you get under all these expectations and somehow have to hide the things that people may not accept (even though they are ok and real) in order to present a certain way. And the sad thing is that Isabela found safety in that unhelpful behaviour. Abuela reinforced it. She got praised for being a certain way and it was scary/ risky to lose that by displeasing Abuela, even to the extent of marrying someone she didn't really care about.
Exactly! They don’t understand Isabela. I’ve been seen as the golden child in my family, i had AMAZING grades, i’ve always been polite, i always do everything to be on the same page with my family, i dress how they want me to, i talk how they want me to, i behave the way every parent wants their child to behave. I was the favorite of everyone for my “perfection”. With quarantine, i stoped being a straight-a student, and i started failing classes because of my laziness. I’ve seen the disappointment and anger in my parent’s eyes when they think about my grades. They think i don’t care, but it’s my biggest insecurity. I’m scared of being bad at something. You know, kids like playing, even if they are bad at a certain game. Well, me as a child, HATED playing football, why? well, i wasn’t the best at it, so i cried if someone wanted me to play. I was 12. And to this day, i still hate football, because i don’t have a chance of winning being the mvp of my team. It’s toxic perfectionism, but i can’t help it, i was raised to be the golden child. Isabela was too. I can 100% understand her. Fun fact: My mom wanted to name me “Isabela”, but my grandma said that she would call me “chabelita” (which isn’t a great nickname) so my mom decided that she wouldn’t name me Isabela. It’s fun how I was going to be named Isabela, just like the character i relate the most. I think i just opened with my feelings and insecurities with strangers… Maybe someday i can do it with my mom (which is the most strict between her and my dad), considering that in 4 days i’ll start with tests and my grades will be revealed (i know that i probably got the worst grades tho…) update: well... I told my mom because my second day in exams week, I slept 3 hours, cried 1 before sleeping and idk, I started crying while picking my stuff before school, my mom saw me (my eyes were so puffy and red, omg), and had a talk with pressure and expectations. we are basically in the start, my mom told me I started crying (and getting dizzy, and almost vomiting) because I was nervous, that she would bring me to school, and if I felt bad after doing my exams, she would pick me up, I didn't felt the need of calling her (even though I still digged my nails into my hands) in school, I got a 6.5/10 in my Spanish exam, and an 7/10 for my final grade this trimester in Spanish, felt really bad but got a 10/10 in science (just my test) so... my mom didn't told me I was a failure this time, so yay! I think we did great, I guess. But I'm still waiting for my other grades. I don't think my mom would be getting me into therapy, but at least I got (half) of everything I wanted to tell her off my chest. Thanks, guys.
@@val3715 You aren't lazy for not getting good grades during quarantine. I speak from personal experience with being the "smart one" and how that will ruin your ability to excel. I was praised for being the "smart one" all during my childhood. In the beginning, everything came easy. I was always ahead of my classmates, and often so far ahead of the curriculum that I rarely had anything to do in class and I struggled with none of it. Time passed, the work got harder until I started to struggle. But I couldn't go to anyone for help; I was supposed to be the smart one. I could let them see me being not smart; that would mean they'd think less of me. Meanwhile, since everything had been so effortless for so long, I didn't have any of the skills one would need to persevere. So instead of facing up against things that were difficult, I avoided them. If the work wasn't easy enough, I just didn't do it. Better to be seen as smart but lazy than to be seen as not smart enough. It took me years to get over not doing things I enjoyed because I wasn't great at them. Even still, I tend to shy away from things where I'm good, but not great, comparing myself to the top of the field and finding myself lacking. I would very strongly suggest you find yourself a therapist or even just a support group. You've been the victim of toxic praise and the sooner you can talk to someone and work through how that has affected your view of the world and yourself, the sooner you can break through the barriers that hold you back. _For anyone who got this far:_ Don't praise people for things that are inherent to them; praise them for the work they do to reach their goals or accomplishments, regardless of their success. If you praise a person for being smart, or strong, or pretty, that signals to them that those traits are what is important. However, if you praise them for working hard, or being kind, or for making a good try, then you are telling them that the what isn't as important as the how, and that total success isn't the only thing that has value.
@@AndaraBledin There's this book. It's called "Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfill your potential" by Dr. Carol S. Dweck PLEASE read this book. They way you feel is shared by millions, and this book explains it in full.
I think that Mirabel’s talent is empathy and connecting emotionally to people. Mirabel meaning “able to see blessings” and she’s able to see the great things in people.
Also here to recognise how the animators animated *cloth* in this movie. Clothes have never looked so clothing-y in animation before. Alan talked about the clothing animation in Coco, but this is a whole further step forward. In particular, watch Mirabel's skirt when she's running or dancing and changes direction.
Yeah, you know that Pixar do that thing about pushing things further each film? Like, for Monsters Inc., it was fur, for Brave it was hair (specially Merida's hair), well, for Coco they studied fabrics. They are always creating and developing new programs to animate things better everytime. They actually did a program for clothes and fabrics in Coco, how a skirt would behave if it had different types of fabric, for instance. And you can see they developed even more here. It's AMAZING
Contrast that flashback moment with the fairy-tale version that Abuela told little Mirabel at the start of the movie. The emotional weight of that event was soft, vague... "Disneyfied", you could say. It was just a backdrop to the story of how the miracle and the Encanto were created, with Alma, apparently habitually, minimizing its effect on her. Then we (and Mirabel) see what actually happened, the pure raw grief and anguish that Alma felt in that moment, the softening fairy-tale presentation utterly stripped away to show the very real, very human, very traumatic impact. It made the scene hit like a ton of bricks. We can feel her pain and resonate with it. The animators did an incredible, incredible job.
@@redwitch12 I saw desperate face like that in anime. Ao Haru Ride. He found out his mother was diagnosed with cancer and she did die. He cried so much when he found out when she was diagnosed with cancer. He went home to cry alone though, not in front of his mother. He needs to stay strong for his mother.
25:35 when Mirabel says “I will never be good enough for you, will I?” You can see Abuela’s face slightly soften as if she’s recognizing subconsciously the pain her actions and words are causing but it is quickly replaced with a stern face as her bias takes over again to further make her point about protecting the family. Disney animation is insane for such little details in motion and facial expressions like this
"I will never be good enough for you, no matter how hard I try" was the sentence that broke me. I said the exact same words to my mother a few years ago. The realization hits really hard, and it may take years to recover from growing up this way.
I really loved how when the house is breaking from Mirabel and Abuela's confrontation, Cassita is still trying to protect them, even as it's breaking apart. Making sure Isabella slides down safely when her gift fails, giving Camilo something to grab onto to break hi fall, and it's final movement is shielding Mirabel. If the sentient house is Abuela's gift, then her gift acted when she couldn't, and protected her grandchildren.
That's so beautiful! You could take it further and even say the gifts are each of their cores, their uncorrupted hearts, before they were transformed under social preassure and construct. Isabela is pure rather than perfect, Luisa is a force (in every way) rather than physically strong, Dolores is an active listener rather than a gossip-spreader...Pepa is an empath, Julieta is a caregiver (she's also the only one that remained true to her heart), Bruno has deep perception, Abuela is a protector. Camilo and Antonio I believe are comic relief. Mirabel, well she is a healer. The glorified and unsustainable "perfection" of her family, the troubles of every single member, the social and personal (self)preassure, she can heal it all while (or because of) beeing seen as the "broken" one. And so, when the facade is lost... their true hearts are unveiled and brought back to the surface.
I love that the version of Abuela Alma's story we see at the beginning is sort of sanitized. The grief isn't in the scene, not on her face, as powerfully as it is during the retelling in Dos Oruguitas. And that makes sense because obviously, Abuela is telling a 5-year-old what happened so she's going to childproof it a bit, but it also leaves the viewers with a different perception of how Alma reacted and processed it. Later we get to see the real pain she went through. The "ugly" cry. The agony and anguish on her face are unlike anything I've seen in animation before. It tore me apart but it also adjusted and refined my perception of Abuela Alma.
I saw that too. I've never seen that immediate grief in animation like that. Up did great showing the impact, but this was the first time the raw emotion was so there.
Yes the way they made the expressions is just so real. What got me wasn't just her reaction to his death yes that was heartbreaking but the scene they show after the candle creates the miracle she is sitting on the floor in her new house holding her three babies just staring at the wall not knowing what to do her expression is so devastating even though there is no more tears, that got me so much. Because it had to be hard for her she got this miracle but she lost her husband and has to take care of three newborn babies and help develop a town of people that are looking to her for support and leadership. She didn't really get the chance to process that grief because everyone depended on her.
Every time the candle glowed brighter, Mirabel played a part in fixing the magic/helping the family. Every time the cracks showed up, the family was feeling the pressure getting to them, especially in front of Abuela. When Antonio was nervous, Mirabel gave him the reassurance he needed. Then the candle glowed at his ceremony. When Mirabel sang “waiting on a miracle” and finally admitted to herself that she wasn’t fine, only then did she see the cracks that no one else could at the party. If you look for it, it’s interesting to see when and where the cracks show up and the candle glows brightest.
One thing I really like about the Dos Oruguitas scene is the contrast between the first version of Pedro's death we saw, where Abuela bowing down to the ground is portrayed almost like she's praying, with none of the reality of grief behind it, and this version where she is screaming in anguish, on her knees weeping because that's the shape her body is being wrenched into by the incredible pain she's feeling. I don't think it would've been quite as effective if we hadn't seen that first version first, so we could see the contrast of the story being told by someone who wasn't born yet vs the story being told by someone who lived it. I always appreciate a solid depiction of grief.
One thing I noticed is that Isabella, like Mirabel, is very creative. In “What Else Can I Do?”, she’s experimenting with patterns and flower types, and her outfit is this imperfect and colorful mix of pollen colors. However Isabella was so tied to her gift that unlike Mirabel who had no gift (and therefore no expectations to live up to and could explore her talents) that she was forced to be “perfect” and her creativity was locked away. It reminds me on how some parents dismiss creativity or discourage their children from following a more creative inclined career path or put “perfectionism” (ie good grades) before creativity because they think it’s “not going to take my child far/help them be successful.” (Similar to how Abuela said Isabella was “out of control” when she was finally able to be herself). Edit: I also am wondering if the reason that Isabella was so cold towards Mirabel is because she was envious that Mirabel could be creative and be herself while she was forced to the girl Abuela wanted her be.
Right! Or praise only certain displays of creativity, like supporting your kids who does art but only when they do realism, but reject different creative art styles. This being like the types of plants she "should" make
Pedro means rock, a symbol of foundation. Alma means soul or spirit. Mirabel is wondrous. Luisa means warrior. Isabela means beautiful. Dolores means pain (she hears EVERYTHING and then suffers through a bit of time pining for a man she can’t have, so pretty painful). Camilo is like a chameleon. Disney did so well on the names for this film!
Also, Mirabel is also a metaphor on how she can "see" the real problems. "Mira" in Mirabel comes from the word "Mirar" in Spanish which means "see" And also the glasses to help this metaphor, everything just makes sense! Absolutely love this film
@@happytree3192 Yes, Mirabel actually has a lot of depth to her name, from rhyming with Miracle, being wondrous, and Mira-belle, to see the perspective of beauty, basically. Yeah, I speak Spanish natively, so I knew that. Such a good choice for her name, honestly
@@happytree3192 and the glasses are green like the prophecies because she is the only one able to see THROUGH the prophecies and not just AT them. This film, man.
As a Colombian that has suffered the consecuences of intergenerational trauma this movie meant the world to me, I felt so heard and understood. I especially identify with Luisa and Isabela, since I always had to be strong and the better person when things were rough at home and always show that everything was fine to the outside world. At the same time I always had to strive for perfect academic results. I always felt like I only deserved love if I got good results in whatever I intended to do. Failure meant wortlessness. And all of this can be traced to the horrifyingly violent situations my dad and mom had to go through in their past. And you're right, it doesn't justify the abuse my sis and I (and even my mom) had to endure but it helps to move on to better family dinamics ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯. On another note, I ALSO WANT A CASITA SO BADLY!!!! ⋋✿ ⁰ o ⁰ ✿⋌
We all need a casita. Where are my keys? Oh, thank you Casita! Maybe you can watch encanto with your elders and spark a conversation? I’m sorry you had that burden. You deserve support, and family should provide that, in a perfect world.
I am not Colombian my parents are Peruvian so I have related to this story in other ways I'm just glad that it creates a dialogue of how Hispanic and Latino families sometimes operate
@@BerryStraw15 Solo porque alguien tiene problemas que compartimos muchas personas, no significa que dejan de ser problemas que tienen un gran impacto. Es como decir que los que estén deprimidos tienen que superarlo porque hay muchas personas deprimidas, así no funcionan las cosas. Hay que hacer introspección amigo, porque una persona sana no anda por ahí minimizando los problemas de los demás.
This movie in general got me into the feels. The fact that the mere short clips featured in this vid caused genuine tears to me shows how powerful a message can be if portrayed right. Family trauma and perfectionism is now becoming a common theme in Disney productions and I am glad.
In general, family trauma-themed television is becoming so prevalent as more and more millennials and gen z are growing up with the tools to heal our intergenerational trauma and break toxic cycles that existed for generations. I’m so here for it! If you haven’t already please watch Everything Everywhere All At Once, Russian Doll, and The Haunting of Hill House. They all touch on this in such creative ways and I ended up crying at some point during all lol 😢 even older titles like Cloud Atlas and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt get it.
"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine." First time I heard this line in We Don't Talk About Bruno I took it as Isabella's current reality, when in fact, she'd been basically faking everything and was probably hoping that someday she could finally be herself. So clever, this line is foreshadowing what's about to happen in the movie.
While I have no doubt it was written with that in mind, that part honestly doesn't makes sense to me because we've seen how Bruno's power works. It's purely visual, which is fairly unique when it comes to prophecy, because of how fun doublespeak can be when writing foreshadowing- if Bruno sees something happen, it will happen. But how can he see Isabella have "The life of her dreams"? Does he know she'll one day be free and not have to be perfect? If so why didn't he tell Abuela that she didn't want to be perfect. Or did he see her life as it was, with a hot boyfriend and a beautiful body, beloved by everyone? Also, Dolores' fortune is a little iffy- technically he is out of reach at first, but we all know what happens at the end. So Bruno's prophecies WILL be fulfilled, but it doesn't mean there won't be a paradigm shift later. For examples, Bruno said the fish would die, not much you can do, but if Bruno says you'll get fat, while you will get fat, you can lose the weight afterwards and the prophecy will still be fulfilled.
One of the things that stood out to me early in the movie is the relationship between Antonio and Mirabel and their first conversation under the bed. I was so struck by how they portrayed not only his fear at not getting his own door, but his compassion for Mirabel not getting one "I wish you could have a door." At just 5, he could already see how not getting a gift had affected (...is still affecting) Mirabel and how she's viewed by the family, and at just 5 the seed of trauma from potentially not being "perfect" had already been planted. And on that note, the payoff at the end when Antonio gets to give her the doorknob and walks her to her door....* *chef's kiss*.* Few movies have gotten past my threshold for actual tears; this one had me openly weeping _multiple_ times throughout the *whole* film.
It is so sad that Mirabel doesn't have her own room as an adult, she's still in the nursery. It singles her out more, like she's a guest in her own house. I really hope she gets her own room in the new home so she can have her own space
And that scene of giving life back to the casita perfectly rhymes with Antonio having Mirabel walk him up to his door. They did share a bedroom for his entire life, so it makes sense that their relationship would be especially close. It is just unfortunate that the seed of fear of disappointing Abuela and letting down the community is so deeply planted in him already.
Oh yeah. My family of choice, three 52-year-olds, two women and one man - so many tears for all of us, no shame. I had watched and very much enjoyed many of the songs before I saw the film, but man, in context, they hit HARD in unexpected ways.
Dolores is a character who gets forgotten about quite a lot. Imagine being the reluctant keeper of everyone's secrets. She heard Luisa's eye twitching all night - did anyone wonder if SHE got any sleep? She refers to Bruno in the present tense and is the only one who does that, no one wonders why? She could hear him in the walls, the result of all the pain inflicted on him by her own family. She knows he's there, says nothing. She whispers even when she sings, everything is too loud for her, she's permanently overwhelmed, then she's labled a gossip for the things she can't keep to herself? Do you punish the kettle for letting out steam when it boils?! The only time she raises her voice a tiny bit is when her gift has faded, and she seems so relieved. Imagine being burdened by everyone else's curses and never being able to switch off. She never asked for this, she didn't establish herself as the family gossip, she grew into it despite herself. I really wish more people saw Dolores for what she is. You think you want to know everything until you do, and it eats you alive.
I found part of Dolores' struggles oddly relatable as a person with autism and ADHD. My brain can't filter stimuli as well as most other people, can't distinguish important from unimportant stimuli well, so most of the time everything I see and hear and feel just rushes at me like a firehose that I can't turn off. I'm pretty sure that my eyes and ears and my sense of touch aren't that much more sensitive than those of other people, but my brain just doesn't filter all that information out. A good analogy I often use is the fact that technically your nose is always in full view of your eyes whenever your eyes are open. It's always there, it's never *not* there, but you're never aware of it (except for now because I just mentioned it haha). Now imagine that your brain isn't able to filter out your nose from your view. What I experience is that whenever something moves or changes anywhere in my vision, especially in my peripheral vision, I notice it. Whenever there's a difference between the ground beneath my left foot and my right foot, I notice it. Whenever there's a sound, either continuous or incidental, I'm aware of it. And it's not just the awareness, it drains energy. The whole reason that brains usually filter all that stuff out is because it costs energy that could be better spent elsewhere. But I sometimes feel cursed to "waste" that energy on stimuli that I don't need, that are not important, that don't matter. Train stations and grocery stores are intensely overwhelming for me and I'm just exhausted when I get back home. I practically live with my ANC headphones on all day every day just to be able to function without getting my attention pulled away by unimportant stimuli, just to be able to focus on anything without getting aggravated and frustrated because I can hear the water running through the pipes in the walls and I can't turn it off. Granted, it definitely has its benefits, absolutely. There are things I can do that most others can't, because I'm the only one who noticed everything. I can see patterns that others can't because my brain has collected more data. But those are the kinds of benefits you would pretty much only mention in a "hey, it's not *all* bad" context. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love those benefits and I'm grateful for them, but knowing that you can't "cure" sensory processing issues like these often feels like I'm just cursed to be stuck with them my whole life. You can absolutely learn to manage it, but it will always need managing and it'll never truly be easy.
@@MerelvandenHurk I have ADHD too, I hear everything all the time, so I can't hear anything. I'm hearing impaired although nothing is wrong with my hearing - I can't concentrate on anyone, so I can't hear what they're saying. I relate to Dolores in that way, too.
@@DestructionGlitter I hear you! I'm glad that people like us can find some sort of representation in characters like Dolores 😊 Now all we need is representation of actually autistic or ADHD people who are identified as such and who aren't the main focus of a show but just "there".
This movie also works really well as a disability narrative. As a disabled person I relate to Mirabel on a very visceral level. She can't do all the things everyone else can, and she doesn't need to. She's herself and that's enough.
I have chronic pain, and I can’t work for more than four hours on good days (at least physical jobs) and half the year I live in my bed from achy bones and muscles, to over sensitivity especially in my nerves along my skin. I relate to all the young women of the group (despite being non-binary) in someway or another
"Waiting on a Miracle" got me - I have cerebral palsy, and it took me until I was 27 to get past "Don't be upset or mad at all.." about the limitations I do have.
A part of this film I really liked was little Antonio. He always sees Maribell and is there for her. When it's his turn, he's so afraid of not having the magic work for him but instead of saying "I don't want to be cursed like you" he turns to Maribell and says "I need you". It was really touching to me.
I have a little brother who now lives in another country and who I miss so much and I cried my eyes out on every single scene with Antonio, literally nothing could stop it Antonio’s the sweetest boy 💔
I thought it was really rare to see the protagonist/“child” recognise and acknowledge what the adult (Abuela) has been through too - it’s not often we see that in a Disney film!
Even rarer was the adult/the one in charge listening and realising they *were* wrong AND, on top of that, apologizing for it. Almost immediately. Most unrealistic part of the movie, wish elderly people were more autocritical like that.
@@termochila4985 oh, I'm with you on that, I'm also latina and elderly people vary from never aknowledging that they might be wrong to apologizing but never meaning it or making an effort to change, mostly. That part made me audibly go "that's IT? Easy like that and the conflict is over? Pfff right!" Still a good movie tho LOL
@@koalaeucalyptus i think it's more of the wish that the filmmakers hope adults would do. What often breaks our family is our ego. If only people in many families can own up to their mistakes, no matter if they're children or adults, perhaps we'll all get the happy ending like in this movie
I noticed a small detail. Alma says "I don't know why you weren't given a gift, but it's not an excuse to hurt this family" she DOESN'T say that Mirabel not having a gift is what's outright causing the miracle to die. In fact, the way she phrases it implies that as far as she's concerned they aren't connected. She's still in the wrong, and what she's saying is still bad, but I feel like it shows that even in that moment she still cares about her granddaughter. She was just too scared to show it properly.
Is it just me who thinks we should talk more about Julieta? She cooks for everyone in town AND the family. When she healed Agustín and then talks to Mirabel, WHEN Mirabel is out and she is alone with Agustín, that's when she lowers her shoulders. It feels like she's just showing her suffering to him.
I totally agree. I haven't heard anyone talking about this, but I kind of think that Julieta is the Isabella of Abuela's triplets in that she is the golden example of what the gifts should look like and how they should help the community. Except rather than Isabella's flashy showcasing of perfection, Julieta stays quiet and reserved. She's like the mother of the entire community, not just the familia Madrigal. Which is probably even more symbolic because she is literally too busy and too reserved to get a solo.
Don’t forget the picture they took during Antonio’s night, when they take it Julieta has this pained look but smiles through it with Agustin as the photo is being taken. Just goes more into depth about her as a character, she’s aware of how Abuela treats Mirabel but is forced to do nothing, she can’t make a scene confronting Abuela why she had taken a family picture without Mirabel because of the public picture her mother raised her to prioritize
@@bearlyalive9669 Speaking of Antonio, we see Peppa being so worried about Antonio's night having to be perfect and I think this is affected by how Mirabel's celebration night was a disaster. Antonio was scared about the celebration night too since he heard about Mirabel's case but gods I feel so bad for Peppa too.
Why does no one ever point out that Luisa carrying donkeys, beasts of BURDEN, symbolizes her carrying everyone's burdens. 😭😭 Maybe it's like duh, but ugh. Love her.
The same way I never heard anyone talking about the cracks Bruno was repairing. It’s like when you finally see the cracks in the outside, the inside has already being cracking for a long time. The damage was already there, but first we try to fix it by ourselves and even when we think we did it and feel better, the scars are there and it’s easier to crack again.
“Meanwhile, I’m going to be weeping loudly” 😅 Alan’s existence is so valuable to me! I don’t have a lot of guys in my life right now, and when I did they hung on to one form of toxic masculinity. Its nice to see dudes just being real. Alan and Jono must be such great dads
One of the moments I find most interesting is when Mirabel doesn’t get a gift. You would think she would look to Abuela with sadness or confusion, instead she looks to her with fear - almost like she thinks she’s done something wrong and she thinks Abuela will get mad at her.
Her little face when that happened wrapped fingers around my heart and squeezed. I could never bear if a baby looked at me that way. It makes me so sad.
I think it included sadness and confusion, because to her understanding that had never happened before. and she must've been wondering what was wrong with her in order for this to happen. and she had to have been upset because she realizes that she's not gotten a gift, and she will have to live the rest of her life without one. but yeah, it definitely included fear. they put a lot of pressure on her to "do things right", even though the entire process was out of her control. poor little thing must've been terrified. it makes it worse that she was only five :((
Yep. That look on her tiny face is heartbreaking as the door vanishes and she gazes up at Alma as if worried she somehow messed up and that's why the door is being "taken back". And we never see Alma say anything in that flashback either, just...staring, with that look of shock that slowly morphs into vieled worry and disappointment. That's a LOT of pressure to put on a child.
I love how not only the house, but the litteral mountains are a metaphor as well. When she lost her husband, Abuela got herself in a cocoon made of the moutains (that prevents anyone and anything from getting in or out) and focused all her energy on helping the community instead of processing her grief. And when Mirabel confronts her at the end, she forces Abuela to confront it - no place/cocoon to escape the pain anymore (the mountains shatter). The fact that they end up at the exact location where Pedro was killed is the hammer the point that Abuela is now facing the horror she went through, and can now be free to move on (open moutains, butterflies flying away). Abuela went from being a little happy caterpillar, to locking herself in a cocoon to then be able to emerge a free butterfly.
I wonder if an appropriate metaphor would be this: when someone experiences trauma, a part of them seizes, arrests, stays trapped in that moment even as they grow up, and the only way to move on from that trauma is to come back to that self
It's like she ignored Mirabel because everything was perfect and Mirabel was a constant reminder that that simply wasn't true, that she couldn't live the rest of her life pretending the death of her husband wasn't a big deal and that things wouldn't fix themselves - there wasn't gonna be "a second miracle" to save the first - and that she needed to take action - acknowledge the trauma and work through it - it is okay that she couldn't do it right afterwards, specially with three newborns, but she couldn't run forever as her cocoon became a prison and the more time she spent there, the more hurtful it would be to her eyes to see the light again.
One of my FAVORITE symbolic details in Encanto is the family mural Bruno's room is behind. It's tiny, but the crack in the wall Bruno watches his family through, splits across the literal base of the family tree, suggesting that the issues with the cracks and such Mirabel is trying to fix, started looong before her birth. This is a generational problem.
Just adding to how amazing stephanie beatriz is, the fact that she sings waiting for a miracle while in the early stages of labor is something else. "don't worry I got this". she is all around amazing. so to your point no she didn't try to sing while fake crying, she was doing something harder and it made an amazing song.
I adored how in the "Bruno" song, Dolores is the only person who is empathetic towards Bruno, and other than Camilo, the only one to discuss him in the present tense. A hint that she heard him all along, and that he never REALLY left.
At the beginning she also tells Mirabel that "The only one worrying about the cracks in the house is you... and the rats in the walls" 😂 (sorry if that's not word for word, I've only watched it in French so far) That and Camilo singing that Bruno is friends with rats, is also a hint
that's why she's my favourite character : their gifts are a continuation of their personalities and she's not (only) hearing everything because she's spying on everyone, she hears everything because she listens to everyone
@@TheGabygael writers suggested her bedroom is soundproof, so she can get some relief from constantly hearing everyone. Which would explain why she doesn't hear everything, like Abuelas prayer
The ending of the movie where her family sings “We see how bright you burn. We see how brave you been” hits me right in the gut/chest. I cry every single time. I’m just waiting on that moment from my family…
Same. I’m the outcast in my family because I chose to stay home with my kids instead of Pursue a career. I so relate with Mirabel, this movie is just amazing . Sending love your way!
As someone who's waited all her life to hear the same from her family, let me tell you this - they won't. I know it sounds heartbreaking and gut wrenching but that's true. You be the person who says that to you. You make your validation about you most important than anybody else's validation, even if it's your family. I've done that for me and trust me, I'm in a much better place 💜
So, my take on Mirebel’s lack of a gift is that *she* is the gift She brought the family together, she let all the tension and stress be released, she got people to get their issues off their chest She saved the family, and helped everyone in the family Abuela was worried about the big picture, the family, the miracle, the casita Mirebel saw the forrest for the trees, and by doing so, saves the forest
I think that's the final point in the movie - we discover that it's Abuela herself that's the gift, and Mirabel is there to carry that on to future generations to come.
To me it was that Mirabel was going to be the next matriarch. Abuela also didn't have a gift and was a (poor) grounding force for the family. Mirabel's gift was her vision to see a new path forward for the family to take together. I think the room thing was symbolic, as before if you didn't have a gift there wasn't really a place for you in the family. After they rebuilt the house though Mirabel did get a room signifying the change that there is a place now for everyone, gifts or no
I relate so much to Luisa, maybe not physically but certainly mentally. I don't do a lot of labor like she does, but I feel like everyone around me is always falling apart and I'm responsible for keeping them together. My mom cries almost every day, my boyfriend has a whole host of mental issues, and my dad is usually out of the house. It just makes me wish I had more problems so that someone would take care of *me.*
Oh shit "makes me wish I had more problems so that someone would take care of me". That hits hard. I'm disabled, but my disabilities are "invisible" and not severe enough that they get noticed all the time. So I sometimes wish something horrible would happen to me so people would actually realize that I need help and so I would feel worthy of that help. But I know I am worthy of it. And so are you. It's just hard.
Fun fact if you look at Isabella she looks near identical to Abuela when she was younger, and the guy she was supposed to marry looks very close to Abuelo Pedro. So abuela is projecting her life onto Isabella in a way
That's a huge reason behind theories of why Abuela favored Isabela. Abuela saw a second chance to live the life she wanted, and so used Isabela to fulfill that dream. The more Isa lived up to Alma's expectations, the more it fed her biases that Isa was a copy of herself. Next thing you'd know after Isa marries Mariano, Abuela would be recommending when to have kids and "strongly suggestion" her personal favorite names.
I would like to say something. Whenever Dolores squeaks, it means she heard something she wasn't supposed to. This is because the people in Columbia developed a way to communicate short ideas without speaking. Also, I'd like to point out that the Casita made the space where Bruno was living in the walls.
@@biancavillalobos9252 I’ve been told it was because of war and such, like they came up with codes so the enemies couldn’t hear and it just stuck in the culture. Not sure if it’s entirely accurate but it would make sense.
You know.... They say that Mirabelle didn't get a gift but she's literally seeing the inside of the people she connects to. She's seeing all of Luisa's fears, she's seeing Isabella for who she is, she LITERALLY saw Abuella's past. She's experiencing who these people are and not just via a connection or anything. She's seeing what's causing their pain. She's EXPERIENCING IT while helping them.
Isn't that basically what "An Empath" does? Feel peoples pain and often helps the person going though that pain? Or am I making Empathic people out to be some sort of super hero? I might misunderstand the meaning "Empath"
I remember the first time I watched Encanto, the Surface Pressure song came on and jokingly (but also truthfully) my husband turns to me and says 'hey it's a song about you'. I just burst into tears and he felt so bad but I felt so seen. I also wanted to say that one of the interpretations I have of Isabela making a cactus is that it can't be held easily. It can't be touched without care, or plucked to put in a vase for it only to die shortly after. It really is something that needs to be planted or potted. There's a lot of layers and symbolism in that, I really love it. And finally, thanks for your vulnerability in these videos, it helps us so much.
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She sang waiting on a miracle and 42 hours later her baby was born.
Please NEVER spray scent on people without their consent. Some of us are really reactive and allergic to scents and perfumes. I also despise coming away from an ordinary social encounter, with someone else's perfume or cologne stuck on my hands or clothes. It is gross. Please people, no one should be able to smell your cologne without hugging you and we don't want to share your signature scent with you. Please keep it to yourself. FYI - Vodka will get the smell of scent off your skin and a spritz of vodka will disperse it from your clothes.
Thank you for going over this movie. It has touched so much more emotionally. Thank you and love your channel!
PART 👏 TWO 👏 WHEN 👏
🐀 🐀 🐀 🕺💃 🐀 🐀 🐀
100% YES to a story about Bruno. I honestly think an episode could be done on all of them. But especially Bruno.
I'm surprised they didn't specifically talk about Luisa's line: "I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service." because that's the one that always hits me the most in terms of what it says about her in such a concise manner.
honestly, I was waiting for that line specifically. It hits so hard for me.
My bf and I had a whole conversation about that. He pointed it out and said that’s how a lot of people feel.
This is also where a lot of ableism comes from - as if people only have value for what they can put back, rather than who they are as a person.
he was talking over it so likely didnt hear it properly if the video is timed to what their watching
one of the ones that gets me is that NO ONE EVER NOTICES
"give it to your sister an never wonder if the same pressure would have pulled you under"
when I realized the black shawl Abuela wears through a lot of the movie is a mourning shawl, she never stopped suffering that loss
Agreed. When she was no longer wearing it, I noticed immediately and was like, 'Yes, that makes sense, she's been mourning this whole time.'
I had the same. You can even see it in her body language, every time she worries, or "pulls herself up", she gathers the shawl around herself
I always saw the shawl as a protective barrier. Like a shield of sorts made up of her need to “earn the miracle” that was given to her and her family. Like a physical reminder of what’s she’s been through and how she refuses to let that happen again, utilizing her pain and trauma to create something good and worthwhile. A way to her protect what she has left. I could be off the mark there a bit, but that’s how I’ve always interpreted the shawl and her mannerisms concerning it.
@@bambamrocks931 i love this! I'm a big fan of the idea that Abuela's gift is building up walls, while Mirabel's is breaking them down (both literally and figuratively) And I hadn't accounted the mourning shawl into that
@@Adamant_Adam Okay I love this interpretation ❤️
The fact that Abuela actually says the words “I am so sorry” not once, but twice, meant SO much to me. I would often be told to apologize, but I rarely, if ever, received one.
I’m sorry.
That's shows you are the bigger person in most situation. And I know the feeling. I'm sorry
same
This reminds me of my dad, I wish he can say sorry more but he rarely does, and when he does even if it's small I get emotional and remember those sorrys
Same..
“Surface pressure” is the first song in a Disney movie ever that completely got me. Nailed it. Lin Manuel really understands the burdens and psyche of working / work-horse women in families such as these. Everything about this song is me.
Apparently, he based it on his older sister.
@@FuriennaReally? Wow
i honestly cried listening to that song for the first time because i related to it way to much as an older sister
As an older brother growing up in a home with a brother who had severe autism and was non verbal. This song hit me hard. I love my brother more and more every day, but because of his inability to mentally grow up. It’s like living with a 20 year old toddler. It’s been really hard. But it’s made me a stronger and more compassionate person. And I will never forget what my brothers done for me.
It got me not for physical burden so much as mental and emotional
“A broken family is a family in which any member must break herself into pieces to fit in. A whole family is one in which each member can bring her full self to the table knowing that she will always be both held and free.” ― Glennon Doyle.
I always think of this quote whenever I watch this movie.
I have never heard of (read) this quote before just now and wow this is painfully accurate and yet beautifully described
@@marti2481 It's from Glennon Doyle's book Untamed, which I highly, highly recommend.
Oh gosh, that quote has me reaching for the Kleenexes! Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks, now I'm crying!
You're responsible for a lot of tears the least you could do is pay for the tissues 😭😂 but seriously tho, thanks. It's probably not that deep, but whatever : as someone who is really struggling with the guilt of breaking away from a toxic family, this is a bit of reassurance that I'm not being over-dramatic and "not understanding their perspective" - they were genuinely harming each other and there was no way I could change to "fix" it.
I really like when he says "Her past doesn't justify her actions but it makes them understandable and *that* makes it easier to forgive"
I love how he says “easier to forgive” instead of “forgivable.” It might be easier now, but it’s not a full fix. She still has to put in the work towards forgiveness
Yes! When Snape's backstory is revealed in Harry Potter, it seemed to me like a lot of people were letting him off the hook for being a bully. I was afraid that might happen with Encanto, but I've seen a lot of people get it.
I have a family member that verbally attacks me on the regular and she probably sees me as Isabella and resents me for it when my 'perfectionism' was born from maternal expectations and has come at a great cost. I have forgiven her so many times for things she has said because I know of many of her past hurts. Unfortunately its a one way bridge and I am too tired to cross it anymore just to get smacked when I do. :( I am expected to be perfect by some people and am 'too perfect' to others. I had a lot of expectations pinned on me but living to meet them really meant a lot of isolation amoung my peers and siblings.
@@theoldaccountthatiusedtous6767 Snape wasn't a bully. He was straight up emotionally abusing children.
That’s why I love to explain that reasons don’t equal justifications
My favorite subtle detail in this movie is the difference in Abuela's weeping between the opening exposition and when she tells Mirabel her story. The first time, it's rather gentle "pretty crying," but the second time she is full on sobbing and screaming in pain. It shows the difference between a child's understanding taking a story at face value, and a mature person seeing and empathizing with someone else's tragedy
I also see it as Abuela tweaking the story to hide the real pain of things
Daaamn, nice catch!
Your comment made me cry and you are so very correct.
Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking. First time, it's just a story told to and perceived by a little girl. The second time around? Full blown grief and pain and suffering, because Mirabel finally understands. It broke my heart when I first watched the film (it keeps breaking it every time I re-watch, too, so...good job, Disney.)
The way the story is presented is completely different too. The first time it's presented like a fable, with Pedro's "death" represented by him peacefully stepping into a white light, and it's painted as a valiant sacrifice born of love. The second paints a much more grim and stark reality of a peaceful, innocent man ridden down by raiders with swords raised, and it's just... A life, gone meaninglessly to waste. It's a very subtle difference but it's "He gave his life to save us" VS "He was murdered and it was terrible."
As a companion La Casita seems to be more fond of Mirabel than the others. It seems like it understands the gift Mirabel was given was freedom from expectations by her family. That gives her the perspective that ultimately saves the family
I also interpret the door disappearing on Mirabel as this sign that Mirabels gift is already in her, and that when she reforms La Casita in the end it's the confirmation of that. She doesn't get her own room either. Her room is the entire home. It fits
some people have stated, and I can agree, the house and the candle are the Abuelo's spirit to speak.
"think of the family!" "i was thinking of my daughter" i LOVE the father bc he's the only one who stands up to Abuela. the relationships this movie subtly lets on is impressive
Julieta does follow his lead - "You've always been too hard on Mirabel" - but Augustin is the only one who is explicitly, openly, always in Mirabel's corner. I adore him for that.
@@AIRogge "too hard" means that everybody else could handle it, just mirabel was too sensitive. Its the same othering she experiences, when not included in the fcking family picture. She's different than others. That's why the answer isn't as strong as the fathers, cause indirectly she puts the responsibility on mirabel (but it would be oay if mirabel could fake her strength like luisa). I get why she said it though, julieta is also caught up in abuelas ways and weakness is probably not allowed..
@@not-a-ghost2206 No, it doesn't. It means that Abuela was going harder on Mirabel than on the others. Which she was, other than how hard she was going on Bruno, because she was scared of what it meant that Mirabel had no gift.
Julieta and Augustin are fantastic parents. Julieta in the beginning tells Alma that Antonio’s ceremony will be a hard night for Mirabel. She may not be as upfront or aggressive as Augustin in “thinking of my daughter,” but she is doing what she can.
@@crystalfairy912 which is excellent characterisation tbh. Juliet has to balance her mother and her daughter, while to Augustin there is only his duty towards his daughter. Ain't his mum so he's more comfortable standing up to her.
"I like how Luisa is... very girly" THANK YOU for noticing this. I'm so tired of people calling her masculine just because of her muscles!
That's because most people refuse to look under the surface
God I hate that too, funny story, I’m not why I had to give my name but the lady I was talking to responded by giving me a look and being like“but that’s not a girls name!”
People frustrate me when they believe there own assumptions.
I saw a young lady whose build was very like Louisa and who recognizes that the American perception of that build is that it is masculine, but who was very much a “girly girl” a phrase which is so telling in itself. Gender identity is as varied as any other human trait. This young lady dressed as Louisa, and honest to goodness, they might have modeled the character on her. I am six foot tall, mostly leg and bust, and have always been taller than everyone else. As a teenager I used to tell people that I was a fine boned five foot two on the inside. One of the things this movie presents is that people are not the mask they show to the world and that the only person who knows the person is the one who sees under the shell. Disney has been kicking that idea around for a while.
@@mittenista ha, nice
The implications of Isabella being able to create ANY KIND OF PLANT are incredible, especially in a completely agrarian society. She could feed everybody in that village forever. She could provide every type of wood or medicinal plant they need at the drop of a hat. She's basically a goddess with that kind of power. And just because she was pushed into that role of 'beautiful princess', she wasn't able to do something that would have helped everybody SO MUCH MORE than just her making beautiful flowers.
Where does the biomass come from? ;)
@@SpoonyBard88 from the same place all her flowers came from, its magic, she sure can turn air into solid matter no problem 🤷 science has no place in a house thats alive and intelligent
The problem I have for these things is that it's just a stereotype on plants. It's pointy? Always green Negative or boring and not as pretty. Then they get compared to flowers. Then people ignore the other plants, pick and over sell and genetically change flowers but then don't appreciate the actual benefits of flowers have. The diversity of plants are important too. Rose hips are high in vitamin c , flowers can be important, but so are the other plants. All of them balance each other out. Humans are the one who device the narrative of the two instead of understanding them both. Our symbolism has some misconceptions to them
omg you're so righhhtttttttttt 😱😱😱 I only just realized this... incredible...
All of that was Abuela's fault.
She was the one, who decided that her favorite granddaughter had to be a "perfect princess" for some reason.
Finally someone else who agreed with Abuela. She wasn’t an outright villain who didn’t care about or love her family. She is deeply flawed from her lack of perspective and not healing from her trauma. She ended up with responsibilities that could have been shared with others. She did things she shouldn’t have and rightfully should have been called out for it. And yet She is human, terribly so. I think it was put best: “It wasn’t justified but it was easier to understand and therefore to forgive.”
Understand, yeah. Forgive? That depends.
@@audraverela3663 I disagree. Not forgiving still gives abusers power over the their victims no matter how much healing was done.
@@audraverela3663 For some _it is_ a way of moving on, I agree that its their choice. As a christian, from our perspective its more of a case between the forgiver and God, it does not have to be said outloud to those who _had_ misused their trust. However, in regard to both yours' and the replyers view; I believe there is a difference in meaning meant here, forgiveness verses reconciliation.
@@audraverela3663 I remember a similar conversation on the movie short Opal { ua-cam.com/video/-1pVLJl_snc/v-deo.html }
Very much the same arguments in the comment section. But in this case neither forgiveness nor reconciliation was given from either side in contrast to ENCANTO. There was also a much bleaker outcome in Opals' sequel.
Of course, it wasn't her responsibility to fix her family. But I believe the difference in ENCANTO is that their abuela came to her family first, after realizing the harm she brought. They looked together to the future... To quote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."
@@audraverela3663judging from the sheer amount of anger in these comments sounds like not a lot of healing has been done. Not trying to be disrespectful here, but lashing out at people sharing what seems to be mostly personal experiences and getting so angry is a big red flag. Don't know what you've been through, and have no interest in sharing my story, but I hope you get through it ok and realize that what's good for you doesn't work for everyone.
Fun fact: Lin Manuel Miranda said he based Luisa’s song on his older sister, who also had a similar role in the family as the one to take responsibilities. So it’s kind of like a “sorry you had to go through that” apology song
FUN FACT? That nearly made me cry!
Wow that's... Rough, not so much of a "fun" fact
@@kage3069 fun fact! actually really really sad fact
I wonder which one he relates the most to
I really felt that song. As the eldest and from a dysfunctional family I always took on more because I felt that it was my responsibility.
Fun fact: The crew had to fight for Luisa to be a large muscular woman because they thought no one would like a buff woman and they merchandized the heck out of Isabela because they thought she'd be the favorite of little girls but actually Luisa ended up being much more popular with girls
The 'Luisa's merch sold better' thing is just a rumour someone made up. It's not true. There's no evidence of it. I don't think there's any need for people to put Isabella down to bring Luisa up. They're both good.
@@Marzi29 It's not even putting Isabela down, it's just saying she wasn't as popular.
Even if you leave merchandizing out of it, people seem to have responded so much more to Luisa's character and her song. Buff or not, she's really awesome.
@@Marzi29 why do you immediately assume that talking up Luisa is “putting Isabella down”? If someone had said that Isabellas merch had sold better than Luisas, I doubt you’d be saying that was “putting Luisa down” it’s a subtle implied bias.
@@kelliehorn1082 Luisa’s song felt like it demonstrated her personality and was honestly was more fun to me. Isabela’s I don’t really remember. It reminded me of something that might be in Tangled. It felt too generic for my taste (I say this even though I generally also appreciate the Isabela subplot).
I love that Mirabel actually does everything she says she would do in her solo. The mountains open up around the encanto, she helps Isabella grow new flowers, she heals the broken home and family.
Me too, I just love that she ask "where do I go? And the encanto show's the cassita, and when she says "I would heal what's broken. Show this family something new" they showcase that her family is what is broken. It's just a perfect combination of songwriting e visuals.
You have blown my mind and I thank you
Miranda said in an interview once that he writes his music like a chess player. Every decision in the beginning is part of a plan five moves later
@@lizzieanne2214 You’re welcome
@@Moeller750 I definitely saw that with Hamilton.
The fact that Encanto was the reason my mom saw my mental illnesses and decided to talk about them with me with a therapist is crazy. Growing up with a physically disabled brother, a diabetic grandma with a sweet addiction, a widowed working mom, and the scars my dad left behind from his death is tough, in the end I stepped up, I did it for us but also because no one else could, I had no other choice. Me and so many others had their childhoods ripped away from us so we could step up and take so many responsibilities.
To all the kids carrying their families on their shoulders, I know you need a break but you’re not in a position to take one, I wanted to say that I hear you. Your voice is valid, you are not as strong as you want to be. Don’t have unrealistically high expectations for yourself, even if others have them for you. Hang in there, even if you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, I promise you it’s there, you just need to walk and turn a little longer. If no one else notices, I at least believe in you.
Thank you.
We're all in this shit together
As someone who has a disabled sister, I feel you. All the burden fell on me to do everything. Do all the house work, do all the chores, do all the things she couldn't do. Several times it got to a boiling point that I would argue with my parents. It took me moving several thousands of miles away from my family to have them realize how much pressure they put me under.
It took me that thousands of miles to realize that I had high expectations of myself, extremely high expectations that it cost me a relationship with someone I truly cared for. Since then, it has been a path to finding myself again.
Thank you ❤
Thank you
One of my favorite details from Surface Pressure is when she sings "Line up the dominoes a light wind blows you try to stop the tumbling but on and on it goes" in the visuals the "light wind" is actually a tornado, demonstrating how she's downplaying the severity of the things that cause her to break down.
I never noticed that! Ty for pointing it out
Wow, this opens up a whole new perspective for me
Thx for posting this
Also the doors are like from monsters inc!
It's actually my favorite song in the movie 😊
My favorite part of the Hercules line is that in the original Greek myth, Hercules did not want to fight Cerberus so he brought him dog biscuits, picked him up, and carried him to Hades to ask for permission. A couple of different myths actually have people bringing honey coated biscuits into the underworld to avoid Cerberus, and the ones that didn’t were usually less successful. Turns out the dog of the underworld is still just a good boy.
There’s also the fact that Cerberus might mean spotted
There was also a myth where Cerberus was sung to sleep
He’s just a good boy
He's also the #1 Greek monster and he's how I got into Greek mythology
💜🐶🐶🐶
@@girlwithamic8021 That's Orpheus.
One thing everyone forgets is he has a snake tail....no one ever remembers he a good boy and has a good little dancer noodle
A little late to the game, but something I noticed about Isabelle is that yes, flowers and being pretty are her thing, and everyone's talked about the superficial part of her where she's just decoration, but one of the things I just realized is - flowers are accessible they don't fight back when you pick them, cactuses and carnivorous plants aren't. She literally has to deal with people passing her around and handing her off, and essentially doing things to her and her life often without her consent to the point that her whole song was about wanting control of her own life and autonomy. I don't think her personality is prickly at all - and that she's probably really sweet and kind and may really love flowers, but is so tired of people grabbing at her the only way she could see out was to grow thorns.
The sad part about this too is that it's a reason behind a lot of bullying too. They hate seeing someone that's able to live the way they want to but can't, so they lash out at them.
@@Mizumii25 yes but thats not what isabelle is about
@Airchair in a way, yeah it is. It's clear that since Mirabelle's ceremony, it's been that way. They never got along. They see each other with a life that they want but can't have. It defined their relationship and with Isabella finally venting and letting it all out in her song, Mirabelle sees it and they reconcile through it. The gift defined their lives, even with not having one. Isabella saw Mirabelle without the preasure of the gift and freedom that she wanted. Mirabelle saw Isabella with a gift and accepted by the family and, especially, Abuella. They're FIVE when they get their gift. That's their entire 5 years of life being hyped up about it. You can see that in Mirabelle as a toddler. Even at 5 she wants to please Abuella. Then, because she got no gift, she's suddenly shunned by Abuella, basically her idol, and is seen as the black sheep of the family. The outsider. Someone with freedom and no expectations of perfection. Exactly what Isabella wants but can't have because of Abuella demanding perfection from her family.
You just spoke to my inner artist and I love making that a problem for all my Tumblr followers. Thank you for saying this. My prison is a little looser now thanks to you.
@@Mizumii25 Isabella didn't get along with Mirabel because Isabella needs to be perfect for Abuela but Mirabel is the opposite and isn't perfect so she has to put her sister aside for the family to get Abuela's approval. The song makes Mirabel realize Isabella isn't this all perfect person and is forced to be so Mirabel supports her imperfection. Not because Mirabel wants Isabella's life and vise-versa.
This has nothing to do with the episode but I just love the way that Allen talks about Megan. He always starts by introducing her as producer or in the beauty and the best episode where he talks about her literature major before even going on about her being his wife. Because she is much more than just his wife. It's so subtle but I really love that.
"much more than JUST his wife"? wtf.
@@juu2356bruh
Ok, let me tell you: The moment that the abuela entered when Isabela and Mirabel were hanging out you can see in Isabela's face the panic. She looks at her dress, she disappears the flowers (kind of like quickly cleaning a mess that made someone angry), put her head down and try to distance herself from the situation by getting away from Mirabel and from abuela (without completely going away because you know that in those situations that is the worse you can do). She probably was thinking something a long the lines of "I'm a mess, I made a mess, abuela is going to be mad at me" and "Mirabel, stop talking you are making the situation worse. Just shut up". It probably seems like a coward's act to not step up for her little sis while she is practically been attacked but I've been there and fear takes a hold of you. After that you probably feel like a hipocrite and a coward, specially as an older sibling, for not defending your little sibling and instead allowing them to take all the blame, then you think "they should have shut up and obey" and then you feel worse for thinking something like that whle knowing its not their fault.
I hate-love that scene because I see in Isabela so much of me everytime I'm i a situation like that. Her posture and her facial expressions are just too real.
Yo I notice families like that produce kids to be stool pigeons and cowardly, not a sense of unity.
It's absolutely a trauma response. Especially for an adult who is still living with her abuser. Fight and Flight aren't options, so Freeze and Fawn are the go-to for survival. She freezes/shells up, and internally is begging Mirabel to fawn/acquiesce/stop talking.
@@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254 I kind of agree. You definetely feel awful and ashamed after doing something like that, you tell youself that "I should be strong for them", "I am older, I should have protect them", "its not fair, next time I will make things right"; but the moment a situation like that happens you stop thinking and immediately go into "obedient puppy" mode. You start to hate yourself after a while, but in my case at least the fear is just too much to handle. Its not like you don't love your siblings, because I know that for me my two siblings are the two people I love the most in this world, but you just get stuck. Its awful really, and it definetely leaves you feeling as a coward.
@@TrueRomancer04 Do you know any tips to stop going into freeze/fawn mode in a situation like that?
@@blackcat6374 From my experience, I distanced myself from that person who was making me react like that (my father) and it’s just taken time and distance to build confidence in myself to stand up rather than shut down. I sobbed through most of this movie because I related to Mirabel sooooo much.
A friend of mine discussed how all the Madrigal family "gifts" are expressions of different types of generational trauma responses (Pepa's weather control = mood swings; Dolores' super-hearing = hyper-vigilance; Luisa's strength = trying to be "the strong one"; etc.). I'd love to see you do a movie on that theme!
Pepa can also be bottling up your emotions to please everyone around you, people pointing up your sadness and not the source.
Camilo being identity issues.
And the whole “gifts” things being an allegory, for both gifted and ungifted children.
I havent thought of it that way before. 😳🤯😭
Yes I've heard about it on a Instagram video. I was thinking about that after watching the movie for the 3rd time. Mirabel is the cycle breaker a.k.a the black sheep of the family (which is me but also Luisa but broken)
I think Delores' thing is actually being the listener specifically
Bruno tells brutal truth and people shun him because they don’t want to hear it. Juliet is tasked with healing and taking care of others. Camilo must shapeshift and change who he is to appease. Isabel must only show beauty and perfect things and hide her more wild plants.
This is such a good representation of how easily families fall out when everyone's just trying to do their best
Indeed, I appreciated that there was no twist villain, unless you count Abeula as an antagonist, but even then, she's just doing what she thinks is best for her family.
Right? As a mother myself, as well as a member of a toxic family system, the thought of me “doing my best” possibly resulting in toxicity scares me (since you “do what you know,” and part of what I know is toxic). But I think a really important aspect to having a healthy family system is asking questions and checking in, and actually listening. Which are difficult skills, but I think if our family can build those skills early on and make it something we do routinely, a lot of this can be avoided or at least minimized. That is my hope, anyway!
Case in point: House of Gucci, which I'd also love Cinema Therapy to review
Absolutely especially families who are seen as community leaders. Chimanda Ngozi Adichie's book Purple Hibiscus has a line I'll paraphrase. "We are responsible for feeding the town. They are grateful for our food and we are grateful for them." Without ruining anything the person saying this is um.... not great. But it underlines this story and the film. Nobody is helped if we don't share accountability and workloads honestly. Families tear each other to shreds trying to maintain what they think the world expects of them.
"I asked my Pedro for help..... Mirabel... he sent me you!" there will never be a time when that line and that scene will not get me. God, I LOVE this movie.
the scene that hurt me the most in this movie is the picture scene where they say the whole family and they don't even recognize that Mirabel wasn't in it. that would've been my villain arc, she was WAY too strong. something i also don't get is how the townspeople and the Madrigals were so angry at Bruno for using HIS gift when they asked for it. his gift was to predict the future, not cause it!
What I think is that the whole family had been so stressed all day that they didn't remember to double-check if everybody was there.
Besides, Mirabel made the choice to not step forwards to be included in that picture.
And I think I have to correct you and point out that the Madrigals weren't angry with Bruno for using his gift.
Abuela and Pepa were angry with him because they thought that he had left them, and that is a different thing altogether.
But as for the townspeople, they used him as a convenient outlet for their frustrations when things went wrong.
He was probably accused of killing people too and not just goldfish. 😬
@@Furienna i agree with you, what i meant with the madrigals being angry with him is that their experiences with him seemed more like infuriation instead of annoyance. the children wouldn't understand because they didn't know him but the way bruno told maribel about why he left made it seem like they wanted him gone instead of him wanting to leave himself, but thats just the way i saw it.
my villain arc in my family started at a family photo shoot where my sisters and i were left out of the grandkids photo, and then told we wouldn't fit into the great grandkids photo either, so we just didn't get to be in the generational photos that are now hanging on my cousin's walls. i don't speak to her anymore ✌🏼
@@truestmermaid444 Why would they be happy to have him back if they had wanted him gone?
@@Furienna originally, they might've wanted him gone. they hadn't seen him for 10 years; it'd make sense that they were happy to have him back.
This movie did something incredible and real by not having an antagonist. The characters were real. Their struggles were real.
i dunno ppl wanna kill abuela for being a "abuser" , i ve seen some f-ed up comments on other vids.
Technically Abuela was the antagonist (a character who actively works against the main characters belif) yet she isn't a villian (a character, -often the antagonist but not always- who means harm and hurts others within the story). So yes, she was the antagonist, but she never meant harm so she isnt a villan.
@@HisameArtwork That's more so unresolved anger at their own family members.
@@HisameArtwork Those people must have never had a Hispanic grandma. Abuela is pretty tame in comparison to some.
The idea of "antagonist" is flawed. Every serial killer is a protagonist in their own story.
Honestly, most people didn't think much of this movie when the trailer came out (myself included). Man, did this movie hit home for a lot of people. It's so nice seeing a lot of media that emphasize emotional intelligence, family structures and mental health awareness. Movies like Inside Out, Soul and Encanto are so important for people of all ages.
❤
i remember when trailers first started coming out i skipped them and didn't bother paying attention to them at all. i wish i had given it more of a chance at the beginning, but thankfully i did and i love it now
The last few Disney films were not well advertised and didn't really reflect the magic that the movies had. I think whoever had been in advertizing needs a different job or a refresher on how to sell things
tbf tho, after raya my expectations with disney studio film's couldn't get lower
Encanto tho, just went above and beyond
it was on pair with pixar's coco/ soul/ inside out
if not better
I feel like we didn't really get a lot from the trailers for this. I had NO CLUE what the movie was actually about until I watched it. And it's BEAUTIFUL. The trailers seemed to be "Hey look! We made another cultural movie and LIN MANUEL MIRANDA did the music!" Classic Disney move, but really unfortunate. I feel like this would have done better when it came out if there were better trailers.
Louisa's song "Surface Pressure" is a masterpiece.
If you listen close, in between each line at the beginning she takes a shaky breath to steady herself for the stoic facade.
If you are a middle child, it's like nothing else in media representation. It's incredible.
The song has given me heart palpitations it makes me cry so hard. Absolutely amazing
@@characterblub2.0 you good bro?
@@JavierEscuella1911 absolutely not 😂🫡
Middle child? Ha!
Try being the eldest with all of these burdens (middle implies 3+ children. With 2, you get Isabella + Luisa wrapped into one)
@@katarinawikholm5873 I feel you. The expectations are on you: if you fail to be strong and perfect, your younger sibling will be better and you will be blamed ("why can't you be more like them?"/"if you would just try harder") and sidelined - but if you succeed your younger sibling will be more important ("don't put your success in their face"/"can't you see they're suffering") and you will be blamed by your sibling too ("I was never good enough because I had to live up to your standards!").
You cannot win either way.
I know, younger siblings could absolutely say the same thing the opposite way, and it all depends on the family and your own perspective. But I hope in the future, I, myself, will be mindful enough to encourage every child the same and empower their own strengths without too many expectations. I am hopeful to have that gift. (Sidenote: I don't want kids. But everyone around me does. So I can encourage them as a safe haven.)
Mirabel's face when Abuela says "a gift just as special as you" to Antonio instantly breaks me. I am sobbing.
Honestly. Especially since Abuela had said that same line to Mirabel “Your gift will be just as special as you are.” (Paraphrasing) before her ceremony. You can tell it hit her hard.
@@cerisejaxel9636 That's the point! Abuela Alma says that to every 5 year old waiting for their Gift. It's even harder for Mirabel because she didn't get one. And all of a sudden, her cousin got one? I agree with Alan: "D**m you Disney, D**m you."
I felt that on a personal level
Luisa's song speaks so much to her compassion, too. how she protects her fragile little sister from being crushed, destroyed, and mutilated. It makes me think of the pressures on moms and a kind of toxic femininity - every action is an immense act of heroism, and she's supposed to do it while looking beautiful and smiling and with endless compassion the whole time.
Pretending to be frail, feminine and compliant while in practice running everything
@@katarinawikholm5873 When we all know "feminine" doesn't mean "frail" one bit!
As well as the idea that the eldest siblings must protect the younger siblings at whatever personal cost in itself is another pressure they feel, and puts them in danger throughout the music number.
Latin girls do this to them a lot, it's almost instinctive to become a second mother to younger siblings (sometimes older too)
Omg I’m really feeling so much pressure right now being pregnant and not having enough help from my husband, I’m scared of how much imma have to deal with having a baby and working and cleaning. I’m so scared
The only real “villain” or antagonist in this movie is trauma itself and our inability to address it and heal as best we can. Augustine sings about Mirabel taking after Julieta and that moment showed me how much she takes after both of them. Mirabel has always had her gift. She has acute insight and compassion into other peoples pain. She can see what people need to hear and she says it and as we see with her sisters it makes a world of difference. Augustine can see what hurts others emotionally and does his best to help even if he sometimes struggles to get through to others. Julieta struggles with Mirabel’s pain because her gift only heals physical hurt. She tries desperately to protect Mirabel from the pains she can’t heal but is unsure how to help the pain already there. Luisa and Isabella are also hurting but it’s not as easily identifiable as Abuela being hard on Mirabel and gets overlooked. Anyway I really love this movie and it makes me cry every time I watch it so I’m going to go now. 😭
Exactly right
Just like your inner demons striking again because of negative thoughts trauma bad experience and etc
I think you have fabulous insight! Thank you! I am grateful for your gifts!!!
The real villain are those 4 horsemen who killed Abuelo.
Well, Alma IS the antagonist. She's just not a villain.
She's the way she is because of her trauma sure, but she's still emotionally abusive to everyone without realizing it.
When Mirabel is a child, you can see her drawings on the walls of her bedroom, and they are surprisingly beautiful for a child's drawings, you can clearly recognize the people in her family.
The first time we see her as an adult, she removes a piece of colored thread from her skirt, to let us know that she have embroidered it. She’s carrying a bag with an insanely complex design embroidered. Her clothes look amazing, the colors perfectly balanced, and the embroidery is made of different techniques; you clearly need to manage many skills to obtain that result, both artistic and manual.
Most people in real life would be envious of her talent, but still her family thinks she doesn’t have one.
She handmade decorations for the house, without using any magic but her own skills, and when she tried to show abuela what she had done, as her way to honor the family, what abuela responded was basically telling Mirabel she is useless.
Sure the movie has a lot of deep meanings around family relationship, and the talent of kindness and the importance of doing your best with what you have to spread love and keep people together… But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Mirabel is an artist.
In the first song there is a disproportion of shots on the details of her clothes.
Animators are first of all artists. Creative people are often seen by society and their family as useless and not enough. I bet most of them have been told at least once in their life something like “Why are you wasting your time drawing all day? Why can’t you be a doctor like your cousin? Why can’t you be a gardender like your uncle? Your sister at least is good at cooking and makes meals for the family, while you are doing nothing for us!”
Creative people are invisible until they become successfull with their career, but for many of them it never happens. For many artists the door never opens. It’s hard when you know who you are and what you are able to create, but no one else can see it, and it’s easy as time goes by and you keep been invisible to start thinking that they are right, that you indeed are useless and worthless.
I have a feeling this movie speaks to creatives more deeply than it does to anyone else.
A question I will never have an answer to is: does Mirabel really believe she doesn't have a talent, or does she avoid mentioning it because she knows it would be belittled? She even signed her skirt!
I think you missed one important thing: the problem is not that Abuela sees Mirabel as "useless".
She is afraid of her since Bruno had a vision about her but "disappeared", so now Abuela thinks that Mirabel will cause a disaster one day.
I also love how everyone's "gifts" are basically their trauma responses.
Abuela's Encanto is her closing off emotionally to not get hurt again
Bruno's Visions are him trying to read/predict people to prevent trouble (which is impossible mostly, which is why his intention fall short)
Pepa is always trying to be a ray of sunshine to not worry abuela
Julieta is trying to heal everyone's hurt
Luisa is always holding strong
Isabel is always perfect
Camilo is always changing who he is depending on who he's with as to not cause waves (or maybe he doesn't want to stand out and stay out of the way)
Dolores always listens to peoples problems
Antonio can understand those that the rest of society doesn't (Mirabel)
And Mirabel symbolized the need to stop closing and open up again. To accept help cause you can't fix it all on your own
Beautifully written!
Ironically that's precisely what make it the Colombian "X-Men" ha ha. In that comic the trauma responses trigger a gene which mutates a human being into being able to deal with that trauma.
I think that the gifts also correlate to what the people needed at the time. When the encanto was first created, they needed a way to care for everyone so Julieta was given the ability to heal the sick/injured, Pepa was given the ability to control weather maybe so she could help grow crops and such, and Bruno was able to warn and prepare for potential disasters in the future, ect. Maybe Mirabel didn't get a gift because everyone had everything they needed at that time. I think it's really cool how it can go both ways -- the filmmakers clearly put a lot of thought into it.
That's amazing! Good job for noticing that! 😁
So does that make Mirbel Abuela's gift? in a way
Rarely talk about in this movie is the moment when Agustín (Mirabel's father) confronts Abuela and says "I was thinking of my daughter"... That line absolutely broke me bc my parents never ever confronted my family when they said something off about me, because "they are family, and they love you, and mean no harm". Yeah, that might be true but that doesn't mean family can say anything hurtful and be inmediately forgiven.
My dad tells me that a lot when I tell him that’s the reason why I distanced myself from his side of the family. It was either “they love you” “they know you’re my daughter so they love and just want what’s best”. he rarely if ever stood up for my brother or me. It’s something I’m still talking to my therapist about.
Yes. You can acknowledge that someone is just doing the best they know how, and still say "hey, you're actually not helping, back off!"
I’m glad you brought this up! I’m going to defend my family more! It’s important that we have each other’s back!
Yeah, and you’ll notice the minute Abuela snaps back at them, the floor tiles rattle. It’s a hint about who’s really compromising the stability of the Casita.
@@bellasara65 I'm so happy this helped! I'm sure your family will notice and be really grateful for you having their back ❤️
"Isabella's out of control"
In that moment she was in control of her life for the first time ever, but she's out of Abuela's control. That's what was bothering Olma, but she didn't fully realize that. She was hurting the family, but not on purpose. She did it because of her own trauma. I believe that's why she can't really be called a villian.
She's not a villain and never was. She was, however, the antagonist; her need for control and the presentation of power and perfection causing her to act against Mirabel's needs.
Alma** lol
@@allurajane4979 sorry
@@justsomeferalminor "Alma" means "soul". The names are not subtle at all haha
@@Zzmora but the story telling is so it's fine.
Luisa's whole song is such a realistic depiction of the ''reliable kid". Like, I have an older brother, but I've always been the kid in my family that my mom depends on for everything. And it's like "I'm fully mid crisis right now, the entire world is crashing down on me, but I'm still going to catch you when you fall, I'm going to fix your glasses, all of this" Like, even when you're really struggling, you can't drop any of your responsibility
Then you fucked up once in your life, you are automatically tagged as worthless. I know how that definitely feels, sadly.😢
It's the worst. I have severe anxiety and depression after it all, and I hate how unreliable I see myself as now. Every little mistake feels like I destroyed a house or something priceless. Even though I am getting disability payments, I feel like a fraud who has fooled the system into thinking I'm worse than I am, and that I'm "just trying to get out of work". I wish it was as simple as asking for help
@@grandmafrostyI also really relate to Louisa and OP amd now have severe depresison
I related so much to Pepa. She is not allowed to feel what she feels. Every time she feels sad or worried it shows and she's admonished. "Pepa you have a cloud!" And pointing it out constantly makes her more worried about not feeling happy all the time. As soon as she starts feeling anything but happiness she makes herself only show happiness again; "clear skies, clear skies."
She can't help her emotions, but telling her to reign it in doesn't make them go away, it makes her spiral into more sadness or anger, and then everyone gets more annoyed at her.
Some of my family members kept telling me to not be so angry or grumpy, even when I just was feeling neutral and not really showing any emotion, but that remark made me feel annoyed and grumpy. Like. I wasn't angry at all. But if I was it wasn't acceptable either. Just look like you're happy, just smile, just pretend. I've been working on not feeling like I have to hide what I feel, because it doesn't stay hidden, it comes out stronger later on.
What I love though is her husband never tells her these things. That even though there was a hurricane on their wedding day because she was so upset, he thinks it was a joyous day, he loves her as she is. Also how insync they are during the Bruno song, he is poised ready to go when she starts telling her Bruno story, they are a long married couple they know each others stories and he's there to back her up.
This comment is everything I missed on the video
There’s a scene at the end where her and Felix are dancing under a snow (or hail) cloud. I see it as her accepting her emotions rather than suppressing them all the time
She looks so proud of herself when she says "It was my wedding day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky" but it's so sad when you think about the fact that at the end of the movie, it was still raining even though she was clearly happy as she danced in it, meaning she wasn't even allowed to be excited or even overly _happy_ on her _wedding day_ otherwise everyone, including her own mother, would have been upset with her.
It's part of why I like Felix and Pepa's relationship so much because he doesn't scold her for having a cloud or anything, if anything the most he does is tell her that her hurricane is messing up the flowers, but that's the only time he has an even remotely negative response if I remember correctly
What scares me is that I have a bit of a combination of all the characters. Oh boy, that's a handful of trauma I wasn't ready to unpack yet. But this seems very common issue for girls. We aren't suppressed the same way boys are with emotions but we aren't allowed to express being angry or sad. Anything unlady like. Also, feel like this is also a generational thing. I didn't see this issue as much with my peers but because I raised by my grandparents this was totally a thing for me.
The running joke about Mirabel's power is that her power is to get a Hispanic matriarch to not only admit they were wrong but ALSO apologize.
You will squeeze a diamond from coal much more easily than getting an apology from a Hispanic parent or grandparent let alone an admittance of being wrong.
Es gracioso porque es triste
@@itmustbecomeasun Reír para no llorar.
@@ArgentumFox Definitivamente jajajajjajaja
so true, you have to force them into a situation. Personally i tried it in a public area, that being a theme park in a very crowded area. A lot of my family thinks im calm and reserved so them seeing me absolutely snap was new for them, my mom apologized and then proceeds to continue doing the same stuff.
As a half Colombian where most of my family comes from there…
Yeah, that checks out.
Something that always stood out to me is how Mirabel has no issue at all seeing how Felix and her dad are important contributers to the family, even though neither of them has a gift either. It shows that she does not inherently think gift > no gift or that only a gift makes you worthy of praise or inclusion, this is a criticism she has only towards herself because she was "supposed to have one". And if this double standard is not relatable idk what is
edit: just to add quickly, of course this is not a double standard that Mirabel herself created, but rather the whole town (- maybe her Mom)
Idk… Mirabel 100% acknowledges them but throughout the movie I don’t see abuela interacting with them much, other than to yell at Agustine. Their wives mostly interact with them and they obviously love them but like Camilo makes fun of his dad, mirabel rolls her eyes at how accident prone hers is (almost reflecting the same attitude abuela has towards her “some people need to stay out of the way and not try to help” and we see her dad covered in bee stings literally three seconds after Isabella said the same thing to Mirabel) and even Pepa and Julieta get annoyed at their husbands (not as though happy couples aren’t allowed to be annoyed)…weirdly enough I think the attitude towards those two would have been similar to Mariano, where abuela just views him as “a chance to have many strong children and continue the miracle” i wonder if she’s like neutral to them because they’re just like “the husbands”
@@shorttbone4193 I absolutely agree with you, I do think that there is a very noticeable... I guess you could call it elitist attitude from the blood-madrigals towards them. I should probably restate the "gift > no gift" part in that regard. I do still hold on the aspect of being included though, e.g. they're both mentioned in the song (be it on a side note) and participate in the infamous family picture. And I don't think Mirabel personally ever thought of them as not being good enough to be included, even if they aren't as helpful as "the gifted ones" (ignoring the fact that Abuela also does not have a gift), but she does think that of herself even though she's trying very hard to hide/change it
I agree, but i think she also "creates" this somehow, the same way we sometimes overcriticize ourselves and than after we support and find the value of imperfections in friends and people we love.
@@like-a-linda7058 I see what you mean… maybe it’s because of the elitist mindset they’re held to a lower standard where Mirabel is a “blood” madrigal without a gift so she is seen as a failure
@@shorttbone4193 Yeah, that portrayal of the husbands was weird. It became more uncomfortable when other members of the family would consider them and others like them as nuisances. I really didn't see moments where the wives supported their husbands, or when the husbands supported their wives for non-magical related issues. The only moment that broke it was when her father started defending her at abuela.
Whenever I hear "it didn't need to be perfect, it just needed to be" I break into tears, because my mother is a HUGE perfectionist and I always felt like I had to be perfect but would never be good enough. That hits so close to home.
And also, during the songs, Mirabel is tossed around a lot, but it shows elements of the characters who are tossing her. Luisa is incredibly gentle with her, usually only tossing her out of the way of impending danger and then helping her up or fixing her glasses because Luisa is a protector. Camilo is also very gentle with her like when he sets her down during "We Don't Talk about Bruno" he is very careful with her because he's a very gentle person. Isabela is a lot less gentle with her, which is not to say that she's an awful person, it just shows how little she is expected to look after others. She's also the only person in the movie to purposefully (minorly) injure Mirabel.
I like this except for one thing. Isa's sequence was less her not being expected to take care of anyone and more that she was finally being given permission to not be what she thought everyone was expecting her to be.
I'd say probably because they've been at odds with each other their whole lives and have more of a traditional bickering sibling dynamic than her and Luisa, who sees herself as the caretaker, per her song. I mean it's not like we know Camillo as someone who is expected to look after people.
@@icantthinkofanything798 - Camilo is shown to take care of a baby during the first song. He’s a shapeshifter, so he’s expected to be whatever people need in the moment, which would most likely include protecting and nurturing.
Isabela is not used to taking care of people that's true. But there are two moments where you can see that she actually cares, and they are both during her song. First when she is at the top of the tree and she helps Mirabel up and says "careful, it's carnivorous". Then when she hugs Mira, and that is such a big sister hug. As a big sister myself I can say I have had some trouble with my younger brother and we fought a lot, but there was still this care, this gentleness that comes when you least expect it, and it goes unnoticed sometimes. I think it's also interesting that while Isa is perfect she makes roses and flores de mayo which are very delicate and "cute" flowers, but Isa herself is bitter and sharp towards Mirabel. But when she starts being herself and making cacti, which are obviously sharp, she is gentler and softer with her sister.
@@biancaalves6143 i dont think being perfect is isa's gift. Her gift us plants. But she looks like a younger abuela so abuela, and by extention Juillieta and pepa, thought isabella was "perfect". Abuela wants to make isabella into a mini her and recreat the life she had with pedro.
i was in a therapy appointment having a sort of breakdown about my role in the family (eldest daughter) and after a second my therapist goes “… have you seen encanto?” and i hadn’t, so i said no and she recommended i watch it and the next day i did and boy… it’s helped me see that i’m not alone. i struggle heavily with toxic perfectionism + the pressure my family puts on me because of it. mirabel, luisa, and isabella’s issues are all a part of mine and it felt nice to just be seen.
Good on your therapist for recommending Encanto! Movies can teach us valuable lessons. :)
an amen to that, sister
As another eldest daughter, I get what you mean about relating to the issues of all three sisters. This movie is so good!
That’s so awesome! The first time I watched the movie, it was with my brother. He’s not a crier, we both related to a movie character 😢
im glad that films exist, they are so much more than entertainment; they can be helpful for opening your eyes to things you wouldnt have discovered otherwise. its great, and im happy for you!
I really loved Mirabela's parents. Despite everything, they clearly love their daughter, and Julieta is doing everything she can to protect her.
Personally the worst thing I think Abuela did in the movie was surrounding when Mirabel is listening to her outside the window, because Abuela acknowledges she knows something is wrong and she does in fact believe Mirabel saw the cracks. That means she blatantly gaslights Mirabel in front of everyone at the party, which I thought was pretty awful.
I also thought it was interesting how the story she tells Mirabel at the begining compares to the real story. The story she tells shows the candle coming out of love and forming casita, while the flashback shows the candle flaring up at Abuela's grief and rage, and shows it raising the mountains. Based on what we see of the surrounding and Bruno's comment about the mountains, it seems like Abuela's grief literally trapped them all and cut them off from the rest of the world. It isn't until Mirabel confronts her and the rcok splits that they're able to break free of the walls Abuela built.
Agustin, too. When Abuela Alma chastises him for not thinking of the family, he says "I was thinking of MY DAUGHTER". I love that so much.
Admittedly he's not quite as helpful when trying to console Mirabel about being "un-special", but he's clearly trying, so points to him for that.
Abuela did that because of the townfolks. She kept repeating the phrase "Our magic is strong" either because she wanted to calm them down or to keep up the facade of the strong family. I'm not saying that it was right thing to do (she could've at least talked with Mirabel after the party), just trying to explain the motivation.
For me, the first scene with preparations for Antonio's gift reveal hit much more. It wasn't really that bad overall, but we know this is just one example of many in whole Mirabel's life. She was always not good enough, not doing things right, and even if Abuela tried to be gentle, she would still break her up with every word she ever spoke to Mirabel.
"Trapped" in this context is just another word for "protected"... That is the brilliance of the story, that everything can be seen from at least two sides, so real. I like the approach of describing Abuela rather than judging her--because she represents something powerful and good in our lives, the influence of earlier generations that has brought us to where we are, while still acknowledging that we have to grow beyond that place, that it's unhealthy to cling to it. Encanto is what a story ought to be because we can discuss forever the symbolism but however you understand it, the story rings true.
Which was because Abuela wouldn’t let herself grieve so she trapped not only herself but also her whole family in her grief.
I'd also like to point out that she, like Luisa, kept building this facade of perfection around herself, and not just her family. From gaslighting Mirabel at the party to the flashback, we can see she became very good over the years at hiding any weakness, or cracks- and honestly I have to say I can relate- I'm the oldest sister in my family, and both of my older siblings moved out early which left me as practically the oldest with a seven year gap between me and the next child. I was taught very early in life that weakness shouldn't be shown, any grief can be held in for later, and I need to be an example for not just my siblings, but my parents. I downplay any negative emotions, when my dog I had for twelve years died I just smiled and told the kids it'd be okay, we'd get another dog, and whenever bad news comes it's my responsibility to laugh it off and provide a distraction. So honestly, I hate Abuela a little less because I understand, and I understand that her story didn't justify her actions, rather, they explained them and made forgiveness easier.
I've always liked to think that the candle didn't get its power from Abuela's grief, but from her husband's sacrifice, and that he is continuing to protect his family.
One thing that just hit me watching this is Mirabel meeting Bruno is how she was able to realize her problem wasn't that she wasn't gifted. Because Bruno _was_ gifted and he still got slotted into the same Black Sheep role that she was.
This (along with what she finds out about her sisters' inner turmoil) is what helps her see that the problem is systemic. It's the family dynamic at large that's broken, the thing that _makes_ Madrigals into either golden children (Isabella) or scapegoats (Bruno and Mirabel).
EDIT: I'm not commenting on Abuela's role in things because, while I have my own thoughts on it, there's a layer of nuance and metaphor here regarding generational trauma involving immigration and displacement that I don't think I'm qualified to speak to, since it's not something I'm personally familiar with.
That said, having a different kind of generational trauma in my own family, I will say it's never an excuse for, nor does it absolve you of treating your loved ones badly. Honestly I think a better ending for both Abuela and the rest of the family was if she had left for a while to get her shit together.
Stephanie did such a great job as Mirabel, I'm just used to her being a cynical cop on Brooklyn 911 she has so much range
The problem is the grandmother's blindness to the effect of her own actions. The family dynamic is the same after the problem is solved. I think calling it "systemic" detracts from the personal responsibility of the grandmother. It isn't that she "is" the head of the household that is the problem, it's her actions "as" the head of the household.
The family dynamic argument makes it incredibly hard for anyone to be personally responsible for anything. That idea allowed me to think that it wasn't all my former step-moms fault I was getting abused for the littlest things by her. Also, the entire movie shows how that everyone except Abuela is willing to admit the problems they see going on around them. It is not until she admits she has a perfection problem that the family was able to heal after being released from her way of thinking.
I think the problem boils down to Encanto being a Disney movie that needs to neatly wrap up the movie with a nice clean 'happily ever after' ending after the dramatic climax. Fixing the sort of damage we see in the Madrigal family just doesn't happen after some empathy, a single conversation, and a promise to do better. That's a very good start, but there's still a long and difficult healing process ahead of everyone.
@@chengarqordath And that long and difficult healing process can easily be imagined to happen after the end of the film. The movie may end when the credits role but that doesn't mean it has to end in our imaginations. You said it's a very good start, and that's just it many "endings" are just "new beginnings" So I see it as they have started down the path of healing by the end of the film.
As a disabled person, Mirabel was soooo relatable as a metaphor for how disabled people are treated. I've watched this several times over already and it makes me cry every. goddamn. time.
I've never thought about it, but now that you mentioned it, it makes perfect sense.
Daaamn💭 You just blew my brain😶.
Right? This is my exact thoughts. I'm blind, had more vision growing up but was still very visually impaired. That scene where Abuela is telling her to let people better capable handle things hurt my heart. I've said before that I don't think they intended it to be a metaphor of disability, but it still is.
Agreed, Mirabel really resonates with me. I tried so hard for long to keep up with what I "should do", but my disabilities make that impossible. I'm still working on the idea that not being able to do some very "basic" things, does not make me lesser than.
@@Rhaifha If it's any help, I've been there - I spent my entire childhood+adoolescence constantly trying to show everyone how independent and *capable* I was. Eventually encountered the social model of disability and that was like having a rug pulled out from under me.
It's really difficult to do that work of ignoring everything society says about how people should be and be able to do (esp when nobody else is doing it and society keeps pushing the same rubbish on us) - and what helped me was to realise that *everyone* needs help doing things, some people need more help with more things and others less; what we are told about valuing certain forms of independence over others is ultimately very arbitrary. You are valuable and worthwhile regardless of what you can/cannot do (:
I think Isabala's main issue with Mirabel isn't so much "she's annoying and in the way all the time", though that certainly happens sometimes. I think it's more "Everyone expects everything from me, and here's my sister who is 100% free of expectation, boy that must be nice." They each see the other as being the lucky one who has everything. I'm the younger sister who was never good enough for my dad, so I relate to Mirabel, but my sister relates to Isabala because she always had to be the responsible one. She was the favored child but that came with a LOT of strings attached that I just didn't see as a kid so always resented her. Thankfully our relationship has come a long way and we're besties now.
There was actually a deleted scene that kind of explains why they have a rocky relationship. The deleted scene was when Isabella before had a boyfriend and Mirabel told on her. I think this is why she doesnt like Mirabel, she snitches. Since its a deleted scene it doesnt have to be cannon, but that could be it.
@@rivaul3649 that seems kinda OOC to me tbh. i would expect dolores to be the snitch, not mirabel.
that's me and my sister also
@@ReiAnikaAyanami must be why they nixed it
@@ReiAnikaAyanami Dolores is good at keeping secrets she hid Bruno away from everyone. She only told in the movie because she didn’t want Isabela with Mariano
13:09 as on older sister who basically had to raise my little sister (changing her diapers when I was only a year older than her, making sure she ate when our parents forgot) this song never fails to make me sob. The first time I heard it I had to fully pause my life and have like an hour long cry. Hits far too close to home.
Mhm, I relate to this a lot, As an older sister that had to raise my brother when my parents couldn’t, like putting him to bed, taking him outside, feeding him, changing his diapers, that song actually made me bawl my eyes out for an entire 30 minutes.
I just want to point out that during the argument, Abuela tells Mirabel “I don’t know what you weren’t given a gift, but it doesn’t give you the right to hurt this family!” THIS family. Not your family or our family. That whole scene is heartbreaking, but hearing Abuela say that line makes my blood boil.
I also want to add how much Abuela isolates Mirabel from the family too. There’s a lot of more obvious moments in the film, but one more subtle one is the scene mentioned above. Abuela is standing with the family behind her on one side while Mirabel is alone on the other side.
I didnt notice that detail of her saying "this" family. Taking a step back that is extremely hurtful.
Welp! That was hurtfull af.
Wtf.
Dude, that is a mistranslation. In spanish esta familia is not really excluding people its showing her anger.
@@trowawayacc wasnt the movie english?
@@trowawayacc the movie is in english
After watching this, nothing hurts more than to say “my gift wasn’t helping the family…but…I love my family” out loud.
1k liker
One of the things that I remembered that wasn't brought up, was the line "a gift as special as you are" because Abuela says it to both Mirabel just before her ceremony, and to Antonio after his, which makes it seem like she used that line with every child in the family.
I think that's also one of the reasons Mirabel's face falls in that moment, because one of the very few moments she got positive reinforcement from her grandmother, and on top of that a very private one, turns out to be fake.
ooh I never even noticed that, but it makes sense. Now I really gotta rewatch this
And it implies only a gift would make her special, which is reinforced several times during the beginning of the movie.
yes. it is also a reminder that since she didn’t get a gift, abuela doesn’t see her as special :(
@@slightlydistressedslug6627 Yes. Practically what I said.
Just when I thought Encanto couldn't find anymore ways to bring me pain 😭
The first time I watched the movie, “Waiting On A Miracle” resonated with me so much; I’m 22 and I’ve been seeing all my friends go to college, getting married, getting apartments and starting their lives but for me I’m still figuring things out but can’t help feeling like I’m stuck, even asking “When is it my turn?” Mirabel’s journey reminded me that even though I haven’t accomplished grand things, I’m still worthy of love and compassion and can chose to show that love and empathy back towards the people in my life. Mirabel is who she is meant to be, and so am I. ❤
Same here❤
Hey, for what it's worth, I'm 29 and just getting started. There's no need to rush, and other people's lives aren't as perfect as they seem (as Encanto shows us). Also, there are more paths in life than the standard "go to college, get married, have kids". If you want that life, that's great, but if not, that's also great. At 29, I feel grateful I am not married or a parent because I feel like it would make this stage of my life harder than necessary. You'll get to where you want in due time.
I understand that feeling. My younger sister moved out and got married at 20 and is about to be graduating college, meanwhile I'm 25 with no degree and was just able to get my first apartment. It can be hard when you've got other people around you doing the things you feel like you should be doing and you start to feel left behind, but I promise that you'll find your way. As hard as it can be sometimes, try not to compare your journey to theirs, because you're one of a kind and no one else's path will be able to fulfill you the way that finding and following your own path can.
I don’t know if this will help, but I didn’t go to college until 38.
College, marriage, all that stuff doesn’t make you who you are.
To answer your question: yes, you should do an episode about Bruno. Heck, each character is worthy of an episide. I am in awe of how much was packed into an animated feature film. It was deep, traumatic, and joyous. It had everything and I wouldn't hesitate to say that it may be the best mkvie Disney (or any studio) has ever made.
Yes, please! Bruno's choice to leave to protect Mirabel really moved me, and I wpuld love to see a therapist's take on it
Oh yes an episode on each character and maybe on on the lesser characters that don't get so much screen time like Pepa and Dolores.
I support this!!!!
A deeper take on every character would be amazing.
From war generation trauma to how to build better communities through healthy accountability by all. I'd love if the Bruno vid would speak about how much the community leaning too hard on the family as a whole.
Bruuuuuuuuuuuno! I love him so much.
I think the cactus stands for unconventional beauty. She calls it “not perfect but beautiful”
It’s also a very robust plant. And I think Isabella finds that she is a lot more robust than she thought she was. That’s why the cactus represents her true self. Beautiful, strong and yes, prickly
I think it's also telling that the spines of the cactus are a defence mechanism. They're protective. The cactus is beautiful and also safe from harm.
I love that as a perfectionist, her response to the cactus is not "i made this imperfect thing" but "what else can I do"
@@felixhenson9926 I think it’s more than just being safe from harm. Cacti defend themselves, something Isabella wasn’t able to do before. She went along with other people wanted, but now she is going to express what she wants.
It’s also the fact that she’s showing her thorns, like, roses are pretty and delicate yes, but roses also have thorns, but they’re hidden under the rose - you’ll notice that throughout the movie you only see Isabelle creating buds and blooms, not the rest of the stem. The cactus (in my interpretation) was her realising (Or accepting) that she has thorns and embracing them as a part of her, the part of her that was hidden under the rose.
Plus, cactus are pretty strong plants, not just when it comes to self defense and impacts, but also in survival, while many pretty donesticated flowers, like roses, are so fragile to the slithest threat that before modern agriculture some were valued enough for their stealing and vadalization to be worth long prison time. She's finally showing she's a god's woman, not just a glass ornament
This film absolutely broke me. I am a 1st generation immigrant from a Colombian family who left to escape the cartel violence in the 80's. I always disliked seeing people online criticizing Abuela because I have seen firsthand what it is like having family members who have experienced this degree of trauma and reckoning with it's lasting effects. People too often seem to conflate any kind of trauma but it is a spectrum. The fact that Abuela raised such a wonderful family is a miracle in and of itself.
Did the same to me for different reasons as I'm a first generation American who's father was legally removed before I was old enough to even remember BECAUSE of dumb decisions made through pride, machismo, and the cartels. This movie being the closest thing I have to experiencing the culture and family I had stolen from me on top of the interpersonal connections to individual characters.
Right? I’ve been so frustrated to see the hate. I may not have that trauma myself, but I have enough empathy to realize Abuela was genuinely trying her best and needed therapy, not to be villainized. Especially because she learned from her mistakes.
@@rachelhansen2417 Exactly. 100% she carries blame, it just always upsets me that it seems like most people would rather ostracize someone than try to help them based on their response to Abuela
@@rachelhansen2417 I'm not going to say that Abuela is "the villain," but I'm interested in how you think she learned from her mistakes. Her apologizing to Mirabel and the whole "you're the miracle" line with a hug tacked on at the end doesn't show squat. It's a one-off action and that's not evidence of real change. Real change takes time, as CinemaTherapy has said in other videos of theirs. It's good that she apologized, but it doesn't fix things. It doesn't mean she won't slip back to treating Mirabel (or other family members) like sh*t. Trust in her will take a hell of a lot of time to rebuild. Certainly more than just a closing song.
@@kateworkman921 You are meant to infer that she is dedicated to lasting change. Just as you are meant to infer lasting changes with each of the characters at the end of the film. Because Disney did not want to add another 30 minutes of therapy montage after the climax had been reached and crisis resolved. Also, if you notice, the house was not rebuilt in a day and the last song likely spanned several weeks/months.
You can see where Isa is coming from. Her behaviour towards Mirabel, while not justified, is understandable. In Isa’s eyes, Mirabel isn’t bound by the expectations set by Abuela; she’s not forced to uphold this image and is allowed to be herself. Isa feels like she’s trapped inside this tiny box and can’t express who she really is, which is why she lashes out at Mirabel - she feels as though it isn’t fair that Mirabel can just… be herself without receiving backlash, while Isa has to hide all of her feelings to please the family. Mirabel doesn’t understand what it’s like to always have to be perfect, to be this pretty Princess that everyone looks up to. Mirabel isn’t forced to smile and wave and act all proper to make everyone else happy. She, in Isa’s perspective, is free to be comfortable in her own skin. But what Isa doesn’t understand is that Mirabel is treated as lesser BECAUSE she doesn’t have a gift that binds her to the rules of the family. She’s treated as an outcast, and despite the efforts of Julieta and Agustin, still feels inferior to everyone else, like she doesn’t matter. She’s left out of the family photo, she’s pushed aside to make room for others, she’s not allowed to help with the preparations. Because Mirabel doesn’t have a gift, she’s not treated like she belongs. Everyone kind of just… ignores her. Mirabel feels like no matter how hard she tries, no one is ever satisfied with her - they’re not proud of her, and they don’t see the efforts she puts in just to be heard. Mirabel is neglected, and even though her family doesn’t try to, they’re always cutting her out. She’s invisible, and it’s really hurting her. Isa and Mirabel are such real characters and their individual struggles are all valid.
Right, except that Mirabel wasn't left out of the family photo since she stayed away from it by her own choice.
I feel like She stayed out because of the main point about how she didnt feel like she belonged and was even more saddened by the fact they didnt even notice that she wasn't in the picture with them
Having overly negative expectations of someone and having overly positive expectations are both equally as harmful.
I loved that Isabela made cacti and succulents when she stopped being 'perfect.' Roses are a universally beautiful flower, often considered the epitome of beauty and love (each color representing a different form of love in many flower languages). Roses are also spikey, though usually pruned spineless like Isabela who was acting perfect, removing her thorns in a way. When she finally accepts herself and shows her true bold colors, she makes plants that are often more spike than anything else. You can't remove the thorns of a cactus without others noticing. Cacti and other succulents are beautiful in a non-traditional way. I love the symbolism :)
Cacti are called SUCCULENTS???
XD
And cacti flowers are so beautiful too!
@@Ramsey276one yes! Because they absorb water as they are desert plants. Cacti are apart of the succulent family :D
@@dinofeino1811 in spanish it means DELICIOUS
XD
Personally, I found Isabella's power underwhelming when she was only growing flowers and thought her power was overhyped despite flowers being versatile too. Also the all pink color scheme was hurting my eyes too.
The lyric Felix sings, "no clouds allowed in the sky", sums up the family's entire conflict and the pressure ( well-meaning) placed on it by Abuela.
It describes the Toxic Perfectionism.
And the idea that if there were clouds, that it's somehow Peppa's FAULT and her "Responsibility" to fix. Peppa and Isabella should have a cup of tea together and chat.
Yeah it’s pretty cool the word play, “Allowed” not ‘no clouds are in the sky’
Also the line "abuela gets the umbrella." Specifiyng that abuela is the one to grab an umbrella emphasizes how she had no faith in Pepa. She didn't attempt to console Pepa, she just assumed things would go downhill and was resigned to it.
I like how it shows how offended Isabella gets by being called “selfish”. Mirabel doesn’t realize at first that her whole like she had been being selfless and being the exact person Abuela wants her to be. It seems silly at first for her to say “I’ve been stuck being perfect”, but much pain comes with ignoring your true self, even if that true self has a problem with certain things. Even people who don’t consider themselves perfect or pretty can fall under this pressure for everything to be a specific way rather than following the natural flow of life. The lyrics “what could I do I knew it didn’t need to be perfect, it just needed to be me, and they’d let me be” make me very emotional because it really hits home.
Yeah, it's a very powerful song, if it was just about beauty a lot of people wouldn't relate, but being perfect doesn't have to be about being pretty, it could be about the way you act, getting good grades, having a great job, etc. All of these songs are very relatable, not because we need to have the same issue, but because they talk about feelings that everyone has sometime or another, I love this movie
L O U D E R
It always made me feel sad whenever I see someone hating Isabella. It makes me hate myself more because she's the one I relate to the most.
I didn't start out liking Isabela because she's cruel to Mirabel. Most of the family exhibits a benign neglect of Mirabel, but Isa is actually mean to her. But the way she and Mirabel grow closer during her song is inspiring.
Mirabel: But it's awesome to see how you rise
Isabel: How far can I rise?
Both: Through the roof, to the skies
I really liked Isabella songs too, I felt so bad for her thinking that part of her perfection is to carry on the family line too. She was really going to marry this guy and have 5 kids because it was expected of her 😔
Isa was gonna marry someone she doesn’t even like “for the family”-I think that speaks loud enough for her. I love her so much and her song here always help me.
I think a fact that adds so much more depth to abuela's story is the fact that this is the reality of a lot of people in Colombia because of the guerrillas and armed conflict. They represent soooo many people and it is so incredibly sad. I love Encanto it's such amazing representation
ALSO the yellow butterfly is a reference to Gabriel Garcia Marquez! A very important colombian author
Can we take a moment to appreciate how in both of their emotional breakthrough song sequences, isa and luisa both protected mirabel from any sort of harm. Like even though mirabel constantly felt like she was just being carelessly thrown around throughout the songs you see them reach out and push her behind them and keep her safe and there’s something about the way that we see how they treat her in their minds versus in her minds in the span of a 3 minute song that’s so…wonderfully produced
This comment struck a chord with me. I feel like, in my family, we all thought we were looking out for and protecting each other. Sort of like a circle of 5 people fighting off surrounding enemies with their backs to each other, but we never bothered to look back and see that by "protecting" each other we grew further and further apart. In the end we were all left to fight and protect ourselves alone. Some of us were lost and others of us are wandering, trying to find our way back. We could never talk about our weaknesses or inadequacies, because we had to be perfect.
there's a FANTASTIC analysis of surface pressure that points this out- Luisa is always moving mirabel from the right to the left side of the frame out of danger in the song, then charging left to face it. It's really cool filmmaking, and I recommend the vid to any encanto analysis fans!
Also Isabela gagging and punching Mirabel with flowers, while what’shisface always gets a cactus. HARD. To the nose. In other words, Isabela never truly hated her sister, even though she’s constantly lashed out at Mirabel (since Mirabel’s the one person who doesn’t treat Isa as p e r f e c t ~ so Mira becomes the maladaptive-yet-cathartic punching bag for Isa-literally.)
Then once they finally truly have it out (you know that’s been building for years for both of them), they actually get along. They actually LIKE eachother once Isabel’s finally able to drop being p e r f e c t ~ in a way that’s not antagonistic to the ONE (1) person who sees past it (and therefore threatens it) but until that point still didn’t see *her.*
-which isn’t Mirabel’s fault. But yeah.-
Yeah! Luisa always fixes Mirabel's glasses so it shows she's not only caring in the big strong warrior way, but also makes sure in smaller and more caring ways that Mirabel is alright.
It’s so refreshing how they don’t invalidate Isabela and her struggles with toxic perfectionism. I’ve seen so many people react to her character mockingly, rolling their eyes when she lashes out on Mirabel because they can’t empathize or understand how detrimental the expectations of being the golden child is. Thank you for defending her.
THIS! I’ve had fairly decent grades since I can remember, and my parents are happy about that. But every time exam season comes up, I just feel the pressure on me to do better than I did before, or at least maintain my scores. The fear of facing my parents with the look of disappointment on their faces SCARES me. I know I have it better than a lot of people, but I really don’t want people to undermine our issues as the “golden child” just because they’re not as serious! It is, very much, a thing!
At first I didn't like Isabela because she was so smug the way she pushed Mirabel to apologize "for ruining her life" (That was just mean!). But I relate so much with her because you get under all these expectations and somehow have to hide the things that people may not accept (even though they are ok and real) in order to present a certain way. And the sad thing is that Isabela found safety in that unhelpful behaviour. Abuela reinforced it. She got praised for being a certain way and it was scary/ risky to lose that by displeasing Abuela, even to the extent of marrying someone she didn't really care about.
Exactly! They don’t understand Isabela. I’ve been seen as the golden child in my family, i had AMAZING grades, i’ve always been polite, i always do everything to be on the same page with my family, i dress how they want me to, i talk how they want me to, i behave the way every parent wants their child to behave. I was the favorite of everyone for my “perfection”. With quarantine, i stoped being a straight-a student, and i started failing classes because of my laziness. I’ve seen the disappointment and anger in my parent’s eyes when they think about my grades. They think i don’t care, but it’s my biggest insecurity. I’m scared of being bad at something. You know, kids like playing, even if they are bad at a certain game. Well, me as a child, HATED playing football, why? well, i wasn’t the best at it, so i cried if someone wanted me to play. I was 12. And to this day, i still hate football, because i don’t have a chance of winning being the mvp of my team. It’s toxic perfectionism, but i can’t help it, i was raised to be the golden child. Isabela was too. I can 100% understand her.
Fun fact: My mom wanted to name me “Isabela”, but my grandma said that she would call me “chabelita” (which isn’t a great nickname) so my mom decided that she wouldn’t name me Isabela. It’s fun how I was going to be named Isabela, just like the character i relate the most.
I think i just opened with my feelings and insecurities with strangers… Maybe someday i can do it with my mom (which is the most strict between her and my dad), considering that in 4 days i’ll start with tests and my grades will be revealed (i know that i probably got the worst grades tho…)
update: well... I told my mom because my second day in exams week, I slept 3 hours, cried 1 before sleeping and idk, I started crying while picking my stuff before school, my mom saw me (my eyes were so puffy and red, omg), and had a talk with pressure and expectations. we are basically in the start, my mom told me I started crying (and getting dizzy, and almost vomiting) because I was nervous, that she would bring me to school, and if I felt bad after doing my exams, she would pick me up, I didn't felt the need of calling her (even though I still digged my nails into my hands) in school, I got a 6.5/10 in my Spanish exam, and an 7/10 for my final grade this trimester in Spanish, felt really bad but got a 10/10 in science (just my test) so... my mom didn't told me I was a failure this time, so yay! I think we did great, I guess. But I'm still waiting for my other grades. I don't think my mom would be getting me into therapy, but at least I got (half) of everything I wanted to tell her off my chest. Thanks, guys.
@@val3715 You aren't lazy for not getting good grades during quarantine. I speak from personal experience with being the "smart one" and how that will ruin your ability to excel.
I was praised for being the "smart one" all during my childhood. In the beginning, everything came easy. I was always ahead of my classmates, and often so far ahead of the curriculum that I rarely had anything to do in class and I struggled with none of it. Time passed, the work got harder until I started to struggle. But I couldn't go to anyone for help; I was supposed to be the smart one. I could let them see me being not smart; that would mean they'd think less of me.
Meanwhile, since everything had been so effortless for so long, I didn't have any of the skills one would need to persevere. So instead of facing up against things that were difficult, I avoided them. If the work wasn't easy enough, I just didn't do it. Better to be seen as smart but lazy than to be seen as not smart enough.
It took me years to get over not doing things I enjoyed because I wasn't great at them. Even still, I tend to shy away from things where I'm good, but not great, comparing myself to the top of the field and finding myself lacking.
I would very strongly suggest you find yourself a therapist or even just a support group. You've been the victim of toxic praise and the sooner you can talk to someone and work through how that has affected your view of the world and yourself, the sooner you can break through the barriers that hold you back.
_For anyone who got this far:_ Don't praise people for things that are inherent to them; praise them for the work they do to reach their goals or accomplishments, regardless of their success. If you praise a person for being smart, or strong, or pretty, that signals to them that those traits are what is important. However, if you praise them for working hard, or being kind, or for making a good try, then you are telling them that the what isn't as important as the how, and that total success isn't the only thing that has value.
@@AndaraBledin There's this book. It's called "Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfill your potential" by Dr. Carol S. Dweck
PLEASE read this book. They way you feel is shared by millions, and this book explains it in full.
"They'll praise one person... not thinking it's a criticism of someone else... but it is." But it IS. Thank you so much for acknowledging that.
I think that Mirabel’s talent is empathy and connecting emotionally to people. Mirabel meaning “able to see blessings” and she’s able to see the great things in people.
Also here to recognise how the animators animated *cloth* in this movie. Clothes have never looked so clothing-y in animation before. Alan talked about the clothing animation in Coco, but this is a whole further step forward. In particular, watch Mirabel's skirt when she's running or dancing and changes direction.
Yeah, you know that Pixar do that thing about pushing things further each film? Like, for Monsters Inc., it was fur, for Brave it was hair (specially Merida's hair), well, for Coco they studied fabrics. They are always creating and developing new programs to animate things better everytime. They actually did a program for clothes and fabrics in Coco, how a skirt would behave if it had different types of fabric, for instance. And you can see they developed even more here. It's AMAZING
Omg yes! When she got full with sand? You can see the sand stuck in her wool bag
They really did make the skirt go spiny
Yes! Omg I loved it so much
@@einren1171 Loved that-though I think her magic ability is getting sand out of eyes...it hurts so much!
When Abuela lost her husband... They animated such a desperate face on her. I had never seen such a thing. bursted out crying just with her face.
Contrast that flashback moment with the fairy-tale version that Abuela told little Mirabel at the start of the movie. The emotional weight of that event was soft, vague... "Disneyfied", you could say. It was just a backdrop to the story of how the miracle and the Encanto were created, with Alma, apparently habitually, minimizing its effect on her. Then we (and Mirabel) see what actually happened, the pure raw grief and anguish that Alma felt in that moment, the softening fairy-tale presentation utterly stripped away to show the very real, very human, very traumatic impact. It made the scene hit like a ton of bricks. We can feel her pain and resonate with it. The animators did an incredible, incredible job.
@@redwitch12 yes!!! I noticed this too!! There was so much thought and emotion put into this movie
She's still a horrible person .
@@redwitch12I loved how they told the story visually two different ways in part because it makes sense for the ages Mirabel was at each telling.
@@redwitch12 I saw desperate face like that in anime. Ao Haru Ride. He found out his mother was diagnosed with cancer and she did die. He cried so much when he found out when she was diagnosed with cancer. He went home to cry alone though, not in front of his mother. He needs to stay strong for his mother.
25:35 when Mirabel says “I will never be good enough for you, will I?” You can see Abuela’s face slightly soften as if she’s recognizing subconsciously the pain her actions and words are causing but it is quickly replaced with a stern face as her bias takes over again to further make her point about protecting the family. Disney animation is insane for such little details in motion and facial expressions like this
"I will never be good enough for you, no matter how hard I try" was the sentence that broke me. I said the exact same words to my mother a few years ago. The realization hits really hard, and it may take years to recover from growing up this way.
I really loved how when the house is breaking from Mirabel and Abuela's confrontation, Cassita is still trying to protect them, even as it's breaking apart. Making sure Isabella slides down safely when her gift fails, giving Camilo something to grab onto to break hi fall, and it's final movement is shielding Mirabel. If the sentient house is Abuela's gift, then her gift acted when she couldn't, and protected her grandchildren.
That’s a lovely thought and interpretation
That's so beautiful! You could take it further and even say the gifts are each of their cores, their uncorrupted hearts, before they were transformed under social preassure and construct. Isabela is pure rather than perfect, Luisa is a force (in every way) rather than physically strong, Dolores is an active listener rather than a gossip-spreader...Pepa is an empath, Julieta is a caregiver (she's also the only one that remained true to her heart), Bruno has deep perception, Abuela is a protector. Camilo and Antonio I believe are comic relief.
Mirabel, well she is a healer. The glorified and unsustainable "perfection" of her family, the troubles of every single member, the social and personal (self)preassure, she can heal it all while (or because of) beeing seen as the "broken" one.
And so, when the facade is lost... their true hearts are unveiled and brought back to the surface.
I've also seen theories that casita is the spirit of Pedro, in which case, it was protecting his grandchildren too.
I love that the version of Abuela Alma's story we see at the beginning is sort of sanitized. The grief isn't in the scene, not on her face, as powerfully as it is during the retelling in Dos Oruguitas. And that makes sense because obviously, Abuela is telling a 5-year-old what happened so she's going to childproof it a bit, but it also leaves the viewers with a different perception of how Alma reacted and processed it. Later we get to see the real pain she went through. The "ugly" cry. The agony and anguish on her face are unlike anything I've seen in animation before. It tore me apart but it also adjusted and refined my perception of Abuela Alma.
I'm still stunned by how expressive that scene was, Alma's absolute devastation and grief really ripped my heart out. It's beautiful animation.
I saw that too. I've never seen that immediate grief in animation like that. Up did great showing the impact, but this was the first time the raw emotion was so there.
Yes the way they made the expressions is just so real. What got me wasn't just her reaction to his death yes that was heartbreaking but the scene they show after the candle creates the miracle she is sitting on the floor in her new house holding her three babies just staring at the wall not knowing what to do her expression is so devastating even though there is no more tears, that got me so much. Because it had to be hard for her she got this miracle but she lost her husband and has to take care of three newborn babies and help develop a town of people that are looking to her for support and leadership. She didn't really get the chance to process that grief because everyone depended on her.
that scene has my crying EVERY time
No but that scene actually forces tears into my eyes every single time I see it. You can almost hear her scream.
Every time the candle glowed brighter, Mirabel played a part in fixing the magic/helping the family. Every time the cracks showed up, the family was feeling the pressure getting to them, especially in front of Abuela. When Antonio was nervous, Mirabel gave him the reassurance he needed. Then the candle glowed at his ceremony. When Mirabel sang “waiting on a miracle” and finally admitted to herself that she wasn’t fine, only then did she see the cracks that no one else could at the party. If you look for it, it’s interesting to see when and where the cracks show up and the candle glows brightest.
Another excuse to watch the film again. Not complaining, on the contrary. Thanks :D
One thing I really like about the Dos Oruguitas scene is the contrast between the first version of Pedro's death we saw, where Abuela bowing down to the ground is portrayed almost like she's praying, with none of the reality of grief behind it, and this version where she is screaming in anguish, on her knees weeping because that's the shape her body is being wrenched into by the incredible pain she's feeling. I don't think it would've been quite as effective if we hadn't seen that first version first, so we could see the contrast of the story being told by someone who wasn't born yet vs the story being told by someone who lived it. I always appreciate a solid depiction of grief.
One thing I noticed is that Isabella, like Mirabel, is very creative. In “What Else Can I Do?”, she’s experimenting with patterns and flower types, and her outfit is this imperfect and colorful mix of pollen colors. However Isabella was so tied to her gift that unlike Mirabel who had no gift (and therefore no expectations to live up to and could explore her talents) that she was forced to be “perfect” and her creativity was locked away.
It reminds me on how some parents dismiss creativity or discourage their children from following a more creative inclined career path or put “perfectionism” (ie good grades) before creativity because they think it’s “not going to take my child far/help them be successful.” (Similar to how Abuela said Isabella was “out of control” when she was finally able to be herself).
Edit: I also am wondering if the reason that Isabella was so cold towards Mirabel is because she was envious that Mirabel could be creative and be herself while she was forced to the girl Abuela wanted her be.
Right! Or praise only certain displays of creativity, like supporting your kids who does art but only when they do realism, but reject different creative art styles. This being like the types of plants she "should" make
Damn that should be a book
Pedro means rock, a symbol of foundation. Alma means soul or spirit. Mirabel is wondrous. Luisa means warrior. Isabela means beautiful. Dolores means pain (she hears EVERYTHING and then suffers through a bit of time pining for a man she can’t have, so pretty painful). Camilo is like a chameleon. Disney did so well on the names for this film!
Also, Mirabel is also a metaphor on how she can "see" the real problems.
"Mira" in Mirabel comes from the word "Mirar" in Spanish which means "see"
And also the glasses to help this metaphor, everything just makes sense! Absolutely love this film
@@happytree3192 Yes, Mirabel actually has a lot of depth to her name, from rhyming with Miracle, being wondrous, and Mira-belle, to see the perspective of beauty, basically. Yeah, I speak Spanish natively, so I knew that. Such a good choice for her name, honestly
@@happytree3192 and the glasses are green like the prophecies because she is the only one able to see THROUGH the prophecies and not just AT them. This film, man.
@@elisakrivas Same! Nice to meet another native speaker ❣️❣️
@@lucyj8204 This film is genius, mesmerizing, gorgeous, literally every positive word ❣️❣️
As a Colombian that has suffered the consecuences of intergenerational trauma this movie meant the world to me, I felt so heard and understood. I especially identify with Luisa and Isabela, since I always had to be strong and the better person when things were rough at home and always show that everything was fine to the outside world. At the same time I always had to strive for perfect academic results. I always felt like I only deserved love if I got good results in whatever I intended to do. Failure meant wortlessness. And all of this can be traced to the horrifyingly violent situations my dad and mom had to go through in their past. And you're right, it doesn't justify the abuse my sis and I (and even my mom) had to endure but it helps to move on to better family dinamics ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯. On another note, I ALSO WANT A CASITA SO BADLY!!!! ⋋✿ ⁰ o ⁰ ✿⋌
We all need a casita. Where are my keys? Oh, thank you Casita!
Maybe you can watch encanto with your elders and spark a conversation? I’m sorry you had that burden. You deserve support, and family should provide that, in a perfect world.
I am not Colombian my parents are Peruvian so I have related to this story in other ways I'm just glad that it creates a dialogue of how Hispanic and Latino families sometimes operate
Eso le pasa a todo el mundo, no eres la única con problemas en este planeta. Supéralo ya smh
@@BerryStraw15 Solo porque alguien tiene problemas que compartimos muchas personas, no significa que dejan de ser problemas que tienen un gran impacto. Es como decir que los que estén deprimidos tienen que superarlo porque hay muchas personas deprimidas, así no funcionan las cosas.
Hay que hacer introspección amigo, porque una persona sana no anda por ahí minimizando los problemas de los demás.
@@mushynova7291 No se minimiza nada, todos tenemos problemas y nos jodemos. Asi es la vida.
This movie in general got me into the feels. The fact that the mere short clips featured in this vid caused genuine tears to me shows how powerful a message can be if portrayed right. Family trauma and perfectionism is now becoming a common theme in Disney productions and I am glad.
In general, family trauma-themed television is becoming so prevalent as more and more millennials and gen z are growing up with the tools to heal our intergenerational trauma and break toxic cycles that existed for generations. I’m so here for it! If you haven’t already please watch Everything Everywhere All At Once, Russian Doll, and The Haunting of Hill House. They all touch on this in such creative ways and I ended up crying at some point during all lol 😢 even older titles like Cloud Atlas and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt get it.
"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine."
First time I heard this line in We Don't Talk About Bruno I took it as Isabella's current reality, when in fact, she'd been basically faking everything and was probably hoping that someday she could finally be herself. So clever, this line is foreshadowing what's about to happen in the movie.
Also, when Mirabel finally understands Isabella, she sings the same melody. She melodically and narratively sees things from Isabella's perspective.
@@briandaaranda9735 OMG HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS WHEN I LITERALLY MEMORIZED ALL OF THE ENCANTO SONGS
@@고은우-m7h I know, right? This movie just keeps on giving each time you watch it.
Indeed the "someday" part makes so much more sense when it comes to the latter part of the movie.
While I have no doubt it was written with that in mind, that part honestly doesn't makes sense to me because we've seen how Bruno's power works. It's purely visual, which is fairly unique when it comes to prophecy, because of how fun doublespeak can be when writing foreshadowing- if Bruno sees something happen, it will happen. But how can he see Isabella have "The life of her dreams"? Does he know she'll one day be free and not have to be perfect? If so why didn't he tell Abuela that she didn't want to be perfect. Or did he see her life as it was, with a hot boyfriend and a beautiful body, beloved by everyone? Also, Dolores' fortune is a little iffy- technically he is out of reach at first, but we all know what happens at the end. So Bruno's prophecies WILL be fulfilled, but it doesn't mean there won't be a paradigm shift later. For examples, Bruno said the fish would die, not much you can do, but if Bruno says you'll get fat, while you will get fat, you can lose the weight afterwards and the prophecy will still be fulfilled.
One of the things that stood out to me early in the movie is the relationship between Antonio and Mirabel and their first conversation under the bed. I was so struck by how they portrayed not only his fear at not getting his own door, but his compassion for Mirabel not getting one "I wish you could have a door." At just 5, he could already see how not getting a gift had affected (...is still affecting) Mirabel and how she's viewed by the family, and at just 5 the seed of trauma from potentially not being "perfect" had already been planted.
And on that note, the payoff at the end when Antonio gets to give her the doorknob and walks her to her door....* *chef's kiss*.* Few movies have gotten past my threshold for actual tears; this one had me openly weeping _multiple_ times throughout the *whole* film.
It is so sad that Mirabel doesn't have her own room as an adult, she's still in the nursery. It singles her out more, like she's a guest in her own house. I really hope she gets her own room in the new home so she can have her own space
And that scene of giving life back to the casita perfectly rhymes with Antonio having Mirabel walk him up to his door. They did share a bedroom for his entire life, so it makes sense that their relationship would be especially close. It is just unfortunate that the seed of fear of disappointing Abuela and letting down the community is so deeply planted in him already.
Oh yeah. My family of choice, three 52-year-olds, two women and one man - so many tears for all of us, no shame. I had watched and very much enjoyed many of the songs before I saw the film, but man, in context, they hit HARD in unexpected ways.
ok dude this is totally unrelated but i love ur username
I also love how the first animal he communicated with was a toucan, like the toy Mirabel gave him before the ceremony.
Dolores is a character who gets forgotten about quite a lot. Imagine being the reluctant keeper of everyone's secrets. She heard Luisa's eye twitching all night - did anyone wonder if SHE got any sleep? She refers to Bruno in the present tense and is the only one who does that, no one wonders why? She could hear him in the walls, the result of all the pain inflicted on him by her own family. She knows he's there, says nothing. She whispers even when she sings, everything is too loud for her, she's permanently overwhelmed, then she's labled a gossip for the things she can't keep to herself? Do you punish the kettle for letting out steam when it boils?! The only time she raises her voice a tiny bit is when her gift has faded, and she seems so relieved. Imagine being burdened by everyone else's curses and never being able to switch off. She never asked for this, she didn't establish herself as the family gossip, she grew into it despite herself. I really wish more people saw Dolores for what she is. You think you want to know everything until you do, and it eats you alive.
Film Theory: Dolores BROKE The Magic! (Disney Encanto) ua-cam.com/video/Xz2oowy5JxY/v-deo.html
I found part of Dolores' struggles oddly relatable as a person with autism and ADHD. My brain can't filter stimuli as well as most other people, can't distinguish important from unimportant stimuli well, so most of the time everything I see and hear and feel just rushes at me like a firehose that I can't turn off. I'm pretty sure that my eyes and ears and my sense of touch aren't that much more sensitive than those of other people, but my brain just doesn't filter all that information out.
A good analogy I often use is the fact that technically your nose is always in full view of your eyes whenever your eyes are open. It's always there, it's never *not* there, but you're never aware of it (except for now because I just mentioned it haha). Now imagine that your brain isn't able to filter out your nose from your view.
What I experience is that whenever something moves or changes anywhere in my vision, especially in my peripheral vision, I notice it. Whenever there's a difference between the ground beneath my left foot and my right foot, I notice it. Whenever there's a sound, either continuous or incidental, I'm aware of it. And it's not just the awareness, it drains energy.
The whole reason that brains usually filter all that stuff out is because it costs energy that could be better spent elsewhere. But I sometimes feel cursed to "waste" that energy on stimuli that I don't need, that are not important, that don't matter. Train stations and grocery stores are intensely overwhelming for me and I'm just exhausted when I get back home. I practically live with my ANC headphones on all day every day just to be able to function without getting my attention pulled away by unimportant stimuli, just to be able to focus on anything without getting aggravated and frustrated because I can hear the water running through the pipes in the walls and I can't turn it off.
Granted, it definitely has its benefits, absolutely. There are things I can do that most others can't, because I'm the only one who noticed everything. I can see patterns that others can't because my brain has collected more data. But those are the kinds of benefits you would pretty much only mention in a "hey, it's not *all* bad" context. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love those benefits and I'm grateful for them, but knowing that you can't "cure" sensory processing issues like these often feels like I'm just cursed to be stuck with them my whole life. You can absolutely learn to manage it, but it will always need managing and it'll never truly be easy.
@@MerelvandenHurk I have ADHD too, I hear everything all the time, so I can't hear anything. I'm hearing impaired although nothing is wrong with my hearing - I can't concentrate on anyone, so I can't hear what they're saying. I relate to Dolores in that way, too.
@@DestructionGlitter I hear you! I'm glad that people like us can find some sort of representation in characters like Dolores 😊 Now all we need is representation of actually autistic or ADHD people who are identified as such and who aren't the main focus of a show but just "there".
@@MerelvandenHurk amen to that
You two are so tender. It makes you both wonderful and this channel delightful. Thank you for your authenticity.
Thanks! Glad you enjoy the channel. :)
What can they say except: you're welcome🎶
No but for real I'm really thankful, too :)
This movie also works really well as a disability narrative. As a disabled person I relate to Mirabel on a very visceral level. She can't do all the things everyone else can, and she doesn't need to. She's herself and that's enough.
Amen!
Same for me because I have ASD but I also identify me with Isabela because I'm the eldest daughter
I have chronic pain, and I can’t work for more than four hours on good days (at least physical jobs) and half the year I live in my bed from achy bones and muscles, to over sensitivity especially in my nerves along my skin. I relate to all the young women of the group (despite being non-binary) in someway or another
"Waiting on a Miracle" got me - I have cerebral palsy, and it took me until I was 27 to get past "Don't be upset or mad at all.." about the limitations I do have.
♥♥♥♥♥
A part of this film I really liked was little Antonio. He always sees Maribell and is there for her. When it's his turn, he's so afraid of not having the magic work for him but instead of saying "I don't want to be cursed like you" he turns to Maribell and says "I need you".
It was really touching to me.
He's so adorable
it always makes me cry how she is the one that leads him to his miracle and he is the one that leads her to the restored house in the end.
I have a little brother who now lives in another country and who I miss so much and I cried my eyes out on every single scene with Antonio, literally nothing could stop it
Antonio’s the sweetest boy 💔
I thought it was really rare to see the protagonist/“child” recognise and acknowledge what the adult (Abuela) has been through too - it’s not often we see that in a Disney film!
That's probably because all the parent figures are usually dead....
Even rarer was the adult/the one in charge listening and realising they *were* wrong AND, on top of that, apologizing for it. Almost immediately. Most unrealistic part of the movie, wish elderly people were more autocritical like that.
@@MusicLoverInTheSky being a latino, this part almost broke my suspension of disbelief lol I'm exaggerating but this is almost non existent here
@@termochila4985 oh, I'm with you on that, I'm also latina and elderly people vary from never aknowledging that they might be wrong to apologizing but never meaning it or making an effort to change, mostly. That part made me audibly go "that's IT? Easy like that and the conflict is over? Pfff right!"
Still a good movie tho LOL
@@koalaeucalyptus i think it's more of the wish that the filmmakers hope adults would do. What often breaks our family is our ego. If only people in many families can own up to their mistakes, no matter if they're children or adults, perhaps we'll all get the happy ending like in this movie
I noticed a small detail. Alma says "I don't know why you weren't given a gift, but it's not an excuse to hurt this family" she DOESN'T say that Mirabel not having a gift is what's outright causing the miracle to die. In fact, the way she phrases it implies that as far as she's concerned they aren't connected. She's still in the wrong, and what she's saying is still bad, but I feel like it shows that even in that moment she still cares about her granddaughter. She was just too scared to show it properly.
Is it just me who thinks we should talk more about Julieta?
She cooks for everyone in town AND the family. When she healed Agustín and then talks to Mirabel, WHEN Mirabel is out and she is alone with Agustín, that's when she lowers her shoulders. It feels like she's just showing her suffering to him.
I totally agree. I haven't heard anyone talking about this, but I kind of think that Julieta is the Isabella of Abuela's triplets in that she is the golden example of what the gifts should look like and how they should help the community. Except rather than Isabella's flashy showcasing of perfection, Julieta stays quiet and reserved. She's like the mother of the entire community, not just the familia Madrigal. Which is probably even more symbolic because she is literally too busy and too reserved to get a solo.
@@chloemackli511 exactly, and it feels like if Bruno wouldn’t be the “bad” child with “bad” gift, it would be Pepa.
Imagine needing a mental health day and just not being up to cooking but someone got sick/hurt.
Don’t forget the picture they took during Antonio’s night, when they take it Julieta has this pained look but smiles through it with Agustin as the photo is being taken. Just goes more into depth about her as a character, she’s aware of how Abuela treats Mirabel but is forced to do nothing, she can’t make a scene confronting Abuela why she had taken a family picture without Mirabel because of the public picture her mother raised her to prioritize
@@bearlyalive9669 Speaking of Antonio, we see Peppa being so worried about Antonio's night having to be perfect and I think this is affected by how Mirabel's celebration night was a disaster. Antonio was scared about the celebration night too since he heard about Mirabel's case but gods I feel so bad for Peppa too.
Why does no one ever point out that Luisa carrying donkeys, beasts of BURDEN, symbolizes her carrying everyone's burdens. 😭😭
Maybe it's like duh, but ugh. Love her.
I never knew that
The same way I never heard anyone talking about the cracks Bruno was repairing. It’s like when you finally see the cracks in the outside, the inside has already being cracking for a long time. The damage was already there, but first we try to fix it by ourselves and even when we think we did it and feel better, the scars are there and it’s easier to crack again.
I'm glad your pointed it out because I never realized that connection.
I didn't think of that till you pointed it out
They're so cute tho 🌘w🌘
“Meanwhile, I’m going to be weeping loudly” 😅 Alan’s existence is so valuable to me! I don’t have a lot of guys in my life right now, and when I did they hung on to one form of toxic masculinity.
Its nice to see dudes just being real. Alan and Jono must be such great dads
One of the moments I find most interesting is when Mirabel doesn’t get a gift. You would think she would look to Abuela with sadness or confusion, instead she looks to her with fear - almost like she thinks she’s done something wrong and she thinks Abuela will get mad at her.
Her little face when that happened wrapped fingers around my heart and squeezed. I could never bear if a baby looked at me that way. It makes me so sad.
I think it included sadness and confusion, because to her understanding that had never happened before. and she must've been wondering what was wrong with her in order for this to happen. and she had to have been upset because she realizes that she's not gotten a gift, and she will have to live the rest of her life without one. but yeah, it definitely included fear. they put a lot of pressure on her to "do things right", even though the entire process was out of her control. poor little thing must've been terrified. it makes it worse that she was only five :((
Yep. That look on her tiny face is heartbreaking as the door vanishes and she gazes up at Alma as if worried she somehow messed up and that's why the door is being "taken back". And we never see Alma say anything in that flashback either, just...staring, with that look of shock that slowly morphs into vieled worry and disappointment. That's a LOT of pressure to put on a child.
I love how not only the house, but the litteral mountains are a metaphor as well. When she lost her husband, Abuela got herself in a cocoon made of the moutains (that prevents anyone and anything from getting in or out) and focused all her energy on helping the community instead of processing her grief. And when Mirabel confronts her at the end, she forces Abuela to confront it - no place/cocoon to escape the pain anymore (the mountains shatter). The fact that they end up at the exact location where Pedro was killed is the hammer the point that Abuela is now facing the horror she went through, and can now be free to move on (open moutains, butterflies flying away). Abuela went from being a little happy caterpillar, to locking herself in a cocoon to then be able to emerge a free butterfly.
I wonder if an appropriate metaphor would be this: when someone experiences trauma, a part of them seizes, arrests, stays trapped in that moment even as they grow up, and the only way to move on from that trauma is to come back to that self
It's like she ignored Mirabel because everything was perfect and Mirabel was a constant reminder that that simply wasn't true, that she couldn't live the rest of her life pretending the death of her husband wasn't a big deal and that things wouldn't fix themselves - there wasn't gonna be "a second miracle" to save the first - and that she needed to take action - acknowledge the trauma and work through it - it is okay that she couldn't do it right afterwards, specially with three newborns, but she couldn't run forever as her cocoon became a prison and the more time she spent there, the more hurtful it would be to her eyes to see the light again.
This movie has more layers than an onion.
One of my FAVORITE symbolic details in Encanto is the family mural Bruno's room is behind. It's tiny, but the crack in the wall Bruno watches his family through, splits across the literal base of the family tree, suggesting that the issues with the cracks and such Mirabel is trying to fix, started looong before her birth. This is a generational problem.
Just adding to how amazing stephanie beatriz is, the fact that she sings waiting for a miracle while in the early stages of labor is something else. "don't worry I got this". she is all around amazing. so to your point no she didn't try to sing while fake crying, she was doing something harder and it made an amazing song.
I adored how in the "Bruno" song, Dolores is the only person who is empathetic towards Bruno, and other than Camilo, the only one to discuss him in the present tense. A hint that she heard him all along, and that he never REALLY left.
She literally said she heard him everyday in one of the songs so it’s really not a hint my guy 😭
Bruno is nodding along in the background, so you bet she knew.
At the beginning she also tells Mirabel that "The only one worrying about the cracks in the house is you... and the rats in the walls" 😂 (sorry if that's not word for word, I've only watched it in French so far)
That and Camilo singing that Bruno is friends with rats, is also a hint
that's why she's my favourite character : their gifts are a continuation of their personalities and she's not (only) hearing everything because she's spying on everyone, she hears everything because she listens to everyone
@@TheGabygael writers suggested her bedroom is soundproof, so she can get some relief from constantly hearing everyone. Which would explain why she doesn't hear everything, like Abuelas prayer
The ending of the movie where her family sings “We see how bright you burn. We see how brave you been” hits me right in the gut/chest. I cry every single time. I’m just waiting on that moment from my family…
Oof, same. Even reading it hits too hard. Tearing up a bit
You may not get it from your family but someone will look at you someday and see that 💜
Same and also the thingy like "You're more than just your gift"
Same. I’m the outcast in my family because I chose to stay home with my kids instead of Pursue a career. I so relate with Mirabel, this movie is just amazing . Sending love your way!
As someone who's waited all her life to hear the same from her family, let me tell you this - they won't. I know it sounds heartbreaking and gut wrenching but that's true. You be the person who says that to you. You make your validation about you most important than anybody else's validation, even if it's your family. I've done that for me and trust me, I'm in a much better place 💜
So, my take on Mirebel’s lack of a gift is that *she* is the gift
She brought the family together, she let all the tension and stress be released, she got people to get their issues off their chest
She saved the family, and helped everyone in the family
Abuela was worried about the big picture, the family, the miracle, the casita
Mirebel saw the forrest for the trees, and by doing so, saves the forest
I think that's the final point in the movie - we discover that it's Abuela herself that's the gift, and Mirabel is there to carry that on to future generations to come.
Even so, i feel like she deserves her own room, it must suck to have to share every time a new kid is born. Give the girl her own private space, ffs
Agree. People who say the house is her gift don't make sense.
To me it was that Mirabel was going to be the next matriarch. Abuela also didn't have a gift and was a (poor) grounding force for the family. Mirabel's gift was her vision to see a new path forward for the family to take together.
I think the room thing was symbolic, as before if you didn't have a gift there wasn't really a place for you in the family. After they rebuilt the house though Mirabel did get a room signifying the change that there is a place now for everyone, gifts or no
She will be the guardian like her grandmother.
I relate so much to Luisa, maybe not physically but certainly mentally. I don't do a lot of labor like she does, but I feel like everyone around me is always falling apart and I'm responsible for keeping them together. My mom cries almost every day, my boyfriend has a whole host of mental issues, and my dad is usually out of the house. It just makes me wish I had more problems so that someone would take care of *me.*
Oh shit "makes me wish I had more problems so that someone would take care of me". That hits hard. I'm disabled, but my disabilities are "invisible" and not severe enough that they get noticed all the time. So I sometimes wish something horrible would happen to me so people would actually realize that I need help and so I would feel worthy of that help. But I know I am worthy of it. And so are you. It's just hard.
@@anneblackwood9013 It really is hard. I hope you get the help and the love you need and deserve, and that things get better for you
@@withercat1801 Same to you 🫂
Fun fact if you look at Isabella she looks near identical to Abuela when she was younger, and the guy she was supposed to marry looks very close to Abuelo Pedro. So abuela is projecting her life onto Isabella in a way
That's a huge reason behind theories of why Abuela favored Isabela. Abuela saw a second chance to live the life she wanted, and so used Isabela to fulfill that dream. The more Isa lived up to Alma's expectations, the more it fed her biases that Isa was a copy of herself. Next thing you'd know after Isa marries Mariano, Abuela would be recommending when to have kids and "strongly suggestion" her personal favorite names.
I would like to say something. Whenever Dolores squeaks, it means she heard something she wasn't supposed to. This is because the people in Columbia developed a way to communicate short ideas without speaking. Also, I'd like to point out that the Casita made the space where Bruno was living in the walls.
How did the people in Columbia develop a way to communicate short ideas without speaking? Honestly would love to understand.
@@biancavillalobos9252 I’ve been told it was because of war and such, like they came up with codes so the enemies couldn’t hear and it just stuck in the culture. Not sure if it’s entirely accurate but it would make sense.
@@toxicsugarart2103 that what I learned too.
The squeak may also have been a warning to the speaker that they were carelessly saying things in public that people nearby could overhear.
You know.... They say that Mirabelle didn't get a gift but she's literally seeing the inside of the people she connects to. She's seeing all of Luisa's fears, she's seeing Isabella for who she is, she LITERALLY saw Abuella's past. She's experiencing who these people are and not just via a connection or anything. She's seeing what's causing their pain. She's EXPERIENCING IT while helping them.
That crazy. Is that Jono's gift too?🤔
@@marybethkilmer174 Do you mean Bruno? If so, Bruno's gift is seeing the future, not past
@@queerdeificeeli985 nah, jono is the family therapist in this videao
@@elysp940 Oh, my bad! I'm new to the channel so I didn't know
Isn't that basically what "An Empath" does? Feel peoples pain and often helps the person going though that pain? Or am I making Empathic people out to be some sort of super hero? I might misunderstand the meaning "Empath"
I remember the first time I watched Encanto, the Surface Pressure song came on and jokingly (but also truthfully) my husband turns to me and says 'hey it's a song about you'. I just burst into tears and he felt so bad but I felt so seen.
I also wanted to say that one of the interpretations I have of Isabela making a cactus is that it can't be held easily. It can't be touched without care, or plucked to put in a vase for it only to die shortly after. It really is something that needs to be planted or potted. There's a lot of layers and symbolism in that, I really love it.
And finally, thanks for your vulnerability in these videos, it helps us so much.