I Can't Stop Talking About Encanto (and also Bruno)

INTRO:

“We don’t talk about Bruno!” But we will sing about him!

I really hope more people are enjoying Encanto now that it’s on streaming, because my god, I utterly adore this movie and its cast. And just like everyone else, I’ve had “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” on loop almost every day since I saw it with my friend. Fun fact: we were the only ones in the theater to see it. Which on the one hand, cool! But on the other hand, I want more people to enjoy what this story has to offer.

Encanto is a fairly simple movie. A family where almost everyone has a magical gift, and our story follows the powerless black sheep. But surprisingly, it’s less about her trying to feel special, and more about her discovering the cracks in her family’s foundation that have slowly been tearing them apart from within. Everyone is a flawed, three-dimensional character you can’t help but wanna love.

So today, we’re gonna talk about why I love Encanto so much. I’ll be talking mostly about the writing and storytelling, since that’s my forte, but I do wanna say the animators knocked it outta the goddamn park here. The fashion, the character designs, the vibrant colors, the cinematography, the music, just… yes to all of it.

Spoilers ahead, naturally.

THE FAMILY MADRIGAL:

Let’s quickly go over the family members for future reference. It all started with Abuela Alma, who was forced to flee her home with her husband and triplets. Her husband gave his life to protect their community, and in her grief, Alma was blessed with a magical candle that created a safe haven for everyone: the Encanto. This also includes a magical house, the Casita, who is contender for favorite character alongside the Ocean from Moana.

As each of Alma’s children came of age, Casita presented them their own rooms, as well as a gift: a magical power said to be as special as them. Julieta is able to use the food she cooks to heal people’s injuries, Pepa can control the weather with her mood, and Bruno can see into the future. I know we weren’t supposed to talk about him, but he’s best boi and I have no regrets.

Bruno never had any kids, but Pepa and her husband Felix - who is best husbando - had three children: Dolores, who has superhuman hearing; Camilo, who’s a shapeshifter; and Antonio, who at the start of the movie gains the power to talk to animals. Julieta and her husband Augustin, meanwhile, had three daughters: Isabela, who can create flowers; Luisa, who has super strength; and Mirabel, whose gift is anxiety. There’s also the toucan, who is an asshole.

I’m a sucker for the idea of unique powers which reflect their holder. You can easily get an idea of each character’s personality just from their gift and aesthetic, from Luisa’s need to be strong in order to support her siblings and family, to Isabela being held up as the golden child.

Fun fact: Alma’s three children each represent past, present, and future: Juliet can return someone’s body to its prime before it was hurt; Pepa can control the current climate with however she feels in the moment; and Bruno… well, he can see the future, duh. How fitting then, that because the family refuses to deal with its problems, it’s taken away their possible future together, represented by Bruno being the one cast out and vilified.

Over the course of the movie, we see that while the gifts may appear as blessings on the surface, they can actually be incredible burdens weighing them all down. Luisa specifically admits how much weight is put onto her shoulders, trying not to show weakness to keep up appearances at Abuela’s request. Isabela feels trapped in her role as the perfect one, pressured into a marriage with a man she doesn’t love when all she wants to do is grow a cactus garden.

And oh my god, poor Pepa is a goddamn mood. Over and over, people point out any storm clouds over her head, which yeah, she’s aware of. She’s constantly made to force herself to be happy to prevent shit like this from happening, and thank god for Tio Felix doing his best to keep her calm and show her affection. That man is a saint, and surprisingly, they’d probably rank pretty high when it comes to Disney couples for me.

I don’t know about y’all, but I felt so anxious when Mirabel’s little coming out party went so wrong, parallel to Antonio getting his door. Granted, I knew both were coming cuz of the marketing, but good writing ensures that even when you know what’s coming, it actually becomes more emotionally engaging. And both do a great job communicating the pressure every member of the family has on their shoulders from such a young age. If Antonio didn’t get a door like Mirabel, I can’t even imagine how much shame would be thrust upon him. It’s an amount of pressure that isn’t fair to any of them.

But Abuela needs the family to appear strong. To appear perfect. To not give anyone in the Encanto a reason to doubt their security and prominence, and it’s been destroying their family and their Casita for decades.

INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA:

I can’t really speak to any specific Colombian history or representation here, but there is a very long history across the world of indigenous people having their homes destroyed and being forced to flee due to colonization. Encanto doesn’t shy away from this, even if it doesn’t go too in depth. The trauma of losing the love of her life, the father of her children, clearly left mental and emotional scars for Alma, and even when you’re physically safe, your mind may never be fully convinced of that.

Instinctively, Alma prioritizes making sure her community feels safe. That they never feel at risk ever again, the way they were when they crossed the river before the Encanto’s creation. But that has the consequence of losing the ability to be a flawed human being, because now, you and your family are infallible symbols, and living up to that perfect image is impossible.

It’s why Luisa and Isabela struggle with their aforementioned stories, it’s why Bruno felt pushed out by his own loved ones, and it’s why Mirabel was made to feel unworthy, forced to prove herself time and time again and punished for doing so. Rather than realizing the actual problem afoot, Abuela instead looks for something else to blame their problems on, be it Bruno’s morbid prophecies, or Mirabel’s interferences. Both are easy scapegoats that keep her from having to examine her own unprocessed trauma.

But this trauma has consequences. As is so often the case, the traumas of one generation bleed into the next, be they old grudges, misunderstandings, or horrific experiences no one can speak about. And sometimes, only the younger family members, the ones who feel out-grouped by their own blood, are able to get an outside perspective and see the forest for the trees. It is because Mirabel’s lack of a gift resulted in her having few to no expectations foisted upon her, that she was able to see the mounting pressure from the expectations of her other family members.

Mirabel is the one who got Luisa to open up about how stressed she was feeling. She supported Antonio during his ceremony, helping him to his door, and rather than blaming him for her lack of one, knew the problem lay elsewhere. She is the one willing to break the rules and tread ground no one else dares to when she goes into Bruno’s room to find the vision he tossed away. She is the one willing to find him and talk to him, even after the rest of her family trash talked him. She is the one willing to have tough conversations with Isabela, the person she has the most animosity towards, because she knows it will save her family.

Also, I just wanna say how much I appreciate the simplicity of not only Encanto’s story and setting, but also its magic system. The gifts, the Encanto, and the Casita are all direct metaphors to the story’s themes and what the characters are going through. The Encanto was literally the safe haven Abuela created for herself when she needed it most, and Casita is literally the family’s bonds manifested, which is why it breaks apart after Mirabel and Abuela’s fight.

The cracks vanish when Mirabel points them out to everyone because she is the only person in the family to see something is wrong with their connections with each other, but no one else wants to acknowledge those problems. And by the end, they create a new foundation for the Casita, and give Mirabel a doorknob for the front door, because the family is literally beginning a new era where we don’t sweep our problems under the rug anymore. Now, we’re open about how we feel, and we talk about the difficult things. Now, the family is strong.

Sidenote: anybody else headcanon Isabela as either a flower lesbian or ace? I’m living for that reading right now. Also adore Dolores, and I really hope she gets a pair of earmuffs because her poor eardrums must be so exhausted from hearing literally everything all the damn time. Also she has the best fashion, fight me.

CONCLUSION & OUTRO:

Anyhow, if you enjoyed this video and would like to see more content like this from me, then be sure not only to subscribe and ring that bell for notifications, but also consider - if you’re willing and able - pledging your support for myself and the channel over on Patreon, and checking out my urban fantasy novel - De Cineribus: From the Ashes - down in the description below. You can also request it at your local bookstores and libraries through the ISBNs, so woo!

I’m the Unicorn of War, and my eyes are a shit show after crying from this movie so many damn times.