As a therapist with 30 plus years under my belt I was shocked and delighted by this movie. It does alot to liberate the narratives of generational trauma, immigration, violence and the magic of survival. Thanks for writing a fantastic piece!!
I did really like this film too... one theory I read, I'd like to share with you. So, this theory says that Mirabel does actually have powers, and that they are only activated when she touches the doorknob on the front door towards the end of the film. But her power is not to heal the house, but rather to heal *the family*. I thought that was quite sweet, even if it was a bit woo woo/handwavy.
That was my take. Mirabel can save the family because she can see the cracks in the foundation. In the end, her door is the front door of the house; the whole Casita lights up for her. Mirabel will be the next matriarch, and because she hasn't been traumatized like her Abuela, she'll do a better job. I loved this movie.
Also, we want Mirabel to get what she wants, and what she wants is for her family to be happy, and they can only do that by grasping that a family exists for its members, not the members for the family; and that a family is made up of ALL its members, not just the ones that fit in. So, the family has to be restored, and the casita too. But you'll notice that the magic now extends to the entire village. The new family will not be feudal.
I love this, but there's just one thing. Bruno's not in his thirties, he's around 50 -- remember he and Pepa and Julieta are the triplets whom Alma was carrying when she fled her home town, and that was 50 years ago.
The artwork makes him look as if he's in his late thirties/early forties. But yes, he has to be 50.
His timeline is a little hard to figure out though. He got his gift at age 7; he is (self?)-exiled when Mirabel is 7, and she's now 13 (?), so 6 years ago. So he was 43-44 then, and was around and being treated badly by his family, because he was being blamed for causing the future he was only seeing, for 37 years in between.
But he's a sweetheart. Never mind that his mother and sisters couldn't see that; of course they couldn't; why didn't anyone else, outside the family, notice what a sweetheart he was? His sisters married outside the family; were there no perceptive outsiders around to befriend him too? Did his family control 100% of the narrative about Bruno, and convince EVERYONE that he was bad news? That would only work if nobody outside the family ever met him. So he must have been locked away from anyone but family for many years before he finally locked himself away from the family too, hiding in the walls.
This timeline would make more sense, and be more explicable, if he were in his 30s. And speaking as a neurodivergent person, which I'm inclined to agree with everyone on the internet Bruno is, it often takes us into our 30s to hit our stride, and come out of the walls, as it were. But the film makers didn't have a lot of choice, since the siblings had to be triplets.
Only skimmed this one as I haven’t seen the film. I hadn’t realised Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved in it! Like you, that’s enough to get me interested in seeing it. :)
I would say, if you’re waiting for Disney to make a family film that doesn’t end with a happy ending that solves everything, you’re going to be waiting a *long* time. Their predictability is one of the reasons they’re so popular.
As a therapist with 30 plus years under my belt I was shocked and delighted by this movie. It does alot to liberate the narratives of generational trauma, immigration, violence and the magic of survival. Thanks for writing a fantastic piece!!
Yay, this is the content I am here for!
I did really like this film too... one theory I read, I'd like to share with you. So, this theory says that Mirabel does actually have powers, and that they are only activated when she touches the doorknob on the front door towards the end of the film. But her power is not to heal the house, but rather to heal *the family*. I thought that was quite sweet, even if it was a bit woo woo/handwavy.
And yes I am all about Bruno :)
That was my take. Mirabel can save the family because she can see the cracks in the foundation. In the end, her door is the front door of the house; the whole Casita lights up for her. Mirabel will be the next matriarch, and because she hasn't been traumatized like her Abuela, she'll do a better job. I loved this movie.
Also, we want Mirabel to get what she wants, and what she wants is for her family to be happy, and they can only do that by grasping that a family exists for its members, not the members for the family; and that a family is made up of ALL its members, not just the ones that fit in. So, the family has to be restored, and the casita too. But you'll notice that the magic now extends to the entire village. The new family will not be feudal.
I've seen it twice already :)
I love that, thanks for your take :)
I love this, but there's just one thing. Bruno's not in his thirties, he's around 50 -- remember he and Pepa and Julieta are the triplets whom Alma was carrying when she fled her home town, and that was 50 years ago.
The artwork makes him look as if he's in his late thirties/early forties. But yes, he has to be 50.
His timeline is a little hard to figure out though. He got his gift at age 7; he is (self?)-exiled when Mirabel is 7, and she's now 13 (?), so 6 years ago. So he was 43-44 then, and was around and being treated badly by his family, because he was being blamed for causing the future he was only seeing, for 37 years in between.
But he's a sweetheart. Never mind that his mother and sisters couldn't see that; of course they couldn't; why didn't anyone else, outside the family, notice what a sweetheart he was? His sisters married outside the family; were there no perceptive outsiders around to befriend him too? Did his family control 100% of the narrative about Bruno, and convince EVERYONE that he was bad news? That would only work if nobody outside the family ever met him. So he must have been locked away from anyone but family for many years before he finally locked himself away from the family too, hiding in the walls.
This timeline would make more sense, and be more explicable, if he were in his 30s. And speaking as a neurodivergent person, which I'm inclined to agree with everyone on the internet Bruno is, it often takes us into our 30s to hit our stride, and come out of the walls, as it were. But the film makers didn't have a lot of choice, since the siblings had to be triplets.
But ... but ... I just published a book that's a ghost story. And it's not scary. :-(
I can’t help but feel personally attacked.
Oh stop that. You know I’m kidding. Jeez.
Thank you. I had not heard much about Encanto yet, but now I want to see it. It sounds like something I will enjoy.
Only skimmed this one as I haven’t seen the film. I hadn’t realised Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved in it! Like you, that’s enough to get me interested in seeing it. :)
I would say, if you’re waiting for Disney to make a family film that doesn’t end with a happy ending that solves everything, you’re going to be waiting a *long* time. Their predictability is one of the reasons they’re so popular.