Encanto
A film that heals a hispanic kids’ inner child
Growing up as a hispanic girl, more specifically Colombian-American, in a country so diverse, I had thought I was able to see myself identified and even celebrated by the media being put out. Unfortunately, the media, at the time of my upbringing, the closest representation I had was through shows like “Maya and Miguel,” “Dora the Explorer,” and “George Lopez.” Of course, I watched them over and over again, and they became favorites of my parents given the fact that I was exposed to individuals with last names like mine, the language I spoke at home, and the core values I was brought up with. But, of course, although I did felt identified by these shows and characters to a certain extent, what kept me back from feeling the divine idenfitication to them was the stereotypical brightly colored everything, the background of these characters always being Mexican, and even the heavily colorful and passionate personalities that would always draw the attention of anyone, anywhere they went. So, as a little girl, I would always try to take the good side of it, or basically settling to what was given to me, but I deep down I knew that I was being misrepresented. My house didn’t look like that, I am not of Mexican heritage, nor am I the most extroverted human being of the face of the planet, so when I found out about “Encanto” during D23, a convention held by the creators, Disney, I rushed to my mom like a little girl because I just couldn’t hold back at the excitement of finally being represented.
From just hearing the sounds I grew up with, and hearing that loud “Colombia” from the infamous anthem , “Colombia Tierra Querida” in the teaser of a possible blockbuster film made by the one and only, Walt Disney Studios, even now looking back at it, I get the chills of thinking how exciting it is for young girls like I once was, to see themselves as I wasn’t able to. Through this excitement, I just kept on searching for more trailers and “Encanto”-related content, because I just couldn’t believe it. Once the trailer came in, you could just tell how dedicated and precise everything is. From the colonial-spanish styled home, to the candles (a nod to the tradition of “Dia de las Velitas”), to the family members looking like mine (of all colors, personalities, and sizes), to the yellow butterflies representing the beautiful fauna of Colombia while nodding to our very own Nobel-Prize winner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the arepas, and hearing the voice of one of the musicians that molded my childhood, Carlos Vives, it was clear to see that this movie was going to hit every important mark.
Now, as of the movie, as a whole, you can tell the clear nod there is to a characteristic of Colombian literature, that of magic realism, and I’d dare to say, a nod to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, “A Hundred Years of Solitude,” as it covers a giant and magical family living in a magical town somewhere in Colombia. Besides the magic of it all, I really enjoyed how this film managed to take on very important topics, to not just Colombians, but hispanics in general. Two of the main messages I realized were being brought up, were that of the unfortunate internal conflicts lived in Latin-American countries and that of generational traumas. Both are very strong topics generally, but more so in hispanic families. Although as a community we have been able to surpass certain aspects of these hardships, the ability to approach them has become a hardship itself, and Disney has managed to unpack it.
Another huge part of the film was the diversity in the characters. The matriarch, or simply just “Abuela,” played by the one and only, Maria Cecilia Botero, manages to show how the head of the household is not just a man or a fatherly figure. Her still being the head, while living with her kids, despite them being grown and with kids of their own, represents a typical custom of us Hispanics. In addition, the family members being of all types of colors, sizes, shapes, and personalities, represented how diverse our community and are families are. Normally, in hispanic families on other TV shows or films, the creators stick to the same color palettes, as in everyone is of the same skin tone, wears similar colors and textures, as well as has similar personalities. As shown in the family tree below, the characters are different of one another in several different aspects, and if you watch the film, you notice that each and every character is remarkably unique in their own ways, making it most definitely representative of the usual Hispanic family.
Overall, Walt Disney Studios has done it again. The attention to detail and really tackling each and every one made me not only feel represented, but pride of my culture. As I previously mentioned, growing up, although I may not have come to the conclusion of it, I was not properly represented. There was no piece or form of media I could find some type of similarity to, but “Encanto” comes around and changes that. When watching the movie, I felt like that little girl again, but this time, being able to relate and share something with a character or film that was being put out across the world. It truly felt like a full circle moment, where I was able to really heal my inner child and realize how anyone, nor myself, has to settle for what the media sets out and deems as representative.
Differences should be celebrated!!
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