Is there no Encanto thread?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. I feel very invested in Dolores for some reason. She must know so many secrets! Not all that interested in the shape shifting cousin.

"He told me that the love of my dreams would be just out of reach, betrothed to another." This happened! I think We Don't Talk About Bruno (and how all the subsequent stories about prophecies lined up) is about how 'fate' can be deceptive. The people in the village are like 'your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read' but for the gut and the hair, this is just their own choices. For Pepa, she heard Bruno say there would be rain and it caused HER to cause the rain. Isabella tried to be perfect because he told her she would be but then didn't understand what it meant. Dolores's prophecy was just for a single moment, not the rest of her life. I think that is an important theme of the movie. Bad things happen, are happening, have happened, will happen; but that does not have to dictate the future.

I am also invested in Dolores. I think it is funny that they say she can't keep a secret. When clearly she can, she heard Bruno all this time. She hears everything. She decides what to share, like telling Mirabel about Luisa, like giving her context about Bruno, like bringing the conflict to a head. I think she is great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. I feel very invested in Dolores for some reason. She must know so many secrets! Not all that interested in the shape shifting cousin.

"He told me that the love of my dreams would be just out of reach, betrothed to another." This happened! I think We Don't Talk About Bruno (and how all the subsequent stories about prophecies lined up) is about how 'fate' can be deceptive. The people in the village are like 'your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read' but for the gut and the hair, this is just their own choices. For Pepa, she heard Bruno say there would be rain and it caused HER to cause the rain. Isabella tried to be perfect because he told her she would be but then didn't understand what it meant. Dolores's prophecy was just for a single moment, not the rest of her life. I think that is an important theme of the movie. Bad things happen, are happening, have happened, will happen; but that does not have to dictate the future.

I am also invested in Dolores. I think it is funny that they say she can't keep a secret. When clearly she can, she heard Bruno all this time. She hears everything. She decides what to share, like telling Mirabel about Luisa, like giving her context about Bruno, like bringing the conflict to a head. I think she is great!

This is true. Bruno's visions did happen. Isabella's powers grew like he said. Delores' man of her dreams was betrothed to another. The embrace strengthened the magic. The interpretation is usually off with visions. People want an exact map, but visions require skilled interpretation.

[Anonymous]

Everyone obviously is entitled to their opinions here, and I will share mine. As a survivor of childhood abuse, as someone from a very dysfunctional family with unresolved generational trauma- I loved this movie, and felt seen. Obviously the way that the healing happened on screen was insufficient and unrealistic, but it moves me to tears every time I’ve watched.

And, the story has helped me explain a bit to my kids about why my family is the way they are, why grandma acts the way she does.

And the music and visuals are beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. I feel very invested in Dolores for some reason. She must know so many secrets! Not all that interested in the shape shifting cousin.

"He told me that the love of my dreams would be just out of reach, betrothed to another." This happened! I think We Don't Talk About Bruno (and how all the subsequent stories about prophecies lined up) is about how 'fate' can be deceptive. The people in the village are like 'your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read' but for the gut and the hair, this is just their own choices. For Pepa, she heard Bruno say there would be rain and it caused HER to cause the rain. Isabella tried to be perfect because he told her she would be but then didn't understand what it meant. Dolores's prophecy was just for a single moment, not the rest of her life. I think that is an important theme of the movie. Bad things happen, are happening, have happened, will happen; but that does not have to dictate the future.

I am also invested in Dolores. I think it is funny that they say she can't keep a secret. When clearly she can, she heard Bruno all this time. She hears everything. She decides what to share, like telling Mirabel about Luisa, like giving her context about Bruno, like bringing the conflict to a head. I think she is great!

Yes!! I love Dolores. First of all, the actress who voices her has a wonderful voice. Second of all, she DOES keep everyone's secrets, all the time, or the town would be in chaos. That's why it's so interesting that she decides to tell about Bruno's prophecy. She's also the only one who from the beginning understood who Bruno was and why everyone treated him the way they did -- that his power was so great that the others couldn't deal with their own lack of comprehension. Dolores 4 eva. I also loved the twist that the meathead Mariano isn't such a meathead, but that she's the only one who really knows that. I hope they are very happy and she enjoys having his 5 babies.

[Anonymous]

P.S. I also think that in his pre-hiding life, Bruno was a prankster -- he obviously used to dick with people by saying things like "looks like rain" when your sister's sweating, or telling people their fish will die or they'll get a gut etc. We saw what it takes for him to ACTUALLY have a vision and I'm sure he didn't sit in his cave and meditate for any of those things!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Loved Luisa’s song Surface Pressure. Feel like strong women can’t ever stop or let down, or the house of cards will fall. Luisa did everything for as long as possible, then mirabel took the torch to save the day.

I think you missed it

Np. I think you missed it.

Lots of depth and psychology in the Encanto characters

[Anonymous]

I'm another Delores fan. Bruno is jamming on the balcony during her verse explaining to Maribel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the music, the visuals, the intraracial diversity, and I would watch it again for those reasons. I thought the storyline was pretty lame. Not enough of a plot.

I felt similarly - sort of opposite to many of the other PPs.

I thought the music and visuals were very strong. Also liked the diversity and body type acceptance.

But the plot was basically... non-existent. More of a self-help book than a story. It was like the opposite of the "show not tell" that good moviemaking (and all fiction, particularly kid's fiction) should espouse. Instead, we get a lot of talk about conforming to expectations and one symbol of what trauma does to a family's "foundation." I liked it, but I'm a middle-aged Mom that likes Brene Brown. My kids "got it" they just thought it was boring. (Only I will likely rewatch!)

Of course, this might actually be the target audience...

I am a pp who LOVED encanto and thought it was a beautiful and nuanced look at family trauma and dynamics and I absolutely LOATHE all those self help middle aged white woman influencing self help gurus.

I didn't see any nuance. I rather felt like I was hit over the head with it.

The matriarch is like so many immigrant striver parents, and many who have grown up under these kinds of parents know the incredible pressure. Real nuance would have shown the love the grandmother has for her family better, as well as the way siblings typically help each other deal with the pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For everyone upset over the abuse - you do realize parental abuse is part of pretty much every Disney movie, yea?

Cinderella - evil stepmother, no punishment or redemption or apology, Cinderella just gets saved by a prince.

Tangled - evil woman kidnaps baby and locks her in a tower

Moana - parents abuse her for wanting to live her own life, rather than obeying them

Frozen - parents abuse Elsa by expecting her to just suppress her feelings and hide who she is. Abuse Anna by not explaining the situation and letting her grow up alone and isolated.

It goes on and on. It’s just part of Disney movies. Why so upset over *this* abuse?

You have a very low bar for what you consider abusive. Moana and Elsa's parents were protective, not abusive. Elsa's parents didn't understand her poor and were afraid that people would be hurt by it. Moana's parents didn't want her to drown in trying to pass the reef, as her dad's friend did.

Abuela wasn't abusive, either. Have none of you lived in a family where a couple of kids were literally gifted but not all? I did. I wasn't abused by my parents, nor were my gifted sisters. My parents just had way higher expectations for them than they did for me. They still loved me just as much. We all try to please our parents, and that doesn't make us all the victims of abuse. Abuela thought they had a higher calling, and her family members tried to live up to that. That's what Mirabel's sisters literally sing about - pressure to be perfect and letting go of that.

That said, it's not a great movie. I'm just tired of reading all these "Abuela was so abusive and such a villain" posts. She was neither.

Did you hide away from your family? Either figuratively metaphorically or literally because you didn't have the special gift They idealized. Did you sleep in a nursery until you were 20 because you didn't get a room because you didn't have the special gift.

I slept in our home's nursery until I was able to rent my own place to live, which was when I was 24. My brother left the home for college and then was able to rent a place immediately after, so he didn't need to come back to the nursery like I did. But that's not my parents fault?? I didn't launch until 24, and being in the nursery certainly motivated me to make the most of myself so I could leave.

If Mirabel didn't sleep in the nursery, I think she wouldn't have been as motivated to find her own gift.

[Anonymous]

DH and I didn't like this but I think it might have been because he was in a bad mood due to a medical condition. We are going to give it another shot this weekend though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I also think that in his pre-hiding life, Bruno was a prankster -- he obviously used to dick with people by saying things like "looks like rain" when your sister's sweating, or telling people their fish will die or they'll get a gut etc. We saw what it takes for him to ACTUALLY have a vision and I'm sure he didn't sit in his cave and meditate for any of those things!

I think it’s more likely Bruno has poor social skills, or is on the spectrum, plus had a lot of pressure put on him from a young age.

Having that horrible cave room starting at age 5 would be enough to make any kid go crazy.

I’m sure everyone wanted their future told, so at a very young age he had all this pressure to give people their prophecies when they asked. Most of which he probably couldn’t understand, or were not appropriate for his age. Then people would get upset with him, when he was just doing what was asked. That’s really heavy for a kid. He was likely isolated from other people and children, so he never developed good social skills, hence why he thought living in the walls was a good idea, and why he fumbled when trying to talk to Pepa on her wedding day. He wanted to let her know he saw she was stressed and wanted to help, but it came out all wrong and made things worse.

I also think his prophecies weren’t “set in stone” but were more of warnings. Like getting a gut - totally preventable, and it could have easily just been a warning of “if you keep eating that way, this is what will happen”. But people took them literally and it became a self fulfilling prophecy - if I’m going to be fat anyway, may as well eat what I want!

It also says a lot about the villagers that they were so upset over gaining weight, losing hair, and a dead goldfish. Those are all very shallow and nothing to be upset over. I think that was a point of the movie, that the villagers were all mooching off of the family and were very shallow people, in the end they had to recognize that they need to pitch in, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I also think that in his pre-hiding life, Bruno was a prankster -- he obviously used to dick with people by saying things like "looks like rain" when your sister's sweating, or telling people their fish will die or they'll get a gut etc. We saw what it takes for him to ACTUALLY have a vision and I'm sure he didn't sit in his cave and meditate for any of those things!

I also was wondering about that! Could have have just had to work so hard to revisit Mirabel's vision because he was targeting something specific?

[Anonymous]

My favorite song is Dos Orgullitas. I’m sitting in my office with this song on replay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone obviously is entitled to their opinions here, and I will share mine. As a survivor of childhood abuse, as someone from a very dysfunctional family with unresolved generational trauma- I loved this movie, and felt seen. Obviously the way that the healing happened on screen was insufficient and unrealistic, but it moves me to tears every time I’ve watched.

And, the story has helped me explain a bit to my kids about why my family is the way they are, why grandma acts the way she does.

And the music and visuals are beautiful.

Different dysfunctions perhaps but any family or person that achieves much at all had an Abuela figure in their lives. If someone wasn’t keeping the trains on time, keeping good traditions, or maintaining some kind of standards /expectations things would have been VERY dysfunctional.

Kids can’t teach and parent themselves. It is very difficult to escape a bad situation with lack of one parent figure teaching, guiding, caring, and “with it.”

Kids that can escape their bad situation have to find the Abuela figure on their own via a teacher, counselor, coach, and find their own scholarships or get into the military to escape. And they still won’t have any support at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I also think that in his pre-hiding life, Bruno was a prankster -- he obviously used to dick with people by saying things like "looks like rain" when your sister's sweating, or telling people their fish will die or they'll get a gut etc. We saw what it takes for him to ACTUALLY have a vision and I'm sure he didn't sit in his cave and meditate for any of those things!

I think it’s more likely Bruno has poor social skills, or is on the spectrum, plus had a lot of pressure put on him from a young age.

Having that horrible cave room starting at age 5 would be enough to make any kid go crazy.

I’m sure everyone wanted their future told, so at a very young age he had all this pressure to give people their prophecies when they asked. Most of which he probably couldn’t understand, or were not appropriate for his age. Then people would get upset with him, when he was just doing what was asked. That’s really heavy for a kid. He was likely isolated from other people and children, so he never developed good social skills, hence why he thought living in the walls was a good idea, and why he fumbled when trying to talk to Pepa on her wedding day. He wanted to let her know he saw she was stressed and wanted to help, but it came out all wrong and made things worse.

I also think his prophecies weren’t “set in stone” but were more of warnings. Like getting a gut - totally preventable, and it could have easily just been a warning of “if you keep eating that way, this is what will happen”. But people took them literally and it became a self fulfilling prophecy - if I’m going to be fat anyway, may as well eat what I want!

It also says a lot about the villagers that they were so upset over gaining weight, losing hair, and a dead goldfish. Those are all very shallow and nothing to be upset over. I think that was a point of the movie, that the villagers were all mooching off of the family and were very shallow people, in the end they had to recognize that they need to pitch in, too.

Enchanto is written on the fence about Bruno being a prankster or concerned, or going into a trance for prophesies or not, or liking being alone or not. Nothing addresses the age of when he stopped socializing with the family but I doubt it was age 5.

He certainly had a conniving face and body language approaching his sister, who’s mind makes the weather, when he chose to go up to her before her wedding ceremony and talk about it a storm coming. Triggering her to think up a storm.
He didn’t come up with a warning or concern or solution to a hurricane he prophesied was coming.

Anyhow. Lots of gray which makes it great fodder!