Open Your Eyes, Abre Los Ojos
A Trauma-Informed Lens on Encanto - What Exactly IS Mirabel's Gift?
January 17, 2022 | Full Moon in Cancer | Keila Sachi Gaballo (she/her)I haven't yet gotten to say... HAPPY 2022!!! These first two weeks of the year flew by pretty quickly. I was planning on doing a New Year specific blog, but here we are. First full moon of the year and I decided to just let it go haha. Mostly because I wanted to instead dive into creating one of the many ideas I have for content relating to Encanto--Disney's latest animated movie about a magical Colombian family. It came out in theaters around Thanksgiving last year and was released on Disney+ on Christmas Eve... so, if you haven't seen it yet... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Stop reading (for now) and go beg your friend to share their log-in info with you because (obviously) this post is full of spoilers and you need to go watch it ASAP lol.In all seriousness, though, you're safe from any spoilers (that you wouldn't already get from the trailer) as long as you're reading above the page break. I'll warn you when they're coming, for those of you who still want to soak in a little uplifting message from the theme of the movie before going to watch it.So, it's pretty safe to say that Encanto will be my "movie theme of the year." Seems like this will be a new trend for me as I've had one every year recently that also matched my personal word/phrase of that year.. 2020 was year of Frozen 2 (Show Yourself), 2021 was Raya and the Last Dragon (Trust), and this year, in 2022 my word/theme that I am running with is connection. How exactly does that relate to Encanto, you ask? Well, for me, the aspect of connection that I want to work through is in family, community, and connection within my self (in mind-body-spirit, and also in past-present-future). I've been feeling a lot of emotional pull towards messages about being seen/seeing others and how it can create the most beautiful and loving connections you could possibly imagine. If you watched Encanto, and you don't see the connection (lol)... well, allow me to open your eyes...*spoilers ahead*I have watched hours of Encanto TikToks, YouTube reviews, theories, read tons of articles on people's thoughts and opinions and analysis of this movie, and I have yet to see a persepctive exactly like mine, so I wanted to put this out into the world to see if it resonated with anyone else. The thoughts that actually prompted me the most were the ones asking "WHY DIDN'T MIRABEL GET A GIFT?!?!?!?!" And to them, I'd like to say... PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES. 1) she had one the whole time, but also 2) if she did get what everyone else's idea of a 'gift' was in the end, it would have totally bulldozed the point and progress they just made in "All of You," the last song of the movie. "I think it's time you learn you're more than just your gift." "The miracle is not some magic that you've got, the miracle is you, not some gift, just you... all of you."Before we dive into what exactly I believe to be Mirabel's extraordinary gift, I'd like to shed some light on some very important characters with a related gift... and very much connected to Mirabel's.
Abuela Alma (Past)
This might seem like a no-brainer. Of course, Abuela would be representative of the past. She's seen as the one carrying the past around with her and projecting all her traumas onto all her loved ones.The opening scene of the movie shows her having a moment with baby Mirabel and explaining how they all came to receive their Miracle and their magical gifts. "Long ago... in our darkest moment, we were given a miracle. The candle became a magical flame that could never go out... the miracle grew."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp5nPGWWMh4Abuela is seen as the "bad guy" of the movie by many Encanto fans... admittedly myself included. I mean, listen to her in the opening song of the movie ("The Family Madrigal," embedded above) "We swear to always help those around us and EARN THE MIRACLE that somehow found us. The town keeps growing, the world keeps turning, but work and dedication will keep the miracle burning. And each new generation MUST KEEP THE MIRACLE BURNING."If those lyrics aren't a recipe for generational trauma, I don't know what is. She is allowing her past to become the lens through which she sees and judges the value of every individual she comes into contact with. She grows increasingly desperate to build this perfect life (kinda clues into why Isabela is Abuela's favorite, even though, honestly, her FLOWER POWER is no where near as useful as some of the others... or at least she's not taught to use it in any way other than for aesthetics). She then discards anyone (*coughcoughMirabel) who doesn't bring immediate face value to their family image. Even Mirabel's dad, Agustìn, picked up on the way Abuela would make the "non-magical" feel "...UNceptional." All the other musical numbers just bring that even more to light... Abuela's high expectations are felt by them all, and the fact that they're starting to crack under the pressure is manifesting physically through the house. I could go on about how this is pretty representative of how trauma reveals itself in our own bodies, but I'll save that for another blog post.Ok, that's enough bashing on Abuela... because even though she does cause quite a bit of anxiety, she (and the sum of all of her experiences) are the reason they're all there, and even have the Miracle in the first place. Note: THIS IS NOT IN ANY WAY AN EXCUSE TO ACCEPT OR JUSTIFY ABUELA'S ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR. It is never ok to use trauma as an excuse to hurt others. The reason I bring this up is because I feel it's important to recognize the BOTH/AND here. Abuela's trauma is BOTH the cause of her desire to control the entire family and thus the passing on of this generational trauma, AND the source of the Miracle and passion that burns inside them all... the desire to serve and care for their families and their community.Abuela is representative of the ability to see/remember the past, and use it as a way to find a meaning and purpose to life. However, she needed two other very important characters and their gifts in order to unlock her ability to use this vision in a powerful and healthy way. Ironically, the ones she needed most were the ones she pushed away. Which brings us next to...
Bruno (Future)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvWRMAU6V-c&list=RDbvWRMAU6V-c&start_radio=1Yes, we're gonna talk about Bruno. "They say he saw the future, one day he disappeared." -Mirabel, "The Family Madrigal"Bruno's gift is a little more obvious in the way it connects to Mirabel's... he SEES the future. He sheds light on things that people aren't always prepared to accept... so they cast him out and wrote a hit song about him. (According to The NY Times, his anthem, "We Don't Talk About Bruno," video embedded above, is the biggest Disney hit since Frozen's "Let It Go" ... which hilariously, also a beautiful Easter Egg in his rap break during the final song of the movie, "All Of You." They even wrote the piano melody of "Let It Go" into that part of the song. Go take a listen if you missed it before.)Poor Bruno. So misunderstood by most of the characters in the movie... but so deeply loved by so many of us Encanto fans. Although... I wonder how many of his adoring fans would actually feel the same way about the Brunos in their life/community. I guess he reminds us that we all have a little bit of Bruno within us all. Either we completely embody him in every way and are shunned by our families and/or society... or we have parts of ourselves that we shush and hide behind walls in order to appear normal and guarantee acceptance from the crowd. Look at us... always trying to "silenzio Bruno."Anyway, clearly, he also had a very important role in allowing Mirabel to discover her own gift as he looked into the future again to help guide her along the path she was already on. They actually really helped each other in stepping into their gift's fullest potential. Bruno has a pretty cool gift, but when his visions are presented in a way that ONLY looks to the future (the same way anxiety takes over and gives us tunnel vision into all the things that could possibly go wrong), we're left with a sort of distorted and partial view of the potential that lies ahead of us. It's why so many of the family members and townspeople had such grief with him... he was missing a very important piece of the vision...
Mirabel (PRESENT)
That brings us to--Mirabel. The gift you've all been waiting for. We've covered Abuela's gift of remembering the past, and Bruno sharing his visions of the future... which leaves us with MIRABEL'S BLESSING TO OPEN OUR EYES TO THE PRESENT. The amount of evidence for this is overwhelming and overflowing throughout the movie. There's so much and I'd love to share it all with you here, but I'll just share some of the biggest, key moments and let you go rewatch the whole movie and see the rest of it yourself. It'll unlock a whole new layer of meaning for you and probably make you cry (again, and in parts you might not have cried at before.)So... where to start. Well, can you recall the very first line of the movie?
Abre los ojos, open your eyes. Abuela Alma MadrigalTweet
Abuela dropping that heavy foreshadowing!!!! I thought Bruno was our fortune teller! lol. This is the first of many clues that show us Mirabel's gift of staying present and grounded for herself and for everyone in the family. I love that her glasses are used as symbolism for this, too. Obviously, glasses are used to allow us to SEE more clearly. What I find SUPER interesting. is that NO ONE ELSE IN THE WHOLE FAMILY AND TOWN has glasses... except her Papi, Augustìn. I'm certain that must be intentional, but again, I'll save that for another blog.While we're on the topic of glasses, one thing that definitely didn't get past me was the moment she lost her glasses during Luisa's emotional power ballad, "Surface Pressure." Watch the video below, it's linked to start at the exact moment I'm talking about. I'd watch it all the way to the end to really get the full impact of how powerful their connection is once Mirabel uses her gift to see how desperately her strong sister is in need of some permission to slow down and breathe.https://youtu.be/tQwVKr8rCYw?t=120Mirabel continues the same trend of seeing her other family members, including Isabela... the one she was most blind to seeing due to their sibling rivalry and annoyance with each other. But, thanks to Tio Bruno, she was prompted to look a little more closely and sure enough, Mirabel was able to see how much pressure Isa was feeling to constantly embody perfection ("What Else Can I Do?"), to the point that it was preventing her from stepping into her fullest self and realizing the "life of [her] dreams" and allowing her "powers to grow like the grapes that thrive on the vine." -Isa, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (Again, like Abuela, still not a ticket to get a free pass at being a bully to your own sister.)Mirabel's gift to see things as they are and help those around her stay present is so powerful that, like her Tio Bruno, some people just aren't ready to hear it and refuse to see it... and therefore also refuse to see her. The Mirabels and Brunos of our world are the ones constantly being silenced, constantly being erased, marginalized, oppressed... made to feel invisible and disposable. If only they all knew the Truth of just how powerful, precious, and important they are... not only to our survival but to our growth and metamorphosis into a more inclusive and more colorful world.I had to save my favorite song, and one of the most powerful moments of the movie for last. "Dos Oruguitas" is not only a gorgeous song with beautiful lyrics but also serves as an incredible reminder to surrender to and learn from the natural cycles of life (like that of a caterpillar to a butterfly.) It makes space for our uncertainties and fears that often come with change. "Miracles are coming, chrysalises are coming." -translation from Sebastian Yatra's "Dos Oruguitas."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUGtyj5QlEM&list=RDbvWRMAU6V-c&index=4"I was given a miracle, a second chance. And I was so afraid to lose it that I lost sight of who our miracle was for. And I am so sorry." - AbuelaMirabel was the one who broke Abuela open enough to see this deep truth. It was painful, it was traumatic, but it was necessary for the beautiful change, the metamorphosis of their family and the community. Mirabel was the key with this incredibly powerful gift all along. The most moving and transformational part of the movie occurred when "she could finally see," not only everyone around her, but herself as well. (*cue "All of You," again.)Mirabel's gift healed so much of her own family's traumas, and in turn allowed her to feel seen and allowed herself to BE seen. She used this visibility to grow and strengthen her connection to herself, to her family, and to her community. The connection of the past, present, and future.
Nothing could ever be broken that we can't fix together. Mirabel MadrigalTweet
Oh, and if you needed more proof to support the fact that Mirabel did, indeed, receive a gift... it's also right in her name. Mirabel translates to "wonderous," and the root of her name, mira translates to LOOK in Spanish. I know I said I'd save this for a future blog post, but I had to circle back to this here... Agustin is the perfect example and invitation for us all. He is one of the "non-magical" characters yet he is also the only other character (other than Mirabel) in the entire movie who wears glasses. I'll get into it in more detail in that promised future post, but for now, allow him to be our cue to follow Mirabel's lead--our permission and reminder that we, too, can hold that same gift of being present with ourselves and with others. "Open my eyes. If the answer is here, help me find it." - Abuela's Prayer to Abuelo Pedro.