Why should you watch Encanto?
Recently I saw the movie Encanto just because it had Stephanie Beatriz and of course the lot of hype that was built for it. It has been such a pleasant experience watching that film and had a lot of takeaways from it. This blog is some lessons that I learned from the film. And I promise not to give many spoilers so that you guys can go and watch it;)
Encanto is a story of a family blessed with magical powers- each member of the family except one girl- the protagonist of the story Mirabel. To narrow it down further, it is a story about how Mirabel discovers her special powers in the most unlikely of ways and realizes her greatest miracle is “she” herself.
- Family as the strongest bond that holds you together:
The movie reinforces the unwavering love and faith of a family and how this is the strongest bond that holds you together and is such an integral part of your identity. We try our best to live up to the expectations of our family, our parents, siblings, grandparents, people we look up to and with some people, it seems that whatever we do, we will never be enough. But we don't know their side of the story and the sacrifices they have made, and their tough exterior is sometimes a way to protect us for they have a fear within which they cant openly show.
2. It is okay not to be okay:
As much as we aim to be happy and cheerful, there are times when we feel meh. And that's perfectly ok. It's ok to say it out loud, if not to everyone at least to oneself. Acknowledging that every day is not a merry day, today is a day you want to wrap that blanket on your head and go back to sleep. Cos you don't feel ok and that's not about being physically unwell. But your mental well-being. Just like Mirabel who smiles and sashays around but within, she had a tornado that's exploding and she acknowledges to herself that she’s not ok as she’s not special like others. Being kind to ourselves is the first step in self-love.
3. Be Yourself:
Those whose lives appear perfect are not necessarily happy all the time, they have immense pressure to keep up that image and that takes a toll- this has been wonderfully portrayed by Isa (Isabel) the perfect, beautiful cousin of Mirabel who has been gifted with the power of creating roses and the most exotic flower arrangements with the swish swash of her hands.
Luisa the other cousin who has the strength of a superwoman and can lift anything and everything- from 10 donkeys or the church tower and is always seen carrying things in her strong arms and placing them in a different place as directed by people. Both Isa and Luisa appear to be perfect with their unique powers and people are in awe of them but internally both feel the constant stress of having to keep up with people's expectations. Like Luisa says “If I am not carrying anything heavy I feel like I am worthless”.
Don't these emotions resonate with all of us? Those we envy for their beauty, brains, strength, or any other extraordinary quality or feature may not necessarily be living the perfect life. Would we envy them any less if we knew what their inner turmoils are?
4. Great leaders don’t ignore the truth:
Mirabel saw cracks forming in the house. She ran to tell her family. Abuela told the family everything was okay.
The truth? Abuela knew something wasn’t right. She kept ignoring it because she thought things would get better.
We cannot ignore the issues happening around us. The truth is there are issues we’re not dealing with. We need to deal with them.
Let’s make a pact to take action on the things we’ve pushed to the side. The things we tried to ignore because they’re scaring us.
Doing this will make you take action on what needs to be done.
5. Your biggest miracle is “you”.
This is when Mirabel realizes she is special and unique in her own way, even without a superpower. Her journey of self-discovery, the pitfalls, hurdles she encounters, and how she bravely faces them with help from some of the family members make her eventually understand and appreciate herself and how awesome she is. A big lesson for each of us there as we aimlessly look at people around (Instagram these days I would say!) and with our own lives were more exciting and we were living a miracle like them. It's time we create our miracle and this is different for each of us.
As a whole, I had recliner watching experience and my love for Disney movies has increased again.
Happy Reading;)
