Encanto
Status: Finished first viewing on 01/28/2022
Rating: 1/5
Spoilers
Encanto is the 7th worst movie I have ever seen. It is about a magical Latin American family. They claim their magic descends from a magic candle, which itself appeared by magic. Here is the history that precedes the film’s plot:
- Decades earlier, the protagonist’s maternal grandparents are displaced by war.
- A magic mansion appears.
- A town is built around the magic mansion.
- The children and grandchildren each develop a distinct magic power.
The protagonist is Mirabel, the one grandchild who, for unexplained reasons, did not develop a magic power. She comes to believe that her family’s magic is disappearing, perhaps do to her unhealthy relationship with her sister. She confronts her sister, whose entire personality and appearance changes, and they become friends. None of this seems to matter, as the whole house falls down anyway and everyone’s powers disappear. But this doesn’t matter either, because the townspeople immediately fix the house and the magical powers reappear, so everything is largely back to how it was to begin with. Then the movie ends.
The story explores Mirabel’s conflict with her sister and grandmother. Mirabel’s conflict with her sister is a consequence of her sister being too perfect. This resolves when her sister confesses to being a big phony. She changes her presentation and behavior, becoming colorful and quirky. Now that she is compliant with Mirabel’s aesthetic standards, her and Mirabel can be friends. Mirabel’s conflict with her grandmother centers around her grandmother being mean. Towards the end, Mirabel’s grandmother confesses that she’s been a jerk. Mirabel magnanimously forgives her. For there to be peace, everybody but Mirabel, must change.
The film’s supposed message is that our gifts don’t define us, but as presented, the characters in this movie are in fact defined by their gifts. They are introduced with a description of their gifts. Nothing about them, aside from their gifts, is memorable. And the ending could not be happy, without their gifts being restored. Mirabel herself, is defined by her lack of gifts. She has no other virtues and makes no meaningful choices. Despite being one of the most fortunate people in the entire town, we are supposed to feel sad for her.
Why does the film emphasize the sadness of Mirabel not having a gift, while not encouraging us to empathize with the townspeople who lack gifts or the in-laws who lack gifts or even the grandmother who lacks a gift? This is because Mirabel was denied her birthright. By virtue of her noble origin, she was entitled to a gift. Similarly, when the family’s mansion falls down, the townspeople rebuild it. Again, this is good, because the nobles are entitled to their mansion. Afterwards, the peasants return to their hovels, so the nobles may use their gifts, like shape-shifting and super-hearing, to take care of them.
In summary, Encanto teaches us that our choices do not matter, our conflicts result from the faults of others, our gifts do matter, and our nobility matters more.
In addition, to the plot and messaging, I didn’t like the poppy music much. Some of this was subjective, but I actually think the mixing was poor, such that the lyrics were often difficult to hear. The animation was pretty, but with a budget of $120 million, that’s to be expected.