Encanto isn’t good

Every time I watch it (sit and view, or spy it while my kids watch it), I’m taken aback by Abuela’s callousness and cruelty and selfishness. In the opening, she’s tender and kind, and then the rest of the movie she’s heartless. And giving her a last minute redemption by way of her sob story (that we already knew! there’s no reveal! the movie opens with it!) washes away all of the pain and hurt she caused.

It’s a movie wearing the clothes of “healing generational trauma” that provides a convenient excuse for older generations. According to the movie, all they have to say is, “I was hurting too” and not only is your pain not allowed to exist anymore, but it’s on you to give them comfort and kindness. Alongside that, no one else is responsible for their culpability in allowing this to happen or for how poorly they treated you. (Seriously, fuck Mirabel’s parents. Spineless cowards.)

I don’t feel like writing the whole comparison, but Turning Red does a similar story better.