Encanto

Expectations of Home

It is unusual for a Disney/Pixar/Animated movie to be considered a ‘thinker’.  A movie that has a message running under the lights, colors and songs that flash on the screen. Let alone a message that is worth writing about. But something about Encanto has my mind repeating the words unmet expectations.

I find myself filled with expectations. Things I need to say or do, write or draw, or even like and not like. I’ve come to see that most of my, and others, disappointments in life are a result of unmet expectations; a desire to see or believe in the certainty of an outcome that doesn’t materialize. An outcome we’ve or others have selected for often arbitrary (read; selfish) reasons.  We desire outcomes that either feed our ego, make us feel safe, or alleviate fears we hold

In the case of Encanto, we see one of the greatest sources of expectations; family, and our difficulty managing it; honesty.  We see the story thru the lens of Disney, which requires a grand conflict to expose the Encanto family expectations in order to resolve them. The irony, of course, is that we rarely allow the conflict of our expectations or others to be made public for scrutiny. Instead, we rationalize and wrestle with expectations internally. We let our version of the Bruno song to sing and dance in our head. But never say it, and therefore, we never really address unmet or unfair expectations and the disappointment they cause. 

I loved the movie Encanto. It ranks up there with another recent Disney ‘thinkers’ such as Soul and Mulan. All three films address the expectations of self and family. All three films will certainly entertain you. And all three should make you think. 

I thought; uncomfortable honesty + open acceptance = loving families and friendships