[This post contains some spoilers for the 2021 Disney film Encanto.]
The Encanto soundtrack is a permanent feature of my brain now. Over the past few months I’ve journeyed through the Mother’s 5 Stages of Encanto: watched the movie once with my kids, heard the soundtrack 87,000 times, marveled at the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda while simultaneously cursing his existence, over-identified with Surface Pressure, and finally accepted I will recall these lyrics long after dementia has stolen all memories of my own children.
I realize not everyone has seen Encanto. But even if you haven’t, you’ve probably picked up from headlines, social media, and/or the general zeitgeist that the film beautifully and compassionately addresses issues of inter-generational familial trauma. The film speaks to so many people because on some level, whether glaring or imperceptible, each of us bear our own familial wounds. Despite that, my own strongest connections with Encanto don’t come from wounding or traumatic events in my family of origin. (I’m very fortunate in that regard!) Rather, as Encanto songs played nonstop across my thoughts these past couple months, I began connecting the family trauma of the Madrigal family with the trauma of the Church family, recognizing wounds inflicted by the “family of God” instead of biological family.
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