- Hey, brother! Okay, gang, we have covered
"Encanto" quite a bit over here on the SuperCarlinBrothers channel. And all I can say is, totally worth it. This movie is a pure delight and just speaks directly to my heart. So yeah, there's that. Actually, fun fact, I got my Spotify Unwrapped
at the end of 2022, and literally all 10 of my top 10 songs were from the "Encanto" soundtrack. And honestly, that is saying something because the other thing
that I did last year was went to the Las Vegas When
We Were Young music festival, where I completely
relived my pop-punk phase. Who am I kidding? It wasn't a phase. If you know, you know. I'm also off topic. Back to "Encanto". The point is, this movie is
insanely bright and colorful, but the other thing that it does is tackle very real-world
problems that are close to home and things that I think a lot of people can very easily relate to. - I think you're carrying way too much! - On the whole, the idea of
generational expectations and the trauma that can come with it is something we can all be more aware of and work to communicate
in an effort to avoid. But today's topic might just
take it one step further and a glimpse into a
darker version of "Encanto" that you might not be quite as used to. Today, we are going to examine the idea that a young, five-year-old Mirabel was already feeling the weight of the expectations
set forth by her abuela in the form of that generational trauma. The idea is that when she
walked up to that door as a five-year-old, she already
had the anxiety and worry that she could potentially
let her family down, that she even worried that
not only might she not live up to her power, but also
might not receive one at all. And so this is where the story, or at least our interpretation of it, would deviate ever so slightly. Mirabel reaches forward,
touches the doorknob, and does receive a power, the
ability to shape her reality. And just like when we see
Antonio receive his powers to communicate with animals, where they just immediately flock to him right after he's received his gift, Mirabel's go into effect
instantly as well. And so immediately, and
even more importantly, without realizing it, she
starts to shape her reality around her right away. And what reality might
she shape around her if the last thing she was
worried about was the idea that she might not get a power? And that's what happens. Her power makes her
believe she didn't get one. - I call it the Not-Special
Special, since, uh, you have no gift! - And from that moment forward, Mirabel, the Madrigal family, and
Casita are all trapped inside of this new reality that
Mirabel has created. (upbeat music) ♪ Hey, brother ♪ (transition whooshes) - Yeah, you ever think
those trippy song sequences maybe didn't totally make sense? Like, were those actually happening? That might make more sense now. But first, let me try to
explain what's going on a little more thoroughly because the overall premise
of the story of "Encanto" really starts and ends with Abuela. We know, thanks to the
song "Dos Oruguitas" at the end of the movie, that Abuela and Pedro had the triplets and then were promptly forced
from the town they lived in. Pedro sacrifices himself so that everyone else
can safely make it away. And it is this sacrifice
that ignites the miracle, a miracle which is going to be represented throughout the rest of the movie as this glowing golden candle, also, Casita and the gifts of the members of the family Madrigal themselves. And also, not for nothing, in this moment, I pretty firmly believe that Pedro himself
actually becomes Casita. He's always helping everyone
inside of the house, but the only person he'll
actually take orders from is Abuela. - To the table. Let's go. Let's go. (chairs rattling) - We do have an entire video
about that particular idea. If you'd like to check it out, you can just click the
card right over here. In the meantime, though, Abuela's interpretation of the
situation ultimately becomes that the only thing that
actually keeps Pedro still there, still with them is the
miracle itself, the powers. And in doing so, she fails to remember that the family itself is
the miracle, powers or not. But the further on in life she gets, the more she clings to
this particular idea. And you can immediately
start to see the strain that it is causing on
every member of the family. Pepa can control the weather, which is amazing, an incredible power. But if her emotions aren't in check, then they can start to
control her right back. Isabela is quite literally
planning to marry someone that she does not love in
order to keep Abuela happy. Luisa can lift literally
everything, near as I can tell, and is still being crushed under
the weight of expectations. And then there's Bruno, who
never really did anything other than love his family, who removed himself not
from their presence, but the knowledge of his
presence for over 10 years, scraping by inside the walls of the house, and again, if you believe that Pedro is in fact Casita itself, also created enough space for him to exist within those walls. What a great dad. This movie is so bright and colorful, but the ways in which these
people are being impacted from the expectations of
Abuela is straight up intense. I mean, they may as well have
been camping the entire time because you know, camping is intense. You get it. I don't know if you do, intense, in tents. Camping is in tents- (cricket chirping)
For clarity. Anyway, though, with this much in mind, you've got the young and
absolutely adorable Mirabel, who is at her ceremony
to receive her gift. Her oldest sister is quite
literally the golden child of the family, and Luisa is
able to bring so much service to the town because of
what she's able to do. Like, in this scene, she's physically moving
a church, a church! And then you've also
got Mirabel's cousins, Dolores, who has the supersonic hearing- - He wants five babies. - And Camilo, who would've
just had his ceremony shortly before Mirabel's. It's really not hard to
imagine not only the pressure from Abuela but just
the shadows being cast by the rest of her family. Each one, time after time, has walked up to their own
door and received a power, and at least as far as Mirabel can tell, taken a huge amount of pride in what they're then able
to provide to the community. So what if Mirabel is
terrified of her ceremony? What if she is so worried that she won't be able to fill the shoes of those who came before her? It would be her worst nightmare. She approaches the door,
and nothing happens. And these would be the thoughts that would be racing through her mind as she takes each step closer. It's the irrational certainty of the thing you fear the most. And she reaches forward, touches the door, and it all happens all at once. Her power, the ability to bend reality, immediately takes effect. And what she sees play out around her is her worst nightmare,
that she isn't good enough, doesn't stack up, and
doesn't receive a gift, and for all intents and purposes, locks everyone around her
inside of this reality. And now, to clarify here, this
is not like "WandaVision," where everything looks a
certain way on the surface but is very different underneath. Mirabel would literally
be changing reality, and everyone around her would
actually be experiencing it exactly as we see it. Right away, to me, it
feels so very similar to exactly what Pepa
experiences every single day. She has the ability to
control the weather. It's immensely powerful, but because it's reactive
to her own emotions, it can just as easily work against her. And it's just so sad to
imagine this happening to such a poor, sweet little girl. But don't worry, it gets worse because the real tragedy
is now Mirabel exists, not realizing that it is in fact her gift that is causing everything
around her to happen. And with that in mind, if we
fast forward to the present day where the entire family is kind
of in hesitant anticipation of her younger cousin Antonio's
ceremony, if you're Mirabel, this particular ceremony
comes with even more weight than it does for everyone else. You're about to discover
whether or not it was only you. Maybe the magic just ran out. Maybe it's not just me. This would, of course,
be her new worst fear, which then would, of course, come true because she's the one
creating the reality. We'd find out that Antonio
does in fact receive a gift of his own, and it would further
isolate Mirabel's position with the rest of her family. In fact, even the very specific gift that he receives could
be more underlying proof of Mirabel's own power. She kind of labels him as an animal guy not five minutes before
the celebration begins. - [Mirabel] I know you're an animal guy. - And so as Mirabel is processing this bit of new information, what you
start to see is, once again, her powers essentially
going into overdrive. And I will say that this next
scene that I wanna talk about, I was always a little confused about because I didn't understand how it worked. But through this lens, I think
it makes even more sense. Antonio has his gift. The family is celebrating. They're taking a group
photo, when seemingly, reality goes into slow motion. During this scene, Mirabel
is the only one traveling at a normal speed, and you see
her go all around the house. And a simple interpretation
here could just be something as simple as, like, well,
it's not actually happening. You're not actually going
through this whole song sequence. It's just all of the emotions
that Mirabel is feeling inside of this moment, spelled out. But what if it's more than that? What if, again, as master of reality, she has quite literally frozen the scene? Like, have you ever been so stressed that you just wish you
could press pause on reality and just regroup and collect
yourself for a second? I think she is pressing
pause here to take a moment to collect herself and come to
terms with what's happening. And what I think is happening is that she's reached her breaking point. And so Mirabel, the miracle, and Casita quite literally all
break, or at the very least, the reality all around her
starts to just a little bit. And I think this is a really
interesting way to look at it. The real reason why
the house is fracturing is because Mirabel herself is fracturing. But it may even just be
this small cathartic burst that is able to bring her back to center, even if it's just for a moment, because after seeing everything, the cracks forming all around her, she runs in to let the family know. And they all come back out
into the main area of Casita to realize that everything is
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what had Mirabel seen? Well, to me, even this part makes sense. Emotions, even anger are meant
to be felt and expressed. And oftentimes it is the act of expressing that particular emotion
that will actually bring you a considerable amount of relief and calm. But really, this is just
the tip of the iceberg. And there is so much more evidence as we get into the middle
section of the story, because up until this point in the movie, all of the song sequences have
been upbeat and spectacular but also grounded in a way. And what I mean by that is, like, in the opening number, for
example, "The Family Madrigal," we see lots of fun and whimsical stuff, but it's all in keeping with the reality of what the movie has
already set forth for us. Like, don't get me wrong. Plenty of extraordinary things happened. Camilo shapeshift, Isabela
makes flowers out of nothing, and Julieta is able to cure
a broken arm with an arepa. But these are things that
we know these characters to be capable of anyway. And the same is largely true for the song "Waiting on a Miracle," the one that we just referenced before where everything slows down considerably. I mean, have you even
noticed this hummingbird barely even flapping its wings? But the important part is that mostly everything
else is still ordinary, people dancing and children
running with sparklers. We do get a glimpse of
Mirabel stepping inside of her own imagination for a moment. But I really think that's just a taste of what Mirabel is actually capable of. But the thing is, after this sequence, the "Waiting on a
Miracle" song takes place and everything fractured, things change. The next morning feels
typical enough for the family. They're having a delicious
breakfast on the lawn. But Mirabel has questions for Luisa. - Luisa, if you know
what's hurting the magic and it gets worse 'cause you
won't tell me what's wrong- - Nothing's wrong! - This, of course, pushes Luisa into her, and my personal favorite, song. And just mere seconds into Luisa's song, new things start happening. They're on a circus tightrope,
balancing a stack of donkeys, fighting off a terrified
Hercules's Cerberus. After that, it quite
literally rains donkeys. They almost get squished and then possibly take a
trip to Yellowstone, maybe? The point is, things are starting to
get real weird up in here. And I will say, when
I first saw "Encanto," it was hard to to tell whether or not all of this was actually happening, or if it was more similar to "Moana," like, where they're singing
the song "You're Welcome," and Maui is handing all of these
different objects to Moana. And then at the end of the song, when, like, the background disappears, you realize she's just holding
a bunch of random oddments. And that's the thing. If everything that was
happening inside of Luisa's song was actually happening,
it would be pretty weird. And the thing is, I'm
pretty sure they were. Again, if you compare it
to Pepa and the weather, except with Mirabel's
power to bend reality, she's reached a breaking point. And what we're seeing is pretty
spectacular, unusual, scary, and it does get even stranger the further you get into the movie, especially with Mirabel's
older sister Isabela, where she's singing, "What Else Can I Do?" Very hard to say "What Else
Can I Do?" and not sing it. Now, to be fair, in this scene, they're inside of Isabela's room, and we know that rooms inside of Casita can do some pretty spectacular stuff. Antonio's, for example, is quite literally a
fully functioning jungle. So yeah, wonder if at some point, Casita becomes "Zootopia," you know? But eventually, in Isabela's song, they break out of her room
and just into Casita at large. And we know that some of the
things that are happening inside of that song are actually happening because Isabela's
physical characteristics, her color palette are changed
for the rest of the film. And this might be the
point where you're thinking to yourself, "Well, hey, guys, wait. Like, if this is actually happening, wouldn't everybody involved be kind of, like, wondering how these supernatural and surreal things were
manifesting around them?" And you'd think so, and it
would completely make sense, but actually, no. I actually think that
they would just accept it without question, because once again, Mirabel's power is making it all happen. Because she can bend
reality, she can make it seem as if these things, these sequences are a completely normal thing to happen, nothing out of the ordinary. But so then, the other big question is, what does this do to the
overall plot of the movie? Does it change anything? Is Casita crumbling because
of Mirabel's unknown power, or does it once again go back to Abuela's generational trauma problem? Well, the answer, honestly,
is that it's both. After all, Abuela's pressure that she puts on the
family would be the cause of Mirabel's concerns in the first place. Then, once Mirabel's own power activate and seems to appear as if she
didn't receive a power at all, it further worries Abuela
that the magic is running out, that the miracle is breaking. But on that note, as the magic breaks, we see that everybody else's
powers are diminishing anyway. Luisa can barely even
pick up a piano anymore. Did I mention, at one point in time, she picked up a whole church? There's probably at least two
pianos inside of that church, or dare I say, an organ. It seems like a heavier piano,
but I'm not really sure. But if everybody else's
powers are breaking, does it also mean that
Mirabel's reality-shaping powers would be breaking as well? And the answer is absolutely, yes. But again, she's not putting
a filter over reality. She is bending it. Everything that they perceived
as reality actually happened. Once the powers are turned off, everyone is still just
exactly where they were physically when they were on. This obviously brings us
to the final sequence, where Mirabel runs away. Abuela realizes where she
was lost along the way. "Dos Oruguitas," butterflies, tears, hugging, tears, more tears. Shut up, I'm not crying, you are. No, I won't lie, I've
literally cried to that song a bunch of times. And you might even think here that when Abuela and
Mirabel finally make up, this huge emersion of butterflies is actually Mirabel's own
power coming back into effect, that she is creating this reality
around her, but she's not. This, I think, is just the miracle, which, as a reminder, is
an entity unto itself. But from here, none of the
family have their powers back either, at least not yet. It actually ends up taking the entire town to rebuild Casita. It's not until the house is fully repaired when we see the Madrigals
re-harness their respective gifts, which then, I think, brings us back to a really, really big
and important question about this whole topic. When this happens, does Mirabel get her
reality-bending powers back? And that's where I would
say it gets complicated because one of the other huge roles that needs to be upheld by one
of the members of the family is being the keeper of the miracle itself. And Abuela has traditionally
been the one to fill this role, and Abuela has shouldered this
responsibility for 50 years. In a way, it's kind of her own power. But when Mirabel and Abuela
have their moment by the river, where the miracle was
created in the first place, I think this responsibility passes. So when Mirabel ends up being the one to turn the doorknob to enter Casita, it's what I imagine Abuela
must have done 50 years prior. Mirabel's door isn't the
entrance to her bedroom like it is for everyone else. Mirabel's door is the entrance to Casita. She is the new keeper of
the miracle and will be until someday, when she passes
it down to someone else. But that being said, it's
always important to keep in mind that reality is what you make it. (Ben imitates exploding brain booming) (upbeat music) ♪ Hey, brother ♪ - Guys, as always, thank
you so much for watching. Be sure to like this video and subscribe to the channel
if you haven't already. If you'd like to find out what's behind every other
member of the family's doors, you can check out this video right here. But otherwise, until next time, bye!
