Once again thinking about Encantó and how the house was cracking because the family was cracking under pressure and how Mirabel’s part in saving Casita and the miracle wasn’t even about mending people’s struggles but simply about acknowledging them and telling them it’s ok and they don’t have to do it alone.
Thinking about how the first cracks appear when Mirabel feels ostracized from her family and is about to break under the pressure of feeling wanting and invisible and alone.
Thinking about how the thing Mirabel does for Luisa is listen to her and just say “you are carrying way too much” and then when Luisa’s powers begin to malfunction it isn’t because of her but because Luisa dared slow down a little and was IMMEDIATELY hit with crushing guilt and tried once again to overcompensate it and THAT is when her strength failed her.
Thinking about how Bruno left in an attempt to keep the family from fracturing and was literally trying to fix the cracks with his absence, but it was Mirabel SHARING a vision with him which actually helped him find a positive outcome for a vision because he wasn’t alone with that burden and his anxiety and she led him to a happier perspective.
Thinking about how the real healing moment between Isabela and Mirabel isn’t Isa’s confession really, the turning point is when Mirabel actually stops and LISTENS and simply acknowledges that her sister is struggling and goes on to loudly support and encourage her to find and be herself.
Thinking about all the other cracks we didn’t entirely see. Antonio’s pressure to not be “another disappointment” to his family but obvious guilt that Mirabel didn’t get to shine. Camilo’s consistent changes for the sake of others, but when he starts to malfunction he’s a grown man with a baby’s head, because maybe that’s how he feels, lost and not quite either. Thinking about Pepa, unable to feel any negative emotions, to the point of absolute repression because every single anger or sadness is an open nerve for the world to see and “Pepa, stop! Not again!” Thinking about Julieta’s role as a consistent care taker in a family that even with their powers gone yells for her when in panic because she Must Know how to fix it. Thinking about Dolores so overwhelmed and tense and overlooked, whose great romantic ideal is someone finally SEEING her.
And the cracks showed up whenever the pressure was too much. Whenever Abuela was too afraid and protective and holding on to her control so tightly, marked by the trauma and fear of losing them, to the point where she couldn’t take anything or anyone being out of her control (an obvious PTSD thing).
The family was cracking because Abuela lost sight of the family as people vs the family as a well oiled machine. And while it was obviously due to generational trauma, it was also an issue that no one else in the family could see because it was the dynamic they grew up in and accepted as right and healthy. It was only Mirabel, blessed with an “outsider” perspective, who could see the way the pressure was mounting on everyone’s shoulders and who (having no expectations at all put on her by dismissal) could dare to break the cycle and speak up, not only for herself but for others.
I am once again thinking about Mirabel’s door being the front door of the house (her casita who she is clearly the closest with) and just like everyone else has their powers represented in it, Mirabel’s shows her surrounded by her family, like the anchor that helped them build a new foundation in their relationships with one another, based not on what they could “do for the family” but by love and acceptance of each other.
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