Encanto Essay Series: Part 1 - Abuela Madrigal
Abuela Alma Madrigal: The Matriarch of the Madrigal family and mother of Pepa, Bruno, and Julieta. Rewatching Encanto a second time it is hard for me to like her and root for her. She has allowed the village to shame Bruno and has since passed on that shame to Mirabel. She has made both her son and granddaughter not feel good enough to be a part of their family. This greatly angers me as someone who has felt like an outsider growing up and not feeling accept by the community I lived in. I am here today, however, to try and delve deep into the psyche of Abuela and what has caused her to behave in this way.
1. Abuela's Hyper-vigilance
This is my family A perfect constellation
So many stars and everybody gets to shine
Whoa! But let's be clear, Abuela runs this show, whoa
She led us here so many years ago, whoa
Mirabel sings this line in the opening song of the movie "Family Madrigal". I have a lot to say about this song in regards to Mirabel but that'll be for Part 3 of this series. This song immediately establishes Abuela as the matriarch of the family. As a side comment to this lets look at this frame from the song.
Per the rules of cinema a 1-point shot like this establishes a feeling of power and importance. She IS the family Madrigal. Having a matriarch in a family isn't all that common. The matriarch of my family was my grandmother before she died. She was the center and the glue that kept my family together. So Abuela being a matriarch isn't the most substantial thing in the world. But the way she uses and abuses her stance as the matriarch is was is troubling. And it's due to her own trauma.
The Common Reactions to Trauma
According to Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE) as posted on Oxnardclinicalpsych.com, there are 10 common reactions to trauma (I recommend reading the article because it is pretty informative) but I'll quickly state the reactions that I see in Abuela:
Anxiety and fear
Re-experiencing of the trauma
Increased vigilance
Avoidance (this can be seen with the whole family quite frankly)
Grief and depression
Lack of concern and empathy for others
I see Abuela as a hyper vigilant and anxious person to the point of hyper-fixation. I say this because during "Family Madrigal" Abuela sings this line:
We swear to always
Help those around us
And earn the miracle
That somehow found us
The town keeps growing
The world keeps turning
But work and dedication will keep the miracle burning
And each new generation must keep the miracle burning
When I first watched Encanto I was thinking to myself why are the Madrigals so community oriented? This could greatly be a cultural thing seeing that this was set sometime in the early 1900's. I feel like most societies were very much community oriented. But I feel like with Abuela she does it as an offering to the miracle. As a thank you to the miracle she encourages her family to use their gifts for good. But this line in the song made me start to wonder if this is merely just a sign of her over vigilance. She has dedicated her life to keeping the candle burning in order to keep her home alive and her world in order. She has passed on the burden of this candle to her children, who in turn have passed this down to their children. The candle is a miracle, but is also a constant reminder of the trauma Abuela has gone through in her life. And unknowingly she has passed this down onto the next generation.
2. Abuela's Lack of Empathy
Almost every line she states in this movie is focused on casita and Encanto. Rarely is she concerned about the emotional and physical well-being of those around her. Just the miracle.
We mainly see this with Isabela:
This scene goes by very quickly but we hear Abuela and Isabela talking about the arranged marriage
Abuela: Such a perfect match
Isabela: So perfect
Abuela: So good for Encanto
Never is Abuela thinking "This is so good for Isabel!" Everything she does is for the greater good of Encanto. This is probably due to the fact just a scene before Dolores revealed that Mariano wants 5 kids, which feeds into her need to keep the Madrigal bloodline going.
We see this disregard for others again when Mirabel goes missing after finding Bruno and after the cracks in the walls start to form. Abuela is having a heated argument with Augustin about why he didn't tell her about the vision.
Abuela: Why didn’t you tell me about the vision?! Think of the family!
Augustin: I was thinking of my daughter!
Julieta: Mama you’ve always been hard on Mirabel
Abuela: Look around. We must protect our home.
Again a blatant disregard for her grand daughter's well-being. Abuela is reacting so much to the loss of her home and her husband that she can't even recognize and acknowledge the thoughts and feelings of the people around her. All she can think about is her home and the fear of loss.
And then finally it happens.
3. Abuela's Loss
You can see the fear and sadness on her face. She's reliving her trauma all over again. The thing she feared most has happened because she held onto it so tightly. She wanted to feel so safe and so protected from the world she didn't even realize she was hurting her loved ones.
By the end of the movie she regrets her actions and does see the error of her ways. I noticed that Abuela always romanticized her trauma as well. The way the story of Abuelo Pedro's sacrifice was told at the beginning of the movie is drastically different.
The romanticized version:
The hard-cold truth:
Noticed that in the romanticized retelling of her story her expression isn't NEARLY as broad. It's like any typical tragic story Disney would tell where we are told the pain of loss but we don't actually feel it/see it. When the story is flashed back again towards the end of the movie we finally see Abuela's true emotions. I believe this is because Abuela had finally reached a point of not being able to mask her emotions anymore. The whole family had been taught by her to ignore their thoughts and feelings and look "perfect" for their community and in return in front of each other.
Mirabel is really the catalyst in the beginning of Abuela's journey of self-healing which we hope will translate to her being more empathetic with her family but I feel like these types of things take time. It'll probably be a hard habit to break.
So I don't support Abuela and her decisions and how she has treated her family but I can see where it stems from. Losing everything that was precious to you can cause you to want to control the world around you to the point you are suffocating the feelings of those around you as well as yourself. She is a reminder to take care of yourself emotionally and mentally so you don't pass that trauma down to others.
