From arepas, casitas, the coffee, the cumbia, and the tiny town that feels like one big family. Encanto, Disney’s new film really pulls together the whole Colombian essence. But deeper than that, this film tells a story that celebrates the magical realism that illustrates the passed-down trauma and family burdens we all have to carry. It’s something that all immigrant families can relate to. 

Encanto means enchanted, or to charm. The viewer sees the charm in the story woven through the story of the family and the existence of their casita. The directors of Encanto involved a lot of history when showing and describing how the house came to be. Through loss and sacrifice we see the beginning of La Familia Madrigal’s miracle.

Being Colombian myself, I can tell you all about how the stereotypes of Pablo Escobar and Sofia Vergara’s character from Modern Family are portrayed all around the world. These stereotypes are what people usually think of when they think of Colombians. However, with Disney’s Encanto, the masses can finally get a glimpse at the magic of our culture, not excluding the realism of our trauma. 

 I can also shed some light on how everyone has this “ideal image” of Colombian women. These images leave younger girls of Colombia to believe that they need to reach a standard or certain body type, and if they do not, it leads them to insecurity. Some girls even get bullied, whether it be by their family, friends, or the community about how they look or how they act (here is where the generational trauma comes into place). 

In Encanto, the character Isabela is depicted as being the “perfect child” and this puts a ton of pressure on her due to the amount of expectations, not only her family has, but the entire town. This coincides with the “perfect figure” everyone has on Colombian women and the pressure it puts on them. 

Do you ever catch yourself singing the songs from Encanto in your day to day life? From the soundtrack to the visuals, everyone adores the characters and has added the whole playlist to their spotify. Just last month, the “We don’t talk about Bruno,” hit number one on the Billboard charts. The meaning behind the song relates to a lot of families all over the world. We all have that one family member who no matter what they do or say, it’s always going to look bad in someone else’s eyes. That person in Encanto is Abuela, and because the family holds her opinion and character on a pedestal, Bruno was shut out and never spoken of. 

Encanto encaptured a whole new image of Colombia for the public, a cute family who you can laugh with and relate to. Who can you relate to the most in Encanto?