Psychologically Exploring My Favorite Encanto Characters

When I first saw Encanto, I was immediately enamored by the movie.

I loved the symbolism between the characters, particularly Bruno and Maribel. What does it mean to have the burden of being a truth bearer in a system riddled with trauma and self-preservation? Bruno's exile for having prophetic gifting and disturbing the status quo, even if born of struggle and love, transformed into a sort of warped understanding of love within la casa Madrigal: comfort and protection, at the expense of authenticity and free will.

His decision to be adjacent to the family, speaks to the complex ways that we are comfortable as people to "lay with the devil we know..." and how difficult it can be to imagine oneself outside of one's roles and "superpowers" within a system.

What happens then, when a system, born of pain and trauma, of displacements and unknowns, finds itself with a truth-teller? Mirabel and Bruno are two kindred spirits in the way they metabolize pain and move their family forward.

Now for Mirabel. It's incredible to me how little either Abuela did not see Mirabel or refused to see her. Trauma does this to us. Self-preservation does this to us. We can become myopic as it relates to what we "know" and what we can "see.” One of the most powerful moments for me was when, as a young person no less, Mirabel holds all the projections and fears thrown at her in Abuela's "it's all your fault" discourse, and has the courage to hold her Abuela to account. Whew, the COURAGE. The courage it takes in this historical moment to shift energy and heal systems seems as though nothing short of risking material and spiritual death can suffice. And we simply do not have enough charging infrastructure at this moment to sustain these vital leaders. Mirabel gives us a master class in the costs of authenticity, finding our voice, and leading people into more.

A major unsung hero of the movie was la casita itself. She was birthed not only to provide a refuge for the Madrigals but to anchor an entire displaced people. Through the sacrifices of many abuelos y abuelas, La Casita represents a “rebuilding of the temple” through both her iterations. Both representations of la casita are adaptive and necessary, and both require different things from the community to sustain itself. We couldn’t have Maribel’s casita, one that emphasized freedom and authenticity, without the creativity, tenacity, and sacrifices of the ancestors. For many of our systems, we are in healing season, and sometimes that requires the death of one system for the rebirth of another.

Luisa. Oh, Luisa! I love her! Luisa, alongside other supporting family members, points to the ways everyone adapts in their particular ways to the dysfunction or dysregulation of a system. She speaks to this profoundly in the best song in the movie (IMO) “surface pressure.” Being the middle child, and given the gift of superhuman strength, she internalizes the “weaknesses” of the family system and responds with her strength as a way to maintain it. The bridge of her song, hit me the most: "If I could shake the crushing weight Of expectations would that free some room up for joy? Or relaxation? Or simple pleasure? Instead, we measure this growing pressure.” When she discovers in the end that her value is not in her strength but in who she is at her essence, she becomes free to delight in her gift while also not being crushed by it.

Maintaining the disequilibrium of a dysfunctional system is a full-time job, and we all play a part in maintaining it in some ways. Luisa with her strength, Isabela with her perfectionism, Pepa with her emotional dysregulation symbolized by her storms (which she integrates later on!), Dolores with her supernatural hearing but overall invisibility throughout the movie, and Camilo as a sort of comedic relief through his transformations.

The family finally acknowledges at the end that Mirabel, outside of inheriting the future matriarchal status, is gifted with a power the family desperately needed: bravery. Mirabel’s conviction and determination guided the family to new possibilities. What an amazing movie!