Abstract
This essay argues that, together with presenting a multigenerational family, Disney’s Encanto explores the issue of intergenerational trauma. The forced displacement, chaos, and violence that the protagonist’s Abuela experienced became the source of her family’s incredible magical powers, but also that of their equally intense personal pain. Although Encanto is ostensibly an exploration of Mirabel’s search for identity, the film can just as accurately be seen as an exploration of the impact of intergenerational trauma, especially among immigrant families and within communities of color. In so doing, the animated film serves as a productive tool for social-emotional learning. Encanto gives young people the opportunity to examine the way that events from a family’s past can impact individuals in the present. Even more importantly, it encourages them to consider how they can manage adverse emotions in healthy ways.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Admittedly, these Disney films are based on existing fairy tales, whereas Encanto is an original film script. Nonetheless, the elements of magic that permeate the 2021 animated film place it in dialogue with productions like Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
A note on my references to the songs in Encanto. Song lyrics appear in all-caps in the script to Encanto. For ease of reading, I have changed them to mixed-case lettering. Additionally, while I have cited page numbers from the movie’s script where the songs can be viewed in relation to the rest of the film’s dialogue, Smith and Bush did not write these lyrics. The songs in Encanto were all composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
I have placed this term in quotation marks, not to indicate its dubious status within the field of psychology, but to call attention to its racialized and even racist nature. In spite of the way that “black sheep” perpetrates longstanding racist associations of blackness with badness and whiteness with goodness, it remains a common way for therapists to describe members who do not fit in to a family system. I acknowledge this practice by using the term “black sheep” once, but I then opt for nonracialized synonyms like family outsider, oddball, or outlier.
References
“A Persistent Crisis in Latin America.” (2023, Feb. 15). World Politics Review. https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/why-the-central-america-crisis-is-so-persistent/ Accessed 18 February 2023.
“Bruno Madrigal.” (2023). Disney Wiki. Fandom. https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Bruno_Madrigal Accessed 18 February 2023.
“Dolores.” (2023). Nameberry. Baby Name DNA. https://nameberry.com/babyname/dolores Accessed 19 February 2023.
“Fundamentals of SEL.” (2023). Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/ Accessed 18 February 2023.
“How Mental Health and Generational Trauma Play a Major Role in the Black Community.” (2022, July 29). News. Bennett College. 29 July 2022. https://www.bennett.edu/news/how-mental-health-and-generational-trauma-play-a-major-role-in-the-black-community/#:~:text=There%20is%20also%20growing%20scientific,stress%20disorder%2 C%20according%20to%20Dr. Accessed 18 February 2023.
Brennan, Dan. (2021, Oct. 25). “What is a People Pleaser?” WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-a-people-pleaser Accessed 19 February 2023.
Bunting, Joe. (2023). “Inciting Incident: Definition, Examples, Types, and How to Start a Story Right.” The Write Practice. https://thewritepractice.com/inciting-incident/ Accessed 18 February 2023.
Castillo, Monica. (2021, Nov. 24). “Reviews: Encanto.” Roger Eberthttps://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/encanto-movie-review-2021 Accessed 10 February 2023.
Encanto. (2021). Dir. Bryon Howard and Jared Bush. Perfs. Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, and John Leguizamo. Disney.
Ferreira, Franciso and Marta Schoch. (2020, Feb. 24) “Inequality and Social Unrest in Latin America: The Tocqueville Paradox Revisited.” World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/inequality-and-social-unrest-latin-america-tocqueville-paradox-revisited Accessed 18 February 2023.
Goldman, Eric. (2021). “‘Encanto’ offers a Twist on the typical Disney Heroine Journey.” Fandom. 22 November 2021. https://www.fandom.com/articles/disney-encanto-songs-stephanie-beatriz Accessed 18 February 2023.
Goldstein, Laura. (2022). “Encanto: A Movie about Family Dynamics.” Montgomery County Counseling Center. 23 February 2022. https://mccounselingcenter.com/2022/01/23/encanto-a-disney-movie-about-family-dynamics/
Harris, Mary. (2023). “What’s Behind Riots in Brazil and Peru?” Slate. 19 January 2023. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/01/brazil-riots-peru-chile-latin-america-instability-crisis.html Accessed 18 February 2023.
Hollowood, Tia. (2018, Mar. 7). “Complex PTSD and Perfectionism.” Healthy Place. https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/traumaptsdblog/2018/03/complex-ptsd-and-perfectionism Accessed 21 February 2023.
madrigal.” (2023). Cambridge Dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/madrigal Accessed 18 February 2023.
Mandeville, Rebecca C. (2022, Aug. 14). “5 Reasons Your Family Won’t Apologize for Scapegoating You.” Scapegoat Recovery. https://www.scapegoatrecovery.com/2022/08/14/5-reasons-your-family-wont-apologize-for-scapegoating-you/ Accessed 18 February 2023.
Nycz, Jack. (2022, Jan. 24). “Disney’s ‘Encanto’ is an Enchanting Film with an Important Message.” 34th Street. https://www.34st.com/article/2022/01/encanto-disney-colombia-magic-miracle-family-latin-america-we-dont-talk-about-bruno-stephanie-beatriz-jessica-darrow Accessed 10 February 2023.
Rodriguez, Kelly. (2022, Feb. 15). “5 Mental Health Lessons in Disney’s ‘Encanto.’” Caring Magazine. https://caringmagazine.org/5-mental-health-lessons-in-disneys-encanto/ Accessed 19 February 2023.
Smith, Charise Castro and Jared Bush. (2021.). Script for Encanto. https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/encanto-2021.pdf
Van Sickel, Elizabeth. (2019, Mar. 21). “Roles in Dysfunctional Families.” Restored Hope Counselling Services. https://www.restoredhopecounselingservices.com/blog/2019/3/21/roles-in-dysfunctional-families Accessed 18 February 2023.
Wagner, Stephi. (May 2018). “Pain Travels Through Families.” The Minds Journal. https://themindsjournal.com/quotes/pain-travels-through-families-until-someone/ Accessed 21 February 2023.
Wallenfeldt, Jeff. (2023, Feb. 11). “FARC: Colombia Militant Group.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/FARC Accessed 18 February 2023.
Wright, Annie. (2022, Jan. 17). “The Power of being the “Black Sheep” of the Family.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/making-the-whole-beautiful/202201/the-power-being-the-black-sheep-the-family Accessed 18 February 2023.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Abate, M.A. “Where All the People are Fantastical and Magical”—and Hurting: Intergenerational Trauma and Social-Emotional Learning in Encanto. Child Lit Educ 55, 295–312 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-023-09541-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-023-09541-z