Throughout Encanto, lyrics from Lin-Manual Miranda and Stephanie Beatriz & Diane Guerrero capture this tension. As a Latinx female-identifying therapist, I see many of my clients come to therapy because of this struggle. In addition, the shadow of stigma often derails even such conversations, since there is shame in discussing anything that causes pain.
Why is this conversation so important? To begin with, most of us who identify as First-Gen often relate to “ ni de aqui ni de allá ,” meaning a feeling of belonging neither here (in the US) nor there (in the country our family came from), which can be difficult for our parents to understand.
#Intergenerational trauma movie
The shadow of stigma often derails even such conversations, since there is shame in discussing anything that causes painįrom the matriarch, Abuela Alma, to the “normal” Mirabel, the women in this movie are helping us have a much-needed conversation in our cultura. One tries to be part of this uneasy collective, but, like Mirabel, one recognizes it is suffocating. This is what intergenerational trauma causes: friction, stress, anxiety, and loss of trust. This reflects the terrible pressure that everyone, even Abuela, is experiencing. Bruno left our family because you only saw the worst in him.”
“I will never be good enough for you, will I? No matter how hard I try… no matter how hard any of us try. One scene that breaks that peace is when Mirabel tells Abuela: Sometimes it is necessary to stop, think and accept the trauma in order to let it go.”Įncanto features a cast of Latinx females attempting to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma, which occurs when the descendants of someone who has experienced a terrifying event reacts to it and similar events in much the same way the family member did, often with feelings of shame, depression, hypervigilance, increased anxiety, guilt and helplessness, as well as difficulty controlling stress and aggression.Īlthough not blatant, the intergenerational trauma in Encanto is something that causes ripples of tension in the Madrigal family, from Abuela Alma’s hypervigilance and constant efforts to keep the family image strong, to the cousins and siblings forced to keep the peace so as to not upset Abuela. “We are a traumatized society that is still moving forward. “The grandmother’s journey is that of recognizing her own trauma and letting it go,” said Alejandra Espinosa of Barichara, Colombia, who served as the film’s cultural consultant, in an interview with El Pais. Underlying the charmed Encanto is also a story of intergenerational trauma: Mirabel’s grandfather Pedro, fleeing with his wife Alma and their children after Colombian soldiers attacked their village, is shot and killed. But when she finds out the powerful magic protecting Encanto is threatened, she realizes that she may be the only one who can save it. Every child in the family receives a supernatural gift when he or she turns five, except for a young girl named Mirabel. Encanto offers me – y mi comunidad – some tools: empathy, compassion and understanding, while giving us powerful characters we can recognize and relate to.Įncanto tells the story of a family named the Madrigals, who live in the the mountains of Colombia in a lovely (and bewitched) place called Encanto. And as a Latinx therapist, I see many of my clients come to therapy because of this struggle. As a Nicaraguan American, I know that most of us who identify as First-Gen often relate to “ni de aqui ni de allá” – a feeling of belonging neither here (in the US) nor there (in the country our family came from). An enthralling film for both children and adults, Encanto features a cast of Latinx females attempting to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.