Culture, Outfits, and Colombia: Diving Deeper into the Oscar-Winning ‘Encanto’
People online appreciated 'Encanto' for portraying the conflict in Colombia and the trauma caused by it.
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“It’s rude to point,” every elder around me would say, which combined with the ‘if you point one finger at someone else, there are three pointed at you’ shot at humour in school corridors led me to develop a reformed way of gesturing at things. “Where’s the post office?” a stranger asks, and I turn my head in the direction, “Uss taraf.” So, when Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz) gestures towards her gift using her lips in Disney’s Encanto, it didn’t seem out of place.
Mirabel gestures towards her gift for Antonio in a still from Encanto.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
Though it is a celebration of Colombia and its people, several people online saw parts of their culture reflected in the film– Latinx, Filipinos, Nigerians, Native Americans, Spanish people, to name a few. Encanto, directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith, is perhaps one of the few Disney films to truly embrace Latinx culture in its storytelling (it hit theatres after the success of Pixar’s Coco).
A still from Coco.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
Dive Deeper into Culture, Realism (and Colombia) in ‘Encanto’
A (some would say unhealthy) amount of time spent on Twitter threads and Reddit discussions about Encanto revealed interesting facts. People from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil said they use their chins to gesture (with some even mentioning pouts); another pointed out that Mirabel’s gesture is something they’ve seen in their family from Maranhão.
While there are several (severaaaal) intricate details in the way the costumes are designed for the different characters– like the motifs for their powers and Mirabel’s outfit featuring all the powers etc.– the fashion is inspired from different regions and parts of Colombia’s history.
The Madrigal family in a still from Encanto.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
The influence of the Andean region in Encanto’s costumes is starkly visible in Mirabel’s white top with embroidery and a long skirt. Even Isabella (Diane Guerrero), whose powers revolve around plants, wears an orchid (the Cattleya trianae) in her hair frequently– Colombia’s national flower.
Isabella (Diane Guerrero) in the song 'What Else Can I Do?' from Encanto.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
The track 'What Else Can I Do?' signals Isabella going beyond what is expected of her and unlocking her full potential. She is covered in the colours of the Colombian flag here.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
Most of the men in the film are dressed in the traditional garment guayabera– the origin story of the garment is hazy, but many believe it’s inspired from the Philippines (while there are differences between the filipinas and the guayabera).
Several men in Encanto are seen wearing the traditional guayaberas.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
Mirabel’s father Agustín (Wilmer Valderrama) also ‘stands out’ like his youngest daughter, especially with regards to costume– unlike the other male characters, he can be seen wearing a three-piece suit. This is said to be inspired from the region in and around Bogotá [John Leguizamo (Bruno’s) birthplace], painting him as an outsider.
Mirabel's father Agustín in the three-piece suit in Encanto.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
The Madrigal Family Outside Mirabel
The makers of Encanto worked with Afro-Colombian consultants to get Félix’s (Mauro Castillo) family’s natural hair right, drawing from his Caribbean heritage.
After the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet, author and cartoonist C. Spike Trotman had tweeted, “black hair is complicated, political, and not something one thread on Twitter can explain.” Several people on Twitter have appreciated the way Encanto represents Félix and his family’s natural hair.
Mirabel's family (R) and Felix's family (L). Notice the difference in the way their hair is rendered.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
Félix’s costume is also majorly inspired by the clothes in the Colombian Caribbean coast.
Alma Madrigal or Abuela’s Backstory
The one thing a majority of people watching Encanto related to was the depiction of generational trauma; each character experiences it in a different way– Mirabel feels inadequate, Bruno runs away to ‘protect’ his family from his powers, Isabella tries to be ‘perfect’, and Luisa (Jessica Darrow) has an unhealthy need to be useful.
Mirabel's bag in the film is based on a mochila made by the Wayuu, indigenous Latin American group.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
On the fact of it, everyone finds it easy to blame Alma Madrigal (Abuela), the strict matriarch of the Madrigal family. Towards the end, the film tells a much darker story, one deeply rooted in Colombia’s past (and to an extent, the present).
The people of Colombia have been faced with conflict for centuries with forced deportation still being a reality in the region. In Abuela’s (María Cecilia Botero) backstory, she loses her husband Pedro Madrigal as she and the other people in their town escape soldiers. Pedro’s sacrifice is what gives Alma her haven, her ‘Encanto’.
Alma and Pedro Madrigal escaping the soldiers attacking their hometown.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
A Random (and Rather Sherlock Holmes-y) Rant (and Segue)
There are several theories about the conflict being depicted in the film with many believing it's the 1000 Days’ War (a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902) and others noting that it could be La Violencia (a civil war that lasted a decade from 1948).
Considering the fashion influences in the film, the Madrigal story is most probably set in the 1990s-1950s. Assuming the story is set in the 1950s and the fact that Alma’s daughter Julieta (Mirabel’s mother) is 50 years old, it would make sense that Alma’s hometown was attacked close to 1990.
The stylings of the costumes in present-day Encanto are reminiscent of the mid-1900s.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
Of course, the magical realism surrounding the Encanto makes it hard to decipher how time has passed. However, the early conceptualisation of the story included a scene wherein Abuela and Mirabel leave their haven and visit the outside world and are introduced to technology like the ‘Chiva’ bus, absent from their town.
Considering that the inventors of the Chiva bus had already started working on the design in 1908, it would be rather tough for Alma to have not seen a Chiva bus if they were displaced in the 1940s.
Regardless…
It is rare for Disney films to address dark parts of the history related to the places their stories are set in– the stories Disney tells have only recently included the heightened sense of realism (magical or not) that can be seen in the recent releases (the 2021 release Luca has been interpreted by many as a commentary on refugees).
The reference to the conflict in Colombia and the refugee crisis (as subtle as it is) was appreciated by several Colombians online. And while the story is set in Colombia and its history, people from several regions around the world affected by colonialism or deportation as a result of war and conflict could relate to Alma’s past and the trauma it caused.
Forced deportation is a reality for many Colombian people, and others around the world.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
In ‘The Art of Encanto’, the film’s co-director Charise Castro Smith is quoted as saying, “I knew that many people from Colombia and Latin America identify with the idea of being displaced from their hometown, so telling that tale with aspects of magical realism felt right for Abuela Alma's backstory. The land grants her a miracle when she begs for a way to escape the violence.”
Now that Encanto has also won the award for 'Best Animated Feature' at the 2022 Oscars, here’s hoping Disney (despite being the capitalist giant it is) tells more ‘real’ stories.
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