Enchanting Encanto

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I don't recommend movies. But I'll make an exception. 

It's not just that "We don't talk about Bruno" is impossible to get out of one's head. It's a beautiful movie. Here are two good articles to read after watching it:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/health/encanto-therapy-immigration-wellness-cec/index.html

https://www.buzzfeed.com/andriamoore/encanto-themes-first-generation-americans

(Side note: My boss's name is "Bruno." We do have to talk about him, though. It's rather like when at a former job the Vice President for Academics was named Daryl and the assistant VP was also Daryl. "Here's my boss Daryl and my other boss Daryl," which some will remember from the Bob Newhart show in the '80s. )

What I liked about the animated film was that the magic was simply a metaphor for what each person brings. In the end, magic didn't solve the problems of the family; it had caused some of them. Instead, the help of others from the community--who had stopped depending on the magic of the Madrigal family and started to contribute to their own well-being--was what mattered. It also has magical realism, which, like puns I would never write myself but do find fascinating as a genre. 


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