A TOXIC FAMILY'S "WEIRDOS" REFUSE TO GO UNNOTICED IN 'ENCANTO'.

Anyone stuck in a toxic family dynamic can tell you that image is everything to their abuser. Even at the expense of the family itself. It's okay for everyone to suffer, just as long as it doesn't show.

"Encanto" surprised me with its brutal, complex honesty about such a dynamic. Bravo, Disney. I, for one, applaud your development through storytelling. (Star Wars haters can pound sand. Boba Fett's review is coming.) They've come a long way from the old marriage-is-the-answer-to-your-problems message. We as a society must now face our families head-on instead of looking for an escape. Personally, I prefer the escape, but that's only necessary for families run by an unmovable narcissist.

While the Madrigal family is very lucky that their matriarch does not cross the line before her redemption, she comes very close. All the red flags are there. Her untreated trauma drives her to expect the impossible from her family. She runs a much tighter ship than necessary on everyone. They are staff more than they are family.

No one feels the weight of those expectations than Maribel. Branded ungifted and "in the way", she is constantly made to feel like more of a burden than a valued member of the family. All because their magical house doesn't bestow on her a magical gift. The family fails to see that she is denied magic because she already has all the gifts she needs. She doesn't need a miracle, and she shouldn't need one to feel included in her own family.

Mirabel isn't the only one either. Her Uncle Bruno is driven into the bowels of the house because his gift of prophecy is convenient for the family. He sees what he sees and reports it, but they act like he's intentionally causing trouble. After he disappears, they take their aggression out on Mirabel. This is a highly toxic family.

Bruno is a truth-teller. Mirabel is a listener. These two outcasts hold the incredible potential to lead the family moving forward. Perhaps, Abuela Alma is subconsciously threatened by their unique potential. Instead of embracing them, she pushes them away in her desperate attempt to keep control over the "magic" house, its surrounding community, and the broken family within. She has no interest in the real solutions that Bruno and Mirabel have to offer.

Still, the two outcasts find each other. Mirabel goes searching for him in the bowels of the house when she needs him most. He was there the whole time, but no one saw him. Except her. Outcasts and Black Sheep have a remarkable ability to find each other in this big, wide, unappreciative world. We can see each other. Speaking of abilities and seeing...

That's the million-dollar question surrounding this story. The answer may not be what you expect. The answer is that she does have a gift, just not magical. She uses it consistently throughout her adventure, but she tragically doesn't even know it. She speaks to the house, and it talks back. One could argue that the entire family could do that, couldn't they? No. Not even her hyper-vigilant cousin Dolores can hear the house talk.

Abuela Alma is the only other person shown talking to the casita, but not really. She barks orders at it. Only Mirabel communicates with it. She talks to it, and it talks back. Like everyone else in the family, Mirabel understands the house. However, she never seems to be upset with it. This is the same structure (containing the core of the family's magic) that denied her a "gift" in the first place. Why isn't she angry? Why does she treat it like her best friend? Because they are friends.

The house represents Mirabel's own heart as it slowly breaks.

The cracks that appear in the structure following her song, "Waiting on a Miracle" finalize that heartbreak. Then, it slowly erodes until the final, explosive confrontation with her verbally abusive grandmother, after which the house crumbles. Mirabel is deeply, undeniably connected to the house. Thus, she is connected to her family. She sees and understands them, again, in a way that Alma does not. Mirabel has empathy. She's not only special. She is the most special of all, born with her gift instead of handed one out of thin air.

It's funny how a community child accuses her of being in denial in the beginning. Because we find out later that she is the only one who seeks the truth. The rest of her family are the ones in denial. They refuse to acknowledge the deeply rooted problem in their family until the house collapses around them.

They're lucky to have their outcasts. Everyone should feel lucky to know an outcast. Try listening to them more often instead of casting them aside.