Encanto

Encanto

A Disney musical about intergenerational trauma, healing, and the power of family and community.

The songs are written by Lin-Manuel Miranda which you probably already know means that they are extremely good. If you don’t, please familiarize yourself with Hamilton. I’ve included a video below of my favorite song.

With movies like this coming out from Disney, I can understand why people who explicitly subscribe to the premise of white supremacy believe that they are losing the culture war and need to fight back.

It’s only been five years since Coco came out. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937, so that’s 85 years of white princesses. It’s exciting to think about what a potential difference that wide-spread releases of films representing diverse cultures in a way that is not completely whitewashed could have for kids growing up now, even if it is long overdue.

Disney isn’t making these films to win brownie points though. Clearly consumer desire for these stories has made it profitable for them, and it’s probably worth celebrating the fact that a diverse set of audiences believe that these stories are important and relevant for them.

The day before we watch this film, I randomly listened to the Top 100 World Charts on Apple Music and this song was in the top ten: