Recently, I watched Encanto with Em. At first, I believed that it was a movie for toddlers and was extremely reluctant but because of Em’s persistence, I conceded to watching it with her. Let me confess that I enjoyed the movie thoroughly.

Released on 24^th November 2021, the movie revolves around the extraordinary Madrigal family with special powers, who live in a magical place called an Encanto. Every child but one, named Mirabel has been granted a unique ability. Yet, in the end, she is the one who saves the magic surrounding their life when it is in immense danger. The movie was entertaining and educational at the same time. Here are my takeaways from the movie-

-Throughout the movie, Mirabel is neglected by most of her family, although she tries her hardest to prove that she can make them proud. I found this incredibly unfair as she only wanted to help, but her Abuela (Spanish for “grandmother”) treats her very unjustly, as though she blames Mirabel for not being blessed by a magical gift. During her cousin’s gift ceremony, Mirabel is not even included in the family picture, and when she tries to decorate the house, her Abuela tells her to leave it to those who are more capable. It made me feel that no matter how much we try, sometimes we are unable to live up to others’ expectations. At times, I face such problems with my teachers and parents. The movie captured that we need to believe in our OWN capabilities and trust our instincts to stay focused.

-During the ceremony, Mirabel was the only one who noticed the cracks in their magical home. She realized that something was wrong and tried alerting her family, but they thought that she was making up tall tales and did not believe her. Even then, she did not care about everyone else’s opinions and pushed on determinedly to find out what was wrong with the magic. It made me realise that we should not define ourselves based on other’s opinions. A constant hunt of gaining approval from others could make us fragile and indecisive, as it happened with Mirabel.

Mirabel’s older sisters, Isabela and Luisa reveal that they have too much responsibility on their shoulders. They reveal that although they may look perfectly relaxed on the outside, inside, they feel the crushing weight of expectations that have piled up on them. They just want to relax for once in their life, but unfortunately, they can’t! What are your thoughts about being“ Miss Senorita Perfecta” ? I strongly feel that perfection breeds unhappiness. Of course, we must all try to improve constantly, but we must also be ourselves and never lose our personality and the happiness inside us.

On a lighter side, when someone’s eye twitches, you know they’re nervous! I figured out how different body languages show different emotions! And be aware of cracks. If cracks can wound you so horribly that you need magical food to heal it, you should stay away from them. Although magic doesn’t seem to be real, do miracles really exist? For me, the miracle is THAT GIRLS ARE AMAZING!😊

Signing off…