The Miracle is You
Disney gave parents a remarkable gift this Christmas by releasing their latest film, Encanto, on Disney+ and giving moms and dads everywhere a new movie to put on repeat while we scrambled to set up gifts and bake cookies and prepare a Christmas feast.
It sat in the category of “this is good” for me, mostly because I only caught glimpses of the film and heard bits and pieces of the music as I was in and out of the kitchen. But then, my 4 year old insisted I sit down and watch it from start to finish and I was remarkably impressed.
The music is wonderful. The story explores what perfectionism, pressure, and familial expectations mean in light of the Madrigal family. Each family member is given a magical gift - supersonic hearing, super strength, the ability to shape shift, cooking food that is healing, creating beautiful flowers, the ability to talk to animals. Everyone is “special” except Mirabel, who feels both out of place in her own family and in the community as a whole because she’s “unexceptional.” But, and here’s where Disney really got me…her “ordinariness” is precisely what makes her unique. In a family of “specially gifted humans” who are constantly “outdoing” themselves with their special abilities, Mirabel’s lack of a gift actually makes her the most gifted, because she can see the uniqueness in each person she encounters, and sees the immense pressure each member of her family carries because they are so special. And, as a result of her “ungifted giftedness,” we learn that the ultimate gift is not a power, but is simply the fact that you exist.
It’s the most Catholic Disney film probably ever…
It’s streaming on Disney+ now, and well worth a watch (or twenty). Our favorite song is definitely “Surface Pressure” which explores the challenge big sister Luisa faces by being “the strong one” always expected to “serve others” but always feeling like she’s worthless if she isn’t working…really good stuff, I think.
New Year, New You…
Are new year’s resolutions dumb? Maybe…but also, perhaps you can better “stick to them” if you actually do some key things. Our friends at Aleteia look into it.
Today’s Guests
Jonathan Blevins stops by to explain what the heck is going on with NFL player Antonio Brown and Rod Bennett tells us about his best selling book Four More Witnesses: Further Testimonies from Christians before Constantine.