We DO talk about Bruno, oh, oh, oh... and the familia Madrigal

Let's actually talk about Bruno. And not only him but the whole familia Madrigal. The family consists of abuela Alma, tía Pepa, tío Bruno, Julieta, tío Felix, Agustin, Isabela, Luisa, Mirabel, Dolores, Camilo and Antonio. Encanto is a beautiful animated film about family dysfunction. Story is each family member receives a special gift that is used for the benefit of the community. Everyone has a gift, except for Mirabel. Which leads me to the following, each gift given by the encanto is a reflection of the roles family members play:

• The Hero: The high achiever that carries the pride of the family.

• The Rescuer: The one who takes care of others’ needs.

• The Mediator: The one who acts as a buffer when it comes to conflict 

• The Black Sheep: The one who everyone in the family sees needs the most help.

• The Switchboard: The one that always knows what is going on with the family. 

• The Power Broker: The one who maintains themselves at the top in the family hierarchy. 

• The Clown: The one who uses humor to offset the family’s conflicts. 

• The Lost Child: The one who lays low and under the radar.

• The Cheerleader: The one who provides support and encouragement to others. 

• The Nurturer: The one who provides safety and creates balance. 

• The Thinker: The one who sees situations in a logical manner.

• The Truth Teller: The one who tells it as it is. 

If you have seen the movie, you may already have an idea of who’s who in Encanto but perhaps also in your own family. Which is totally fine! I’d like to take a moment to state that we all fit one role at least once throughout our life if not all of them when circumstances require it.  

After watching this movie so many times, I noticed the following about the familia Madrigal:

Isabella: The Hero

Isabela, the beauty. The one who is perfect in the eyes of everyone, especially abuela. 

Luisa: The Rescuer

“Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa. Pressure that'll tip, tip, tip 'til you just go pop, whoa-oh-oh”. When she starts growing weak, she is frustrated she can’t help others. Poor thing has such a noble heart who tends to overdo it but if she doesn’t who will?

Dolores: The Switchboard

Dolores is gifted with enhanced hearing which in other terms or in the Latino culture is associated with being the chismosa. Dolores always knows what’s going on and people look to her to do so.

Camilo: The Clown

His gift is the ability to shape-shift and he tends to goof around or be the charismatic guy in the family. Camilo just lightens up the mood.

Julieta: The Nurturer

Okay, I would kill to try one of Julieta’s arepas con queso. Her ability to heal is a beautiful thing and she does best what mothers do, nurture those they love.

Agustin: The Cheerleader

I love the dad! He is super supportive of Mirabel and just is trying to help her see that she is enough. Great family role representation. He is a cheerleader for everyone really.

Abuela: The Power Broker

I’ll be honest, Abuela Alma was not my favorite whatsoever. From the beginning to about the middle of the movie, we see how harsh this little old grandma acts towards Mirabel. Everyone knows to do their part so Abuela is not upset.

Tío Bruno: The Black Sheep/ Truth Teller

Bruno is the black sheep because his family made him feel like an outcast when his gift to see the future scared them. All he was doing was telling the truth.

Mirabel: The Black Sheep

Not only does she not have a gift but her sisters and grandma made her feel that she was weird and did not belong. Similar to Bruno, the family made her feel that she wasn’t adding to the family.

Tío Felix: The Lost Child

Tio Felix is the cool uncle that’s very go with the flow and he is good at soothing Tia Pepa.

Tía Pepa: The Overly Emotional (not listed)

I mean this tia has a cloud over her a lot throughout the movie. She is the definition of wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Antonio: The Mediator

For being a little one, Antonio is a wise one. He constantly is there to remind Mirabel of how special she is despite what the family thinks.

Throughout the plot, we see how their roles may change depending on what’s going on. Guess what? That is completely normal. Within a family system, family members learn to take on new roles whenever a big change happens. When Abuelo Pedro passed away, Abuela Alma had to step in and run the show. In fear of losing the encanto, Abuela becomes super uptight and rigid.

In the process of her family growing, everyone picked up on what to do in order to have balance in their home. The family underwent construction in order to bring homeostasis. Argentine therapist, Salvador Minuchin mentioned that families had boundaries: diffuse, rigid, and clear. In families, with diffuse barriers, things are too open. Rigid barriers means the family is closed off to the outside. Lastly, the clear barriers, are what families should have because they are balanced and healthy. I noticed that throughout the film the community was super involved in what the family had going on. Hey, it may just be a Latino thing but practicing healthy boundaries within the family system teaches children how to to create healthy habits and boundaries with those in and outside of the family. Having clear limits leads to healthier communication and less stressful relationships.

"You lost your home. Lost everything. You suffered so much. All alone. So it would never happen again. We were saved because of you. We were given a miracle because of you. We are a family because of you. And nothing could ever be broken that we can’t fix… together."

-Mirabel, Encanto 2021

References

Merino, Y., & Spencer, C. (2021). Encanto. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://www.disneyplus.com/video/0281c38c-a92e-403b-b84c-52be9ad43605.