Abuela wasn’t even evil. She was just scared of losing her family and all of a sudden she has to lead a whole community after losing her husband does help that. She was misguided in how she acted but she didn’t have anyone to look up to to tell her otherwise. She did the best she could with what she had.
Dang I am super surprised that anybody is taking that read of it (Abuela=evil). I think one of my favorite things about the movie is the message that good people can still end up hurting each other through fear, but the solution is love and honesty and acceptance and authenticity. Abuela's one of my favorite disney characters and this is one of my favorite movies because there are NO villians in this movie (except the horse guys). Just well-meaning people who lost their way, and through love and courage found their way back.
The path to hell is paved with good intentions, not saying abuela is going to hell however to ignore her impact on her children's and grandchildren's self worth is foolish
I felt so BAD for abuela - the way she unintentionally projected her grief and trauma onto her family wasn't right but it was so shown that she DOES love her family, she was just scared and that's why she pushed down too hard. The scene by the river was beautiful, I cry every time 😭😭😭
Yeah seriously, the mutual understanding and acceptance in thar scene is so beautiful. She understood her mistake and apologised with no expectation for mirabels forgiveness. And I thought they communicated their point really well, with the whole "we need a new foundation" idea, but apparently some people managed to miss it 😒
I'm in an International Disaster Psychology program, and the entire time Abuela broke my heart because she is a CLEAR representation of the trauma of fleeing conflict & seeking refuge and the intense pressure that the one who brought the family the miracle has in the new home. She didn't just have the responsibility of caring, guiding, and protecting her family but the WHOLE TOWN too. In 50 years, she was never allowed to think about, nurture, or heal herself. The antagonists of Encanto are the pressure and injustices that refugee, asylum seekers, and immigrants face, and the expectation that they should have "no problems" in their new home. IMO the people hating on Abuela are literal human embodiments of racism & the colonial systems that force people & families to create (potentially harmful) assimilation techniques.
I know I say fuck Abuela but I never say 'oh she should die'. And whoever compares her to MOTHER GOTHEL of all people need their heads checked. It's super easy to see that she had zero time to absorb and 'get over' her husband's demise. She was a single mother of three and leader in a matter of seconds. So she sadly had to toughen up. I'm glad that the family is mending and that they can become a stronger family. If we get a sequel or a show, I hope we can see her opening up to her family. I'm prattling at this point so imma hush up.
@@blackpinkluv9869 exactly. Alma didn’t intend to harm her family. She’s misguided. Gothel though? Oh she fully intended that shit just so she could stay young and beautiful.
Agreed! I can say, I didn't like Alma at some points in the film, mainly when she gaslit Mirabel (I believe that's what she did with the paper flowers and candle and Abuela said to "leave the help to the ones with gifts") but she was grieving and since she couldn't control her husband (that's how he died since he acted on his own will) she wanted to control her family to prevent the rest of her family from dying
She didn't hurt her family on purpose. She just wanted them safe and for them to help others. Edit: yes ik she still hurt them and they forgave her for that when she owned up to her actions.
@@jimstoesz3878 and. How does that equate her with Cruella De Vil, Jean Claude Frollo, Mother Gothel, Ratcliffe, Scar, Captain Hook, McCleach, the Huns, Yzma, Zera, Ursula etc. As others are mentioning, Abuela owned up and apologized for her own actions. The majority of the rest of them literally died on that hill
I've seen people label Abuela a narcissist or some other arm chair psychology diagnosis, and I'm just...? She is a trauma survivor who held onto an unhealthy control/coping method because she loves her family and community. Also, she *recognized* the harm she was doing and *grew* as a person. She's not evil. She's not a villian. She's an imperfect person. All the characters are imperfect and have unhealthy coping mechanisms, but they still love each other. Like, you know, all families.
Agreed. Clearly those people don't know anything about actual narcissistic behavior. Abuela Alma is definitely NOT a narcissist of any kind (and there are several). Just a traumatized woman stuck in a fight fear response to cover her fear and uncertainty of letting everyone down and (to her) dishonoring Abuelo Pedro's sacrifice and the Blessing. I think maybe she had a little bit of everyone else's anxieties all in one, plus the burden of leadership.
One person said she was a communal narcissist, they recommended a licensed therapist on TH-cam for me to look up and everything. I watched it just in case it came up again, but didn't actually finish because it was very clearly NOT Abuela Alma at all. It's so frustrating how people try to put whatever malicious tags they can on her so they can stay mad or think that she deserved to suffer more than she already did for decades.
@@raeg1100 I wonder if that person has ever actually met a narcissist? Because, if they'd been raised by or with one, or had had long-term contact with them as a romantic partner, co-worker or "friend," then they'd know that Abuela definitely does not fit those behavioral patterns.
@@raven3moon crazily enough, I think that they had some sort of abuse from a narcissist because they mentioned victims of narcissists and linked themselves there a little bit. They also called narcissists dream stealers, which I don't think they would say if they didn't have personal feelings involved.
@@raven3moon I think one of Alma’s biggest trauma tells is how she keeps talking about “earning” the miracle and gifts. She doesn’t feel like she (and by extension, the family) are enough to just deserve someone brutally sacrificing themselves to protect them. They aren’t going to show it in a kids film, but I’ve seen several Colombian folks talk about how Pedro would have been murdered at that time. It’s way worse than most of us would imagine.
The funniest thing about people using Abuela to project their therapy fantasies on is that multiple therapists have done videos and other disscusions about the movie and from what I've seen they all treat Alma's character with sympathy.
I can't remember who it was but one of those therapists pointed out that all of the gifts the family has would be very appealing crutches to someone with PTSD who is hypervigilant because of the event that caused it. Being able to see the future, to prevent natural disasters, to heal injury and illness, to be super strong, etc. Like, someone who suffered abrupt trauma would be grateful to have even one of those gifts in order to be prepared to prevent it from ever happening again.
All facts. Some said that a lot of the reason for her hate is because she's one of the most relatable antagonist because most of us have an older relative who is very over bearing and diminishing of anyone else's feelings. But no. There is no comparison to any other villian. Especially Gothel or Maleficent in any way shape form or fashion. Most people, myself included, are still afraid to stand up to our elders because of respect and prevent drama, so like you said projection.
I think as well, people like the insane villains more, and then there is Alma who isn’t really a villain. But people are looking for a villain, so they end up really vilifying her.
I agree, surely some people can relate so well. But from here to wishing her dead, even after a plain explanations of the trauma that made her like that...
I also think that there is a stigma of an antagonist automatically being the bad guy. An antagonist is merely a being standing between the protagonist and their goal and she does fill that role. But if I were to write an autobiography about my sports career then my opponent would fill that roll.
I seriously had no idea this was even a thing. I feel like people who hate Abuela just left the theater when the candle went out. Like, wasn't the point that she realized her mistakes and made changes to fix them? Did we watch the same movie? Also, who are these people who are Mother Gothel cheerleaders? Hands down the creepiest Disney villain. She replaced Cruela DeVille as the most evil Disney character in my personal rankings. I assume you drew attention from these weirdos because of your content, but I don't think (at least I certainly hope) it's the general consensus.
I've seen this A LOT happen on Encantó TikTok; people have made AWFUL comments towards Abuela, like saying that Pedro killed himself to escape her, that she needed to be killed by Mirabel, that she is the worst character ever, EVEN THOUGH WE SEE THE WHOLE CONTEXT AND EVEN IF HER ACTIONS WERE TOXIC SHE LEARNS AND GROWS FROM IT.
Yes, I think the attention came with her shorts, but in all honesty, if they didn't understand the main messages in the film and the obvious irony in her hilarious shorts, people really need to start thinking of their own mental health.
I legit watched Encanto, being a Latino in a toxic home, my take away is to take the time to talk with family. I was crying during the two caterpillars scene/Abuela heart to heart. A family may have issue but at the end of the day you gotta be grateful with what you can. Abuela realized at the end of the movie that she was one of problem causer and she'd have to make adjustments in her life. She even accepted Bruno and Mirabel back into her life. She's not an evil character, she's just not perfect, like all of us. Hell, I've experienced this with my own mother not forgiving her for a year, but it took some time to heal and I finally accepted back into my life. Like Nikki said this isn't a movie to be used a therapy, it's a movie to show a difficult lesson to help reinforces things that should be said Thank you Nikki for the vid! Gracias Señora! Pase Buen Noche! (This has been the thoughts of a Latino Bi Guy who's used better help :3)
I always took Abuela’s story to be a warning. You have to take care of yourself so you can take care of your kids. Abuela never got the chance to even try. It’s tragic honestly. Her husband died, she had three babies and a village to take care off. It’s not even fair.
Especially since the village seems incapable of doing anything themselves. She’s alone with her trauma, surrounding by people who need her family. She raised the children by herself without ever having the chance to cope. Notice how easily the villagers dump all their responsibilities on the Madrigals. I understand if you need help with picking up a building, but I’m pretty sure you can handle one donkey without calling Luisa. What Abuela did to the family wasn’t right, but it’s something you can sympathize with.
@@jinx8627 Is not given much focus, but the villagers are also dealing with the collective trauma, it makes sense why the were so dependent on the miracle, because it gave them security, they just didn't realize how they were contributing to the burden of the Madrigals.
One thing I absolutely hate is the idea that people are “too old” to change, redeem and try to do better. IMO alma was a WELCOME change from that. Healing is a process for everyone and Alma is entitled to that same courtesy even while being held accountable for her role in the toxicity.
Yes! It would have been so easy to label her a cut and dried antagonist, but they made her so much more than that. They made her pain real and tangible, they made her recognise the harm she was causing, apologise wuth no expectation for forgiveness, and rebuild. It's such an important message that if you are the toxic person you CAN change and rebuild as best you can, but you have to acknowledge your choices and accept responsibility for the harm you caused before you can even begin to try repairing that rift. And that communicating why you behaved the way you did is important, and that trauma can cause people to behave in ways that cause harm, but that its not a free pass from taking accountability. I thought the ending was beautiful, really well done.
I feel you. Every time I join something, they usually ruin it when I just wanted to say hi and talk about the characters and stuff (don’t get me started on ships-)…I try and stay on the good side. But it’s so tiring when you do have to deal with it.
Well, I guess it should be expected by now. As long as there is people who like something, and a lot of them, there will be toxicity somewhere within a fandom. It's sad but it's true.
The fact that people see Abuela Alma as an irredeemable villain yet are willing to empathize with villains like would-be child murderer Maleficent and would-be puppy murderer Cruella De Vil just absolutely baffles me.
And how they simp over literal genocidal maniacs like Loki. Like, the man literally murdered an entire planet because of his daddy issues, but they take more offense with a severely traumatized woman who does everything she does in order to protect her family and her community. Not only does it smack of racism, but quite a bit of sexism as well.
@@NathanielTavington Loki didn't kill an entire planet, you might be confusing him with someone else. But I do agree with what you said, it's a huge problem in nerd culture
I dont like Abuela Alma, but I would never want her to die or compare her to one to the other villains. Shes not the best, but she is DEFINITELY not the worst of disney antagonistics.
I say Frollo's the worst. Mother Gothel right behind him. HUMANS who use simple but powerful, relatable HUMAN means to terrorize their victims. She had Punzie's hair to stay young, but all her evil was her cruelty as a vile person.
Abuela did the best she could with what she had. She raised 3 kids into decent adults while in deep mourning. She wasn't perfect, but how do you even start to compare her to Mother Gothel? Mother Gothel kidnapped and kept a child isolated in a tower so she could use her as a personal youth serum. She was selfish and cruel for vanity.
Are there really people who hate abuela? I thought everyone was just joking. Generarional trauma is something hard to break from and I'm saying this as someone who had to do it at a really young age but I would never blame those before me who had horrible experiences and had to survive through their lives and are still dealing with those memories. I suffered too but I don't keep myself there and try to look forward because I know how my own abuela lived, how my dad was treated by his parents and the life of loneliness my mom lived after she lost her dad, abuela lost her husband. This is my experience and there will be lots of you with different ones and I'm sorry for what you had to live through but it's getting on my nerves how you just find a character that resembles someone in your life and just forget all they did and had to go through too. Abuela Alma is an incredibly well-written character and it's so sad people see her as this just horrible villain then forget to see the bigger picture. She could've been you, you know. Many people in Colombia, many people in LATAM have lost many to wars that half the world isn't aware of and this movie tries to depict what one of them did to generations and you just choose to not see it.
I see so many people carping about how Abuela didn't say enough or apologize enough, and I'm just like... That woman showed her family more self-awareness and accountability AND CHANGED BEHAVIOR than I can ever HOPE to see from my mother, and certainly never saw from my grandmother in her lifetime. My grandmother's crazy bullshit was so strong it traumatized her children and grandchildren AND gave a contact high of crazy to her great-grandchildren, and she went to her grave without apologizing for a damn thing. Next to that, Abuela Alma is a fucking rock star.
yeah- what i feel is important with “apologizing” and what not (from my parents lol) is the awareness. i KNOW its hard for people to change the older you get, and even if you’ve talked about things its still gonna come up again AND mistakes will be made- BUT its the awareness for me, and the open communication. everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone is willing to talk about it.
Racism is definitely most likely a factor, but I’ll tell you what the other difference is that I think has impact-the harm Abeula causes isn’t fun to watch. The ending was a bit Disneyfied but throughout the film Abeula’s role is *messy*. It’s *complicated*. And it *hurts* to watch her hurt the people she says she loves. She’s no charismatic, cackling villain-she’s a woman with severe trauma. It’s not fun to watch her hurt Mirabel, or see the way her expectations have damaged her family. But that’s the point. If it was fun to watch her hurt her family, Encanto would’ve completely undermined it’s own message. What it sounds like is people are trying to fit her into a traditional Disney villain slot, and she just doesn’t fit there. Encanto asks more of its audience than most Disney films-it asks its audience to accept nuance. But if you demand a villain from Encanto, you’ll likely settle on Abeula, and if you’re white she’s conveniently pre-othered for you. Together all of that makes it easy for some folks to develop an unfairly callous attitude towards one of the few Disney antagonists (if you can call her that) who never meant anyone any harm. Also like I said I do think the ending was too clean, but let’s not pretend that’s a purely Encanto issue. Hans from Frozen was punched and sent home for his “consequences”, and he just tried to *chop Elsa’s head off* Endings that are too clean are probably a Disney mandate of some kind.
She's also not as "fabulous" as Maleficent, Cruella, or Ursula. I have a makeup bag with Maleficent on one side and the quote "she's fabulous but she's evil" on the other. Abuela Alma isn't evil, she's hurt and scared. She shouldn't take it out on her family, but that's the entire point of the movie! Elsa and Anna's parents emotional abuse wasn't addressed in the sequel but let's kill Abuela. That's nuts.
The racist part I actually agree completely. It's much easier for these hateful people to hate people diferent from them. And the worst part is that it's NOT isolated to the white people. Black people are actually MUCH MORE RACIST than other etnicities because they suffered from it much longer and most like to pay hate with more hate. It is, unfortunatly, a very comum human thing. Eye for an eye and so
Hans wasnt meant to be a villain that's literally why his punishment doesnt for his crime. Because the lunishment was for a Hans who didnt go that far and him being a villain was like Disney saying we need a villain if its not gonna be elsa as they strayed from the original fairy tale
Most people can’t handle nuance. That’s something I’ve been realizing as of late. They only know black and white and will try to make things fit into that worldview even when they’re not meant to. Abuela is just another victim of that mindset.
Wow I didn’t realize people had such a problem Abuela. Maybe I don’t have a place to say this but I really liked her character and felt she was very well written. Sure she pushed her family to hard but it wasn’t for image or greed but because she was so scared of losing them and was just trying to protect them the only way she knew how. I felt the movie did a good job of showing her struggles and why she acted the way she did. It doesn’t make it right but life is never so black and white. She did the best she could, all while grieving and young and scared that she made some huge mistakes but by the end was in a place that she was ready to change. When you think what you are doing is right, and you have reasons to justify what you are doing it can be really hard to see the other side of your actions and damage you are causing by only seeing things in one light and I thought that’s what her character represented.
I believe that they made this movie, even with how filtered it is for the children, so that they can notice the toxicity in their household. It’s not okay to live with that even if you think it’s okay.
Sounds like these people missed one of the messages of this movie; the importance of empathy. Throughout the story, Mirabel realised that her family were suffering under the weight of their gifts and the expectations that came with them. Then, when she heard the full version of Alma's story, she saw that her abuela had arguably been suffering the most. Anger and holding grudges wasn't going to help the family; it was forgiveness and love that saved their home.
I feel like this is a general problem. A lot of people just don't seem to have empathy anymore. I spend a lot of time on Reddit and some people can get really toxic on there and many don't seem to understand that they are missing empathy. I made a response to a post about how someone is not required to love their parents, especially if the parents are abusing their child, and someone (not OP) got into an argument with me. They said that it doesn't matter what the parents do, it's a child's duty to always love their parents. They didn't seem to have any sympathy for OP at all. It's frustrating to see all the hate on the internet sometimes and some days it can be a bit overwhelming and I find that I have to take a break from the internet.
Well said! I have a lot of sympathy for Abuela. She saw her husband brutally murdered and then had absolutely no way to deal with that trauma on top of being the new leader. The town didn't exactly have any therapists and given when it was set? Even if there was a therapist, they wouldn't likely be qualified to be much help. Gothel was a horrible person who kidnapped and gaslit someone else's child. I remember someone in your tiktok video saying that Abuela was like Lady Tremaine in Cinderella.. and I agree with your response there - she is a horribly abusive person and not like Abuela.
Abuela's trauma at the end always makes me cry. Also, Tangled rant (including series content) So like, Gothel not only kidnapped and manipulated Rapunzel; she abandoned her own daughter Cassandra (something between 2 and 5 at the time) in the process. • The way Gothel raised Raps led to a perfectionist (can't have anything wrong because it was the end of the world with Mother so I must have everything perfect to ensure peace) who also had trouble speaking her mind because she was used to feeling like a villain whenever there was conflict. • The way Gothel left her birth daughter, Cassandra, led to an inferiority complex and trauma so deep that she forgot it. By some cruel twist of fate, Cass winds up as Rapunzel's maid… In several ways, their relationship was like sisters, but picture it-- An optimistic perfectionist who is a beloved long-lost princess. She's given every opportunity to do what she wants and have everything her way. Because she's always so optimistic and was trained to seem as non confrontational as possible when she advocates for what she wants, no one can argue with her when she's wrong or inexperienced. Now her "friend" / "sister"… is actually a servant in comparison. Cass is always outshined, and her opinions are very cheerily criticized because straightforward conflict makes Raps feel bad. As a somewhat pessimistic realist… that's not really gonna work. Eventually, there's this huge drama about it because Cass is always outshined by her friend and treated like the dark cloud to her sunshine. When she remembers that even her own mother took Rapunzel's side and that they actually had that as a common link, it's kind of a breaking point. Leads to some power grabbing, world shaking, the release of a calamitous demon… I blame Gothel.
I completely was left sobbing in the butterflies song, I felt sorry for mirabel, but I was gutted when I saw Abuela holding her NEWBORN TRIPLETS all alone in that house
Real question how could she carry ALL of the them in her ARMS Like you need to strap a baby on your back another one on the front and idk where the third one goes
The most touching part that has me in tears is in the song where they are rebuilding. Abuela sings, _"and I'm sorry I held on too tight. I was so afraid I'd lose you too, the miracle is not, some magic that you've got, the miracle is YOU, all of you ...."_
I feel like more people should LOOK UP TO ABUELA, because when her problematic behavior was pointed out, she apologized and took action to fix it. That's more than a lot of people do in real life (even if it should be considered the bare minimum). Also, you're remark about people needing to seek therapy and stop projecting onto the movie is spot on. The message of how someone's trauma can cause them to hurt others if they don't heal is especially ironic, since people who need therapy are contributing to hurtful and bigoted perceptions of the film. It's clear that the point went over their heads, and hopefully videos like this will make people re-examine their behavior. It shouldn't have to be your job to call people out on their bullshit, but thank you so much for doing it. 💕
I say Frollo's the worst. Mother Gothel right behind him. HUMANS who use simple but powerful, relatable HUMAN means to terrorize their victims. She had Punzie's hair to stay young, but all her evil was her cruelty as a vile person. Abuela is NOWHERE near these two. And nearly all the other villains had more fantasy/creature shit going on. But these were horrible PEOPLE.
Cruela used to take my to worst spot before MG. Yeah, Frollo is awful, but I can at least understand him. Cruela f-ing kidnaps and murders puppies, WHO DOES THAT!
Mother Gothel KIDNAPPED a child for 18 YEARS because, of her magic HAIR! And Maleficent tried out KILL a CHILD for not being invited to her BIRTHDAY?! And Abuela saw the love of her life DIE in front of her, and she doesn’t want that to happen again She doesn’t want to lose her home and the ones she loves,THAT’S why she harsh on mirabel.
If the fandom needs someone to be the villain of Encanto I'd say the bastards that drove Abuela Alma and her village away from their homes, then *murdered* Abuelo Pedro deserve that title. Abuela Alma was a traumatized mother with 3 babies to raise and was forced to become the leader of the village. She did what she believed was best for the family, and didn't realize how she was actually hurting the family until Casita was destroyed, and the miracle had died.
Thank you! No one is talking about what drove them from their home AT ALL! I have yet to see a TikTok or Reel addressing civil war or forced migration which is STILL happening today.
Abuela reminds me of my own family members. Do I hate her/them? Not really, I'm more numb. But I understand WHY they/she act(s) that way. We don't have to like how they act at ALL. And I don't. But I get it. But wanting her to DIE over all this?? MIRABEL DIDN'T EVEN HATE THEM!! AND SHE WAS THE ONE WHO HAD THE MOST "RIGHT" TO DO SO!! It was, like you said, a movie that touched on GENERATIONAL TRAUMA the best way a CHILDREN'S MOVIE could.
I think the hate also comes from cultural differences that some people don't understand. As a Latina, the type of generational trauma that abuela suffers and perpetuates onto her family is so prevalent in our communities (especially women, who are the known pillars in families) that we can empathize with abuela's hurt whilst acknowledging her toxic behavior. She is not a perfect character. At worst, I'd call her oblivious about the damage she was doing because she was so focused on the family/family's miracle. The antagonist of this movie (to me) is grief/trauma and how that affects everyone, not just the person who was originally traumatized. I honestly resonated with abuela *because* I saw her in family members AND myself. If I see comments lacking empathy towards abuela and just focusing on the negative things she did, it definitely makes me give the person writing the side eye. The movie is very explicitly telling you by the end that abuela is remorseful and wants to make up for the hurt she has caused. The cycle is ending due to abuela acknowledging her own hurt and the hurt she has caused as well. Idk what more that poor woman needs to do to redeem herself in the end lol
I think that's absolutely true. I find it absolutely awful how some people can't seem to emphasize at all with someone who went trough something they don't know by themselves. Of course you can only understand something to a certain point if you never experienced it yourself, but the movie shows so clearly what Abuela been trough that everybody with only a hint of empathy should see that she has some issues but is absolutely not evil, that she has trauma she never could work through and never wanted to hurt her family. Evan if you can't fully understand it because you don't know it by yourself. But I'm not a Latina so maybe I see somethings wrong.
@@Schachmdels I think part of the charm of Encanto is that we all know someone dealing with trauma or are dealing with trauma ourselves and can empathize with abuela in some way by the end of the movie. Even if you are not Latino, you should be able to relate with her on some level. So I don't think you are seeing things wrong at all! I just think that some people can't see past what they themselves have lived through and that makes them villianize abuela way more than the story intends them to. I also do think that racism/xenophobia does have a lot to do with it too when it comes to certain commenters but I'm not here to have that debate. Some people are never going to understand that family dynamics in every household varies. Especially when it comes to POC communities vs white communities.
Fucking finally someone brought this to light. I admit, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Abuela, and I know most people aren’t, but seriously. As you said, to compare a refugee woman who just gave birth to triplets, had to flee from her town, and just watched her husband die brutally right before her eyes to a fucking emotionally abusive kidnapper just pisses me the hell off, especially when all this is over a fucking Disney move meant for children.
Duuude.... the movie's antagonist is an internal antagonistic. I was impressed at a Disney movie without a villain. Because Abuella isn't a villain. She's a broken woman. I can't believe people are being like this. I appreciate your rant.
I hated it when my friends after watching encanto would complain to me that abuela was forgiven- this movie has so many nuances and intentions that get so twisted since people don’t want to believe this is meant to be a movie with a a lessons and an ending and leave kids with hope and that’s it
Its not just the people talking about abuela not to sound cliche but there is some truth in that old trope that the brightest lights cast some dark shadows. Encanto as a movie is amazing, a fandom grew overnight and now we gotta deal with people with some screwed up morality over the internet forcing their ideas onto others. Abuela isn't a villain but it just goes to show you just how shortsighted people can be. You know what I think? The movie hit close to home and thats why its popular but that is also why its showing the ugliest in people. There are millions of abuela's out there and instead of doing what the movie wants which is to maintain the happiness of everyone within the family structure (INCLUDING Abuela). I think a large portion of people who demonize Abuela "claim" to be rooting for mirabel. There is a reason why prior to the last song in the movie Mirabel got to see the side of the story she never could have known without having it discussed. It's a really ugly underbelly the encanto fandom has got going for it, and I'd even say it just goes to show you just how desperate people are to have shallow morality on right and wrong. Its way easier to villanize any person, group, entity far more than it is to humanize them
Those people don’t have empathy, or forgiveness in their hearts. But by their logic, Cruella is misunderstood but Abuela can’t learn and grow from her mistakes? How does that make sense? And all these “virtuous” people need to do is say that they’re good and the public wouldn’t know otherwise.
Honestly, I think its people letting their own hurt feelings from their past cloud their judgement. Abuela can be both held accountable for her actions and empathized with for what she's gone through. One doesn't dismiss the other. She took accountability for her actions in the end and that's what important.
Abuella gets hate yet the evil Queen is praised even though she tried to kill her own stepdaughter and was a mass murder cursed a town full of people and sexually assaulted a man in the once upon a time series I wonder why that is ?🧐✋🏻✋🏼✋🏽✋🏾✋🏿
🙄🙄🙄 same reason people hate umbridge in harry potter more than Voldemort or any other bad guy. Because most people can't relate to some genocidal maniac but they can relate to an awful teacher who treats them badly. Just like most people can't relate to a parental figure that locks you in a tower for a couple decades but can relate to an older relative that dismisses you and treats you as less than because of your perceived shortcomings. It has nothing to do with racism.
I feel like Abuela needed a bigger to apology to a lot of the characters but my exact thoughts were is that if she was more awful and cold hearted then it would have been easier to hate her but she is probably the BEST quote on quote villain but like mother gothel like you said she is a murder and a kidnapper. Maleficent put a DEATH spell on a baby. Like how are they even comparable those people to abuela like how?
On the one hand, yeah, the movie wraps it up nice and neat in a bow. One of my housemates is bothered by that. But on the other hand, it's a movie. Not only that, it's a _Disney_ movie. We can't expect the sequence of the Madrigals going to see a family therapist any more than we're going to see Rapunzel's work on her mental trauma. So yeah, there could have been a bit _more_ but... I don't know how it could have been done without dragging things out.
Abuela: demanding and inconsiderate because of unresolved trauma Mother Gothel: kidnapped a baby to gaslight and use as a youth serum Malificent: spitefully cursed a baby to death Cruella: puppy-murdering elitist 🎵One of these things is not like the other🎶
The funniest part about your comment is that Frollo was worse than all of them combined and people ship him with Esmeralda of all people. A woman he objectified to a disturbing extent.
It's just so hard to believe how a kids movie turned into a whole back alley rumble in a matter of a few months without people taking a moment to realize what they were doing wrong, and just the fact that these people would wish death upon Abuela was awful Abuela may have had troubles within her life but they doesn't give people the right to wish death upon her as for the racism that is not ok, you don't know the struggles that most people go through and just for the fact that you just assume you know and you assume you are right and you assume you could say what ever you want about them is evil and wrong it's really sad that she has to make a video about this because people won't get the concept across their thick heads and understand what the movie really is about.
Abuela is hurting her family, yes. But her goal was to protect them, the whole time. Did she lose sight of how she was affecting her family? Yes. But! She was hurting, and traumatized. I’ve seen generational trauma in my own (Salvadoran) family, and think it was handled very well in Encanto. (The movie for kids. ) Obviously it was going to be shortened for kids! But they did a great job showing how to help the situation in a way kids can understand and apply. So yeah. I’m done with this fandom already, and it’s been less than two months.
And another thing! People will rewrite the narrative completely for their Problematic Faves, but Abuela isn’t a hot guy so obviously we’ve got to make her pay for everything she ever did wrong and continue to villainize her. Ugh.
Abuelas context: surviving genocide, losing her husband, leading her three kids and refuges into a land theres a literal mountain is landlocking them into physical safety. She can't leave to get therapy. SHE CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE IT'S ONLY SAFE AROUND THE HOUSE. Abuela isn't right. But she's freaking human and has things to work on. But my ability to understand and have empathy for Abuela doesn't count because she reminds me of my own Abuela who immigrated to the US from Latin America, and lost her husband early to sickness and was a single mother combating racism. She had a lot to work on too, much like Abuela. But I don't count to have empathy here because I've lived it. And I'm mixed. Meanwhile. Thank you for addressing the absolute venom thrown at Abuela who's out here with no support or access to help whose out here healing and changing and being better for her family and herself. But yeah. She's totally worse than mother gothel because she doesn't use endearments with Mirabel after she's denied the miracle because she's scared. And still isolated.
Idk how people can compare her to Mother Gothel….like at least Abuela felt actually remorse and shame from her actions. Mother Gothel almost KILLED someone, kidnapped and abused her “child”.
@@myasmith1820 literally there are videos on how Mother Gothel hits every single Gass lighting note and is an expert at it. Meanwhile Abuela isn't even aware she's causing harm bc she thinks she's protecting the family, mostly by doing what she's always done. And being terrified that they could lose the miracle that literally saved her and her children post severe trauma and gave them refuge. Abuela has zero sense of security and is sure someone could come back over the mountain for them any minute, only this time she's too old to lead her family out and over the mountains.
@@myasmith1820 Every time, and i mean, every time that a toxic mother figure shows up in a show people start to compare her to Mother Gothel! And most of the time the character doesn't have anythig to do with her! Seriously, i've seen people comparing mother Gothel to Demeter from Lore Olympus and it feels to out dated.
@@despinasgarden.4100 I wouldn't even cal that outdated so much as wrong. Gothel is pure evil. She's the queen of Gass lighting and has kidnapped a child to feed off of her. She doesn't love the kid. Demeter is a loving/controlling/helecopter mother whose desperate for nobody to know her daughter exists because Something Bigger is out there and Could snap up Persephone at any second, along with all the other Olympians and their calculating designs for Persephone. Demeter is Marlin from finding Nemo but her trauma involves war and her gadslighting stems from love. She may look like Gothel at times because abusive parents all have the capacity to look evil, but she's far more complicated than that.
I have nothing against Abuela, my room mate and I had this conversation, she was a single mother of three gifted children, watched her husband get murdered in front of her, had to build an entire family and community basically on her own and was relied on by her children and the town. All the pressure? Yeah, she's going to be a bit controlling because she's, like everyone else in the family, is breaking. I don't like her, because she reminded me of someone from my past, however, I can see why she is the way she is because she, like Luisa (Sorry for spelling) had to be strong, she too, was never given a break, you put that song with Abuela too. She had to learn to let go too, it was Mirabel who did that for her, Mirabel was her Miracle in the end. Abuela wasn't the best, but she did her best with what she had on hand, and it wasn't much. Love for Abuela!
The fact that Encanto is one of the very few movies that has a villain who gets an understandable and empathetic backstory AND also gets redeemed at the end because she realized she was unknowingly hurting her family and felt horrible for it. AND YET. She still gets more shit then HALF of the legit evil villains we have.
Alma DOESN'T fit the character type of villain however she does for the role of antagonist, but anyone who knows just a little thing about story structure knows that the two titles ARE NOT interchangeable, while all villains are antagonists not all antagonists are villains. "The villain is a character type, and the antagonist is a plot role". Here's the dictionary description of the two: Villains: a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot, Antagonist: a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something. Notice that the description for villain has the word "evil" while antagonist has "oppose" and "hostile" showing that an antagonist doesn't equal villain since their actions aren't necessarily evil just not what the protagonist supports.
I agree that Abuela is partially villainized and detested from being a character of color. I'm pretty sure that if Encanto took place in Germany and Abuela was Oma, there would be significantly less outright hatred. But I'm sure you also hit the nail on the head with people projecting their own real life toxic elder onto Abuela. Real life unresolved frustration that it's easier to place on a cartoon than the real source. Abuela with her micro aggressions, stubbornness, hypercritical bearing and playing favorites just feels REALER than Triton, Maleficent, Scar, or other movie villains ever could. Fewer people are triggered by the last three because they have no royal merman, dragon fairy, or malnourished lion in their lives to give them grief. But WAY more people have an Abuela. (Maybe not necessarily their actual grandmother, perhaps a parent, older sibling, boss, or third grade teacher that played favorites and wrecked their 9yr old self esteem.) Problem is theirs may NEVER apologize, NEVER give them a hug, may have exited their lives decades ago before resolving the damage. Still not excusing their toxicity, or denying how Abuela's ethnicity probably makes it a helluva lot easier for them to project it. Just sayin...
I get it, Abuela was not a good person. Key word here *WASSSSS* she changed and made an effort to be better. People need to get out of their own head. Side note your makeup is on ✨FLEAK✨ girl
And on that note I don't see this much hate towards the Beast or Kuzco either. Beast and Kuzco also started out as HORRIBLE people but like Abuela redeemed themselves.
I somewhat disagree. I see Alma as someone is is a good person...she just did bad things. Good people can still fuck up. Her goals were good. She wanted to protect her family, she wanted to be strong, she wanted to protect the encanto...but how she went about achieving those goals wasn't good.
@@tinymittensdesign yeah I agree, and I think it's really good to see it represented that people with good intentions can still cause harm and are still responsible for taking accountability. Abuelas actions were harmful, but her communicating the ways her trauma affected that, abd the fact that while she meant well she jow understands she was hurting the people she lived- it's a really nuanced way yo write an "antagonist" that they managed to do in a really easy to understand way. It's really easy to make a villain who us a truly bad person, who does evil things with evil intent. But Abuela Alma feels like a *real* person and it adds so much to the movie.
I'll be honest I feel like the abuela hate comes from the large population that had the one family member. That one person. That was horrible to them, and they see it in abuela Like, an example, I hate abuela because she reminds of my mother and the trauma she pushed onto me, but even then I'm not wishing death on her, what abuela did and does is valid for what she went through and I see that, and I know alot of people don't see that or don't care, and that's horrible because she's so much more then just the toxic family member.
Yeah I think blaming it on racism is jumping the gun a little bit. I’m sure that’s the case for some of the hate but not all or even most of it. It feels more like projection.
As to the point of them forgiving abula to quickly...umm they stuck a shoe on cinderella and the next scene they were married. Its called happily ever after
Abuela doesn't need hate, she needs love and understanding. Mother Goethel is the best representation of my abusers and how they treated me and my siblings.
Racism and projection. Encanto is by far the most complex characters live seen in Disney, yet they treat the grandma like she a villain when she's far from it
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Abuela. After we saw what happened to her, I still don’t. But I understood why she was acting like that to her family. Yes it’s bad to treat your family like that, but she was also under SO MUCH stress and pressure, and it’s amazing that she was able to keep her home and family going. In general though, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Encanto at all. However I’m in high school, and like it was stated by Nicque it was a KIDS DISNEY MOVIE. I appreciated the message, but understood the target audience wasn’t me. The “fandom” has also ruined much of it for me. I’ve seen some content made by the “fandom” and almost all the head canons, and theories, and wishes for what would’ve happened are irrational, don’t make sense, or just plain ruin the point of the film
I honestly don't like the character of Abuela, but not because of her personality of because she's 'evil'. I think it's because she is the embodiment of my fears (loneliness, grief, burden, etc.), everytime I see her I'm like nope don't like her, but she's definitely not a villain. She's just a lady with some trauma who was focused on building a good life for her family.
I’m so glad you called this! Abuela IS an antagonist in the fact that her actions are antagonizing the family, but it is clearly unintentional. I see so much of my own Grandmother in her. Our family is white, but I saw my grandmother’s history and what she went through as a young woman.
I see abuela Alma in so many of my family members, but I don't hate her. I want to hug her and make it okay, though I know I can't. The idea that people compare her to a kidnapping murderer is disgusting(Also, I hate mother Gothel. She's a monster and the villain I fear most because I know people like her exist and that's terrifying). Alma was doing her best to do what she felt she had to while dealing with a horrific trauma that she was never able to properly process. I honestly think people are just jealous that they know their own family will never do what abuela did and they want to take it out on her.
I never saw Abuela as bad.... Actually i cried so much when she revealed her story... Just...Just the thought of her being a 21-22 year girl, just finding her love making a family and a home to suddenly becoming a widow and having to raise alone 3 kids.... 3KIDS..... She was cheated of her youth, her home, her life, man she isnt a antogonist or a villan she is a hero. If there is one villan in the movie that is the demons we fight inside and the fact that we keep them secret and dont ask for help... I am from Greece due to our geographical position we have tons of immigrants ... Stories of those people are so sad and the pain the went through... And Greeks understand... And sometimes not, sometimes we forget Greeks too were scattered across the world to look for a better life, my grandma did, my mother brifly did and my sister is (for education purposes which is a lil different but still). Racism can come from anyone to anyone Not a white thing Not a black thing Not an asian thing ... And its sad
I mean I love Cruella as a Fictional Villain but I would never trust Woman with any Animal in Real Life. Even her "Supposed." Son in the DCOM "Descendants" never trusted her with Animals once he Warmed up to Dogs. (And may his Actor Rest in Piece.) Abuela Alma is not Cruella. Nor were the Abuelas in Coco. They were just Women trying to keep family together after something Tragic...and forgot why they were doing it in the first place. The one's from Coco passed it on into their Kids and Grandkids because the issue was not resolved till they realized their loved one was Murdered. And they weren't aware of it for what looks like 50 years. Like even Abuela Coco still loved her Dad into her old age. But her and her Mother never knew her Father was killed. Abuela Alma is an eye witness to her Husband's Death. So, better yet screw Ernesto for Killing Hector and the People who killed Pedro.
I totally agree, and yt people don’t understand the high expectations that POC have because of how generations struggled to give us a better life. coming to this country and living on food stamps, plagued by the societal scars left by colonization that try to push us down. our elders really just want a better life for us, and it honestly says more about society that doing something you don’t love is considered “success”
I didn't think so many people genuinely hated her. I always thought she was kinda funny and I really liked her character. Not to mention she did what most people don't. She admitted to her wrong doings and apologized. That made me like her even more.
Feel like these people missed the part where the magic house fell down on their heads? It's an allegory, and while it's a very obvious one (nothing wrong with that especially when it's for children) not a literal representation of what actually happens.
I understand Abuela, as she was very much like my grandmother in some way. My grandmother was assaulted, and never got therapy, she was very protective to a very negative point at some times, but she was well intentioned and wanted the very best for her children and grandchildren. Encanto is they very very BEST movie. It hits home in the best way.
I’m 100% picking up what you’re putting down. #MirabelAndAbuelaAreValid We need to continue uplifting the Mirabels and Abuelas of the world. Abuela was once a Mirabel. Mirabel will one day be an Abuela.
The “fuck abuela” sentiment really does reek of unresolved familial trauma. And I do have sympathy for that to a point, but I’d caution anyone in that boat that if that festers they could become “abuela” themselves.
I agree with everything you said. My best guess (and it's only a guess) is that some people are having such strong feelings about Abuela because they have an Abuela figure in their lives and a lot of the movie was triggering for them. It's probably harder for them to be empathetic when they've been on the receiving end of that type of bullshit. (Get therapy, y'all.) But I think the movie does a beautiful job of showing her as a complicated real person with flaws who genuinely loves her family and wants to do better because of it. The real villain was trauma all along.
I kind of have the same theory, they make the character out to be THE villain because for the most part, they cannot relate to her. Abuela had a lot A LOT of baggage to work on but, try raising triplets while being the moral leader of your entire community after losing your husband in the middle of an armed conflict and tell me later if you will not get a thing or two wrong. Many of you were not brought up to be successful adults by a single mother in the middle of poverty, and it shows 🤷🏽♂️
when i watched the movie i never felt that abuela hated Mirabel, just had family issues like any other. so i was shocked when i saw how much people hated her (mexican here btw)
Reminds me of a while ago when I saw some guy reviewing Lilo And Stitch. He said it was ok, but part of the reason it was that low was because he loved the plot line with Lilo and Nani, and when compared to the 'alien stuff' it brought it down. He said he wished they had just made the entire movie about the sisters. Like.. its a kids-movie, what child is going to want to watch almost 2 hours of just them adapting to their new normal. (I mean don't get me wrong I love the Lilo and Nani stuff too, but it's called Lilo AND Stitch)
Sadly, it isn't only on Racism. It is about being angry it is a Matriarch and how Abuela didn't do the 'man thing' in owning up for her mistakes. She did it her way. For the most part, Abuela wasn't wrong in most of what she did for her family and the town. There is a reason so many people loved her and her family. She freaking earned it and is a great leader without the dictator ego. When the time came, though, she had to see where she made mistakes. Realizing where she screwed up at the site where the love of her life was murdered. It took coming to the most traumatic event location for her to 'wake up' and smell the coffee. To see how she had put her pain into her viewing her children and grandchild. Decades of realizing how much she needed to fix. Maribelle was right, it doesn't matter how broken it is, we can fix it together. And they did. This is the real magic, the 'missing' scene how much Abuela made up for her mistakes as they rebuilt their home without the candle's help. Building a house takes months. Even with the town helping build it, making it maybe a month's worth of time, the leader of her clan came to terms and rebuilt her relationship with her family, to trust the grandchildren. Disney left this out, which is a shame, it could have helped so much, showing glimpses of relationship healing. It could be they couldn't figure a way to do it without it dragging down the flow of the song. As you said, it is a Disney Movie. Their magic idea is everything heals right away, no muss, no fuss. There is a lot of visual cues, showing you how much Abuela is affected and is changing, even fighting admitting to her deepest heart ache, her darkest fear. The sign she let go of this pain? She gave up the black shawl. Leaving it by the river when she decided to embrace her Brunito. I don't love what Abuela did to some of the odd ones in her family, but I do appreciate seeing how the loss of the candle put the family, all of them, on equal footing to work on themselves and with each other. And you know something? None of that would not have happened without Mirabelle and Abuela working together to show the way to do just that. And for this act, I adore Abuela's growth.
Abuela is MY GRAMS!!! The truma she experienced while she was growing up has influenced everything in her life. Every messed up thing grams did, was her way of protecting her family. I see how it's generational. Remember back during the Depression era, YOU SUFFERED RIGHT NEXT TO EVERYONE ELSE... MY POOR GRAMS IS SCARED OF EVERYTHING!!! My heart hurts for her, she wants to protect us from pain. Even if we need to endure another kind of pain. I love my grams, she did the best she could with what she had...
I mean really because abuela had a super hard time, and she shouldn't be being compared to tricking mother gothel. Mother gothel is kind of insane. Abuela just had trauma, and it is completely unfair.
I was definitely upset with Abuela Alma but I never HATED her. It's crazy that people adore Mother Gothel but want to kick Abuela Alma down. She acknowledges her past mistakes and is (at least in my opinion) changing her behavior.
Hey, can I just say you shouldn’t worry about some of these individuals. PEOPLE ARE STUPID I say don’t worry yourself about it, just keep doing what you do best. Making people laugh! Really happy I found this channel.
I agree but I still wanna see the scientific evidence that all wp are sociopaths that have no empathy for poc. But she is right when it comes to Alma and it is imoortant to listen to poc when they call out shit like this.
I am white and I agree that this seems grounded in racism. I empathized with Abuela so much, I think most people know what it feels like to mean well and still hurt someone you love.
Yea I saw some comments saying that Abuela didn't deserve to be forgiven. And I'm like?? Are we not supposed to forgive those who admit their wrongs and change for the better? That's such a disgusting mentality to me. You can forgive and rebuild the relationship without forgetting or excusing the past
PREACH. I'm an African from Ghana, and the hate has been driving me insane. My God. Not only is it excessive but when you get right down to it, a lot of the criticism is completely unfounded. Most people watch the movie, see Mirabel’s feelings get hurt, conclude Abuela is evil and subsequently blame her for every single emotional problem of the family. Like yo, are these people forgetting that this woman is the same one who raised Julieta? That when we see Pepa stressed out, it's not because Abuela is an evil villain but because the gift she has is legitimately *stressful*. Abuela didn't ask Bruno to leave, he chose to, partly because of all the stigma the community and mostly Pepa's side of the family subjected him to. None of the family members are perfect, they all contributed towards the cracks in the family by not communicating/being honest about who they were/ by not knowing how to ask or give support/ not knowing the members of their own family. The entire movie is supposed to get US to OPEN OUR EYES, precisely because we think we know people, but there could be so much more going on under the surface that we have no idea about. I'm sick and tired of one dimensional dronings about what Abuela did wrong. We hurt people sometimes without meaning to. It doesn't make us evil. It doesn't mean we should die because of it. It just makes us human. And Abuela is a better human than most because at least she's apologising for and correcting her behaviour. How many people can honestly say the same?
When I think of Abuela I think of my mom, who sacrificed so much by herself to raise her kids, who didn't have the resources to heal her own trauma. Was she a bad mom no, but did she make mistakes yes. Folks got a lot of unpacking to do. Abuela has made mistakes but folks are just projecting from the apology they'll never receive. They prefer to empathize with vengeance.
Forgiveness is not simply about absolving another’s wrongs, but releasing you from the impact they hold over you. That’s what is perfect about this movie and how it ends. It shows the possibility of healing and provides examples for parents to use with children when dealing with family conflict. And I love that it leaves room for further development. The house is rebuilt, though the foundation isn’t perfect. Abuela has learned to open her eyes, but there’s still healing to come. It’s a capsule view of what can be - much like Bruno’s visions - but not a guarantee of how the story will end.
Yes! I agree completely. Some people think forgiveness is about excusing people’s behavior or absolving people of guilt but it’s not- it’s about release and letting go. It has very little to do with the person who is being forgiven, because it is not being done for them. It is something someone does for oneself. It’s a step the forgiver takes in their journey of their own personal healing. I hope all the characters do eventually forgive Abuela because it will be a piece of releasing Them from the burden of trauma. And I believe Abuela deserves her own forgiveness and empathy, so she can release the weight of her unfair past and her anxiety/PTSD. It will actually help her in her resolve to make different decisions moving forward. Edit for spelling. Still probably some errors up there lol
Thank you!! It’s about time someone said this. In all honesty I don’t even dislike Abuela. I actually have a soft spot for her. And I find myself being protective of her. My thing is people want to burn abuela at the stake, but praise and come up with excuses for Isabella’s bullying. Abuela went through literal trauma with no one to help her through it. While her actions weren’t good, everything she did was out of love and to protect her family and community. And the fact that she admitted her wrongs in the end and made strides to redeem herself, just make her 1000 times better in my opinion. Abuela just might be my third favorite of the entire family.
2:29 finally someone said it. He is awful. His redemption is literally saying “You belong to his world now”. Not “you are person and I should not try to control you, destroy your cherished possessions and have you constantly monitored” just “You see someone else’s property now so I’m gonna stop abusing you.”
I think people just didn't like how Abuela made Mirabel feel like the mistake child for most of her crucial developing early stages of life. Disney may have their protagonist heroes bounce back from every thing that's thrown at them at the end of the movie. But in real life- that type of trauma at that age, sticks with you forever and you're never going to be fully healed from such emotional and psychological scarring. However-...with that said. Yeah, no one should let fictional stories stress out the rest of their actual lives.
I think my main problem with abuela is that she was a grandma and a mother. Everyone kinda expects evil from other Disney characters that are more antagonistic, they don't really have any connections to the other characters so there's no expectation of kindness towards them. But because abuela is a grandmother and mum we immediately expect her to be those positive, kind things. It just creates a greater shock because her character is built on but those other characters are introduced as clear villains from the beginning. It's no reason to want her to die, or compare her at all to those evil characters. She's complicated. Her backstory is tragic, I still didn't like her particularly, but I didn't hate her and I still 100% sympathized with her.
I second all of this! I find it gross people are projecting so much of their lives onto a kids movie, like people saying curtain characters are LGBT+ due to stereotypes they see as hints or hating on victims of trauma because they acted like someone who was traumatised would act, like, grow up! Also comparing the grandma to Mother Gothel is actually disgusting! MG is a mental, emotional and physical abusers who kidnapped a baby and isolated her from the world! She literally tried to kill Eugene because he got in the way of her perfect fantasy. The grandma in Encanto lost her husband and home shortly after giving birth to triplets and had to deal with raising three kids all on her own! Clearly none of the people wanting her to die has ever raised or been around children. Like... OMG have these people watched Encanto or Tangled?!
The best part is when Mirabel chooses empathy every time. And that's how the family mends is because she shows empathy. It doesn't take away the years of pain, but it's the starting point
I definitely see some self-projection on this movie. I do like that it is a more real look at family dynamics and works and tells a compelling and closely felt story. But I don't, as you say, think that any hate is warranted. They showed each of the characters to be flawed. Flawed and real and that is a good thing. We want to see more relatable and earnest stories like Encanto.
I'm honestly shocked that anyone could watch Abuela's scream of agony as she watches the love of her life get murdered in front of her and then turn around and compare her to Disney villains like Mother Gothel. Her expressions in that scene wrecked me and gave me so much perspective on her behavior. I really can't imagine not feeling sympathy for her after that scene.
Omggg I'm obv living under the rock. I wasn't aware that Abuela was perceived as villain in internet. Sure I see her toxic treatment to her family but she wasn't even manipulative. Just controlling, as most older family members tend to be. And it often comes from the space of wanting to hold everything together and make sure everything is fine. Being perfectionist, in that sense, can be suffocating and toxic af but we can't call it EVIL. 🙄 Villains have evil intentions, Abuela doesn't have that. Clear your eyes folks.
Abuela just needed to get the chancla to smack some sense into her so she could treat all her grandchildren with love and respect. If only therapy was around back then. Luckily at the end she makes up with everyone and doesn't pass before she could.
I’ve seen this kind of thing way too much in the encanto fandom. I believe that what Alma did wasn’t right, but she was trying her very very best. She wanted to keep her family safe so no one got lost again. The whole thing with Pedro is absolutely terrible. It is so traumatic. And without psychiatrists therapists or anything in the village?! I don’t understand why people would make such extreme and simply rude remarks about an individual like Alma. And comparing her to GOTHEL??!! People have misinterpreted the story in such weird ways. This movie doesn’t have an antagonist. Well, when you think about it, trauma and not getting help with it *is* the antagonist; not Alma. The fandom has also done this with a lot of other things in the movie. This is people projecting their feelings and their issues onto others. It is not ok. If I keep talking about other stuff in the fandom that’s been happening I’d be rambling on for hours. That’s how bad all of this is. Thank you for reading, hope your day goes well, remember what was said in this video. It is extremely important. And if you discriminate between ethnicity as well? Just get out.
How anyone can see the remarkably well drawn scene of grief when her husband dies and still judge her so harshly is beyond me. That scene chokes me up every time. Every. time.
Honestly i thought the ending was rushed at first and well, it is in a way, but i came to understand that, this being a family movie that a lot of parents watch with their kids, this was what had to be done. It is not just about the kids understanding this message, but about all the "abuelas", all the adults that went through trauma that wasn't healed and harm their family understanding that there is a way out if they want to work on it and communicate, because no family will start healing if these people don't understand that. At least this is my interpretation, as someone who has a fantastic family but that for years had similar issues that were very hard to solve.
06:20 You can also love someone and continue to love them without forgiving them. Abuela has a duality to her. Yes her methods are toxic af but she never left survivor mode. She was literally waiting and prepping for the next bog disaster.
I literally heard someone in my art class say “I hope Abuela dies” like dang I know she did her deal of damage to her family but jeez. I feel like people forget that she also went through trauma and that they think understanding that fact means excusing her actions. Those are two different things. I will admit I do see a bit of my own family in Encanto but some people take it way too far.
I felt so bad for Abuela, I was so absolutely hurting for her when I saw her losing her husband and hurting, bro I cry every time, poor young Alma never deserved any of this 😭😭😭 I have so much empathy for her.
There is a difference between Abuela and Mother Gothel or really any of the Disney villains. Abuela geniunely didn’t realize she was hurting her family until Mirabel pointed out to her. Mother Gothel knew exactly what she was doing when she kidnapped Rapunzel.
Encanto is such a wonderful representation of generational trauma and what it can look like. Abuela made decisions that in the moment she thought was right, afraid of loss
Abuela is such a perfect example of "hurt people hurt people" Her line "And I'm sorry I held on too long, so afraid I'll lose you too. The miracle is not, the power that you got, the miracle is you." makes me cry like *every time.* To show this type of generational trauma and the effect and the path towards lesson in a Disney movie? That was AMAZING.
Abuela wasn’t even evil. She was just scared of losing her family and all of a sudden she has to lead a whole community after losing her husband does help that. She was misguided in how she acted but she didn’t have anyone to look up to to tell her otherwise. She did the best she could with what she had.
Dang I am super surprised that anybody is taking that read of it (Abuela=evil). I think one of my favorite things about the movie is the message that good people can still end up hurting each other through fear, but the solution is love and honesty and acceptance and authenticity. Abuela's one of my favorite disney characters and this is one of my favorite movies because there are NO villians in this movie (except the horse guys). Just well-meaning people who lost their way, and through love and courage found their way back.
@Alexandria Essays Abuela lost her husband, had to lead a community and look after three kids, bro she was scared and i dont blame her
@Alexandria Essays ah sorry, my bad.
The path to hell is paved with good intentions, not saying abuela is going to hell however to ignore her impact on her children's and grandchildren's self worth is foolish
I still don’t love her
I felt so BAD for abuela - the way she unintentionally projected her grief and trauma onto her family wasn't right but it was so shown that she DOES love her family, she was just scared and that's why she pushed down too hard. The scene by the river was beautiful, I cry every time 😭😭😭
Yeah seriously, the mutual understanding and acceptance in thar scene is so beautiful. She understood her mistake and apologised with no expectation for mirabels forgiveness. And I thought they communicated their point really well, with the whole "we need a new foundation" idea, but apparently some people managed to miss it 😒
Oh I cried like a baby wanting their mother
I'm in an International Disaster Psychology program, and the entire time Abuela broke my heart because she is a CLEAR representation of the trauma of fleeing conflict & seeking refuge and the intense pressure that the one who brought the family the miracle has in the new home. She didn't just have the responsibility of caring, guiding, and protecting her family but the WHOLE TOWN too. In 50 years, she was never allowed to think about, nurture, or heal herself.
The antagonists of Encanto are the pressure and injustices that refugee, asylum seekers, and immigrants face, and the expectation that they should have "no problems" in their new home. IMO the people hating on Abuela are literal human embodiments of racism & the colonial systems that force people & families to create (potentially harmful) assimilation techniques.
I know I say fuck Abuela but I never say 'oh she should die'. And whoever compares her to MOTHER GOTHEL of all people need their heads checked. It's super easy to see that she had zero time to absorb and 'get over' her husband's demise. She was a single mother of three and leader in a matter of seconds. So she sadly had to toughen up. I'm glad that the family is mending and that they can become a stronger family. If we get a sequel or a show, I hope we can see her opening up to her family. I'm prattling at this point so imma hush up.
Mother gothel is the worst step mom in the entire Disney movie franchise because she literally kidnapped and gas light a child
@@blackpinkluv9869 this right here
@@blackpinkluv9869 exactly. Alma didn’t intend to harm her family. She’s misguided. Gothel though? Oh she fully intended that shit just so she could stay young and beautiful.
👏👏👏👏👏
Agreed! I can say, I didn't like Alma at some points in the film, mainly when she gaslit Mirabel (I believe that's what she did with the paper flowers and candle and Abuela said to "leave the help to the ones with gifts") but she was grieving and since she couldn't control her husband (that's how he died since he acted on his own will) she wanted to control her family to prevent the rest of her family from dying
She didn't hurt her family on purpose. She just wanted them safe and for them to help others.
Edit: yes ik she still hurt them and they forgave her for that when she owned up to her actions.
Whether she hurt them on purpose or not, she still hurt them.
@@thisistheaccountname true but she isn't on the same evil level as Mother freaking Gothel.
No amount of "she didn't mean to" changes the fact that she *DID*
@@jimstoesz3878 Yh and they forgave her when she owned up to it. No one said she didn't.
@@jimstoesz3878 and. How does that equate her with Cruella De Vil, Jean Claude Frollo, Mother Gothel, Ratcliffe, Scar, Captain Hook, McCleach, the Huns, Yzma, Zera, Ursula etc. As others are mentioning, Abuela owned up and apologized for her own actions. The majority of the rest of them literally died on that hill
I've seen people label Abuela a narcissist or some other arm chair psychology diagnosis, and I'm just...? She is a trauma survivor who held onto an unhealthy control/coping method because she loves her family and community. Also, she *recognized* the harm she was doing and *grew* as a person. She's not evil. She's not a villian. She's an imperfect person. All the characters are imperfect and have unhealthy coping mechanisms, but they still love each other. Like, you know, all families.
Agreed. Clearly those people don't know anything about actual narcissistic behavior. Abuela Alma is definitely NOT a narcissist of any kind (and there are several). Just a traumatized woman stuck in a fight fear response to cover her fear and uncertainty of letting everyone down and (to her) dishonoring Abuelo Pedro's sacrifice and the Blessing. I think maybe she had a little bit of everyone else's anxieties all in one, plus the burden of leadership.
One person said she was a communal narcissist, they recommended a licensed therapist on TH-cam for me to look up and everything. I watched it just in case it came up again, but didn't actually finish because it was very clearly NOT Abuela Alma at all. It's so frustrating how people try to put whatever malicious tags they can on her so they can stay mad or think that she deserved to suffer more than she already did for decades.
@@raeg1100 I wonder if that person has ever actually met a narcissist? Because, if they'd been raised by or with one, or had had long-term contact with them as a romantic partner, co-worker or "friend," then they'd know that Abuela definitely does not fit those behavioral patterns.
@@raven3moon crazily enough, I think that they had some sort of abuse from a narcissist because they mentioned victims of narcissists and linked themselves there a little bit. They also called narcissists dream stealers, which I don't think they would say if they didn't have personal feelings involved.
@@raven3moon I think one of Alma’s biggest trauma tells is how she keeps talking about “earning” the miracle and gifts. She doesn’t feel like she (and by extension, the family) are enough to just deserve someone brutally sacrificing themselves to protect them. They aren’t going to show it in a kids film, but I’ve seen several Colombian folks talk about how Pedro would have been murdered at that time. It’s way worse than most of us would imagine.
The funniest thing about people using Abuela to project their therapy fantasies on is that multiple therapists have done videos and other disscusions about the movie and from what I've seen they all treat Alma's character with sympathy.
I can't remember who it was but one of those therapists pointed out that all of the gifts the family has would be very appealing crutches to someone with PTSD who is hypervigilant because of the event that caused it. Being able to see the future, to prevent natural disasters, to heal injury and illness, to be super strong, etc. Like, someone who suffered abrupt trauma would be grateful to have even one of those gifts in order to be prepared to prevent it from ever happening again.
Probably because therapist, especially family therapist understand that the conflict is systemic and not just one person at fault.
All facts. Some said that a lot of the reason for her hate is because she's one of the most relatable antagonist because most of us have an older relative who is very over bearing and diminishing of anyone else's feelings.
But no. There is no comparison to any other villian. Especially Gothel or Maleficent in any way shape form or fashion.
Most people, myself included, are still afraid to stand up to our elders because of respect and prevent drama, so like you said projection.
I think as well, people like the insane villains more, and then there is Alma who isn’t really a villain. But people are looking for a villain, so they end up really vilifying her.
I agree, surely some people can relate so well.
But from here to wishing her dead, even after a plain explanations of the trauma that made her like that...
People relate her to Maleficent!? I missed the part of Encanto where Abuela turns into a dragon, damn!
I also think that there is a stigma of an antagonist automatically being the bad guy. An antagonist is merely a being standing between the protagonist and their goal and she does fill that role. But if I were to write an autobiography about my sports career then my opponent would fill that roll.
@@moriahanderson7390 funny, how they are doing the same that Alma did to Mirabel in the movie.
I seriously had no idea this was even a thing. I feel like people who hate Abuela just left the theater when the candle went out. Like, wasn't the point that she realized her mistakes and made changes to fix them? Did we watch the same movie? Also, who are these people who are Mother Gothel cheerleaders? Hands down the creepiest Disney villain. She replaced Cruela DeVille as the most evil Disney character in my personal rankings.
I assume you drew attention from these weirdos because of your content, but I don't think (at least I certainly hope) it's the general consensus.
I've seen this A LOT happen on Encantó TikTok; people have made AWFUL comments towards Abuela, like saying that Pedro killed himself to escape her, that she needed to be killed by Mirabel, that she is the worst character ever, EVEN THOUGH WE SEE THE WHOLE CONTEXT AND EVEN IF HER ACTIONS WERE TOXIC SHE LEARNS AND GROWS FROM IT.
@@pap64 is it media comprehension issue? Where the heck are people even getting this?
Exactly
Yes, I think the attention came with her shorts, but in all honesty, if they didn't understand the main messages in the film and the obvious irony in her hilarious shorts, people really need to start thinking of their own mental health.
Same never knew this was a thing
I legit watched Encanto, being a Latino in a toxic home, my take away is to take the time to talk with family. I was crying during the two caterpillars scene/Abuela heart to heart. A family may have issue but at the end of the day you gotta be grateful with what you can.
Abuela realized at the end of the movie that she was one of problem causer and she'd have to make adjustments in her life. She even accepted Bruno and Mirabel back into her life. She's not an evil character, she's just not perfect, like all of us.
Hell, I've experienced this with my own mother not forgiving her for a year, but it took some time to heal and I finally accepted back into my life.
Like Nikki said this isn't a movie to be used a therapy, it's a movie to show a difficult lesson to help reinforces things that should be said
Thank you Nikki for the vid! Gracias Señora! Pase Buen Noche!
(This has been the thoughts of a Latino Bi Guy who's used better help :3)
I cried 8 times through this movie . That scene was a war zone for me I tried fighting the tears nope I cried.
@@nerdgeekcosplay909 Every single time I see that part, the tears don’t stop
I always took Abuela’s story to be a warning. You have to take care of yourself so you can take care of your kids. Abuela never got the chance to even try. It’s tragic honestly. Her husband died, she had three babies and a village to take care off. It’s not even fair.
People ignoring how difficult motherhood is, especially doing it all by yourself.
Especially since the village seems incapable of doing anything themselves. She’s alone with her trauma, surrounding by people who need her family. She raised the children by herself without ever having the chance to cope.
Notice how easily the villagers dump all their responsibilities on the Madrigals. I understand if you need help with picking up a building, but I’m pretty sure you can handle one donkey without calling Luisa. What Abuela did to the family wasn’t right, but it’s something you can sympathize with.
@@jinx8627 Is not given much focus, but the villagers are also dealing with the collective trauma, it makes sense why the were so dependent on the miracle, because it gave them security, they just didn't realize how they were contributing to the burden of the Madrigals.
One thing I absolutely hate is the idea that people are “too old” to change, redeem and try to do better. IMO alma was a WELCOME change from that. Healing is a process for everyone and Alma is entitled to that same courtesy even while being held accountable for her role in the toxicity.
Bump
Yes! It would have been so easy to label her a cut and dried antagonist, but they made her so much more than that. They made her pain real and tangible, they made her recognise the harm she was causing, apologise wuth no expectation for forgiveness, and rebuild. It's such an important message that if you are the toxic person you CAN change and rebuild as best you can, but you have to acknowledge your choices and accept responsibility for the harm you caused before you can even begin to try repairing that rift. And that communicating why you behaved the way you did is important, and that trauma can cause people to behave in ways that cause harm, but that its not a free pass from taking accountability. I thought the ending was beautiful, really well done.
God I hate how any fandom will have its toxic part
I feel you. Every time I join something, they usually ruin it when I just wanted to say hi and talk about the characters and stuff (don’t get me started on ships-)…I try and stay on the good side. But it’s so tiring when you do have to deal with it.
@@bookeater1599 I ship Louisa with happiness and love and understanding and compassion and good positive things
Overall I love Louisa
@@nerdgeekcosplay909 I second your ship
Well, I guess it should be expected by now. As long as there is people who like something, and a lot of them, there will be toxicity somewhere within a fandom. It's sad but it's true.
@@nerdgeekcosplay909 that's acceptable
The fact that people see Abuela Alma as an irredeemable villain yet are willing to empathize with villains like would-be child murderer Maleficent and would-be puppy murderer Cruella De Vil just absolutely baffles me.
and then there's the people who think Kylo Ren did nothing wrong and Raylo shippers
@@echo8395 Not to mention the people who simp for him!
@@rowan404 To be fair they wrote it so ppl would like him tho lol
And how they simp over literal genocidal maniacs like Loki. Like, the man literally murdered an entire planet because of his daddy issues, but they take more offense with a severely traumatized woman who does everything she does in order to protect her family and her community. Not only does it smack of racism, but quite a bit of sexism as well.
@@NathanielTavington Loki didn't kill an entire planet, you might be confusing him with someone else. But I do agree with what you said, it's a huge problem in nerd culture
I dont like Abuela Alma, but I would never want her to die or compare her to one to the other villains. Shes not the best, but she is DEFINITELY not the worst of disney antagonistics.
Actually the movies antagonist was not a human but a fear and yes antagonist aren’t always a person but a problem
I say Frollo's the worst. Mother Gothel right behind him. HUMANS who use simple but powerful, relatable HUMAN means to terrorize their victims. She had Punzie's hair to stay young, but all her evil was her cruelty as a vile person.
I won't count her as a villain, I rather call her a victim.
@@matchamochi479 Alma is a victim and I wanna hug her and ask her to adopt me into the family .
@@nerdgeekcosplay909 same, I don't get why people shit on her so much, well nicques kinda on point why they shit on her
Abuela did the best she could with what she had. She raised 3 kids into decent adults while in deep mourning. She wasn't perfect, but how do you even start to compare her to Mother Gothel?
Mother Gothel kidnapped and kept a child isolated in a tower so she could use her as a personal youth serum. She was selfish and cruel for vanity.
And even abandoned her own child in the process.
Are there really people who hate abuela? I thought everyone was just joking. Generarional trauma is something hard to break from and I'm saying this as someone who had to do it at a really young age but I would never blame those before me who had horrible experiences and had to survive through their lives and are still dealing with those memories. I suffered too but I don't keep myself there and try to look forward because I know how my own abuela lived, how my dad was treated by his parents and the life of loneliness my mom lived after she lost her dad, abuela lost her husband. This is my experience and there will be lots of you with different ones and I'm sorry for what you had to live through but it's getting on my nerves how you just find a character that resembles someone in your life and just forget all they did and had to go through too.
Abuela Alma is an incredibly well-written character and it's so sad people see her as this just horrible villain then forget to see the bigger picture. She could've been you, you know. Many people in Colombia, many people in LATAM have lost many to wars that half the world isn't aware of and this movie tries to depict what one of them did to generations and you just choose to not see it.
I see so many people carping about how Abuela didn't say enough or apologize enough, and I'm just like... That woman showed her family more self-awareness and accountability AND CHANGED BEHAVIOR than I can ever HOPE to see from my mother, and certainly never saw from my grandmother in her lifetime. My grandmother's crazy bullshit was so strong it traumatized her children and grandchildren AND gave a contact high of crazy to her great-grandchildren, and she went to her grave without apologizing for a damn thing.
Next to that, Abuela Alma is a fucking rock star.
FACTS
Urrgh factss
yeah- what i feel is important with “apologizing” and what not (from my parents lol) is the awareness. i KNOW its hard for people to change the older you get, and even if you’ve talked about things its still gonna come up again AND mistakes will be made- BUT its the awareness for me, and the open communication. everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone is willing to talk about it.
FACTSSSSSS
Racism is definitely most likely a factor, but I’ll tell you what the other difference is that I think has impact-the harm Abeula causes isn’t fun to watch. The ending was a bit Disneyfied but throughout the film Abeula’s role is *messy*. It’s *complicated*. And it *hurts* to watch her hurt the people she says she loves. She’s no charismatic, cackling villain-she’s a woman with severe trauma. It’s not fun to watch her hurt Mirabel, or see the way her expectations have damaged her family. But that’s the point. If it was fun to watch her hurt her family, Encanto would’ve completely undermined it’s own message.
What it sounds like is people are trying to fit her into a traditional Disney villain slot, and she just doesn’t fit there. Encanto asks more of its audience than most Disney films-it asks its audience to accept nuance.
But if you demand a villain from Encanto, you’ll likely settle on Abeula, and if you’re white she’s conveniently pre-othered for you. Together all of that makes it easy for some folks to develop an unfairly callous attitude towards one of the few Disney antagonists (if you can call her that) who never meant anyone any harm.
Also like I said I do think the ending was too clean, but let’s not pretend that’s a purely Encanto issue. Hans from Frozen was punched and sent home for his “consequences”, and he just tried to *chop Elsa’s head off* Endings that are too clean are probably a Disney mandate of some kind.
She's also not as "fabulous" as Maleficent, Cruella, or Ursula. I have a makeup bag with Maleficent on one side and the quote "she's fabulous but she's evil" on the other. Abuela Alma isn't evil, she's hurt and scared. She shouldn't take it out on her family, but that's the entire point of the movie!
Elsa and Anna's parents emotional abuse wasn't addressed in the sequel but let's kill Abuela. That's nuts.
The racist part I actually agree completely. It's much easier for these hateful people to hate people diferent from them. And the worst part is that it's NOT isolated to the white people. Black people are actually MUCH MORE RACIST than other etnicities because they suffered from it much longer and most like to pay hate with more hate.
It is, unfortunatly, a very comum human thing. Eye for an eye and so
Hans wasnt meant to be a villain that's literally why his punishment doesnt for his crime. Because the lunishment was for a Hans who didnt go that far and him being a villain was like Disney saying we need a villain if its not gonna be elsa as they strayed from the original fairy tale
Yup cause if Abuela was a sexy white man many would be simping him and saying how they would like him to “abuse their behinds”.
Most people can’t handle nuance. That’s something I’ve been realizing as of late. They only know black and white and will try to make things fit into that worldview even when they’re not meant to. Abuela is just another victim of that mindset.
Wow I didn’t realize people had such a problem Abuela. Maybe I don’t have a place to say this but I really liked her character and felt she was very well written. Sure she pushed her family to hard but it wasn’t for image or greed but because she was so scared of losing them and was just trying to protect them the only way she knew how. I felt the movie did a good job of showing her struggles and why she acted the way she did. It doesn’t make it right but life is never so black and white. She did the best she could, all while grieving and young and scared that she made some huge mistakes but by the end was in a place that she was ready to change. When you think what you are doing is right, and you have reasons to justify what you are doing it can be really hard to see the other side of your actions and damage you are causing by only seeing things in one light and I thought that’s what her character represented.
Agreed.
Couldn’t Agree More
PSA: YES IT COVERS A HARSH TOPIC BUT ITS A CHILDREN MOVIE GOD DAMN
I believe that they made this movie, even with how filtered it is for the children, so that they can notice the toxicity in their household. It’s not okay to live with that even if you think it’s okay.
@@katsukibakugo9536 I totally agree.
Omg Bakugo and Todoroki are getting along 🤣
Sounds like these people missed one of the messages of this movie; the importance of empathy.
Throughout the story, Mirabel realised that her family were suffering under the weight of their gifts and the expectations that came with them. Then, when she heard the full version of Alma's story, she saw that her abuela had arguably been suffering the most.
Anger and holding grudges wasn't going to help the family; it was forgiveness and love that saved their home.
I feel like this is a general problem. A lot of people just don't seem to have empathy anymore. I spend a lot of time on Reddit and some people can get really toxic on there and many don't seem to understand that they are missing empathy. I made a response to a post about how someone is not required to love their parents, especially if the parents are abusing their child, and someone (not OP) got into an argument with me. They said that it doesn't matter what the parents do, it's a child's duty to always love their parents. They didn't seem to have any sympathy for OP at all. It's frustrating to see all the hate on the internet sometimes and some days it can be a bit overwhelming and I find that I have to take a break from the internet.
Well said! I have a lot of sympathy for Abuela. She saw her husband brutally murdered and then had absolutely no way to deal with that trauma on top of being the new leader. The town didn't exactly have any therapists and given when it was set? Even if there was a therapist, they wouldn't likely be qualified to be much help.
Gothel was a horrible person who kidnapped and gaslit someone else's child. I remember someone in your tiktok video saying that Abuela was like Lady Tremaine in Cinderella.. and I agree with your response there - she is a horribly abusive person and not like Abuela.
Abuela's trauma at the end always makes me cry.
Also, Tangled rant (including series content)
So like, Gothel not only kidnapped and manipulated Rapunzel; she abandoned her own daughter Cassandra (something between 2 and 5 at the time) in the process.
• The way Gothel raised Raps led to a perfectionist (can't have anything wrong because it was the end of the world with Mother so I must have everything perfect to ensure peace) who also had trouble speaking her mind because she was used to feeling like a villain whenever there was conflict.
• The way Gothel left her birth daughter, Cassandra, led to an inferiority complex and trauma so deep that she forgot it. By some cruel twist of fate, Cass winds up as Rapunzel's maid…
In several ways, their relationship was like sisters, but picture it--
An optimistic perfectionist who is a beloved long-lost princess. She's given every opportunity to do what she wants and have everything her way. Because she's always so optimistic and was trained to seem as non confrontational as possible when she advocates for what she wants, no one can argue with her when she's wrong or inexperienced.
Now her "friend" / "sister"… is actually a servant in comparison. Cass is always outshined, and her opinions are very cheerily criticized because straightforward conflict makes Raps feel bad. As a somewhat pessimistic realist… that's not really gonna work.
Eventually, there's this huge drama about it because Cass is always outshined by her friend and treated like the dark cloud to her sunshine. When she remembers that even her own mother took Rapunzel's side and that they actually had that as a common link, it's kind of a breaking point. Leads to some power grabbing, world shaking, the release of a calamitous demon…
I blame Gothel.
I completely was left sobbing in the butterflies song, I felt sorry for mirabel, but I was gutted when I saw Abuela holding her NEWBORN TRIPLETS all alone in that house
Real question how could she carry ALL of the them in her ARMS
Like you need to strap a baby on your back another one on the front and idk where the third one goes
@@desireeloveros1055 she carried them all in ONE arm for most of it and she is crossing rivers and running after just giving birth to triplets. Wow
@@desireeloveros1055 They were newborns
The most touching part that has me in tears is in the song where they are rebuilding. Abuela sings, _"and I'm sorry I held on too tight. I was so afraid I'd lose you too, the miracle is not, some magic that you've got, the miracle is YOU, all of you ...."_
@@politereminder6284 lol can you carry 3 newborns at once
I feel like more people should LOOK UP TO ABUELA, because when her problematic behavior was pointed out, she apologized and took action to fix it. That's more than a lot of people do in real life (even if it should be considered the bare minimum).
Also, you're remark about people needing to seek therapy and stop projecting onto the movie is spot on. The message of how someone's trauma can cause them to hurt others if they don't heal is especially ironic, since people who need therapy are contributing to hurtful and bigoted perceptions of the film. It's clear that the point went over their heads, and hopefully videos like this will make people re-examine their behavior. It shouldn't have to be your job to call people out on their bullshit, but thank you so much for doing it. 💕
I say Frollo's the worst. Mother Gothel right behind him. HUMANS who use simple but powerful, relatable HUMAN means to terrorize their victims. She had Punzie's hair to stay young, but all her evil was her cruelty as a vile person. Abuela is NOWHERE near these two. And nearly all the other villains had more fantasy/creature shit going on. But these were horrible PEOPLE.
Cruela used to take my to worst spot before MG. Yeah, Frollo is awful, but I can at least understand him. Cruela f-ing kidnaps and murders puppies, WHO DOES THAT!
@@wastedinspiration Frollo wanted to wipe out Romani people, I think that is worst than puppies tbh.
Mother Gothel KIDNAPPED a child for 18 YEARS because, of her magic HAIR! And Maleficent tried out KILL a CHILD for not being invited to her BIRTHDAY?! And Abuela saw the love of her life DIE in front of her, and she doesn’t want that to happen again She doesn’t want to lose her home and the ones she loves,THAT’S why she harsh on mirabel.
If the fandom needs someone to be the villain of Encanto I'd say the bastards that drove Abuela Alma and her village away from their homes, then *murdered* Abuelo Pedro deserve that title.
Abuela Alma was a traumatized mother with 3 babies to raise and was forced to become the leader of the village. She did what she believed was best for the family, and didn't realize how she was actually hurting the family until Casita was destroyed, and the miracle had died.
Thank you! No one is talking about what drove them from their home AT ALL! I have yet to see a TikTok or Reel addressing civil war or forced migration which is STILL happening today.
I felt bad for the grandma. I thought the true “villain” was the family stigma generational families who have a need to prove themselves
Abuela reminds me of my own family members. Do I hate her/them? Not really, I'm more numb. But I understand WHY they/she act(s) that way. We don't have to like how they act at ALL. And I don't. But I get it. But wanting her to DIE over all this?? MIRABEL DIDN'T EVEN HATE THEM!! AND SHE WAS THE ONE WHO HAD THE MOST "RIGHT" TO DO SO!! It was, like you said, a movie that touched on GENERATIONAL TRAUMA the best way a CHILDREN'S MOVIE could.
I think the hate also comes from cultural differences that some people don't understand. As a Latina, the type of generational trauma that abuela suffers and perpetuates onto her family is so prevalent in our communities (especially women, who are the known pillars in families) that we can empathize with abuela's hurt whilst acknowledging her toxic behavior. She is not a perfect character. At worst, I'd call her oblivious about the damage she was doing because she was so focused on the family/family's miracle.
The antagonist of this movie (to me) is grief/trauma and how that affects everyone, not just the person who was originally traumatized. I honestly resonated with abuela *because* I saw her in family members AND myself. If I see comments lacking empathy towards abuela and just focusing on the negative things she did, it definitely makes me give the person writing the side eye.
The movie is very explicitly telling you by the end that abuela is remorseful and wants to make up for the hurt she has caused. The cycle is ending due to abuela acknowledging her own hurt and the hurt she has caused as well. Idk what more that poor woman needs to do to redeem herself in the end lol
I think that's absolutely true. I find it absolutely awful how some people can't seem to emphasize at all with someone who went trough something they don't know by themselves. Of course you can only understand something to a certain point if you never experienced it yourself, but the movie shows so clearly what Abuela been trough that everybody with only a hint of empathy should see that she has some issues but is absolutely not evil, that she has trauma she never could work through and never wanted to hurt her family. Evan if you can't fully understand it because you don't know it by yourself. But I'm not a Latina so maybe I see somethings wrong.
@@Schachmdels I think part of the charm of Encanto is that we all know someone dealing with trauma or are dealing with trauma ourselves and can empathize with abuela in some way by the end of the movie. Even if you are not Latino, you should be able to relate with her on some level. So I don't think you are seeing things wrong at all! I just think that some people can't see past what they themselves have lived through and that makes them villianize abuela way more than the story intends them to.
I also do think that racism/xenophobia does have a lot to do with it too when it comes to certain commenters but I'm not here to have that debate. Some people are never going to understand that family dynamics in every household varies. Especially when it comes to POC communities vs white communities.
Fucking finally someone brought this to light. I admit, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Abuela, and I know most people aren’t, but seriously. As you said, to compare a refugee woman who just gave birth to triplets, had to flee from her town, and just watched her husband die brutally right before her eyes to a fucking emotionally abusive kidnapper just pisses me the hell off, especially when all this is over a fucking Disney move meant for children.
Wonderfully put!
I personally find it hard NOT to empathize with her. She's been through so much.
Exactly!
Duuude.... the movie's antagonist is an internal antagonistic. I was impressed at a Disney movie without a villain. Because Abuella isn't a villain. She's a broken woman. I can't believe people are being like this. I appreciate your rant.
I hated it when my friends after watching encanto would complain to me that abuela was forgiven- this movie has so many nuances and intentions that get so twisted since people don’t want to believe this is meant to be a movie with a a lessons and an ending and leave kids with hope and that’s it
Its not just the people talking about abuela not to sound cliche but there is some truth in that old trope that the brightest lights cast some dark shadows. Encanto as a movie is amazing, a fandom grew overnight and now we gotta deal with people with some screwed up morality over the internet forcing their ideas onto others. Abuela isn't a villain but it just goes to show you just how shortsighted people can be. You know what I think? The movie hit close to home and thats why its popular but that is also why its showing the ugliest in people. There are millions of abuela's out there and instead of doing what the movie wants which is to maintain the happiness of everyone within the family structure (INCLUDING Abuela). I think a large portion of people who demonize Abuela "claim" to be rooting for mirabel. There is a reason why prior to the last song in the movie Mirabel got to see the side of the story she never could have known without having it discussed. It's a really ugly underbelly the encanto fandom has got going for it, and I'd even say it just goes to show you just how desperate people are to have shallow morality on right and wrong. Its way easier to villanize any person, group, entity far more than it is to humanize them
Those people don’t have empathy, or forgiveness in their hearts. But by their logic, Cruella is misunderstood but Abuela can’t learn and grow from her mistakes? How does that make sense?
And all these “virtuous” people need to do is say that they’re good and the public wouldn’t know otherwise.
Oof. You hit the nail right on the head.
What's my concern is that ppl can't root for the whole family? Noooo ridiculous. They need to root for the whole family. People are pathetic
Honestly, I think its people letting their own hurt feelings from their past cloud their judgement. Abuela can be both held accountable for her actions and empathized with for what she's gone through. One doesn't dismiss the other. She took accountability for her actions in the end and that's what important.
Abuella gets hate yet the evil Queen is praised even though she tried to kill her own stepdaughter and was a mass murder cursed a town full of people and sexually assaulted a man in the once upon a time series I wonder why that is ?🧐✋🏻✋🏼✋🏽✋🏾✋🏿
🙄🙄🙄 same reason people hate umbridge in harry potter more than Voldemort or any other bad guy. Because most people can't relate to some genocidal maniac but they can relate to an awful teacher who treats them badly. Just like most people can't relate to a parental figure that locks you in a tower for a couple decades but can relate to an older relative that dismisses you and treats you as less than because of your perceived shortcomings. It has nothing to do with racism.
I feel like Abuela needed a bigger to apology to a lot of the characters but my exact thoughts were is that if she was more awful and cold hearted then it would have been easier to hate her but she is probably the BEST quote on quote villain but like mother gothel like you said she is a murder and a kidnapper. Maleficent put a DEATH spell on a baby. Like how are they even comparable those people to abuela like how?
On the one hand, yeah, the movie wraps it up nice and neat in a bow. One of my housemates is bothered by that.
But on the other hand, it's a movie. Not only that, it's a _Disney_ movie. We can't expect the sequence of the Madrigals going to see a family therapist any more than we're going to see Rapunzel's work on her mental trauma.
So yeah, there could have been a bit _more_ but... I don't know how it could have been done without dragging things out.
And Frollo who wanted to wipe out an entire race of people(Romani)…but somehow Abuela is the worst person on earth 😒.
Abuela: demanding and inconsiderate because of unresolved trauma
Mother Gothel: kidnapped a baby to gaslight and use as a youth serum
Malificent: spitefully cursed a baby to death
Cruella: puppy-murdering elitist
🎵One of these things is not like the other🎶
The funniest part about your comment is that Frollo was worse than all of them combined and people ship him with Esmeralda of all people. A woman he objectified to a disturbing extent.
It's just so hard to believe how a kids movie turned into a whole back alley rumble in a matter of a few months without people taking a moment to realize what they were doing wrong, and just the fact that these people would wish death upon Abuela was awful Abuela may have had troubles within her life but they doesn't give people the right to wish death upon her as for the racism that is not ok, you don't know the struggles that most people go through and just for the fact that you just assume you know and you assume you are right and you assume you could say what ever you want about them is evil and wrong it's really sad that she has to make a video about this because people won't get the concept across their thick heads and understand what the movie really is about.
Abuela is hurting her family, yes. But her goal was to protect them, the whole time. Did she lose sight of how she was affecting her family? Yes. But! She was hurting, and traumatized. I’ve seen generational trauma in my own (Salvadoran) family, and think it was handled very well in Encanto. (The movie for kids. )
Obviously it was going to be shortened for kids! But they did a great job showing how to help the situation in a way kids can understand and apply.
So yeah. I’m done with this fandom already, and it’s been less than two months.
And another thing! People will rewrite the narrative completely for their Problematic Faves, but Abuela isn’t a hot guy so obviously we’ve got to make her pay for everything she ever did wrong and continue to villainize her. Ugh.
Abuelas context: surviving genocide, losing her husband, leading her three kids and refuges into a land theres a literal mountain is landlocking them into physical safety. She can't leave to get therapy. SHE CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE IT'S ONLY SAFE AROUND THE HOUSE. Abuela isn't right. But she's freaking human and has things to work on. But my ability to understand and have empathy for Abuela doesn't count because she reminds me of my own Abuela who immigrated to the US from Latin America, and lost her husband early to sickness and was a single mother combating racism. She had a lot to work on too, much like Abuela. But I don't count to have empathy here because I've lived it. And I'm mixed. Meanwhile. Thank you for addressing the absolute venom thrown at Abuela who's out here with no support or access to help whose out here healing and changing and being better for her family and herself.
But yeah. She's totally worse than mother gothel because she doesn't use endearments with Mirabel after she's denied the miracle because she's scared. And still isolated.
Idk how people can compare her to Mother Gothel….like at least Abuela felt actually remorse and shame from her actions. Mother Gothel almost KILLED someone, kidnapped and abused her “child”.
Alma is one tough lady
@@myasmith1820 literally there are videos on how Mother Gothel hits every single Gass lighting note and is an expert at it. Meanwhile Abuela isn't even aware she's causing harm bc she thinks she's protecting the family, mostly by doing what she's always done. And being terrified that they could lose the miracle that literally saved her and her children post severe trauma and gave them refuge. Abuela has zero sense of security and is sure someone could come back over the mountain for them any minute, only this time she's too old to lead her family out and over the mountains.
@@myasmith1820 Every time, and i mean, every time that a toxic mother figure shows up in a show people start to compare her to Mother Gothel! And most of the time the character doesn't have anythig to do with her! Seriously, i've seen people comparing mother Gothel to Demeter from Lore Olympus and it feels to out dated.
@@despinasgarden.4100 I wouldn't even cal that outdated so much as wrong. Gothel is pure evil. She's the queen of Gass lighting and has kidnapped a child to feed off of her. She doesn't love the kid. Demeter is a loving/controlling/helecopter mother whose desperate for nobody to know her daughter exists because Something Bigger is out there and Could snap up Persephone at any second, along with all the other Olympians and their calculating designs for Persephone.
Demeter is Marlin from finding Nemo but her trauma involves war and her gadslighting stems from love.
She may look like Gothel at times because abusive parents all have the capacity to look evil, but she's far more complicated than that.
I agree!
Especially “ you can accept apology without forgiving”
People need to learn this!
I have nothing against Abuela, my room mate and I had this conversation, she was a single mother of three gifted children, watched her husband get murdered in front of her, had to build an entire family and community basically on her own and was relied on by her children and the town. All the pressure? Yeah, she's going to be a bit controlling because she's, like everyone else in the family, is breaking. I don't like her, because she reminded me of someone from my past, however, I can see why she is the way she is because she, like Luisa (Sorry for spelling) had to be strong, she too, was never given a break, you put that song with Abuela too. She had to learn to let go too, it was Mirabel who did that for her, Mirabel was her Miracle in the end. Abuela wasn't the best, but she did her best with what she had on hand, and it wasn't much. Love for Abuela!
The fact that Encanto is one of the very few movies that has a villain who gets an understandable and empathetic backstory AND also gets redeemed at the end because she realized she was unknowingly hurting her family and felt horrible for it. AND YET. She still gets more shit then HALF of the legit evil villains we have.
She's not the villain though...
Alma DOESN'T fit the character type of villain however she does for the role of antagonist, but anyone who knows just a little thing about story structure knows that the two titles ARE NOT interchangeable, while all villains are antagonists not all antagonists are villains. "The villain is a character type, and the antagonist is a plot role". Here's the dictionary description of the two: Villains: a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot, Antagonist: a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something. Notice that the description for villain has the word "evil" while antagonist has "oppose" and "hostile" showing that an antagonist doesn't equal villain since their actions aren't necessarily evil just not what the protagonist supports.
Thank you I agree Abuela wasn’t that bad she was suffering and made bad choices but she got better she doesn’t deserve the amount of hate she gets!
I agree that Abuela is partially villainized and detested from being a character of color. I'm pretty sure that if Encanto took place in Germany and Abuela was Oma, there would be significantly less outright hatred. But I'm sure you also hit the nail on the head with people projecting their own real life toxic elder onto Abuela. Real life unresolved frustration that it's easier to place on a cartoon than the real source. Abuela with her micro aggressions, stubbornness, hypercritical bearing and playing favorites just feels REALER than Triton, Maleficent, Scar, or other movie villains ever could. Fewer people are triggered by the last three because they have no royal merman, dragon fairy, or malnourished lion in their lives to give them grief. But WAY more people have an Abuela. (Maybe not necessarily their actual grandmother, perhaps a parent, older sibling, boss, or third grade teacher that played favorites and wrecked their 9yr old self esteem.) Problem is theirs may NEVER apologize, NEVER give them a hug, may have exited their lives decades ago before resolving the damage. Still not excusing their toxicity, or denying how Abuela's ethnicity probably makes it a helluva lot easier for them to project it. Just sayin...
I get it, Abuela was not a good person. Key word here *WASSSSS* she changed and made an effort to be better. People need to get out of their own head.
Side note your makeup is on ✨FLEAK✨ girl
And on that note I don't see this much hate towards the Beast or Kuzco either. Beast and Kuzco also started out as HORRIBLE people but like Abuela redeemed themselves.
I somewhat disagree. I see Alma as someone is is a good person...she just did bad things. Good people can still fuck up. Her goals were good. She wanted to protect her family, she wanted to be strong, she wanted to protect the encanto...but how she went about achieving those goals wasn't good.
@@tinymittensdesign yeah rhats kind what I ment but I phrased it wrong
@@Half_an_orphan Ah, makes sense! :)
@@tinymittensdesign yeah I agree, and I think it's really good to see it represented that people with good intentions can still cause harm and are still responsible for taking accountability. Abuelas actions were harmful, but her communicating the ways her trauma affected that, abd the fact that while she meant well she jow understands she was hurting the people she lived- it's a really nuanced way yo write an "antagonist" that they managed to do in a really easy to understand way. It's really easy to make a villain who us a truly bad person, who does evil things with evil intent. But Abuela Alma feels like a *real* person and it adds so much to the movie.
I'll be honest I feel like the abuela hate comes from the large population that had the one family member. That one person. That was horrible to them, and they see it in abuela
Like, an example, I hate abuela because she reminds of my mother and the trauma she pushed onto me, but even then I'm not wishing death on her,
what abuela did and does is valid for what she went through and I see that, and I know alot of people don't see that or don't care, and that's horrible because she's so much more then just the toxic family member.
Yeah I think blaming it on racism is jumping the gun a little bit. I’m sure that’s the case for some of the hate but not all or even most of it. It feels more like projection.
As to the point of them forgiving abula to quickly...umm they stuck a shoe on cinderella and the next scene they were married. Its called happily ever after
Abuela doesn't need hate, she needs love and understanding. Mother Goethel is the best representation of my abusers and how they treated me and my siblings.
Racism and projection. Encanto is by far the most complex characters live seen in Disney, yet they treat the grandma like she a villain when she's far from it
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Abuela. After we saw what happened to her, I still don’t. But I understood why she was acting like that to her family. Yes it’s bad to treat your family like that, but she was also under SO MUCH stress and pressure, and it’s amazing that she was able to keep her home and family going. In general though, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Encanto at all. However I’m in high school, and like it was stated by Nicque it was a KIDS DISNEY MOVIE. I appreciated the message, but understood the target audience wasn’t me. The “fandom” has also ruined much of it for me. I’ve seen some content made by the “fandom” and almost all the head canons, and theories, and wishes for what would’ve happened are irrational, don’t make sense, or just plain ruin the point of the film
Same, I have never hated a fandom so fast. All the projecting, the over-analyzing, and the ridiculous head canons really turned me off to it.
I honestly don't like the character of Abuela, but not because of her personality of because she's 'evil'. I think it's because she is the embodiment of my fears (loneliness, grief, burden, etc.), everytime I see her I'm like nope don't like her, but she's definitely not a villain. She's just a lady with some trauma who was focused on building a good life for her family.
I’m so glad you called this! Abuela IS an antagonist in the fact that her actions are antagonizing the family, but it is clearly unintentional. I see so much of my own Grandmother in her. Our family is white, but I saw my grandmother’s history and what she went through as a young woman.
I see abuela Alma in so many of my family members, but I don't hate her. I want to hug her and make it okay, though I know I can't. The idea that people compare her to a kidnapping murderer is disgusting(Also, I hate mother Gothel. She's a monster and the villain I fear most because I know people like her exist and that's terrifying). Alma was doing her best to do what she felt she had to while dealing with a horrific trauma that she was never able to properly process.
I honestly think people are just jealous that they know their own family will never do what abuela did and they want to take it out on her.
I have nothing but respect for Abuela. I love her. BTW I hate Anna and Elsa's parents and I'm white. But you are so right. OMFG.
I never saw Abuela as bad.... Actually i cried so much when she revealed her story... Just...Just the thought of her being a 21-22 year girl, just finding her love making a family and a home to suddenly becoming a widow and having to raise alone 3 kids.... 3KIDS.....
She was cheated of her youth, her home, her life, man she isnt a antogonist or a villan she is a hero.
If there is one villan in the movie that is the demons we fight inside and the fact that we keep them secret and dont ask for help...
I am from Greece due to our geographical position we have tons of immigrants ... Stories of those people are so sad and the pain the went through...
And Greeks understand... And sometimes not, sometimes we forget Greeks too were scattered across the world to look for a better life, my grandma did, my mother brifly did and my sister is (for education purposes which is a lil different but still).
Racism can come from anyone to anyone
Not a white thing
Not a black thing
Not an asian thing
... And its sad
I mean I love Cruella as a Fictional Villain but I would never trust Woman with any Animal in Real Life. Even her "Supposed." Son in the DCOM "Descendants" never trusted her with Animals once he Warmed up to Dogs. (And may his Actor Rest in Piece.)
Abuela Alma is not Cruella. Nor were the Abuelas in Coco. They were just Women trying to keep family together after something Tragic...and forgot why they were doing it in the first place.
The one's from Coco passed it on into their Kids and Grandkids because the issue was not resolved till they realized their loved one was Murdered. And they weren't aware of it for what looks like 50 years. Like even Abuela Coco still loved her Dad into her old age. But her and her Mother never knew her Father was killed.
Abuela Alma is an eye witness to her Husband's Death.
So, better yet screw Ernesto for Killing Hector and the People who killed Pedro.
I totally agree, and yt people don’t understand the high expectations that POC have because of how generations struggled to give us a better life. coming to this country and living on food stamps, plagued by the societal scars left by colonization that try to push us down. our elders really just want a better life for us, and it honestly says more about society that doing something you don’t love is considered “success”
I didn't think so many people genuinely hated her. I always thought she was kinda funny and I really liked her character. Not to mention she did what most people don't. She admitted to her wrong doings and apologized. That made me like her even more.
Feel like these people missed the part where the magic house fell down on their heads? It's an allegory, and while it's a very obvious one (nothing wrong with that especially when it's for children) not a literal representation of what actually happens.
I understand Abuela, as she was very much like my grandmother in some way. My grandmother was assaulted, and never got therapy, she was very protective to a very negative point at some times, but she was well intentioned and wanted the very best for her children and grandchildren. Encanto is they very very BEST movie. It hits home in the best way.
I’m 100% picking up what you’re putting down. #MirabelAndAbuelaAreValid
We need to continue uplifting the Mirabels and Abuelas of the world. Abuela was once a Mirabel. Mirabel will one day be an Abuela.
The “fuck abuela” sentiment really does reek of unresolved familial trauma. And I do have sympathy for that to a point, but I’d caution anyone in that boat that if that festers they could become “abuela” themselves.
I agree with everything you said. My best guess (and it's only a guess) is that some people are having such strong feelings about Abuela because they have an Abuela figure in their lives and a lot of the movie was triggering for them. It's probably harder for them to be empathetic when they've been on the receiving end of that type of bullshit. (Get therapy, y'all.) But I think the movie does a beautiful job of showing her as a complicated real person with flaws who genuinely loves her family and wants to do better because of it. The real villain was trauma all along.
I kind of have the same theory, they make the character out to be THE villain because for the most part, they cannot relate to her.
Abuela had a lot A LOT of baggage to work on but, try raising triplets while being the moral leader of your entire community after losing your husband in the middle of an armed conflict and tell me later if you will not get a thing or two wrong.
Many of you were not brought up to be successful adults by a single mother in the middle of poverty, and it shows 🤷🏽♂️
when i watched the movie i never felt that abuela hated Mirabel, just had family issues like any other. so i was shocked when i saw how much people hated her (mexican here btw)
Reminds me of a while ago when I saw some guy reviewing Lilo And Stitch. He said it was ok, but part of the reason it was that low was because he loved the plot line with Lilo and Nani, and when compared to the 'alien stuff' it brought it down. He said he wished they had just made the entire movie about the sisters. Like.. its a kids-movie, what child is going to want to watch almost 2 hours of just them adapting to their new normal. (I mean don't get me wrong I love the Lilo and Nani stuff too, but it's called Lilo AND Stitch)
Sadly, it isn't only on Racism. It is about being angry it is a Matriarch and how Abuela didn't do the 'man thing' in owning up for her mistakes. She did it her way. For the most part, Abuela wasn't wrong in most of what she did for her family and the town. There is a reason so many people loved her and her family. She freaking earned it and is a great leader without the dictator ego. When the time came, though, she had to see where she made mistakes. Realizing where she screwed up at the site where the love of her life was murdered. It took coming to the most traumatic event location for her to 'wake up' and smell the coffee. To see how she had put her pain into her viewing her children and grandchild. Decades of realizing how much she needed to fix. Maribelle was right, it doesn't matter how broken it is, we can fix it together. And they did. This is the real magic, the 'missing' scene how much Abuela made up for her mistakes as they rebuilt their home without the candle's help. Building a house takes months. Even with the town helping build it, making it maybe a month's worth of time, the leader of her clan came to terms and rebuilt her relationship with her family, to trust the grandchildren. Disney left this out, which is a shame, it could have helped so much, showing glimpses of relationship healing. It could be they couldn't figure a way to do it without it dragging down the flow of the song. As you said, it is a Disney Movie. Their magic idea is everything heals right away, no muss, no fuss. There is a lot of visual cues, showing you how much Abuela is affected and is changing, even fighting admitting to her deepest heart ache, her darkest fear. The sign she let go of this pain? She gave up the black shawl. Leaving it by the river when she decided to embrace her Brunito. I don't love what Abuela did to some of the odd ones in her family, but I do appreciate seeing how the loss of the candle put the family, all of them, on equal footing to work on themselves and with each other. And you know something? None of that would not have happened without Mirabelle and Abuela working together to show the way to do just that. And for this act, I adore Abuela's growth.
Abuela is MY GRAMS!!! The truma she experienced while she was growing up has influenced everything in her life. Every messed up thing grams did, was her way of protecting her family. I see how it's generational. Remember back during the Depression era, YOU SUFFERED RIGHT NEXT TO EVERYONE ELSE... MY POOR GRAMS IS SCARED OF EVERYTHING!!! My heart hurts for her, she wants to protect us from pain. Even if we need to endure another kind of pain. I love my grams, she did the best she could with what she had...
I mean really because abuela had a super hard time, and she shouldn't be being compared to tricking mother gothel. Mother gothel is kind of insane. Abuela just had trauma, and it is completely unfair.
I was definitely upset with Abuela Alma but I never HATED her. It's crazy that people adore Mother Gothel but want to kick Abuela Alma down. She acknowledges her past mistakes and is (at least in my opinion) changing her behavior.
Hey, can I just say you shouldn’t worry about some of these individuals.
PEOPLE
ARE
STUPID
I say don’t worry yourself about it, just keep doing what you do best. Making people laugh! Really happy I found this channel.
I agree but I still wanna see the scientific evidence that all wp are sociopaths that have no empathy for poc. But she is right when it comes to Alma and it is imoortant to listen to poc when they call out shit like this.
@@AlSidre crazy world we live in brother
I am white and I agree that this seems grounded in racism. I empathized with Abuela so much, I think most people know what it feels like to mean well and still hurt someone you love.
Yea I saw some comments saying that Abuela didn't deserve to be forgiven. And I'm like?? Are we not supposed to forgive those who admit their wrongs and change for the better? That's such a disgusting mentality to me. You can forgive and rebuild the relationship without forgetting or excusing the past
PREACH. I'm an African from Ghana, and the hate has been driving me insane. My God. Not only is it excessive but when you get right down to it, a lot of the criticism is completely unfounded. Most people watch the movie, see Mirabel’s feelings get hurt, conclude Abuela is evil and subsequently blame her for every single emotional problem of the family. Like yo, are these people forgetting that this woman is the same one who raised Julieta? That when we see Pepa stressed out, it's not because Abuela is an evil villain but because the gift she has is legitimately *stressful*. Abuela didn't ask Bruno to leave, he chose to, partly because of all the stigma the community and mostly Pepa's side of the family subjected him to. None of the family members are perfect, they all contributed towards the cracks in the family by not communicating/being honest about who they were/ by not knowing how to ask or give support/ not knowing the members of their own family. The entire movie is supposed to get US to OPEN OUR EYES, precisely because we think we know people, but there could be so much more going on under the surface that we have no idea about. I'm sick and tired of one dimensional dronings about what Abuela did wrong. We hurt people sometimes without meaning to. It doesn't make us evil. It doesn't mean we should die because of it. It just makes us human. And Abuela is a better human than most because at least she's apologising for and correcting her behaviour. How many people can honestly say the same?
When I think of Abuela I think of my mom, who sacrificed so much by herself to raise her kids, who didn't have the resources to heal her own trauma. Was she a bad mom no, but did she make mistakes yes. Folks got a lot of unpacking to do. Abuela has made mistakes but folks are just projecting from the apology they'll never receive. They prefer to empathize with vengeance.
Forgiveness is not simply about absolving another’s wrongs, but releasing you from the impact they hold over you. That’s what is perfect about this movie and how it ends. It shows the possibility of healing and provides examples for parents to use with children when dealing with family conflict. And I love that it leaves room for further development. The house is rebuilt, though the foundation isn’t perfect. Abuela has learned to open her eyes, but there’s still healing to come. It’s a capsule view of what can be - much like Bruno’s visions - but not a guarantee of how the story will end.
Yes! I agree completely. Some people think forgiveness is about excusing people’s behavior or absolving people of guilt but it’s not- it’s about release and letting go. It has very little to do with the person who is being forgiven, because it is not being done for them. It is something someone does for oneself. It’s a step the forgiver takes in their journey of their own personal healing. I hope all the characters do eventually forgive Abuela because it will be a piece of releasing Them from the burden of trauma. And I believe Abuela deserves her own forgiveness and empathy, so she can release the weight of her unfair past and her anxiety/PTSD. It will actually help her in her resolve to make different decisions moving forward.
Edit for spelling. Still probably some errors up there lol
Thank you!! It’s about time someone said this. In all honesty I don’t even dislike Abuela. I actually have a soft spot for her. And I find myself being protective of her. My thing is people want to burn abuela at the stake, but praise and come up with excuses for Isabella’s bullying. Abuela went through literal trauma with no one to help her through it. While her actions weren’t good, everything she did was out of love and to protect her family and community. And the fact that she admitted her wrongs in the end and made strides to redeem herself, just make her 1000 times better in my opinion. Abuela just might be my third favorite of the entire family.
2:29 finally someone said it. He is awful. His redemption is literally saying “You belong to his world now”. Not “you are person and I should not try to control you, destroy your cherished possessions and have you constantly monitored” just “You see someone else’s property now so I’m gonna stop abusing you.”
I think people just didn't like how Abuela made Mirabel feel like the mistake child for most of her crucial developing early stages of life. Disney may have their protagonist heroes bounce back from every thing that's thrown at them at the end of the movie. But in real life- that type of trauma at that age, sticks with you forever and you're never going to be fully healed from such emotional and psychological scarring. However-...with that said. Yeah, no one should let fictional stories stress out the rest of their actual lives.
I think my main problem with abuela is that she was a grandma and a mother. Everyone kinda expects evil from other Disney characters that are more antagonistic, they don't really have any connections to the other characters so there's no expectation of kindness towards them. But because abuela is a grandmother and mum we immediately expect her to be those positive, kind things. It just creates a greater shock because her character is built on but those other characters are introduced as clear villains from the beginning. It's no reason to want her to die, or compare her at all to those evil characters. She's complicated. Her backstory is tragic, I still didn't like her particularly, but I didn't hate her and I still 100% sympathized with her.
I second all of this!
I find it gross people are projecting so much of their lives onto a kids movie, like people saying curtain characters are LGBT+ due to stereotypes they see as hints or hating on victims of trauma because they acted like someone who was traumatised would act, like, grow up!
Also comparing the grandma to Mother Gothel is actually disgusting! MG is a mental, emotional and physical abusers who kidnapped a baby and isolated her from the world! She literally tried to kill Eugene because he got in the way of her perfect fantasy.
The grandma in Encanto lost her husband and home shortly after giving birth to triplets and had to deal with raising three kids all on her own!
Clearly none of the people wanting her to die has ever raised or been around children.
Like... OMG have these people watched Encanto or Tangled?!
The best part is when Mirabel chooses empathy every time. And that's how the family mends is because she shows empathy. It doesn't take away the years of pain, but it's the starting point
I definitely see some self-projection on this movie. I do like that it is a more real look at family dynamics and works and tells a compelling and closely felt story. But I don't, as you say, think that any hate is warranted. They showed each of the characters to be flawed. Flawed and real and that is a good thing. We want to see more relatable and earnest stories like Encanto.
I'm honestly shocked that anyone could watch Abuela's scream of agony as she watches the love of her life get murdered in front of her and then turn around and compare her to Disney villains like Mother Gothel. Her expressions in that scene wrecked me and gave me so much perspective on her behavior. I really can't imagine not feeling sympathy for her after that scene.
Omggg I'm obv living under the rock. I wasn't aware that Abuela was perceived as villain in internet. Sure I see her toxic treatment to her family but she wasn't even manipulative. Just controlling, as most older family members tend to be. And it often comes from the space of wanting to hold everything together and make sure everything is fine. Being perfectionist, in that sense, can be suffocating and toxic af but we can't call it EVIL. 🙄 Villains have evil intentions, Abuela doesn't have that. Clear your eyes folks.
Abuela just needed to get the chancla to smack some sense into her so she could treat all her grandchildren with love and respect. If only therapy was around back then. Luckily at the end she makes up with everyone and doesn't pass before she could.
I’ve seen this kind of thing way too much in the encanto fandom. I believe that what Alma did wasn’t right, but she was trying her very very best. She wanted to keep her family safe so no one got lost again. The whole thing with Pedro is absolutely terrible. It is so traumatic. And without psychiatrists therapists or anything in the village?! I don’t understand why people would make such extreme and simply rude remarks about an individual like Alma. And comparing her to GOTHEL??!! People have misinterpreted the story in such weird ways. This movie doesn’t have an antagonist. Well, when you think about it, trauma and not getting help with it *is* the antagonist; not Alma. The fandom has also done this with a lot of other things in the movie. This is people projecting their feelings and their issues onto others. It is not ok. If I keep talking about other stuff in the fandom that’s been happening I’d be rambling on for hours. That’s how bad all of this is. Thank you for reading, hope your day goes well, remember what was said in this video. It is extremely important. And if you discriminate between ethnicity as well? Just get out.
How anyone can see the remarkably well drawn scene of grief when her husband dies and still judge her so harshly is beyond me. That scene chokes me up every time. Every. time.
Honestly i thought the ending was rushed at first and well, it is in a way, but i came to understand that, this being a family movie that a lot of parents watch with their kids, this was what had to be done. It is not just about the kids understanding this message, but about all the "abuelas", all the adults that went through trauma that wasn't healed and harm their family understanding that there is a way out if they want to work on it and communicate, because no family will start healing if these people don't understand that. At least this is my interpretation, as someone who has a fantastic family but that for years had similar issues that were very hard to solve.
06:20 You can also love someone and continue to love them without forgiving them.
Abuela has a duality to her. Yes her methods are toxic af but she never left survivor mode. She was literally waiting and prepping for the next bog disaster.
I literally heard someone in my art class say “I hope Abuela dies” like dang I know she did her deal of damage to her family but jeez. I feel like people forget that she also went through trauma and that they think understanding that fact means excusing her actions. Those are two different things. I will admit I do see a bit of my own family in Encanto but some people take it way too far.
I felt so bad for Abuela, I was so absolutely hurting for her when I saw her losing her husband and hurting, bro I cry every time, poor young Alma never deserved any of this 😭😭😭 I have so much empathy for her.
There is a difference between Abuela and Mother Gothel or really any of the Disney villains. Abuela geniunely didn’t realize she was hurting her family until Mirabel pointed out to her. Mother Gothel knew exactly what she was doing when she kidnapped Rapunzel.
Encanto is such a wonderful representation of generational trauma and what it can look like. Abuela made decisions that in the moment she thought was right, afraid of loss
If grown adults are bashing Disney characters, yall need help... therapy... friends? Idk thats real weird
Abuela is such a perfect example of "hurt people hurt people"
Her line "And I'm sorry I held on too long, so afraid I'll lose you too. The miracle is not, the power that you got, the miracle is you." makes me cry like *every time.* To show this type of generational trauma and the effect and the path towards lesson in a Disney movie? That was AMAZING.
Encanto was specifically designed to not have an antagonist....Abuela was just a traumatized single mom....people gotta chill...