Encanto

Disney's new film Full House has gorgeous pictures, cool music and a family story. However, many people have raised questions or doubts, which can be summarized in the following aspects:

1. About magic: Why do magic candles exist? Why does it go out completely in a fight? Why did the magic candle finally come back? In short, is there a unified logic to its appearance and disappearance? Besides, why didn't Grandma have magic of her own?

2. About the theme: If the movie wants to say that there is something special about the female protagonist without magic, then if magic is brought back in the end, isn't magic still respected? Isn't the theme a little inconsistent and vague?

3. Values: Mirabel has no magic, what is her special ability? If we only talk about love and acceptance, she will still be an incompetent person in the society, so is this a "poisoned chicken soup"?

I try to answer these questions on a story level. Of course, the answers are not listed one by one, but through a deep understanding of the core image, a comprehensive; At the same time, some questions are no longer true.

Core image: The magic candle is a symbol of strong inner strength

First of all, when did you get the magic candle? It's after my grandfather died while my young grandmother and grandfather were on the run.

Put yourself in her place. How difficult it must have been for grandma to raise three hungry children alone in a strange place. At the same time, we can actually see that the others are following their grandparents, who should be the leaders; Later in miracle Valley, the Maliga family was also a leader.

So, with not only three babies to depend on, but so many people to follow, how much life energy does the young grandmother need to sustain herself? So, grandma needs to separate her vulnerability from her fear and live her life as a tough, courageous mother and leader.

This powerful psychological energy, in my opinion, is magic. So, the magic candle was invented at that time, and it was a symbol of great inner strength.

Grandma relied on that inner strength to make it through, so of course she thought it was the best and the right thing to do. As a result, stronger and more perfect became her values, while weakness and fear were to be despised.

The family followed her grandmother's values, especially Mirabel's perfect sister and hercules' second sister. Representing weakness -- mirabel, who had no magical talent, was snubbed -- and fear -- Bruno, who was worried about the future, was not to be mentioned.

Just as the saying goes, "Success is meaningless, defeat is meaningless", in fact, "what doesn't kill you makes you strong" maybe should add the second sentence, "What makes you strong makes you weak". The same "stronger, more perfect" philosophy that had helped my grandmother get through the hard times and succeed led to anxiety about perfection, obedience and repression in her new situation -- and cracks opened and the magic candle weakened.

When merab bei didn't like others, cracks to cover up the cabin, but face to face with problems, to seek the solution, finally reshape the grandmother is most important, the most perfect sister Isabella's values, and brave enough to speak their own ideas and grandmother heated confrontation, grandma's old idea collapsed, so magic house collapse, the candle out.

When my grandma came to the river to find her through the valley of wonders split peak, she saw me had magic (bursts with powerful vitality), find the memory, then back to his mind: I became stronger, more perfect for everything, starting point is to protect the family, and family and the people to a better life. However, I hide and control in order to be stronger and more perfect, but let my family suffer...

Mirabel understood, too. Once upon a time, the story of the magic candle was told in a fairy tale, a miracle bestowed upon it suddenly; Now, she just understand, the back of the fairy tale, is the grandmother suffered a huge suffering, holding a strong inner strength, just have this family.

Grandma and Mirabel made up. Mirabel is accepted and recognized, and the new values she represents burst into life, so the family system is restored, the cabin is rebuilt, the candle reappears -- only, this time, with the inner strength mirabel brought to it.

Theme interpretation: Mind reconstruction in the age of anxiety

Through the analysis of the core image, we know the symbol of the magic candle, and now we can answer: why doesn't grandma herself have magic?

My understanding is that neither Grandma nor Mirabel has magic, but they happen to be the old and new "housekeepers," so it might make sense to think of them as energy integrators.

According to psychologist Carl Jung, "our external circumstances are the outward projection of our inner world." Therefore, we can also regard the whole magic house as a symbol of a person's soul.

The "homeowner" is a person's "self", and the others represent different psychological or ability elements. The two types of self in the movie, let's call them "granny self" and "Mirabel self."

Under the unity of the "grandmother self", all abilities should be developed according to the standard of "stronger and more perfect", and those that do not meet the standard should be suppressed. Hercules second sister always want to be stronger, can't feel too much pressure; Flowering elder sister always has to be more perfect, always has to conform to aesthetic standards; Mother's healing ability is useful, injured to quickly pack up the mood; Their ability to control the weather is also important because emotional control is essential; Cousin li ear ability and cousin deformation ability, sometimes need; As for the prophetic power of the uncle, it has little practical use, and uncontrollable it also has the power to control the state of mind, if it is negative, the impact is very bad, which is not very tolerable for the "stronger, more perfect" self, it is suppressed in the dark corners; Anthony's ability to communicate with animals is a new ability that hasn't been given a standard yet...

What about Mirabel? She wears big glasses, and I think this image design may mean that she represents the ability to see, which in the mind is called the ability to be aware. But this ability has no direct practical use. Instead, she "sees" shadows, so the granny self doesn't like her.

The "granny self" is best suited to overcome difficulties in emergency times, and only such personality and standards can survive and succeed. However, when times change and circumstances change, it may not be the most appropriate.

In the new environment, wayan should release more diverse energy, not only open the original several flowers, but can open cactus, strangling ficus, wax palm and all the plants, redefine beauty; The second sister could rest in her hammock, and the little mouse could use its strength to deliver a drink. There is not only one dimension of strength...

As for my uncle's prophecy, people used to be afraid of disaster once they found it; But Mirabel wanted to see more, and found salvation behind the disaster. If disaster is inevitable, find the cause and seek a cure, not a cure.

The release of these energies is brought about by the mirabean self. Therefore, mirabel and her grandmother's reconciliation, mutual acceptance and embrace is a symbol of the new era of spiritual reconstruction. When Mirabel's hand touched the door handle of the rebuilt house, the whole house was suddenly enchanted. This is mirabel's special ability. She represents a more complete self, a mind that is capable of awareness, promotion and release, as well as a larger psychological space to face disasters and make long-term plans. So at the end she took the new door handle, and grandma asked her what you saw, and she said, "I saw me, all of me."

I've also known some great teachers who fought their way through tough childhoods with a "grandma self." So they did what grandma did to their students. But times are changing, and they are changing faster and faster, and the way to cultivate a child's ability is not to be stronger and more perfect by any single standard (especially your own or mechanical standard), but to fundamentally cultivate the energy, intelligence and creativity of the child to face the future.

As a leader of an organization, sometimes it is similar to a parent. Of course, there are many types of organizations, and they may be at different stages of development. However, an organization that focuses on creativity or RESEARCH and development, LIKE the elder sister and the second sister of Mirabel's "liberation", should promote employees to release greater autonomy and creativity, is a viable organization.

Technology is developing so fast in our time. Machines will do more and more of the work that has "standard" capabilities -- and thus can be programmed -- that may be done by machines in the future. What machines can't do, then, is the unprecedented and the unstandardised -- the emergence of which requires the mirabian self to accommodate, including the courage to confront the problem and tell it like it is.

Overall, I think the Disney story is very topical and a good effort. However, in terms of artistic expression, I think the ending is a little rushed:

The scene of the reconciliation between grandma and Mirabel by the river is still a little light, but it would have been better if there had been a duet in the sky of yellow butterflies, because the dialogue and transition between the two is the focus. This song should also focus on crafting, and become a song that can be sung by parents and children.

In the end, Mirabel brought new magic to the magic house, and everyone's magic was restored. It would be nice to show more of the new look of magic, so as to highlight the changes that Mirabel brought. Wayan's ability to grow plants, for example, was first unleashed with abandon and only destroyed (roads and houses in the town grew haphazard and blocked roads), but should it have been put to better use?

However, the film is generally acceptable and recommended for families, especially adults. For kids, it's a fantasy adventure story. For grown-ups, there may be a little inspiration for this reinvention of the mind that I'm talking about. If the child is not young enough to want to explore stories, then the analysis I have written may be useful.