Thanks to the success of the Disney film “Encanto,” we’ve had a little time to talk — and sing — about Bruno. Some of us, however, want to talk about Luisa y Pepa.
Luisa is the strong one in the family, the one can move pianos and carry a half dozen runaway burros. Pepa is the one whose emotions control the weather; she can brighten a dark day or turn sunny skies gray.
We know these women. For some of us, they are our moms, abuelas, tias, comadres, primas and daughters. For others, they are us.
I know a Luisa. Her name isn’t Luisa, of course, but she is most definitely a Luisa — someone who could probably herd two dozen burros. This woman hosts her extended family every Thanksgiving, has a Jack-O’-Lantern carving party the week before she decks out the front porch to hand out candy on Halloween, then hosts the seasonal tamalada. Nobody can compete with this Luisa, so nobody tries. From afar, it looks perfect — and perfectly exhausting. And like the Luisa in the movie, she feels really bad when she can’t hold it all up.
Almost as bad as the Pepas I know.
I know a Pepa who has been told all of her life to put on a happy face. What’s the matter? Count your blessings. You need to snap out of it. Why don’t you try working in the yard? She tries, of course, but it’s hard for this Pepa to be sunny. She explains there is nothing particularly wrong, and she doesn’t mean to bring dark skies, either. It’s just that the darkness seems to find her. Depression is hard for people to understand.
For years, Disney brought us beautiful stories of princesses saved by princes, girls bedeviled by witches, heroes helped by a cute little muñeca who always knew what to say or do. But Disney princesses are make-believe. Most girls will never meet a prince, sell our voices to the sea witch or get a ballgown from a bunch of little mice.
But most little girls have relatives they know well. Those girls watch those relatives as they overcommit and overextend themselves. They watch when their loved ones can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. And sometimes their burdens make it hard for those girls to break those cycles.
That’s why a movie with the magic of “Encanto” — the magic created by the casita where the family lives, generated by the love these family members have for one another — is long overdue.
Because it’s about time we told our kids that we don’t need magic powers to live an enchanted life. All we really need is to love the ones closest to us. Love fixes everything.
