Hello, friends, and welcome back to another fandom journal post! This week I’ve been thinking about one of the prevalent themes in Disney’s Encanto, which I believe ties into the Biblical theme of grace vs. works. Enjoy!
Fandom: The underlying themes in Disney’s Encanto and the song “All of You”
Truth: Surrendering to and accepting God’s immeasurable grace is a daily choice/journey which brings renewed joy and confidence and an ability to rest.
Fandom: “All of You” from Disney’s Encanto
First of all, I just want to express how much I LOVE this movie. I could probably watch it just about every day and wouldn’t even complain. The colors, the music, the characters… AHH SO BEAUTIFUL!! Not to mention that butterflies are a recurring theme, and that’s one of my favorite things EVER 💖 And then it hits you with the deep stuff, like feeling like an outsider or stressed because of the pressure to succeed, and I’m DONE 😭🤩😻🥰😹😊
The theme I wanted to explore in this particular post though is that of carrying burdens or fulfilling expectations. All of the characters in Encanto are carrying some kind of burden. Louisa’s is literal weight, plus the fear that everything will fall apart if she fails. Isabella’s is the expectation for her to be the Perfect Daughter who oozes sunshine from every poor and marries a practical stranger to solidify the familia’s connections in town. Of course Mirabel’s is being The One Who Didn’t Get A Gift. On some level, each of the family members, even the ones who don’t get a lot of backstory, must feel the pressure to maintain the image of the mystical, magical, Family Madrigal. And Abuela, the matriarch and the queen of the whole show, continually feels the burden of fear that this miracle will be taken from her too.
At the end of the movie, in typical Disney style, the conflict is resolved, Bruno the black sheep is received back into the familia with open arms, and they literally rebuild their life from the ground up. Here are some of my favorite lines from the song “All of You” at the end of the movie:
Look at this home, we need a new foundation…
You’re more than just your gift!
The miracle is you, not some gift, just you!
Lay down your load!
See yourself in turn… you’re the real gift, kid. Let us in.
“all of you,” Disney’s encanto
It’s a beautiful portrait of the importance of vulnerability and forgiveness in family relationships. But I can’t help but think — is there another story that links itself to this one?
Verses: grace vs. works
The whole underlying theme of trying to measure up and belong from Disney’s Encanto reminds me of the Biblical theme of grace versus works. This is one of the first things that I learned as a new believer, and actually believing it in everyday life has been a lifelong journey. It’s so hard to believe that 1) I have nothing truly of value to offer to God, and 2) there’s nothing more affective in my salvation than the sacrifice of Jesus and the immeasurable grace of God the Father. Here are some verses I found that match up with this theme in Scripture:
Grace vs. works-based salvation
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Galatians 2:21 ESV
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…
2 Timothy 1:8-9 ESV (all through verse 12 for context!)
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8 ESV
Like the Madrigal family working to attain their Abuela’s standards, and Abuela working to maintain the image of “Aquí no pasa nada” (everything’s fine), we are all tempted to set our own standars for what’s good or righteous or enough for God. And, like these amazingly realistic and complex characters, we’re also called to rebuild our foundations, brick by brick and day by day, on the truth that we’ll never be able to save ourselves. We have a miracle: God knew we could never measure up to His perfection, so He made a way to fulfill His OWN expectations, and then offered us a gift, a calling, a purpose, and the opportunity to have a relationship with Him. ¡Alabado sea Dios!
Lay down your load
In response to these and many other examples of God’s grace and our inability to save ourselves, we can lean into the rest that following Jesus offers. He LITERALLY says [something to the effect of] “lay down your load” in Matthew 11:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Later on, the apostle Paul, who was no stranger to the carrying of heavy things and experiences, said this:
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 ESV
So, as we rebuild our foundations on the riches of God’s grace, we’re called to lean into the easier burden of following Christ and working alongside Him. It becomes easier when we’re reminded of how fully dependent on the Lord we are AND how faithful He is. We’re also called to bear each other’s burdens, helping with the experiences and feelings and events that are too heavy to carry alone. Which is a PERFECT mirror image of the Madrigal family coming out of their isolated corners and learning how to depend on each other!
Application
In response to what we’ve learned and fangirled over in this process, here are some actionable “I will” statements that I’ll be practicing:
- I will become aware of the burdens I’m carrying and surrender them to the Lord
- I will reach out to those who may be struggling and remind them of the surpassing riches of God’s grace
- I will open myself up to being vulnerable and sharing my burdens, and allow others to do the same with me
My Process
For my own process with this song/movie, I decided to decorate my pages at night and come back and do the writing the next morning before work, which went really well for me. I was able to enjoy the creative process, and the study and journaling first thing in the morning were more inspiring when I didn’t feel limited by my time constraints.
Free Stickers!!
To go with this journaling topic, I was inspired (after I’d already done my own pages 😭) to create some doodle-y, embroidery-like stickers with a similar color scheme to Mirabel’s skirt in Encanto. You can download them for free by clicking on the link below! It will take you to my ko-fi shop : )
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed and were inspired by this post about Disney’s Encanto. What was your favorite part of this amazing movie? Besides “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” I mean 😜
Happy fangirling!
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