In the movie “Encanto”, the protagonist Mirabel is treated decently by her family despite not having a superpower gift. However, if she had been born into an Asian tiger family:
- Without a gift, Asian Mirabel would have been even more desperate to find some way to prove herself special to her family. If she couldn’t do that, most likely she would have traveled and moved far away from her family to another town or country to find success for herself.
- During her childhood, most likely, she would have either been constantly criticized and berated, or ignored in favor of the other siblings. Her situation is somewhat akin to Mary Bennet’s in Pride and Prejudice.
- She and her siblings would have constantly been nagged and pressured about their grades.
Now, about the other members of the Asian “Ma” Family:
- Abuela Alma: She would not have relented in the end. No apology from her for all of the years of control and perfectionism. She would berate her family and blame them instead of taking responsibility for the loss of the casita.
- Julieta: Abuela might have blamed Julieta for bringing a giftless girl into the world and wondered why she couldn’t “heal” Mirabel’s “shortcoming”.
- Pepa: The only reason why anyone in the family would pay attention to her and her feelings would be due to fear of her weather changing abilities. Otherwise, they would ignore her feelings and invalidate them.
- Bruno: He would have been respected for his ability to foretell the future. So much so that superstitious family members and friends would have constantly consulted him and he would have been driven crazy by the crowd. No wonder he disappeared into the walls! But in his old age, he would have been a rich man from all of the money he received from his prophecies.
- Agustin and Felix: Unless they were rich, Abuela probably would have looked down on them as not being good enough for her daughters.
- Luisa: Her hard work would have been taken for granted, and no one would ever thank her, because it’s expected. Plus, she would have been told to act more feminine and pretty, in addition to getting top grades.
- Isabella: Mirabel would have been constantly compared to Isabella, only furthering their sibling hatred. If Isabella only had beauty, she would have still been criticized and told to be smart and rich.
- Dolores: Most likely, she would have been her grandmother’s favorite weapon, used to spy on her family members and keep them in control.
- Camilo: He might get away from constant criticism by entertaining the family with his shapeshifting abilities and by hiding his true self. He might even achieve some kind of superstardom from becoming an actor or pop singer. But he would pay a great personal price, because it’s all fake.
- Antonio: His abilities might have been judged useless, for who needs to talk to animals, anyway? Or the family might try to use his gift for negative purposes, such as attacking their enemies by sending rodents and pests to their homes.
In the movie, Mirabel’s parents seem very loving, so they might have been unhappy and in conflict with Abuela over her perfectionism and the way she treated Mirabel. However, in the Asian Ma Family, most likely they would have focused on Isabella to the detriment of Luisa and Mirabel. Why? Because Luisa is “strong” and needs no attention, while Mirabel is the ordinary one.
The question is whether Mirabel would be so scarred from growing up in the Ma Family that she would need therapy years later when she became an adult? Would she ever be able to forgive Abuela for her perfectionism? Or would she hold on to resentment for the rest of her life? Maybe the Disney version you saw was just her rewriting her own life story!