I just realised yet another little detail that symbolises so much in the story!
During Dos Orugitas, we see a young Alma Madrigal that seemed to be cheerful, playful and even a little clumsy. The braided hair, the frilly dress and the big smiles help create an image of her as a sweet, carefree young woman who was not afraid to just be herself.
Once the tragedy with Pedro happens and the miracle is born, Alma immediately takes shelter in casita and we see her silently processing the events of the evening, looking extremely weary, lonely and traumatised.
The next time we see Alma, she is putting on a black cloak and leaving the room. This room was the cocoon where she transformed into a new person, leaving her old self behind. She’s become different. Her smile doesn’t quite meet her eyes anymore. She looks tired, somber. Older, even.
There’s a shadow, a trauma she’s carrying that soon takes form in the perfectionism and control that eventually hurt her loved ones. This event shapes the way she deals with challenges from this moment on, and she is always in fear of the family losing their home once again.
She became harsh. Strict. Everything has to be perfect in order to protect and earn the miracle the love of her life granted their family with his noble sacrifice.
This is an incredibly strong woman who has been through hell and came out alive, for her family’s sake. This black cloak follows her from her young years to her old age, and becomes a constant throughout the movie. It represents the weight and the burden of the grief she silently carried ever since that moment, and will continue to carry for the rest of her life. It represents the change she had to go through, putting her emotions last in order to become the strong matriarch her kids and the village needed. It represents the loss of not only her beloved Pedro, but also of her innocence, her youth, her laughter and her smile.
From the moment young Alma Madrigal and her children were gifted a miracle, she became the one responsible for the whole village. She, as the only one blessed with the magic and the one whose gift repelled the enemies, was naturally placed in a position of power and leadership in the worst moment of her life.
It’s likely she was the one everyone immediately looked to for directions right after the miracle happened, and that she had to leave her feelings behind to help other lost and grieving people rebuild their lives and their homes, creating what the village of Encanto eventually became. She put everyone else first. She was extremely selfless.
Alma Madrigal is such a complex character. There are so many layers to her personality. This is why you guys can’t just write her off as a villain or as a horrible person/grandmother. It’s not so black and white.
She is similar to her grandaughter Isabella in the aspect that many people call her “selfish” for sacrificing her family’s well being and dreams for HER reputation, while its really the contrary. She really meant it when she said she was do it for the family, she still hurt them a lot and has to make progress.
But, it’s better to open your eyes later than never. The damage is done, but sometimes it can be fixed.
THANK YOU. There’s this guy on TikTok who does make funny vids on Encanto, but my gosh is he brutal on Alma. Like seriously, how do you miss the mark that badly?
Bruno Madrigal is an amazing storyteller in control of his own narrative and he hasn’t been living in the Casita’s walls all 10 years
Bruno Madrigal is an amazing storyteller. Don’t be fooled, this is not about the rat telenovelas. Bruno is in control of the narrative, especially his own narrative. His real gift is acting, well not really, but he can pull off convincing stories and different personas. He has been doing this for most of his adult life.
Acting Jorge and Hernando
Ever since he was little he didn’t like all the attention his gift gathered, so whenever he could tell anyone that didn’t know him as part of La Familia Madrigal, he would introduce himself as Jorge, or Hernando, or any name that would provided him with a hide in plain sight. Also, as a way of being helpful to their community and not being scalded by his mother. Doña Alma doesn’t need to know that it was Jorge being paid with bags of corn flour, or coffee instead of Bruno having visions of the future.
Hernando is not afraid of anything, so he’s the one in the heights fixing roofs, up in the trees collecting honey, he would carry sacks of food for horses, donkeys and other animals around in the community.
Jorge is meticulous, he mainly works in mills grinding corn for the arepas, grinding coffee, and occassionaly helping Hernando in construction.
when Bruno went away he tried to get away, he didn’t went so far, so he returned and started working full time as Hernando / Jorge
the original chameleon was Bruno, as a coping mechanism for dilutting the pressure and attention of being a Madrigal who doesn’t know how to make his gift as useful to the community as his sisters.
Bruno is very happy and proud about the depiction of Camilo, he loves this and wishes it doesn’t goes away now he is again part of Los Madrigal
Bruno is indifferent about how people want to perceive him: he’s an outcast, he’s seven foot and has pet rats, he’s an hermit, he’s a hard worker, he’s the bearer of bad omens.
When reconstructing la Casita, Jorge is helping Jose (maybe Jose trust Jorge, but not Bruno; maybe Bruno doesn’t want Jose to know he is Bruno?)
We don’t talk about Bruno
the community as a whole “don’t talk about Bruno” in part because of the bad omens that he constructed around the visions, in part because they know drama and fall out happened within the family
if people in town dare to ask: Doña Alma will give a death stare or shut the door in your face, Pepa will thunder, and Julieta, Agustín and Félix were still trying to trying to talk about him without ending up criyng.
Within time and years people don’t ask anymore
At least, 15 years ago, Bruno started spreading a mantra “we don’t talk about Bruno” left and right, first he was tired of this personna, and needed a break from the demands (both physical and emotional) so he began exaggereting the “bad luck visions” of the one and only Bruno Madrigal with key people that would spread the hot gossip: Señora Pezmuerto, gossip king Osvaldo, the shopkeeper, and the balding priest.
His sisters and brothers in law know Bruno is somewhere in the town, I refuse to believe Bruno didn’t had friends!! (hey, we didn’t get to know the extended family and friends, not even the people that clearly helps around in Casita)
The magic is strong… and it can happen everywhere, not just in a cave
Bruno is fatigued when he has to see the Future (years ahead), but he can intuitively sense a few minutes ahead, so he never runs into people he doesn’t want to (aka his family).
The cave and the rite for the visions are also a defense mechanism so people stop being all over him, all the time
Now, if you’ve made it until here: just as Five from Umbrella Academy learns to jump into the past a few seconds at a time, Bruno has anxiety and hipervigilance that comes from a life changing decision of leaving your family in order to protect them, so he is aware of them. All the time. Sure its not difficult because they’re notorious and everyone greets them, or ask something from them. But, if he can avoid ackward stares and ‘“bye”, he will use his power to avoid them.
Eventually, they know he’s around but hurt that Bruno doesn’t want to talk and be a part of the family
Trauma and living in the walls
from time to time, especially at nights, Bruno returns to Casita living behinds the walls, he’s ashamed, conflicted, sad, anger, fear and he’s lonely, with a lack of emotional tools to confront or engage with his family
I refuse to believe Bruno is a hermit, without any friends or social networks. Yes, generational and personal trauma is mostly deposited and explored by Bruno being a scapegoat or black sheep. We definitely see that Bruno is a bad mental state when Mirabel found him, but we also see that he is not always in the walls (behind Dolores in WDTAB)
Mirabel and Antonio are the cycle breakers. In every big change both Mirabel and Toñito were there next to Bruno.
Sorry, I got tired
this started as a one shot, but ended half a list of headcanons
so, half assing this post, just like Bruno living in the walls
TLDR: Bruno is so much more complex than we got to see. Yes, he’s a shy, anxious, lovely tío, but he has self mythologized his narrative in many ways as a defense mechanism.
