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Encanto’s Luisa Pays Homage To Older Sisters

Encanto turned out to be one of the most loved and enjoyed Disney movies of 2021. It is full of many emotional and heart-wrenching family moments that really allow you to connect with the movie. I loved everything about this movie! I have so many favorite things about Encanto. But one of my favorite things was it’s depiction of older sisters and the weight that they carry for their families.

In the song, Surface Pressure, Luisa sings about the weight she’s been carrying for her family. Throughout the song she talks about the pressure she feels both as an older sister and the strongest. It’s very heartbreaking but by the end of the song her younger sister, Mirabel, realizes she’s been carrying too much. This is something that I feel not many younger siblings recognize.

Luisa pays homage to all the older sisters out there that are carrying too much on their shoulders. All the older sisters who feel like they have to carry their family’s burdens. We often find ourselves feeling like we have to carry those burdens alone. Truth is, we don’t. It’s not our job to be strong all the time, sometimes we need a little help. Mirabel is sure to remind her sister of this.

Luisa’s character and her song really resonated with me on a deeper, personal level. I’m the oldest out of my siblings and I feel like I do carry a lot. We carry the weight of our families on our shoulders. As the oldest sibling, I often find myself carrying more weight than I can handle to ensure the well-being of my brothers. You bend and buckle carrying all that pressure but you never break. Because you know that if you do, it’ll affect your siblings.

As older siblings, we don’t want our younger siblings to see us as weak. We want them to know that we’re there for them whenever they need us. We’ll carry their weight for them but it makes you wonder who carries it for us when it gets too heavy?

At the end of the movie, Mirabel reminds Luisa and the rest of their family that they have to realize they’re more than their gifts. She is also sure to remind Luisa that it’s okay to need a little help with the heavy stuff. Asking for help is not something that Luisa is used to doing, which I’ll admit is something I also struggle with. Isabela tells Luisa that she’s so strong but Luisa responds that yeah it might be true but she cries sometimes. Both Mirabel and Isabela then remind her that they cry too and that’s okay!

Their entire dynamic is just one that I don’t feel many movies showcase and I just love everything about it. Luisa reminds me of myself in so many different ways. I find myself bearing so many of our family’s burdens alone because I feel like it’s my responsibility. No matter how heavy the weight of it all got, I kept going because I knew that my family needed me to, much like she did.

My brothers are wonderful at reminding me that I don’t have to do it on my own. They remind me that they’ll always be there when I need them. They make the pressure worth dealing with. For that, I’m thankful.

Here’s Luisa’s song Surface Pressure from the movie Encanto! Enjoy! 🙂

Read more about Lin Manuel Miranda’s song Surface Pressure & how it was inspired by his older sister here!

And you can read my post How My Brothers Saved Me right here on TurningPointCT!