If you have children who are younger than teenagers, then you have seen Disney’s Encanto so many times that you wake up singing, “We don’t talk about Bruno — No, No, No” like I did this morning. This animated movie is on par with Hamilton, especially given all the songs were tirelessly written over 5 years by Lin-Manuel Miranda. While the Bruno song (a bigger global hit than Elsa’s Let It Go) and the Grammy-nominated love song in Spanish Dos Oruguitas, are getting most of the focus, it is the song Surface Pressure, sung by Jessica Darrow, that is getting all the play in my house. And frankly, it is the most stereotype-busting song in the entire film and now Disney repertoire.
Dear Disney — Thank you for finally catching up with reality. I have been surrounded by strong women my entire life. In fact, most women are pretty damn tough. I am convinced that if men had to do the childbearing in this world, the human race would quickly become extinct. The true outlier in real life is the prototypical Disney princess that must be rescued by her buff evil-slaying male knight. The inspiration for Luisa is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s older sister who took on way too much responsibility for their family at a young age. He wrote it as an apology and recognition of her strength and contributions to their family when they were growing up. This is more often than not the case with first daughters — they have to be the strong ones, the mini-moms, and grow up too fast.
The one thing Disney does not make clear enough is that Luisa’s strength is not just some magical gift she was given, like that of her princess-like sister who can make flowers out of nothing or her mother who can literally heal people with the food she makes. If you watch closely, you will see that Luisa works out and puts a lot of effort in daily to build and maintain her strength. The internet is blowing up right now about how some Disney execs had to be convinced to make Luisa’s character muscular, which is crazy given her character is all about strength. I guess there will always be some men who feel threatened by strong women.
In my life, I tell people that having a mom who was a nurse prepared me more for the Marine Corps than anything else. My older sister was like Luisa in that she took on a lot of responsibility at a young age. I went to the Naval Academy and served in the Marines with women who are physically, mentally, and emotionally tougher than many of the men I know. My cousin, she was a badass Marine. My wife is the one that got me in to CrossFit, not the other way around. My wife and daughter are fierce, and I say all the time that I want them by my side when we all face the zombie apocalypse.
So, let’s get one thing straight, Disney, we don’t have to say she’s a strong woman — just, she’s a woman.
