Recently I watched the 2017 Pixar production Coco, based on the Day of the Death, a ripped-off version of All Souls Day which focuses more on leftover pagan traditions than on purgatory.
On this tradition, people make tables honoring their dead relatives. They place photos, bread and skulls made of sugar, as well as Cempasuchil (mexican marigold) flowers and some of their favorite objects. Some people actually believe their family members come to pay them a visit and even enjoy the gifts offered to them.
Such pagan BS was bound to attract Hollywood. This flick was really popular and it attracted my attention, not only because of it's problematic theology but also because I live in Mexico, so in a way this is how Pixar wants you to look at us. Here is my review, I hope it is useful, I didn't waste my time and you benefit from it.
The Portrayal of Mexico.
Some people moaned and complained that Coco is "cultural appropriation" and doesn't offer a good representation of Mexican culture. This is actually not true, because for the most part, the portrayal of the movie is accurate. It was loved by the mexicans for a reason.
There are some inaccuracies, however, and I would like to point the most relevant to the plot: while Day of the Dead is celebrated everywhere, the people who take it more seriously are the people of Pátzcuaro and Michoacán.
This feast is mostly a thing of the poorer among us, the rich make the altars to people like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela while mixing it with Halloween. Children ask for "calaverita", which is a way of saying trick or treating. Not everyone believes the dead come to visit us, and even some novus ordo priest have openly criticized it.
The Be Yourself Message Strikes Again
The plot follows a kid named Miguel and his dog Dante. The child wants to be a musician, but his family forbids it. Their great grandfather abandoned his family to become a successful mariachi and as a result they hate music. Here we have yet another be-yourself movie! Child must prove to his oppressive family that his dream is worth following.
Miguel is obsessed with Ernesto de la Cruz, a legendary mariachi and actor; the kid believes Ernesto is the aforementioned great-grandfather. This creep tells the audience to "follow their dreams and be true to themselves no matter what", and the kid swallows it up like a true fanboy. He comes out of his musical closet, only to be chastised and have his grandmother go full Pete Townsend and smash his guitar on the floor.
Miguel does the Disney thing which is he runs away from home crying and attempts to find a new guitar. He steals the one that belonged to Ernestito, but some magical nonsense happens and he is transported to the realm of the dead.
I know that be-yourself movies always portray the family as exaggerating on whatever they are imposing on the protagonist, but that is precisely the problem. All teens would like to believe their parents are going too far with those rules they don't want to follow.
I feel this movie could actually use this as an opportunity to teach on the deception of worldly fame and material goods. It's a movie about dead people after all. But instead they do the be-yourself thing of giving the protagonist his cake so that he can eat it.
Third Part: The Heresy Feast of the Afterlife in Coco
The afterlife in Coco has no remains of Judgement, Hell, Heaven or anything spiritual. This afterlife is in fact very similar to the world we live in: there are immigration offices, social classes, shows and celebrities, even food. There is even a "final death".
One would expect a movie about death to consider how we will leave everything when we die but for people who like to treat the afterlife as a nice little coping mechanism there is no purpose on meditating on this.
The aforementioned "final death" on this afterlife is being forgotten by your family, something that drives most of the plot. Miguel needs to "receive a blessing" from one of his ancestors in other to go back home, but his great grandmother will only bless him if he promises to never play music again. Desperate to get his wish, he and a friendly skeleton named Hector who claims to know Ernesto try to access him so that the kid can leave as he wills.
Ernesto de la Cruz
When Miguel finally meets his idol, the mariachi is obviously egocentric but he treats the child kindly, showing him around his mansion. However, Hector appears and angrily calls out Ernesto for stealing his songs. It is revealed that Hector is not lying and that he was poisoned by the mariachi because he wanted to quit and go back with his family. Ernesto used his compositions to "have his moment".
What I like about this character is that he shows the logical consequences of following the be-yourself message. If your only purpose in life is following your dreams, your passions and your desires, you are likely to do stuff like this. Whether on the little or on the big ways. Nobody can accuse Ernesto of being a hypocrite who acted in contrast to his beliefs.
With this shocking plot twist Miguel learns that his family is more important to him, and that perhaps persecuting worldly fame and pleasures is not worth it because it may make you evil and you face punishment from the wrath of God, right?
Well, yes but no. Miguel learns to appreciate his family, but since he gets his cake and eats it too by reconciling with his parents and getting to be a musician, the audience misses the message you would expect from a movie about dead people: that not everything is worth living for.
And about the punishment from the wrath of God... well, Ernesto gets punished not because he went to judgement and was found worthy of hell, but because he is exposed as a liar and a murderer. At the end of the movie we notice he will be forgotten because Miguel's family convince the world of the truth about this creep.
According to this movie being forgotten is the real deal. This links with another message subtly suggested to the viewer: poverty. Hector wore a fancy white mariachi dress when he died, but throughout the movie he dresses like a beggar because nobody remembers him fondly. People about to be forgotten (including some suspicious ladies), live in slums, while the powerful keep their mansions.
These are the people less likely to be forgotten: serial killers, celebrities and politicians. Is Disney telling us that men of fame will remain in their pleasures while the humble are obliterated into nothingness? That will certainly encourage children to pursue attention and fame, wouldn't it? Even if their family goes extinct, everyone else will remember them for as long as the world stays with us.
Conclusion
Overall this movie is mostly well written, presenting some heartfelt moments of reconciliation between heartbroken family members. This movie could be so much better if it had focused on the message I pointed out above, managing to tell a story that took death more seriously.
Of course this would mean Coco would be a completely different movie, with a completely different perspective on the afterlife, perhaps even being less colorful and energetic as it is now. Right now, it stands as a wasted opportunity. Let us hope that our life is not a wasted opportunity as well.
