Is Mirabel a Princess?

         In watching Disney's Encanto and looking at it through a critical lens, it posed the question; is Mirabel a princess? What does it mean to be one? Linda Christensen in Rethinking Popular Culture and Media, she states, "

What would children learn about what’s important in society?” (Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us). Does Mirabel need to be a princess in order to be important? As Professor Bogad said in her reading Disney slidedeck, "does Princess culture expand kids imagination's or limit them?" This analysis is meant to help broaden how Mirabel may be percieved by adults and kids viewing the film. In most Disney films, a princess is an obedient girl in search of a prince. She is pure and full of obligation. She is well kept, modest, beautiful and passive. She doesn’t cause trouble or question things. She often lives in a castle (or is locked away somewhere. Mirabel is obedient (to a point) to her family, though she does not look for or fall in love. She is not the most “beautiful” according to standards (silly things) though she is modest. She does sit in silence in some ways, so I would call her passive at times. She does question, and causes trouble for herself. According to the list of how a princess acts, she certainly does not fit the mold. I would argue that her home being the center of town and the reason everyone has settled there makes her family as much of royalty as they could be without being in a monarchy. While Mirabel may not teach us about being a princess, she does teach us a little bit about leadership. She teaches us that you are only as strong as your weakest link. When the house starts to crumble she searches so hard for her Uncle Bruno, thinking he is the weakest, but it is ultimately her Grandmother who needs to shed the generational traumas she has held for so long. Mirabel’s values that are associated with her ability to lead are that family relies on one another. She helps to orchestrate her family in a way, although she wasn’t given a “gift”. She has patience and hope, but she feels like she lacks the something special everyone else has. In the beginning of the film, her leadership is more of an orchestration. By the end, she realizes that she is an integral part of her family and helps to lead them through the hardships they faced.