Grazing the top 10 on The Billboard 100 and being replayed left and right in cars, homes and phones, there’s no way anyone can escape the Encanto soundtrack. Some people are sick and tired of the soundtrack, while others remain adamant that despite its popularity the soundtrack is still good and opt to play it often. Why is that? Could it be that some people mentally recognize the issues and struggles portrayed in the song and thus see it as a reflection of their own family experiences, or is it that the songs are overplayed and dried out thanks to their popularity? 

Based on my experiences with the film, I found that I personally liked the Encanto soundtrack; not only did it present a catchy tune and lyrics to boot, but its message was something that also contributed to my opinion surrounding the soundtrack. Songs like “Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” particularly stick out, not only because of their immense popularity, but because of their messages of a broken family and a person who just works too hard. 

While I won’t get into the details of my own family burdens, I felt that in some cases I could empathize with the characters and their own personal experiences, as they align with what I have gone through and what my family has gone through. 

Some might say the plot of the movie and the soundtrack is “cliche,” or it presents an “overused rhetoric,” but I think that the movie’s popularity can be attributed to this factor. Despite the cliche narrative that it presents, it is written in such a way that the viewer can openly sympathize with the positions that the characters face. Additionally, I also believe that reason the message of the film is widely received well is because of the driving characters that are present throughout the film, like the sister who has to be strong because she’s the eldest, or the sister who is valued for nothing else other than her beauty and thus was never allowed to explore her own interests, or a mother whose own past grievances haunted her, causing her to never be emotionally vulnerable and finally, a person who feels out of place. This ties back to that perceived point; that at some time in the film we can empathize with these archetypal characters because, despite their varying differences, they reflect our own personal experiences. 

While I acknowledge that some may not have traversed these experiences that come with family complications, specifically the ones that pertain to the issues presented in Encanto, still many like it because it also presents an alternate reality of an outcome that they want or wish they had. While some might argue that it is overused, out of date and overplayed, there is no denying the emotional implications that are present at the heart and soul of the Encanto film and soundtrack. Those emotions help us connect to those with similar struggles and find comfort. Seeing ourselves portrayed on a large scale highlights that this struggle is at some point something that we all have gone through. 

For those reasons, I think that Encanto is a cultural phenomenon.