You’re just as special as anyone else in this family

What does it take to be special? Mirabel Madrigal from “Encanto” is confronted with this question every day, as the “specialness” of those she is closest to is constantly brought to her attention. Since her abuela was given a miracle fifty years ago – as you might imagine the expression literally sent me into euphoria, but perhaps more on that elsewhere – every member of the family was given a gift at a certain age. And these gifts are indeed incredible: Mirabel’s mother Julieta was given the power to heal people; her aunt Pepa can control the weather; her uncle Bruno can see the future; Mirabel’s eldest sister Isabela can grow flowers ex nihilo and so on. One gift is more magnificent than the next. That the Madrigals are special is thus completely beyond question.

So let’s move on to Mirabel. In a family full of magically gifted people, she is the only one who has not received a gift. This fact alone would probably be enough to turn a person into a cynic. But not her. Mirabel is a kind-hearted, cheerful young woman who loves her family more than anything else. Her love is far greater than her regret that she doesn’t have such an extraordinary talent. I find that more than impressive.

Keeping this in mind, it feels like a betrayal when her Abuela accuses Mirabel of only wanting attention after Mirabel told her that magic was about to fade.

Mirabel had always accepted without comment that she would never be the centre of attention. And that’s what we all want: to stand out. But she has always put herself last and only tried to protect her family and the miracle. And now, when everything she knows and loves is in danger, she is not even taken seriously…

In the scene that follows, Mirabel and her mother finally have a conversation. And she says exactly the right thing – and perhaps at the same time exactly the wrong thing:

You’re just as special as anyone else in this family.

Julieta Madrigal

We all need someone like Julieta. Someone to remind us from time to time that we don’t need supernatural powers to be special – because we are, with complete certainty. And yet… what good is the knowledge that we are special if we can hardly believe it ourselves? Or others do not behave accordingly towards us? In the end, it is a question of respect for the other. Each person has their own charisms, their own gifts, we must not forget that. And although not all her family sees Mirabel for what she is at the beginning – the heart of the family, the brightest star of all – she manages to discover her own value from within herself. And in the end, everyone else recognises it too.

I would like to refer briefly to what I find an astonishing parallel passage. It is also about a young woman who has not yet found herself and is told by someone close to her that she does not have to prove her worth, but is “enough” in herself. That she is something special. We are talking about Cirilla in the second season of “The Witcher”. Here it is Geralt of Riva, whose child of surprise she is, who makes her realise this:

You are already enough, Cirilla. You are extraordinary.

Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher (S02E07)

A small side note: Geralt shows that it is not (only) up to birth parents to show their children that they are special. Each of us deserves a person in our lives who reminds us of who we are. This can be family members, friends and everyone else around us. And sometimes we need to remember that it could be us who should tell someone else.