Life is all about death....COCO

Why are we here? What is the real purpose of life and living if at the end of it we all will die and that’s the only thing we all share and it’s a sure thing, when? How? That might differ but we all will meet in the after life, whatever that is? So, again, what’s the point of life and what’s all about the journey of living? Life is a one way experience, unique in all ways, an opportunity to be whatever we want  and challenge ourselves to evolve in different ways. But the real meaning of it it’s not only about us but how our actions impact others and will stay with them even when we are not around anymore. Family has a huge impact on us. They shape us from the kids we play to be to the grown ups we ended becoming, for better or worse. But it’s our own actions, personality, decisions the ones that end defining us as a whole, letting everyone to get an idea of the person we are and we will. Passing like a curse to the next generations all our knowledge and heritage that will contribute to tie the past, present and future, giving a whole new meaning to every single action we’ve done and any thought we can possible have. That feeling of changing or contributing to the world is what life is all about. Leaving a piece of us in the moment that will transcend through time and will be timeless making everyone to remember and cherish you as if you’d be still here. Because keeping you in mind  is the only and truly way to stay alive and break the time barrier becoming timeless. And with the love all the people that might have you in their thoughts is prove of the impact you made in each one of them.

And because this is a very deep and touching thought is why know Pixar, the genius house of animation, under the wing of Disney brings to the theaters their new story : “Coco” (2017), another animated film that is set to break all records this holiday season and steel all families hearts with the story of a young boy from a small town in Mexico that will learn a big lesson about his family and his ancestors just in time for the big local celebration of Day of the Death or as they know it, Dia de Los Muertos, a Mexican celebration to death and to all their passed beloved ones, when supposedly are able to come and visit their relatives from the after life thanks to the ofrenda that their families prepare for them. This ofrenda is full of food and candles to light the way for them to come home and take some of their favorite things plus some food for the journey. This celebration focuses on remembering and honoring those that we loved and we are not longer with us but they still live in our hearts and memories. The idea of them looking after us and still present by their legacy is why we keep traditions and are defined in some way as a family, in a unique way, that would differ from others. But the story of this particular family has a reason. They had built a local business, after the departure of their grand grandfather, the spouse and daughter learned to make shoes and became good at it, turning that into a family business that will keep them apart from the sad memory of been left behind and passing this new lifestyle through generations just to make it the way to go for any family member.

So when this young boy realizes that his life is meant to be different from what the rest of his family wants to be, he’s decided to prove them wrong and find his way to become a good singer because music is what makes him happy and what he is good at, just like his grand grandfather, only thing is that this will put him in a very uncomfortable situation where he will have to challenge the whole family and break the expectations that they have for him. As we said life is meant to enjoy and make a full experience of it as it will go fast. So how many times are we faced to challenge our own traditions and morals in order to achieve something bigger or what feels right for us but we are too afraid to go against the flow and challenge our own people? How many times we prefer to keep the same path that others choose for us instead of stand up and fight for our dreams no matter the cost but the weight of our family expectations is heavier to handle and ended frustrated and regretting for our own decision of follow others decisions regarding our lives. But life is just one and what would be more important? To be remember for being obedient and for keep the tradition of others, even these others are people we care for and love, or for being brave and strong enough to fight our own battles and chase that dream we all have back in our minds? What would make us more forgettable or be remembered for? And what will make us happy in life so we can die at some point satisfied for what we did or for what we could have done?

The journey of this family movie is about exploring life through death and by death I mean our beloved ones that are no more with us. How much do we know about our ancestors and what they did in life and what was behind their actions? Maybe was that they loved someone or that they struggle in life or maybe they were happy and achieved all what they wanted. We might never know but whatever they did is part of us right know because their actions had an impact in the next generation and so that generation did with the next and so on until us, that will ended doing the same with what’s next. The way we behave, our believes, traditions, manners, confidence, all come from that heritage that we can’t see but is part of our family as our last name is. One that our young boy starts to discover his family origins and realizing what really happened long time ago and how that changed the view of an entire family, he starts to become more like the one he feels and believes he is and by his own surprise this idea of himself is no original at all and no other than part of his family that has been forgotten, but now it’s on his hands to change things and make things right. Because never is to late and this life is just one step to something bigger. A journey that will define and shape us into what we should be for the next level, even if that works for better or worse.

Among all this fairy tale and adventure through life and death, discovering how close we are with each other the film honors another forgotten culture, The Mexican, one that has been there, too close to everyone but hardly recognize and this movie is a song to Mexico, to his small cute towns full of live but stuck in an old age due to the poverty of the country. Their great value as family traditions where each member is as important as the other but always will Be one that will take control of the entire family and rule in some way but at the end all will be there for each other. Their food, culture full of colors and traditions, that can be almost touched once you witnessing this adventure at the big screen. So by the end of the movie you just not will see México in a different way but also you will remember all what you been trough in your own life experience and the decisions you have made until this point realizing that every single one of them has someone you love behind it and once you look at the mirror again, you will see all these people that has been with you and shaped you in what you had become, all your ancestors standing there, looking at you, as they, in some way, now are part of you. And Coco will remind you of all the things that you also might had forgotten for some reason just to shake you up as a wake up call to embrace your own and stand up for what you believe and love because life is just one and there’s no time to waste or we all might end being forgotten as well.