Lessons from Coco

One Saturday afternoon, I was trying to have my siesta but I cannot sleep and feel restless due to severe allergic rhinitis (a type of inflammation in the nose which occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. – wikipedia). So, I got out of bed instead and asked my eldest daughter who was beside me busy tinkering with our laptop to watch a movie from her collection of movies. Since I remember her telling me that there is this one animated movie from Pixar Studio which was released by Disney last November 2017 entitled Coco that she loved and made her cry, I then suggested that we watch it together. I also informed my youngest daughter about our plan who also joined us. Thus, watching the said family oriented and fantasy movie became our bonding time during that afternoon. Indeed, I was touched and moved by the said movie. Though, it was the second time for my children to watch the movie, they still were impressed by it. There were lessons that I learned from the movie. But before I enumerate it, am sharing first below a short summary of the movie that I got from the internet.

The movie started in Santa Cecilia, Mexico where Imelda Rivera, a wife of a musician who left her and their 3-year-old daughter Coco to pursue a career in music, lives. When he never returns, Imelda banishes music from her life and that of her family and opens a shoe-making family business.

Ninety-six years later, her great-great-grandson, 12-year-old Miguel, now lives with Coco and their family. He secretly dreams of becoming a musician like Ernesto de la Cruz, a popular actor and singer of Coco’s generation. One day, Miguel inadvertently damages the picture frame holding a photo of Coco with her parents at the center of the family ofrenda (offering) and removes the photograph, discovering that his great-great-grandfather (whose face had been torn out) was holding Ernesto’s famous guitar. Concluding that Ernesto is his great-great-grandfather, Miguel ignores his grandmother Elena’s objections and leaves to enter a talent show for the Day of the Dead. He enters Ernesto’s mausoleum and steals his guitar to use in the show, but becomes invisible to everyone in the village plaza.

That’s where the journey of Miguel started who takes an accidental trip to The Land of the Dead only to prove to his inspiration that he can be a good vocal singer and guitarist. However, things start to go downhill when his family in the land of the Dead starts to look for him and try to take him back. Along his way, he meets the charming trickster Hector, and together, they set out to find the real story behind his family’s mysterious ban on music. The story concludes with a family reunion in the world of the souls, and a change in tradition for the living members of the family.

Some of the lessons I learned from the movie is that we should give importance in honoring our family and treat them with respect. We should not also forget our ancestors who passed away and remember the legacy they have taught us. Another lesson is that we should learn to listen if one is trying to explain about what happened in the past so that if we have been hurt by it we could learn to forgive. Lastly, when we want to pursue our dreams we should not compromise our principles and learn to thank the people who help us achieve it.

May the above lessons help us in our day to day living. Let us also give importance in finding time to connect with our families by sharing our time with them. I end this article with this quote from the movie that says…“That is what families are supposed to do, support you. But you never will.” – Miguel (COCO, Disney-Pixar)