Directed The Animated Film “Coco” From Pixar

The animated feature produced by Pixar, Coco is directed by Lee Unkrich, co-directed by Adrian Molina and produced by Darla Anderson. The film is set in Mexico during Dia de Muertos, Mexico’s family celebration of remembrance for those lost, and tells the story of Miguel, a young boy whose dream of becoming a musician takes him on a journey into the Land of the Dead. Miguel is a young boy in Santa Cecilia, Mexico (St. Cecilia being the patron saint of music) and his greatest wish is to become a musician like his hero, Ernesto de la Cruz. Unfortunately, his family has forbidden music because of a long-ago tragedy. On Día de Muertos, Miguel accidentally travels to the Land of the Dead, and has to seek a blessing from de la Cruz to get home before sunrise or stay a skeleton forever. The film is steeped in Mexican culture, with references to stars, artists, food, Mayan culture, and, most of all the traditions surrounding Día de Muertos.

The film’s main theme, loving and supporting your family, and remembering those you’ve lost, comes through in every scene. While Miguel sometimes finds his family and their shoemaking business suffocating, he also knows that they love him. His entire family bustles between their home and their shoe shop, and not only is the family led by Miguel’s Abuelita Elena, the tough matriarch, but the whole family also cares for Miguel’s great-grandmother, Coco. She lives in her home, surrounded not only by her children and their children and their children’s children but also by the lovingly-cared-for photos of those who came before her. I found it interesting how the presence of the man is diminished and the seemingly masculine form is overtaken by the women in the family. Coco can be seen as a feminist film.

Pixar’s new animated feature portrays women as independent thinkers, as capable entrepreneurs and nurturers, and of subverting the macho stereotype of Latin romance. In Coco, girl meets the boy, girl starts a business, girl provides for the family. Coco is claiming many firsts – the first Hollywood movie with a 100% Mexican/Latinx cast; the first film to invent new animation software depicting the human skeleton, and the first to open in Mexico to what can only be described as historic applause. Mexicans see themselves in this world of magical realism, where women are independent and men love them for it - so why can’t Americans see these things.

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These women are not outliers, they represent the backbone of Mexican society – the strong woman who speaks with liveliness, who intuitively understands the meaning that underpins society. The matriarchs of Coco walk in their footsteps, leading their families with a combination of entrepreneurial ingenuity, an artist’s passion and a mother’s love. Rather than stigmatizing the normally patriarchal society, Coco shows the matriarchal side of the culture. An interesting and refreshing twist to “Get Out.”

The woman is stereotyped to be a sensual, fiery, passionate, quick-to-anger woman and the men are often criminalized or over-sexualized. This movie, having an all Latinx-cast, really exemplifies a positive model for social change, diversity, and inclusion within media. A movie like Coco is a great sign of moving forward in our society but there’s still work that needs to be done. This movie can also be seen as having a political purpose. Especially in regards to timing, the national spotlight on Mexican people right now in this country has been tarnished by the Republican political party and our president’s racist allegations a year and a half ago when he accused Mexican people of being “drug dealers, criminals, and rapists.” Coco celebrates Mexican people and their culture and paints nothing but positivity and beauty throughout the film. The hope is that this portrayal of Mexican people shows adults and children alike that racism has no place in the world.

Masculine behaviors in “Get Out” are illustrated in the behaviors of Rose’s father and brother - their strong and dominant stance over the women of the family , their playful but taunting demeanor and behavior. Dinner scene with Rose’s immediate family and Chris portrays masculinity. Brother of Rose (Jeremy) shows masculinity in body behavior, tells stories about a party, hooking up with a woman, dominance over people and conversation. In this scene as well, we see the Father and brother watchful of Rose and Chris - they present their masculinity through their body structure and verbal behavior. For instance, Jeremy tries to fight Chris, gets up and stands over him. The father continuously stands over the mother in a power stance, showing dominance. Mother has Chris in some meditation / trance. He is uncomfortable at first with expressing his emotions in front of her. He starts to open up to the mother, cries and is feeling the emotions all again.

He is stuck, paralyzed, like the day hs mother died and he did nothing. We see Chris “sink into the floor” moving farther into his subconscious - the sunken place, she closes his eyes and he wakes up in bed Chris is a photographer, keeps to himself and does not portray hegemonic masculinity. We see masculinity in the roles of the family’s groundskeeper as well. Woman is in kitchen, man outside cutting wood doing the hard labor. Walter the groundskeeper is hostile. Both house servants are African American and seen as lower than the white family. Race is prominent in both films. In “Get Out” we see Chris ostracized for the color of his skin, whereas in “Coco” the Latinx and Mexican culture is prominent in the development of the storyline and its characters. In Gemme’s “Latino Manhood,” masculinity is referred to as models of masculinity embraced by men of South American, Central American, or Mexican origin living in the United States.

Latino men are often perceived in terms of machismo, a generalized set of negatively connoted behaviors ranging from misogyny to belligerence. Gemme writes that the male is supposedly “dominant and aggressive, the female subordinate and passive”. Within the family, the father is the unquestioned patriarch, provider, lawmaker, and judge. He is obsessed with the need to prove his masculinity, whether by extramarital affairs, excessive drinking, or aggressive behavior toward other men. “Coco” provides a refreshing contrast to the stereotypes we see in fiction - portraying Mexicans as “shifty and brutal”. The film is showing its viewers that masculinity is not always hegemonic and has other forms. In “Coco,” we see masculinity is shrouded and femininity becomes more present in the female roles and acceptance of all characters. Family and culture is a prominent theme in Coco. Normally in Mexican/ Latinx communities, men are portrayed as hard headed, bold and aggressive. However, in the film we do not see these stereotypes and norms.

“Get Out” challenges perceptions of black masculinity. As a Black man, Chris’s masculinity is challenged at the hands of law enforcement who criminalize him before he has the opportunity to speak and/or defend himself. This all-too-common situation challenges Chris’s authority as a man by stripping him of his voice and the ability to assert himself without fear of repercussions. As seen in the present-day examples of police brutality that led to the deaths of Black men and women, the ironic notion that the same people that are suppose to protect you are the ones you should fear most is a terror that many Blacks encounter. Once Chris meets Rose’s parents, the inevitable occurs: he immediately feels uncomfortable and is questioned regarding his racial and masculine identity.

Though seemingly harmless, many of the inquiries related to Chris’s physical attributes instead of his intellect. The inquiry immediately began to mirror conversations that slavers in various institutions would have, where they strived to weaken the minds of a slaves while maintaining the physical characteristics that were seen as a commodity for plantation owners. Another point that examines masculinity within the film is the role of vulnerability, as the trait is used as both a form of empowerment and weakness. In society, Black men are taught to refrain from showing any emotion that can result in or from them getting hurt. This reality is traced back to slavery when black men were ripped away from their roles as providers and simply seen as property.

At the risk of emasculation at the hands of plantation owners, this toxic hyper-masculine defense mechanism became prevalent within the Black community and continues to be an issue relating to love in African American families in contemporary society. The relationship between Chris and Rod also touched on themes of identifying masculinity throughout the film. As a central relationship within the narrative, Chris confided in Rod more than his girlfriend Rose, fostering a level of platonic intimacy between the two. Rod also comes to Chris’s rescue at the conclusion of the film supporting this notion of empowerment relating to the comradery of Black men.

Both Coco and Get Out are seen as diverse films in that they include different classes, race and genders. In the film Coco, masculinity is defined by hard work in the family and continuing the family tradition of working in the shoe company. The men and women all work for the family’s shoe company, however, Miguel has a different agenda for his future. Whereas, in Get Out, toxic masculinity is portrayed through the father and brother of the cast. toxic masculinity to refer to stereotypically masculine gender roles that restrict the emotions allowable for boys and men to express, including social expectations that men seek to be dominant. The men in Get Out illustrate masculinity through their dominance over the women and through their aggressive actions.

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